From Bobby to Bhutto
We recently watched the movie "Bobby," which is mostly about the ordinary people in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where Bobby Kennedy went to celebrate his win in the 1968 California Democratic Primary election, and was then assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan (may he rot in hell). It reminded me that Arab extremists had interfered in American politics long before 9/11. And even today in 2008 they are subverting the process of democracy in Pakistan by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, for all her faults a force for democracy. So for over 40 years they have murdered and blown up to get their way, they are afraid of the ballot box.
Sihan Sirhan murdered Robert Kennedy because he was sympathetic to Israel, that's all it took. The date was June 5, exactly one year after the victory by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. The fact that Kennedy was the favored candidate of millions of young, poor, black and brown people, as well as many whites, meant nothing to Sirhan beside that one political stain. And this is true of most of the Muslim extremists today, if you even have a slight sympathy for Israel, then you are disposable.
Sirhan Sirhan called himself a Palestinian, but as his name proclaims his family came from the area of Wadi Sirhan in the center of the Jordanian desert. His family moved into Palestine when it was under the British Mandate because of the prosperity engendered by the influx of Jews, looking for work like so many thousands of others. And within a generation they regarded the land as their own, while the Jews who had come in earlier or even later, as far as they were concerned, had no rights whatsoever. When the war occured in 1948 and his family fled to the USA, instead of dwelling on his luck, he stewed in the hatred of the Jews who had provided the work that thousands of Arabs had found there. And instead of working for a better life for himself he needed to take the life of one of the best and brightest that the US had produced (whether or not you agreed with his politics). Sirhan Sirhan subverted the process of politics in the USA by his heinous act.
Similarly, whether or not you think that Benazir Bhutto was an honest democrat, the terrorists who assassinated her in Pakistan were intent on subverting the process of democracy and leadership there. Its true that democracy is of Greek origin, and is a Western concept. But, actually it is of universal significance, and is the best means of Government that humankind has yet invented (according to Churchill). Why are they so afraid of it? Because they believe in a religious dictatorship that allows no free expression of ideas and votes, and since their belief is mandated by God (and Mohammed) they have no compunction in murdering whoever stands in their way, be they infidel or Muslim.
Muslims and Arabs are not the only groups to practice assassination, but the term was invented for them and they are the primary practitioners of it. We must mourn the loss of those who have thus been removed from the scene, but press on with our democratic processes and our rights despite their attempts to disrupt them. On to the primaries and the votes and the Presidential race in the USA, in all its glory and garishness.
Sihan Sirhan murdered Robert Kennedy because he was sympathetic to Israel, that's all it took. The date was June 5, exactly one year after the victory by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. The fact that Kennedy was the favored candidate of millions of young, poor, black and brown people, as well as many whites, meant nothing to Sirhan beside that one political stain. And this is true of most of the Muslim extremists today, if you even have a slight sympathy for Israel, then you are disposable.
Sirhan Sirhan called himself a Palestinian, but as his name proclaims his family came from the area of Wadi Sirhan in the center of the Jordanian desert. His family moved into Palestine when it was under the British Mandate because of the prosperity engendered by the influx of Jews, looking for work like so many thousands of others. And within a generation they regarded the land as their own, while the Jews who had come in earlier or even later, as far as they were concerned, had no rights whatsoever. When the war occured in 1948 and his family fled to the USA, instead of dwelling on his luck, he stewed in the hatred of the Jews who had provided the work that thousands of Arabs had found there. And instead of working for a better life for himself he needed to take the life of one of the best and brightest that the US had produced (whether or not you agreed with his politics). Sirhan Sirhan subverted the process of politics in the USA by his heinous act.
Similarly, whether or not you think that Benazir Bhutto was an honest democrat, the terrorists who assassinated her in Pakistan were intent on subverting the process of democracy and leadership there. Its true that democracy is of Greek origin, and is a Western concept. But, actually it is of universal significance, and is the best means of Government that humankind has yet invented (according to Churchill). Why are they so afraid of it? Because they believe in a religious dictatorship that allows no free expression of ideas and votes, and since their belief is mandated by God (and Mohammed) they have no compunction in murdering whoever stands in their way, be they infidel or Muslim.
Muslims and Arabs are not the only groups to practice assassination, but the term was invented for them and they are the primary practitioners of it. We must mourn the loss of those who have thus been removed from the scene, but press on with our democratic processes and our rights despite their attempts to disrupt them. On to the primaries and the votes and the Presidential race in the USA, in all its glory and garishness.
posted by Jack Cohen at 3:33 PM
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