A touching letter from Robert A. Corrigan, President of SFSU:
May 22, 2002
Dear Colleagues and Students:
On Thursday morning, May 23, members of SFSU's General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) are holding an off-campus press conference to denounce what a news release promoting the event describes as "fomenting [of] intolerance" and "accusations by SFSU President Corrigan against Palestinian and Arab students who are members of GUPS." Are they really? You must have done terrible things to them to make them do that...
The news release is followed by a lengthy statement that charges "racist treatment of Palestinian students" at SFSU and alleges that recent communications from the president to the campus have evoked a "hate frenzy" against Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab students here. Have we missed something? Are there mobs of San Franciscans surging through the streets, lynching Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs, and their collaborators?
This document includes statements that "...President Corrigan is capitalizing on the atmosphere of fear and fostering intolerance against Arabs and Muslims on campus, thus creating a dangerous and hostile environment...The president of the university issued a derogatory news release last week, attacking the Palestinian students...the statement constructed a hateful, discriminatory and one-sided attack on the students...[We] and concerned citizens are gravely worried by the hate frenzy that the SFSU president stirs up in his letter." Yasss... American university presidents are noted for frothing at the mouth, rolling their eyes, and sprewing hatred and discrimination. Especially against vocal groups of children who are likely to erupt into mindless violence at the drop of a turban...
These charges are so totally at variance with the campuswide messages calling for mutual respect, civility, and recognition of "the humanity of those with whom we disagree" that we have sent out since September 11 and the tone we have sought to set â a tone epitomized by the "Love Is Stronger Than Hate" banners that fly across campus â that they must be challenged, set against fact and seen for what they are extreme statements of feeling.
You can have all the peace and love and tolerance banners you want, Mr President, but when theoretical post-modern Peace Studies meets a thug with a bludgeon, it's probably best not to stop and reason with him. A punch in the nose is more to the point and it's more easily understood than a 450-page deconstruction of the latest manifesto. The denial of the existence of evil â much less of Evil itself â in the world, except as a means of whacking one's political opponents, represents an abrogation of the intellectual's obligation to use his intellect. It results instead in an "innalekshul" who moves his lips but is still asleep. The process makes him/her/it an aidor and abettor of Evil.
It is difficult enough to deal respectfully with each other in these highly-charged times; exaggerated language only drives us further apart. Ain't it the truth? On the other hand, aren't there ever any occasions where one really should raise one's voice, point the finger, and say "that is wrong"?
You can view all our messages to the campus since September 11 at our new Web site, "SFSU's Response to Pro-Israel-Pro-Palestine Tensions on Campus." You will find there words such as these: Oh, Gawd! He's gonna feed us mush!
"We will not let terrorism change the eyes with which we view each other, the hearts with which we understand each other, the respect with which we treat each other." It always takes two to lambada. If you're viewing the other side with peace and love and understanding, and he hates your gutz, one of you is gonna end up with a cracked head. Guess which one?
"We have an absolute obligation to preserve this university as a safe and supportive community for all among us." Comes right after your obligation to preserve the university, doesn't it?
"As we wrestle with the passionate emotions and strongly opposing world views the Middle Eastern situation arouses, I hope that we will work consciously to speak and act in a way that recognizes the humanity of all members of our community, that sees individuals, not enemies." If the individual is an enemy, can we punch him?
"The vast majority of this campus community would condemn the hateful speech and threatening behavior we saw last Tuesday. It is a very few individuals who are fomenting this discord." Well, yeah. If there were more of them they'd have torn your university down around your ears.
There is much we should be discussing together, about the May 7 rally and other matters. Yes, ugly statements were made to â not just by â pro-Palestinian students at the rally. And the cases we are forwarding to the District Attorney's office emerging from the event recognize that: they represent both sides of the gathering. (See our "SFSU's Response" web site for a news release with details of the legal and disciplinary action we have taken.) You mean you couldn't jug anybody until you found a few Jews to balance things? Wotta guy!
Especially in difficult times like these, There have seldom been times that haven't been difficult in one way or another...
we cannot afford to escalate conflict through distortion of each others' positions. How 'bout if we accurately reflect the other parties' position is stupid, intolerant, and thuggish? Would that help?
