Child Terrorists, Angry Leftists, and More!
Either later today or tomorrow I'll post about some of the interesting, recent developments at the State House. In the meantime, some of my favorite thinkers (and one new favorite) are asking and attempting to answer some of the most pressing questions of our era:
1) Brooke Goldstein's provocative new film, The Making of a Martyr, explores the reasons why Palestinian children becoming suicide bombers. A sense of despair because of Israeli oppression? No, argues Goldstein, these children become suicide bombers out of *aspiration* not *desperation* because they are brainwashed from birth to hate Jews and shaheedim (martyr/murderers) are glorified. Children are shown cartoons glorifying martyrdom in school and at home -- even Mickey Mouse is used to teach children to kill Jews and Americans!
Asked about her claim that "desperation" isn't a factor, Goldstein answered: "...Not one child -- and I interviewed tons of children in school, children in prison, their families -- told me that he was doing it because of Sharon's policies or because of the failed Camp David Accords. They were doing it to kill Jews, for religious reasons, for Allah; they were doing it to secure places for their family in Paradise; they were doing it for fame, for candy, for money. The child suicide bomber is purely a result of a shrewd brainwashing and recruitment strategy by the PA, its affiliated terrorist organizations, and societal influences. If the children were taught peace they would not be blowing themselves up..."
If only the so-called "peace movement" understood the nature of our enemy. Speaking of which...
2) Christopher Hitchens explores a different question: "The London neighborhood of the author's youth, Finsbury Park, is now one of the breeding grounds for a new phenomenon: the British jihadist. How did a nation move from cricket and fish-and-chips to burkas and shoe-bombers in a single generation?"
He ends with an even more troubling question: "I find myself haunted by a challenge that was offered on the BBC by a Muslim activist named Anjem Choudary: a man who has praised the 9/11 murders as 'magnificent' and proclaimed that 'Britain belongs to Allah.' When asked if he might prefer to move to a country which practices Shari'a, he replied: 'Who says you own Britain anyway?' A question that will have to be answered one way or another."
3) Thomas Sowell tackles the question: Why is the Left so angry? He also asks important corollaries: "How often have you seen conservatives or libertarians take to the streets, shouting angry slogans? How often have conservative students on campus shouted down a visiting speaker or rioted to prevent the visitor from speaking at all?"
Good questions, indeed. I have another: why is it that the Left froths at the mouth over "overpaid" CEOs but can't quite seem to get mad about Islamic terrorists brainwashing children to kill Jews and Americans?
UPDATED: Thanks to carbonelle, I've fixed the Thomas Sowell link. The story I'd inadvertently linked to was an important story as well: Some British schools won't teach about the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslim students. (And we thought the "intelligent design" debate was ridiculous!)
1) Brooke Goldstein's provocative new film, The Making of a Martyr, explores the reasons why Palestinian children becoming suicide bombers. A sense of despair because of Israeli oppression? No, argues Goldstein, these children become suicide bombers out of *aspiration* not *desperation* because they are brainwashed from birth to hate Jews and shaheedim (martyr/murderers) are glorified. Children are shown cartoons glorifying martyrdom in school and at home -- even Mickey Mouse is used to teach children to kill Jews and Americans!
Asked about her claim that "desperation" isn't a factor, Goldstein answered: "...Not one child -- and I interviewed tons of children in school, children in prison, their families -- told me that he was doing it because of Sharon's policies or because of the failed Camp David Accords. They were doing it to kill Jews, for religious reasons, for Allah; they were doing it to secure places for their family in Paradise; they were doing it for fame, for candy, for money. The child suicide bomber is purely a result of a shrewd brainwashing and recruitment strategy by the PA, its affiliated terrorist organizations, and societal influences. If the children were taught peace they would not be blowing themselves up..."
If only the so-called "peace movement" understood the nature of our enemy. Speaking of which...
2) Christopher Hitchens explores a different question: "The London neighborhood of the author's youth, Finsbury Park, is now one of the breeding grounds for a new phenomenon: the British jihadist. How did a nation move from cricket and fish-and-chips to burkas and shoe-bombers in a single generation?"
He ends with an even more troubling question: "I find myself haunted by a challenge that was offered on the BBC by a Muslim activist named Anjem Choudary: a man who has praised the 9/11 murders as 'magnificent' and proclaimed that 'Britain belongs to Allah.' When asked if he might prefer to move to a country which practices Shari'a, he replied: 'Who says you own Britain anyway?' A question that will have to be answered one way or another."
3) Thomas Sowell tackles the question: Why is the Left so angry? He also asks important corollaries: "How often have you seen conservatives or libertarians take to the streets, shouting angry slogans? How often have conservative students on campus shouted down a visiting speaker or rioted to prevent the visitor from speaking at all?"
Good questions, indeed. I have another: why is it that the Left froths at the mouth over "overpaid" CEOs but can't quite seem to get mad about Islamic terrorists brainwashing children to kill Jews and Americans?
UPDATED: Thanks to carbonelle, I've fixed the Thomas Sowell link. The story I'd inadvertently linked to was an important story as well: Some British schools won't teach about the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslim students. (And we thought the "intelligent design" debate was ridiculous!)