Date:  Fri Sep 21, 2001  4:30 pm
Subject:  Attack on America followup

 
 
ENCINA ALUMNI,

This update is devoted to just the mail I've received
regarding the Attack on America. There's too much to include
in the regular Encina Update...

Thanks to all of you who wrote me this week about the attack.
I'm sorry I did not have time to acknowledge all your email.
Nor could I include everything in this newsletter.

I've received numerous images in the mail. Some unforwardable.
The most popular is the crying eagle. I've attached one that
I find touching and which you may not have seen.

The first section is alumni email. The second section is some
non alumni commentary which you may find interesting.


ALUMNI NOTES

From Sue Corbett Charles 62...

"The Binch who stole Tuesday...

Every U down in Uville liked U.S. a lot,
But the Binch, who lived Far East of Uville, did not.
The Binch hated U.S! the whole U.S. way!
Now don't ask me why, for nobody can say,
It could be his turban was screwed on too tight.
Or the sun from the desert had beaten too bright
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

But, Whatever the reason, his heart or his turban,
He stood facing Uville, the part that was urban.
"They're doing their business," he snarled from his perch. "They're
raising their families! They're going to church! They're leading the
world, and their empire is thriving, I MUST keep the S's and U's from
surviving!"

Tomorrow, he knew, all the U's and the S's,
Would put on their pants and their shirts and their dresses,
They'd go to their offices, playgrounds and schools,
And abide by their U and S values and rules,
And then they'd do something he liked least of all,
Every U down in U-ville, the tall and the small,
Would stand all united, each U and each S,
And they'd sing Uville's anthem, "God bless us! God bless!"
All around their Twin Towers of Uville, they'd stand,
and their voices would drown every sound in the land.

"I must stop that singing," Binch said with a smirk,
And he had an idea--an idea that might work!
The Binch stole some U airplanes in U morning hours,
And crashed them right into the Uville Twin Towers.
"They'll wake to disaster!" he snickered, so sour,
"And how can they sing when they can't find a tower?"

The Binch cocked his ear as they woke from their sleeping,
All set to enjoy their U-wailing and weeping,
Instead he heard something that started quite low,
And it built up quite slow, but it started to grow--
And the Binch heard the most unpredictable thing...
And he couldn't believe it--they started to sing!

He stared down at U-ville, not trusting his eyes,
What he saw was a shocking, disgusting surprise!
Every U down in U-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any towers at all!
He HADN'T stopped U-Ville from singing! It sung!
For down deep in the hearts of the old and the young,
Those Twin Towers were standing, called Hope and called Pride,
And you can't smash the towers we hold deep inside.

So we circle the sites where our heroes did fall,
With a hand in each hand of the tall and the small,
And we mourn for our losses while knowing we'll cope,
For we still have inside that U-Pride and U-Hope.

For America means a bit more than tall towers,
It means more than wealth or political powers,
It's more than our enemies ever could guess,
So may God bless America! Bless us! God bless!"


Foreign exchange student King Hontiveros '64 wrote:
"As I sat in stunned silence, watching the Twin Towers
fall and the Pentagon burn, I could not help but
wonder if my hopes for a better world would never be
realized, at least not in my lifetime. It wasn't so
much the brutality and inhumanity of such a heinous
act, since we in the Philippines have had our share of
violent upheavals and still live in constant fear of
bombings, kidnapings, torture and salvaging,
perpetrated not only by terrorists and rebels but on
many occasions by those who wield power. It was
rather like "Paradise Lost" or like watching the devil
enter the Garden of Eden. Despite all our trials and
difficulties, we in the Philippines and others in the
outside world knew that somewhere in this world, there
was a place where people lived in peace and harmony,
where freedom was cherished more than life itself and
liberty assured by the state for all its citizens,
where one could enjoy the fruits of his labors without
fear of the rich and powerful taking these away. This
was AMERICA- strong, untouchable and inviolate. But
then America was violated by this barbaric act. As
the Twin Towers collapsed, so did our hopes perish
with the thousands who were unable to leave or even
entered to help others. But I soon realized that
America did not fall with the towers. Only the
buildings fell but from the ruins arose a groundswell
of patriotic fervor that permeated everyone, even the
most apathetic of the lot. Americans have awakened to
a new dawn, with a firm resolve that everyone has to
do his share to preserve what is beautiful and good. I
then realized that what made America great was not the
buildings, not superior technology, not even the
"almighty dollar" but rather the spirit within each
American to rise as one to overcome adversity,
emerging better and stronger than ever. As you are
grieving, we in the Philippines understand and feel
your loss. As you are angry, we too are enraged. As
you rise to face these malevolent forces, we stand
beside you ready to do our share.