Let us disagree, but let us do so honestly. Let us use each others' words fairly, represent each others' views and actions accurately. Only then can we come together to bridge differences and join together in a positive community. And if some thug's feelings are hurt, so be it? Is that what you mean? Or do you mean, "keep your head down and ignore it and it might go away and maybe they'll be unpleasant to somebody else, not us"?
Robert A. Corrigan
President Normally, mush like this is out of my line. I like to concentrate on the mechanics and order of battle of international terrorism. I just have to wonder: People pay money to send their kids there? This sort of laughable Creme of Mushroom Thought explains why terrorism is possible in the world: The professionally virtuous refuse to recognize its existence. They confuse slogans with thought, words with actions, and intent with results.
We can only comment on one or two facets of the travesty at SFSU. Other dimensions of this incident and the alarming trends it represents are detailed in the full SFSU Blog Burst Index at Winds of Change. Enjoy your read!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 06:06 pm ||
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A small Montana town is hoping to discover which resident is downright nasty. This summer, Rudyard, the north-central Montana town with the welcome sign that reads, in part, "596 nice people - One Old Sore Head" will vote to decide who is - officially - the grumpiest person in town. Alright, Goddammit! I'll run.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 10:58 am ||
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The FBI is completing plans for a broad reorganization to focus more tightly on preventing future terror attacks, including the formation of a new office of intelligence and strengthened oversight of counterterror investigations. The reshaping of the bureau appears to result at least partly from criticism over its efforts before the Sept. 11 hijackings. Naw! Y're joshin' us?
Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller were expected to outline high-profile changes at the FBI's headquarters. They were to include FBI ties with the CIA and an overhaul of the FBI's outdated computer systems. FBI's computers have been a disgrace since shortly after they bought them. You have to shovel coal in the back of some of them...
The FBI also expects a hiring binge by September to take on more than 900 agents nationwide, especially specialists in computers, foreign languages and sciences. "We must refocus our mission and our priorities, and new technologies must be put in place to support new and different operational practices," Mueller told a Senate panel this month. "We must improve how we hire, manage and train our work force, collaborate with others and manage, analyze, share and protect our information." Also have to work on interagency coodinatin and tasking priorities. There's always been a problem there...
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., predicted that congressional hearings next week on the reorganization plan will focus on the bureau's handling of a warning last June from its Phoenix office about an inordinate number of Arabs attending flight training schools in the United States. That'll probably be where they shoot the last of the wounded.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 10:55 am ||
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Pakistan must take urgent steps to halt cross-border terrorism and rein in Islamic insurgents in Kashmir, India's foreign minister said Wednesday. Jaswant Singh said that Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf had been given enough time to fulfill his pledges to halt terrorism by militants operating from Pakistani soil. "It is vital that he recognizes the urgency of the situation," Singh told reporters at a joint news conference with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. "India has waited patiently for the fulfillment of those commitments, which are vital for peace." This is diplomatic talk for "if you don't do it, we're going to hit you."
Pakistan denies arming or funding the militants, saying it only provides them with "moral" support. About 65 percent of the moral support is 7.62mm. There are smaller quantities of the 5.56mm moral support, for the more recent generation of Desperation®, and the 82mm moral support for company-sized Acts of Depairâ¢. 122mm moral support is also very effective for General Unhappiness at longer ranges, and you can set them to launch with a timer.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 12:04 pm ||
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Al-Qaeda and Taliban members are helping organize a terror campaign in Kashmir to stir up trouble between India and Pakistan, USA Today reported on Wednesday, citing US intelligence officials and foreign diplomats. According to the officials, al-Qaeda and its allies hope to relieve pressure on compatriots hiding out in Pakistan by forcing the Pakistani government to move troops hunting for them to the eastern border with India, the newspaper said. The newspaper said the shifting of Pakistani troops to the Indian border could hamper the US pursuit of al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders believed to be hiding in western Pakistan.
Pakistan's promised offensive against al-Qaeda in the west has already fizzled as forces move to the tense Indian border. We've seen this kind of diversion of pressure before. It's the best argument for a direct connection among the South Asian, Palestinian and probably Chechen fronts. On the other hand, it's also an indication that the Council of Boskone/Ernst Stavro Blofeld/Learned Elders of Islam consider the Paks expendable.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 02:25 pm ||
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Three bomb blasts rocked Ahmedabad on Wednesday morning, injuring at least 12 people. The bombs were placed on three Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Corporation buses. And I'd guess that these were Pak-controlled. This would be ISI or a surrogate trying to restir the pot in Gujarat to take pressure off Kashmir.
