One of Ours

The latest antisemitic attack in the Paris region is perhaps the most disturbing to date. On Friday morning, six young men attacked woman and her 13-month old baby on a crowded suburban train.

The woman, aged 23, was at first pushed around by the men. When they found papers in her bag which suggested to them she was Jewish, they pulled knives and began to slice her clothing. The attackers then cut her hair and drew swastikas on her stomach. The attackers then stole the woman's cash and bank cards before kicking over her pram - where her baby was sleeping - and left the train at the notorious Garges-Sarcelles RER station north of Paris. No other passengers assisted the victim.

The attack has caused widespread outrage in France across the political spectrum: Jewish groups have called for tougher action from the government to combat rising anti-semitic violence - which is mainly perpetrated by young men of North African origin: Friday's attackers were no exception. The sinister parallels between the young woman's attackers deducing her religion from her ID papers were not lost on Jean-Paul Huchon, president of the Ile-de-France region, who linked the lack of intervention by fellow passengers with France's complicity in the death camp deportations in the 1940s.

The attack comes as France begins another period of soul searching following intelligence reports that over 300 of its housing estates have become "ghetto-style" breeding grounds for religious extremism. France has failed to integrate the descendents of north African immigrants who came to the country in the 1960s. Now, egged on by fanatical preachers and Arab-language propaganda channels, antisemitism has become common and casual.

In the past six months in France, 95 violent acts of racism against non-Jewish groups have been recorded. For the same period, 135 attacks on Jews have been reported - there are only an estimated 600,000 Jews in France.

Think about the Seattle area -- Bainbridge Island to be exact -- and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance.

At least the killer views are still there.

The bucolic island's deep reputation for civility got a gut check this week during the annual Grand Old Fourth of July celebration.

That's when Jason Gilson, a 23-year-old military veteran who served in Iraq, marched in the local event. He wore his medals with pride and carried a sign that said "Veterans for Bush."

Walking the parade route with his mom, younger siblings and politically conservative friends, Jason heard words from the crowd that felt like a thousand daggers to the heart.

"Baby killer!"

"Murderer!"

"Boooo!"

To understand why the reaction of strangers hurt so much, you must read what the young man had written in a letter from Iraq before he was disabled in an ambush:

"I really miss being in the states. Some of the American public have no idea how much freedom costs and who the people are that pay that awful price. I think sometimes people just see us as nameless and faceless and not really as humans. ... A good portion of us are actually scared that when we come home, for those of us who make it back, that there will be protesters waiting for us and that is scary."

On the Fourth, Jason faced his worst fear.

It was such a public humiliation -- home front insult after battlefield injury...

...Have we so quickly forgotten the painful lessons of Vietnam?

...a female parade announcer locked eyes on [Jason] who was walking behind a pro-Republican group called Women in Red, White and Blue. The group supports President Bush and the troops in the fight against terrorism...the female announcer sarcastically asked Jason: "And what exactly are you a veteran of?"

The perceived mocking...set off some people in the crowd, loosing a flood of negative comments, "like a wave... a mob-style degrading."...

...As the discussion heated up, one from the old generation burst out saying “nothing happened but the worst, the war destroyed us, our fortune was robbed and the ruins are everywhere. We haven’t seen in our lives a situation worse than this...” and went on in a criticism that was so bitter to reach the grade of despair which as I said I’ve always considered as a destructive attitude that achieves nothing but hindering, delaying and even destroying our efforts to pursue our future plans. He was parroting Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiyah.

I became really angry, however I waited for him to finish then I asked him if I could answer. “Sure I want to see how you’re going to answer” he replied, putting a challenging face.

I said:
-you claimed that Iraq’s fortune was robbed an that you didn’t see a real change or any reconstruction and I will answer you with a picture that you have to see everyday because it’s within a circle of one kilometer around your house and you have to see this picture every morning while you walk out of your house for whatever business you want to do.

He looked at me and said:
-What do you mean!?-Ok, let’s start with the first thing you see when you get out of your house . The first building you will see is that of the law institute for higher studies which was destroyed after the 9th of April. Was it destroyed by an American bomb? No, it was destroyed by criminals who carried out Saddam’s plan in “burning Iraq before handing it to the Americans” joined by some selfish people and other ignorant and simple Iraqis who didn’t understand that soon after the 9th of April all the state belongings that were Saddam’s have become all-Iraqis’ belongings. Alright, this institute was rebuilt few months later and now it functions in a way better than before and help to create a new law system that is honest and independent and to me this is another and more important addition.

Ok, now let’s move for few tens of meters and you can find the publishing house that used to publish Uday’s hateful newspaper (Babil) this one also was not destroyed by American missiles and we all remember how the thieves left it as mere walls with the vents missing their robbed air conditioners. Ok, what happened later; it’s working now with full power after it was reconstructed and now it’s printing Al-Sabah news paper that you buy every morning. To me this one was also rebuilt twice; once as building and equipments and once as a trust worthy press instead of the pathetic old propaganda machine.

Now I’m going to move for only another ten meters to find the (open educational college) where teachers improve their teaching methods, this one, uncle was also not destroyed by American bombs but by the same way as the former two buildings and now we can see that it was soon reconstructed and a few days ago they celebrated the graduation of a new bunch of their students.

Ok, let’s take a look at the adjacent building which is for the transport department in the ministry of trade. We watched that building being robbed in the same way. Do I have to remind you sir that this building was rebuilt and it’s back to work? I don’t think I have to; you see it every morning.

I’ll move for another 50 meters and cross the street where lies one of the former evil military institutes that was used to train professional butchers; it wasn’t a target for American missiles but was robbed by some sick people who left it as ruins, and you know uncle how the American unit in charge of this area turned it into a residency for students who come from other governorates to study in Baghdad. Now they have air conditioning, hot and cold water and decent bedrooms.