King Hontiveros '64 AFS Foreign Exchange Student"


Craig Moseley '72 wrote:
"Luckily no one in my family or company was directly impacted by the
terrorist attacks this week. The father of one of my Houston business
aquaintances died on AA Flight 11, however. Hearing this made it much more
real for me. I remember waking up on Wednesday and realizing that
unfortunately it wasn't just a dream."


Randi Muller Kemper 62 wrote this from DC:
"---hi everyone,
I just thought that I would share with you what I did this evening. I
went to the Vietnam War Memorial and found Herb Frenzell. Now all of
you will not know him, but the Pope Ave kids will. He was with us for
1st thrugh 8th and then our 4 years at Encina. It was just getting
dark and we could see the Washington monument lighting up. Very
awesome! Well I hope the pictures come out all right as there was a
lot of reflections.
I thought of all of you as I walked the wall so hopefully Herbie
would know. There was a candlelight vigil at the Washington Monument
and I also stood by the eternal flame tonight. So all in all it was a
good time to remember better times.
I hope those of you who remember Herbie will just give him a good
thought.
Hugs to all from DC Randi"


Larry Fahn 72 wrote:
Harlan--Thanks for your continuing good work on the Encina updates and
webpage. FYI--I watched some of the moving service this morning in DC.
But there were in fact 5, count em, five Presidents in attendance:
Ford, Carter, Clinton, Bush I and Bush 2. Too bad Reagan is ravaged by
Alzheimers. 6 would have been I believe a record for Presidents in
one place. 5 have gathered before (i.e. Ike's funeral had Truman and
Kennedy, as well as Nixon, Johnson and Ford, who were future presidents.
Nixon's funeral had Ford, Carter, Clinton, Bush and Reagan).


Marti Kloss Johnson 65 wrote:
"I was one of the semi-lucky baby boomers ... born after WWII, and my dad
was too young for WWI and too old for WWII. My brother enlisted in the
army in 1954, but never got sent to Korea (went to Panama instead).
I remember Viet Nam as I lost many dear friends there, but my soon to be
husband was in a special branch of the Air Force and was sent elsewhere,
although two of his brothers and his father both served in Viet Nam,
and thankfully came home unscathed. I remember the Gulf War, and various
other less notorious skirmishes ... but never can I remember something
like this horrible tragedy happening. Nor can I ever remember being as
frightened as I am now for all the countless men and women who may end
up fighting a war somewhere in a country where terrorists are welcomed.
I just heard from a dear friend of mine only six months older than I am (53)
who, after over 30-plus years of non-military life since Viet Nam, was told
that he has been reactivated into the Marines, and today, was called up
and is now on his way to Travis. He doesn't even know what they want
him for or what he'll be doing. My own husband, now nearly 63, is also
on a list for possible active service. He still is two levels below
the call point, but if necessary, they'll pull him back in as well.
The funny thing is, both men are willing to fight if they are needed,
and feel that we, as Americans, must do whatever it takes to keep it ours.
May God watch over us, keep us, and bless us all in this time of great
tragedy."


"I am truly grateful for all of the e-mails concerning my safety and well
being. I thank you for facilitating the Encina inquiries. I am alive and
well with my family in Chicago(Naperville), Illinois. Like most Americans we
are shocked and devastated by the terrible loss of human life associated
with these inexplicable acts of violence.
God Bless Us All,
Carlos X. Montoya
09/16/01"


Ken Jaffee 62 wrote:
"Hello, All!

Been sitting here being one of those "voyeurs" spoken of in simpler times, a
week or so ago. But your comment makes me jump in for a minute, Shaun.

We need to keep in mind that this isn't the first terrorist act or our first
reaction to them. We have had what we earlier thought were ultimately
horrible attacks by these same (general) factions....embassy attacks, the
Cole attack, etc, first World Trade Center bombing. We used "restraint" and
only symbolic responses. What did it get us? Certainly no lessening of
hatred and obviously no degree of safety.