The bombs were placed under the seats in the buses, and exploded almost simultaneously, police said. Another suspected bomb, a tiffin box, is currently lying at the Kalupur bus stop, and the city police's bomb disposal squad was trying to defuse the bomb. The blasts occurred during peak-hour traffic. The police said crude homemade pipe bombs of low intensity were used. From the blast site, the police have recovered parts of batteries used in the bomb's timer and pieces of the pipes used in making the bomb. The blast at Gita Mandir, where six commuters were injured, was the most severe. The rear portion of the bus was ripped apart. "The injuries were due to shrapnel. Thankfully, it was not an RDX attack. The toll would have gone up by manifolds then," a police source said. While there have been no deaths so far, some of the victims are said to be in critical condition. The police said that there was a likelihood that the bombs were kept inside the buses at one central point — possibly in the Gita Mandir bus depot. This one wasn't directed against Hindus or Muslims, but at anybody who happened to be there.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 02:44 pm ||
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Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC) a conglomerate of 14 Jihadi organizations has expressed grave concern over banning of the Jehadi organizations by the government and the statement of President General Musharraf Pervez on disallowing the freedom fighters to use Pakistani soil in this regard. A 2-day summit meeting of MJC was held in Lahore Wednesday under chairman, Syed Salahuddin. Heads of all the Jehadi organizations participated in the meeting. Reiterating their determination to continue their struggle till the achievement of their goal of liberation of Kashmir from the clutches of Indian forces, the Jehadi leaders decided that the freedom movement will go on even if Pakistan discontinues its support. The meeting also regretted the lack of reaction from the political parties against the act of banning the Jehadi organizations and shift in Pakistan's Kashmir policy. This is for public consumption. Everybody's in on the joke by now, to include the Indians. There will probably be house arrest for some of the bigs, a "crackdown" followed by changes of name for some â not even all â of the jihadi organizations, and in three months things'll be back to normal.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 08:24 pm ||
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The Al-Omar Mujahideen has claimed that it has killed two agents of the Indian intelligence agency RAW near Srinagar, who were planning to carry out terrorist activities and sabotage in Pakistan. Both the agents were secretly spying against Mujahideen and were providing vital information to the Indian intelligence agency. The al-Omar bunch is probably the Lashkar-e-Omar that was reported last week. It would probably be made up mostly of cannon fodder, while the foreign mercenaries and shock troops are grouped in al-Jehad.
Meanwhile the Indian forces continued its indiscriminate and unprovoked firing and shelling across the Line of Control and Working Boundary resulting in the martyrdom of three innocent Kashmiris aimed at further escalating the already tense situation. The people severely protested against the belligerence and aggression of Indians in various areas of Srinagar and staged demonstration against killing of innocent Muslims. The Indos have this silly idea that Pak-backed thugs shouldn't be running around territory they claim bumping people off. Srinagar's the capital of Indian Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 05:46 pm ||
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"Clean Russia of pseudo-Islamic agents provocateurs," Russian Muslim leaders call the federal President and administrative bodies in a statement issued by today's conference, "Islam vs. Terrorism". The conferees resolutely denounce manifestations of terrorism and extremism as they appeal to President Vladimir Putin and federal agencies to stop spiritual aggression against Russia's public, which discredits Islam. Aggressive preachers have been penetrating Russia en masse within recent years. Especially numerous in the North Caucasus, they are proclaiming holy war on infidels--that is all who do not share Wahhabi premises. Self-styled jihad fighters are using holy Muslim symbolism to sow death and discord in Russia with ample money aid from without, says the statement. Nice little gesture of self-preservation there. American Muslims might do well to emulate it.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 05:01 pm ||
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These mainstream clerics have to watch out that Moscow doesn't brand them as "minor cultists" and that would make their sects illegal. There is no general freedom of religion in Russia today, and the government has the ability to shut down minor sects as being disruptive of social peace. So the mainstream sects, like the Orthodox Christians and non radical Moslems are careful to distance themselves from riff raff like Baptists and Wahabbis.
