Posted on 06/19/2004 5:20:49 AM PDT by Jeff Gordon
"This act is to heal the hearts of believers in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula," Johnson's captors said in a statement posted on the internet late on Friday.
Since US-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, already waning international attention on resolving the raging Palestinian-Israeli conflict has diminished significantly.
With almost daily reports of ferocious Israeli invasions, Palestinians being crushed to death as their homes were demolished over their heads and Iraq increasingly spiralling out of control, it is not surprising that the Arab street is frustrated with the United States.
While Arabs were horrified by the nature of Johnson's death, they said such incidents were bound to occur as long as Israel continued its brutal occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with virtually no intervention from the international community, along with the occupation of Iraq.
Bloodbath
Dr Bahaa Ghalayani, an obstetrician/gynecologist at the Aawda Hospital in the northern occupied Gaza Strip, said Johnson's killing was "horrible and unacceptable. This person has nothing to do with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
"Since Americans were sent to Iraq it's become a bloodbath...Please ask the Europeans and Americans what they expect the reaction to be"
Dr Bahaa Ghalayani, Palestinian
However, Ghalayani said that "the events in this area (Middle East) are crazy. We have foreign troops everywhere.
"What are they doing in Iraq? Why are they depriving natives from their most basic rights?" he asked.
Ghalayani, who hails from Gaza City and faces the daily struggles of an occupation, said foreign troops are killing Palestinians and Iraqis in cold-blood.
"Since Americans were sent to Iraq it's become a bloodbath," he said. "Please ask the Europeans and Americans what they expect the reaction to be…They are expected in these circumstances," he said.
Johnson, however, had nothing to do with his government's foreign policy, said the physician. He expressed frustration at what he said is increasing Western interference in the Middle East's internal politics.
"We can rule our own nations," he said.
"I wouldn't say those who killed him are mad - the mad are the Americans and Europeans who came to this region and interfere in everything."
Internal battle
Umm Khalid Ashur, a housewife living in the occupied Gaza Strip town of Tal al-Hawa, said: "Our cause is between us and Israelis within our nation… (Johnson) wasn't fighting us. Our struggle should be face to face with Israelis."
More Arab funerals fuel greater Arab anger in the region
She expressed concern that the international community will take a hostile stance towards the Palestinians if their fight spread.
Iraqi television news director Salam al-Amir agreed, saying that there will probably be a backlash in occupied Iraq where foreign troops will be harsher with civilians.
"Innocent people are being sacrificed for the sake of politics," he said. "What will happen next? How are we going to benefit from this?"
Jordanian journalist Nur al-Din Shahadi said Washington will seize the latest incident to justify any future violence it will inflict in the Middle East under the guise of a war on terror.
"The United States is the only one to benefit from this incident," he said.
Another Jordanian, Kawkab Hanafna, said such killings were being carried out under the banner of Islam but they were prohibited in the religion.
Sanna Qandil, a Palestinian-Jordanian secretary working in Amman, said the Johnson's killing was not out of the ordinary taking into consideration the violence across the Arab world.
"Let Americans know what it feels like to be a Palestinian, to lose a mother, child or father," she said.
"This is a terrible tragedy and our thought and prayers are with all Americans tonight blah blah blah we um... feel your pain ... blah blah hopefully we can all use this opportunity to address other atrocities such as those commited by Israel against the Palestinians blah blah blah and we must take this time for all Americans to sincerely sit down and reflect on our actions blah blah..."
Civilization as always been no more than a thin varnish
A few more barbaric act like those and the fall of Carthage
may begin to look like a picnic
The patterns set in youth are quite difficult to modify.
I hope it will not be generations before the anti-American mindset can be changed.
Look within yourself. What would it take to change the deep fundamental beliefs you have? Let's suppose that one of your beliefs is that "most want to live their lives and get on in peace". It would take a lot to change that view, wouldn't it?
Keep in mind, there are people who go out and buy lottery tickets every day. People do not behave rationally.
The Palestinians want peace in the Middle East about as much as Jesse Jackson wants an end to racism. Conflict is their raison d'etre.
No doubt.
Done a bang-up job so far, too.
Freakin' clueless "Please keep oppressing us, Oh great mullah-boolah-katoolah," 7-th century-lovin' muzzie vermin.
Do the world a huge favor and cease living; don't force us to make you...you won't like that one bit.
We both met the same problem--terrorism, suicide assassins and so forth. The moguls faced the "Assassins" (a group run by a Mullah who fed his religious fanatics hashish and controlled others by fears of assassination). The Mogul faced a myriad of castles all ensconced with "assassins." They solved the problem by laying serge to the one with the mad mullah, offered him sanctuary if he would persuade the others to surrender and they were successful.
The Mongols did what President Bush did with Sadr. The world sometimes does repeat history and what goes around comes around. Oh, incidentally, when the Mongols finally were successful, they offered the mad mullah a chance to plead forgiveness to the Great Khan, but he decided to wrap the mad mullah in a blanket and have him kicked to death.
I wouldn't know all of this except I recently completed reading Genghis Khan by Jack Weatherford of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
We haven't killed enough of them.
Sure, the technique works, and it's pretty up front and personal, but don't we prefer "carpet bombing" if we can get it?
Anyway we now have a sonic pain weapon that can drive people away from places without killing anyone. Just pursue this technology; build really big ones; chase these people, their friends, their neighbors, their foreign help out into the desert. Then destroy all their stuff!
That leaves the oil in the ground nice and safe for our later use.
right. blame it on bush and his foreign polices...
I know what you mean. "Mom, I hate you! You are ruining my life! Now, drive me to the mall." easily translates to
"Death to American's! Send aid!"
"Mom, I hate you! You are ruining my life! Now, drive me to the mall." easily translates to "Death to American's! Send aid!"
LOL, I know, they are so immature. The pali "soliders of jihad" are immature girls, how sad is that?
Sadly it will take several major hits here at home before we decide on war.
The only diety who is impressed by human sacrifice is the devil.
Almost 100,000 US KIA in the third.
Okayyyyyyy. I see the connection between "Palestinians being crushed in their houses" and the beheading of an American engineer.
If the neighbors play their music too loud, do you disembowel the dry cleaner? I guess you would if the neighbor was a big, mean SOB and you were a sniveling coward looking for someone helpless to vent on.
We have captured, and killed a leader of a major terrorist organization
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