I don't know that I am comfortable with the Texas rhetoric we are getting
but
I think I do agree with what I see as the essential concept. We do need to
make a direct and determined challenge to terrorism and their belief that
they can achieve their goals by raising our fear level to the point where we
acquiesce in their demands. That's all that terrorism is or can be. Make us
so afraid of what they can do that we will change our actions and beliefs to
appease them. That's one way to go through life as a nation or an
individual.
If you give the bully your lunch money one day, does he leave you alone?

Years have made me far more cynical than I would wish to be, but I am firmly
convinced that evil people are not dissuaded by your good karma. Sadly,
evil
people using harsh ways to achieve evil ends must be dealt with in harsh
ways
so that their own suffering outweighs the gain they hope to achieve. Even
more sadly, when you are up against people willing to give their own lives
to
achieve their purposes, the ways will surely become very harsh. They have
set the parameters, we have not.

Sorry for the soapbox moments. Been a pleasure sitting in on the
correspondence and all the memories of much simpler times. I'm here in
southern Oregon (Ashland) grateful for the beauty and quiet.

Thanks for the chance to "talk".

Ken Jaffee"


Bruce Parker 62 wrote:
"Ken, I, too, am jumping in to express some feelings. The terrorist attacks
against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington
D.C. were, possibly the worst tragedy to befall American in its entire
history. At last report, the death toll could reach as high as 10,000 with
additional thousands of people injured. Not since the civil war have so
many people been killed an injured on American soil.
But, why are we surprised? The real miracle is that something of this
nature hasn't happened sooner. Consider that not since President Ronald
Reagan ordered the bombing of Libya in retaliation for terrorist acts by
Mohamar Kadaffi has American answered terrorist activity with anything other
than lip service. There have been numerous incidents such as the previous
bombing at the World Trade Center, the damaging of a U.S. Navy ship with
resulting loss of American lives, the killing of over 200 U.S. Marines in
Beirut, many kidnappings of American citizens world wide an a plethora of
other acts of terrorism against the United States and her people. All of
these have been met by our "leaders" with verbal condemnations, empty
threats and acquiescence - but NEVER with decisive action.
We have endured over 12 years of wishy-washy foreign policy, to say the
least. Our relationships with foreign governments have been attitudes of
"can't we all get along?", sending billions of taxpayer dollars to our
avowed enemies, negotiations with those who have repeatedly broken
agreements, conciliation with despots and tyrants and turning a blind eye to
known terrorists and murders. We have sucked up to oppressive terrorist
regimes, tried to buy friendship with dictators, opened our borders to those
who have no respect for our sovereignty our laws or our culture. We have
allowed these dictators, despots and terrorists to invest in our economy,
educate their people in our institutions of higher learning and tried to
legitimize them with titles of leadership and respect.
Our politically correct attitude has been one of total disregard of
reality. We have foregone real action with such asininities as "we mean you
no harm, please don't hurt us." Whatever happened to the America that was
strong in its resolve to lead the world by example rather than by a gutless
show of weakness and conciliation? Has our own complacence turned us into a
bunch of bleeding hearts ignorant of the realities that there are some
people out there who will never like us no matter what we do?
In the wake of last week's tragedy, our "leaders" are already pointing
fingers of blame. (My Oregon perspective) Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon
Smith along with several others made statements that it is our intelligence
and security services are to blame. Representative Peter DeFazio stated
that this is evidence we don't need a ballistic missle defence network since
it wouldn't have prevented this catastrophe. What planet do these people
live on? President Clinton "gave up" many of our overseas intelligence
officers and they were shot by our enemies. DeFazio who has repeatedly
voted against military spending is partially responsible for the sorry
degraded state of our armed forces. Because of this belief at the highest
levels, our national security, our ability to defend ourselves and our
intelligence resources have been decimated.
Couple all this with some of the boneheaded things we've done to invite
attack and it's no wonder someone finally took a shot at America. We have
been involved in many conflicts worldwide for "humanitarian" reasons, often
on the side of the oppressors. We have pursued our economic ends to the
detriment and oppression of many people all over the world. We even bombed
an aspiring factory to take the focus of events off a president who couldn't
keep his pants zipped. And we wonder why people in other countries don't
like us?
Our leaders are already politicizing this event and jockeying for
position.
Perhaps the sickest example is their repeated invocation of God in this time
of pain and suffering by so many. What hypocrisy!! These are the very same
people who have thrown God out of our schools, banished him from our public
buildings and done everything possible to declare Him persona non grata in
this country. Is anyone surprised that God has allowed this tragedy to
befall us? As much as I grieve for those who have been injured and killed,
their families and friends, there may be a side of this travesty that could
point the direction of America's future. This, perhaps more than any other
possible event, will show what our new president is made of. It also has
the potential to expose the lies and deceit of past policies. This could be
the catalyst that will, ultimately, unite the American people, raise their
awareness of the deceitfulness of our politicians, and make them realize we
can no longer consider ourselves isolated from the issues and problems so
prevalent in the rest of the world.
If I seem to be rambling, its because of my anger frustration of last
weeks events, but this seems to be a good forum for venting my anger.
Bruce Parker"