Ok I’m still walking within this single kilometer that you see every day and I’ll walk for another 100 meters to find the ministry of labor and social affairs; this building was not destroyed by American missiles but the thugs attacked it and ruined and robbed everything they found in it. Don’t you see this building every day with its new look after it was rebuilt and started to function again.

I’ll walk for a couple hundreds of meters in another direction to take a look at the beautiful building of the ministry of financial affairs; looting and fire caused more damage to this building than what a missile would cause, look at it now and enjoy its new look without Saddam’s portrait that was covering a whole side of the building.

Here my father tried to interrupt me but I insisted on going to the end with my speech and I added addressing everyone:
I didn’t exceed an area of one kilometer-that we all see and pass by every day-in this round. I have mentioned a lot of things but I also forgot a lot more like all the schools and public clinics that were rebuilt within this area. Now, do you still have doubts about where our oil money went?

And I’m not talking about the whole country here, have you asked yourselves why the exchange price is 1500 now instead of 2200 in Saddam’s days?

And do you think that a 100 times raise for some employees salaries doesn’t represent a part of the money you were talking about? Don’t you notice the private businesses that are starting and those that are booming?

Here one of my friends turned to our pessimist guest asking him “haven’t you turned an old dirty shop into a network gaming hall?”

Here I turned back to my father’s friend:
Isn’t this an addition to your country? And I see that you’re carrying a cell phone that rings every now and then, don’t you consider this an addition? Don’t you see that goods in Baghdad’s streets are being stockpiled and shown on the sidewalks because stores can’t hold all that stuff. Isn’t this telling you something?

Here I end my speech uncle and I’m not going to mention freedom of speech, pluralism and more than 200 newspapers and a satellite dish for nearly every house and hundreds of internet cafe’s to bring you hundreds of views instead of one.

You’re looking with one eye closed and this will do us no good, we need two eyes, two ears and an open mind if we wanted to locate mistakes and find solutions during this phase. Giving up and whining is no criticism, it’s destruction.

If you had the chance to make some calculations for what was spent till now I’m sure that you’re going to find out that oil revenues were not enough and I’m sure that someone had given us a hand!. I wonder who would that be? Russia? France? Germany? Or probably Syria? No, no wait, it must be Iran, right?

Then I told myself: if some Iraqis, living in Iraq, watching the changes being done under their noses fail to see the truth and still depend on the media to tell them what’s going on in their own country then how can we blame people who live thousands of miles away for thinking similarly!?

...It appeared that my guess and what my friend told me was right as yesterday it was announced that it was a very well planned attack carried by the Iraqi national Guard and resulted in killing and capturing several terrorists. Here’s Al Sabah story:

In an operation to attack dens of terrorism in Baghdad, a platoon of the Iraqi National Guard has carried out a successful operation Wednesday against groups of Saddam's remnants and a number of Al- Zarqawi followers who were gathered in four buildings in the said street. That operation comes as a practical indication to transfer the initiative of the attack to the hand of the National Guard.

"An accurate intelligence information reported a group of Saddam's men and Al- Zarqawi followers were crowded in four buildings in Haifa street" Mr. Hazim Sh'lan the minister of defense elaborated, adding that the operation started in installing search points in front of these buildings for instigating the hostile elements who thought they could control the battalion of the national guard.

Clarifying the details of the operation, the minister said that the battalion was able to be sheltered and specify the hostile fire sources further for cordoning the four buildings in pure Iraqi efforts, saying that the multi–national forces took the role of the monitor by the helicopters. Fighting were occurred from floor to another, from flat to another, about 19 terrorists killed and nine others arrested. Meanwhile one member of the National Guard was killed and 12 others wounded. Among the prisoners and dead were a number of Arab infiltrators.

"...this fight is as crucial for the Western World and the future role of America in the World this century, as it is a matter of life and death to us."

...have you ever stopped to consider why the attack against the Iraqi people, their livelihood, and their infrastructure is by far more ferocious and spiteful than the assault on American and allied forces. Why is that necessary, if the population was really seething with hatred and animosity against the “occupiers”. Why indeed are they attacking the Iraqi people with such cruelty? Just think about that. Such thing has precedence neither in Vietnam nor any other conflict, including the WWII. I mean the Germans were never known to attack their own people, nor did that happen in Japan or Vietnam. The naïve blockheads of the antiwar movement, the well meaning ones, I mean, and not those with hidden motives, just don’t see this. The attack on the Iraqi majority is simply an attack on their intrinsic underlying support for this thing. That is the simple truth. As one simple tribesman once put it: “had it not been for this thesis of liberation, the Americans would have found it impossible just to stay on the ground”. Yes indeed, the hatred of the Zarqawis of this world is much more poisonous towards the Iraqis as it is towards the Americans. And if you read again his famous letter you will see this explicitly expressed. The U.S. policy makers and forces on the ground themselves underestimated this crucial factor and have acted in many instances with foolishness that contributed a great deal to the present troubles.

Nevertheless, the basic underlying grass root support is still there despite all the suffering and troubles; for the heart of a people is a profound phenomenon. Just look at the failure of Muqtada Al-Sadr movement to ignite the kind of conflagration amongst the Shiaa population that many were expecting, despite the fierce confrontation between his supporters and the American forces.

American and Allied strategists, should understand this clearly and appreciate that it is the main asset and essential strength of this campaign, and that success hinges on rectifying the errors and restoring this popular current to its initial strength and enthusiasm. And that is doable and possible And it will be the people who are going to defend their gains against both internal and external enemies.