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
05/30/2002 5:54 Comments ||
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An Israeli Cabinet Minister said Tuesday that a fence currently being placed around Jerusalem is meant to stop Palestinian bombers, but some Israelis are complaining it amounts to redividing the city. The decision to build the fence around Jerusalem came after repeated Palestinian suicide bombing attacks in the Jewish section of the city. So far sections of five miles of the fence have been built, out of a planned 12 miles. Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza are banned from entering Jerusalem, but Palestinians, most looking for work, take roundabout routes to avoid roadblocks. Bombers and other attackers also find entrance easy.
Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, visiting a section of the fence, defended it against critics. "We are putting here some obstacles in order to facilitate the ability of our security forces to intercept suicide bombers," Landau said. "Nobody's speaking here about a border." Seems like they should be...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 11:48 am ||
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Three yeshiva high school students were killed late last night and two were wounded when a terrorist infiltrated the community of Itamar, near Nablus, and opened fired near the yeshiva. The yeshiva security guard Arieh Kleiman succeeded in shooting the terrorist and one of the student's teachers Rabbi Nitzan Yamin shot and killed the infiltrator as members of the community's response team arrived. The terrorists shot two of the yeshiva students as they were playing basketball outside Yeshivat Hetzim, and then entered the building and shot the other three, one of whom also died. The two wounded students were 14 years old. Security forces searched the community to determine whether more than one terrorist participated in the attack. Residents were asked to remain inside their homes. The army dispatched a helicopter to airlift the wounded to the hospital. Tired of it yet? Bet Sharon's getting tired of it...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 12:24 pm ||
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Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's performance in tackling terror is nothing short of abysmal, US Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer told The Jerusalem Post yesterday. "Disappointing sounds like too weak a word... It has been abysmal in terms of using the resources at his disposal the PA's police, security forces, and intelligence apparatus to stop this kind of activity," he said. Rilly? You noticed? Are we going to do something of substance about it eventually? Like send him to a nursing home and replace him with a block of wood?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 12:30 pm ||
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Pakistani police helped by FBI agents arrested two suspected al-Qaida members in a raid Wednesday, police and family members said. "Those arrested from the residential area of Peshawar are from Algeria," an Interior Ministry official told The Associated Press. "They have been shifted to an interrogation center in Peshawar for investigations." Must have happened too quickly for the inside men to tip them off...
Police said they believed at least one of the men, Abu Abdullah, 35, was an important member of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network and was in charge of Islamic schools in eastern Afghanistan during the Taliban rule, but fled to Pakistan when the U.S.-led coalition began air strikes. Abdullah is married to a Pakistani woman, and has lived in Peshawar since December, they said. He's the OIC of training and indoctrination. Musta been hard for him to leave the ruling class in Afghanistan...
"My son-in-law (Abdullah) was not involved in any crime in Pakistan," said Maulana Sufi Hamid Gul. Gul has appealed to the government for his release, saying Abdullah "was just a teacher." "In fact, he's one of the best explosives and ordnance teachers they have..."
"Four Americans and heavy contingent of the police thoroughly searched our house after arresting Abdullah and his Arab friend," Gul told The Associated Press. "We are extremely worried about the safety of Abdullah." He's probably "falling down the stairs" right this moment...
Police say Abdullah gave shelter to an unidentified al-Qaida fighter in Peshawar, who was also arrested at his house. One of his former students? Since they were both from Algeria — what the hell does Algeria have to do with Pakistan or Afghanistan? — it's more likely they were old war buddies and he just stopped by to talk about old times and maybe to beat Abu Abdullah's wife for him...
On Tuesday, nine Arab men were arrested on suspicion of links with al-Qaida, and they are being interrogated by police and intelligence officials in Peshawar. Just nabbing them all over, are we? Mullah Omar must be calving...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/29/2002 11:23 am ||
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I'd figure that these Talibanistas just didn't get the idea that their appointed duty place is now in Kashmir and that Peshawar is no longer a safe sanctuary. Of course, going back to the NW Frontier is on the books for 2004-5 when the US gets bored with chasing bandits in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
05/30/2002 5:59 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