Encina teacher/VP Gayle Kernick wrote:
"What a tragic, historical week! Keeping up with all the
emails forwarded re Tuesday, September ll, 2001 has been
hard. We had received the editorial from the Seattle
Times and thought it a good one to forward to the Encina
website but when we finally read your update we saw that
several alumni had already forwarded it to you. Gayle
equated this tragedy with the assasination of JFK we are
devastated but life goes on (they) cannot kill our
spirit or beliefs, we are going to the class of '66
reunion tomorrow night and wish we were in town for the
Home Coming we will think (next year)!

Gayle (Encina teacher/VP alumni) and wife, Gail Kernick"


Barbara Hardy 76 wrote:
"I am happy to report Connie Plessas is safe. My best friend's daughter
works two blocks up from the WTC, but fortunately is home in Jersey on
Disability. Also the brother of another friend of mine is a firefighter on
Long Island and is in the thick of it, "doing his job" as he would say.
After living there for 13 years, I consider myself a New Yorker. We are a
pretty tough bunch, not too much phases us, but I will never see anything
more chilling or heartwrenching than watching people running away from the
collapsing buildings and, in the same frame, seeing the 'BRAVEST OF THE
BRAVE" running toward ground zero to help, only to be buried alive. There
is nothing we as a nation will ever be able to do to repay them and their
fallen comrades for what they have done. Their rewards are eternal."


"I am Ann (SCHIRLE) Wilson ('68) and I reach out to you all with great
respect and love. At times like these we are never far apart and I reach
out to you as a member of the Encina family and as a member of the global
family. We find ourselves caught up in a whirlwind of emotion--so many
levels of reaction, so deep is our sorrow and confusion. But I pray every
day that we can find the courage and the will to pause as the power and
potential of our collective emotions crescendo.
We must remember in our numbness and horror that the greatest strength of
this nation is not in its ability to rise up with a lightning flash of
vengeance, but rather in the deep tap root of its compassion and faith and
love of freedom. I hope with all my heart that we, as a nation, and as a
global family, will be given the time to absorb this horror, to see
ourselves in it, and allow ourselves to fully experience our grief and our
vulnerability. We must take that time and use it well.
As important, we must take great care as we satisfy of our need to find
the
"face of the enemy". As a physician in private practice, I have many
wonderful patients who are of Middle Eastern descent. Some of the finest
people I know. Their experience is not different from ours. As one man
said to me this week, "We weep as you weep, for we too have family and
friends who were killed and are missing. We are your neighbors and friends
and coworkers and we love this nation. And yet, we are frightened for the
safety of our children and our homes as others look for a target for their
understandable grief and anger."
He told me of a friend, a Muslim woman wearing the clothing of her
religious
and cultural tradition, who parked and went into a grocery story for a few
minutes, only to return to her car to find that someone had smashed out all
the windows, the inside of her car covered with glass. One can only imagine
the terror and sadness she must have felt. She is one of our neighbors, and
yet she shares the "face of the enemy". The horrible consequence of this
indiscriminate act of terror is an unthinkable LOSS OF FREEDOM, something
that NONE of us should tolerate in ANY form.
If the events of Tuesday, 9/11 turn us against each other, then we have
surely lost ourselves in the flames and debris of the terrorist's
intentions. We then give them EXACTLY what they wanted, as we lower
ourselves below the lowest of the low.
We must remember that "EVERY ACTION OF OUR LIVES TOUCHES SOME CHORD THAT
VIBRATES IN ETERNITY". Our children are watching us and are looking to us
for example and hope and sanity and they will remember everything we do and
say in the next few days and weeks. And every action we take, every word we
speak will vibrate in the eternity of their lives and those of their
children. Thus, I ask that we all pause and use our hearts, as well as our
steely minds, to find a way out of this nightmare. We have the collective
will to set any potential action into motion. May it be an action that we
can live with in the vibrations of eternity.
I send you all my blessings and I pray that you and your families are safe
and will find peace in your hearts.
Ann (Schirle) Wilson"


