You Didn't Come here to Sit and Think, You Came here to Play and Sing!

I don't make it my habit to watch CNN's Showbiz Tonight. For some reason what Eminem said today or what will Britany Spears wear tomorrow is not my kind of news. However todays question for the audience was one that sparked my interest. The question to the audience was "what do you think of artists having their political songs against the war in Iraq?". One of the debaters who objects to that said that they're only in it for the profit, taking advantage of Bush's low approval rates. I tend to agree.

"Where were all those voices in the past three years? The war hasn't become messy in the past year alone" asked the debater on CNN. A good question. One might also ask where were all the artists during the 1980s and 1990s when Saddam was slaughtering Shia and Kurd Iarqis more frequently than we kill chickens? I will tell you were they were. In the 1980s they were too busy filling up the gas on their 1980s equivilant of an Escalade (just as they do on today's Cadillac Escalade); and in the 1990s President Clinton enjoyed too high an approval rate for ignoring the Rwanda situation for them to make any profit of. Now it has become fashionable.

So what's the conclusion to take from all of this boys and girs? It's simple: forget about university... go produce an album!!! Who cares if someone spends years studying International Relations, International Law, Human Rights, Development or Political Science to get the whole picture? Even the UN takes aging artists as goodwill ambassadors rather than youngsters who foolishley spent a few years in university. But I'll tell you who will care in the end: I will; but more importantly, the people on the ground will.

The PA: Suicide Bombing - The Irony

Just a few weeks ago, Mahmoud Abu-Tyr - number two in Hamas' government - spoke on why a separation between boys and girls is required in schools (part of Hamas' attempts to Islamize the PA). He said that having boys and girls together like in western education systems is wrong. Just look at Sweden, he said, it has the highest teenage suicide rate in the western world! It is ironic that after Hamas' support for today's suicide bombing in Israel, its officials "know" what causes youth suicide rates... what do you mean what? Girls, of course!

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Israel: Suicide Bomber Kills 9... and Peace

Israeli poet Yehuda Amihai once said: "Extremists are the most unselfish poeple in the world. If you ask them why they do what they do, they will say it is all about you: about freeing you, redeeming you, not about them at all". I wonder if this thought is what passed through the head of Salim Muhammad Khamad, the 21 year old terrorist who blew himself up Moday afternoon (Israel time), killing 9 people and injuring 40. If anything, all he has done is hurt his own people and particularly those he wants to hurt the least, his family.

Already Khamad's family is preparing for the demolition of their house. In addition voices are heard through Israel asking why wasn't Israel sealed completely for the Passover holiday, making many Palestinians ready to raise their hands in despair as Israel will surely close its gates to Palestinians seeking work in Israel. If anything, all Khamad did in addition to ruining the lives of 9 innocent people, was hurt his people's chances to have a break, to seat with Israel and talk. He plays right into the hands of Israel's far right extremists.

And Khamad is not alone, he is getting help from Hamas. In a not unpredictable statement for a terrorist organization, Hamas-led government issued a statement legitimizing the attack - a move that is surely not going to help it rescue itself from the isolation it has got itself into; while Mahmoud Abbas tries to calm things down and keep a clear channel with Israel by condemning the attack. One must wonder if by doing so Hamas is also ignoring the suffering of its own people for their 'greater' cause. And so I am only left with repeating the title that opens this post: "Suicide Bomber Kills 9... and Peace"

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