"Since it IS getting tough to find flags for sale, I've set up a link on my
website where anyone can print out a free American flag to display,
anywhere. The address is: http://www.lanceballance.com
Click where it says "Print a U.S. Flag Here", and then print the next page
that comes up. One of our other personalities created it, I'm just
distributing it...

Lance Ballance '85
KBIG 104, Los Angeles"


Candy Mleczko 94 wrote:
"I wanted to let you, and all of my fellow alumni a great website to help us
all in these hard times. If you are looking for someone that is missing or
you know of someone's status in the attacked areas, please go this website
http://do.millennium.berkeley.edu Here you can search for someone you are
looking for an notify others of the status of your friends and loved ones.
Please note anyone you know a status on. Remember the 6 degrees of
seperation theory and you may just help your fellow American out as well as
yourselves.

God Bless everyone that is currently affected and those who will be affected
in the future. I know my brother, Terrance (c/o 1995) is in the Navy on
active duty and he may be at risk. For those of you who know him, don't fret
because he is ok and on land, for now. I welcome any condlences to him and
I will be more than happy to forward them to him as now is a frightening
time for him while being away from his family and old friends.

Peace be with you all
Candy c/o 1994"


COMMENTARY

I thought these were worth passing on...


Different perspective on Afghanistan

From a recent Princeton grad:

I wish for this message to reach as many as possible.

Dear Friends,

The following was sent to me by my friend Tamim Ansary. Tamim is an
Afghani-American writer. He is also one of the most brilliant people I
know in this life. When he writes, I read. When he talks, I listen.
Here is his take on Afghanistan and the whole mess we are in.
--Gary T.

Dear Gary and whoever else is on this email thread:
I've been hearing a lot of talk about "bombing Afghanistan back to the
Stone Age." Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio today, allowed that this
would mean killing innocent people, people who had nothing to do with
this atrocity, but "we're at war, we have to accept collateral damage.
What else can we do?" Minutes later I heard some TV pundit discussing
whether we "have the belly to do what must be done."

And I thought about the issues being raised especially hard because I
am from Afghanistan, and even though I've lived here for 35 years I've
never lost track of what's going on there. So I want to tell anyone who
will listen how it all looks from where I'm standing.

I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no
doubt in my mind that these people were responsible for the atrocity in
New York. I agree that something must be done about those monsters.

But the Taliban and Bin Laden are not Afghanistan. They're not even
the government of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorant
psychotics who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political
criminal with a plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you
think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think "the people of
Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps."

It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this
atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators. They would
exult if someone would come in there, take out the Taliban and clear
out the rats nest of international thugs holed up in their country.

Some say, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The
answer is, they're starved, exhausted, hurt, incapacitated, suffering.
A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000
disabled orphans in Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no food.
There are millions of widows. And the Taliban has been burying
these widows alive in mass graves. The soil is littered with land
mines, the farms were all destroyed by the Soviets. These are a few of
the reasons why the Afghan people have not overthrown the Taliban.

We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone
Age. Trouble is, that's been done. The Soviets took care of it already.
Make the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their houses?
Done. Turn their schools into piles of rubble? Done. Eradicate their
hospitals? Done. Destroy their infrastructure? Cut them off from
medicine and health care? Too late. Someone already did all that.

New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs. Would they at
least get the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, only the
Taliban eat, only they have the means to move around. They'd slip away
and hide. Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans,
they don't move too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. But flying
over Kabul and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike against the
criminals who did this horrific thing. Actually it would only
be making common cause with the Taliban--by raping once again the
people they've been raping all this time.

So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now speak with
true fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in
there with ground troops. When people speak of "having the belly to do
whatneeds to be done" they're thinking in terms of having the belly to
kill as many as needed. Having the belly to overcome any moral qualms
about killing innocent people. Let's pull our heads out of the sand.
What's actually on the table is Americans dying. And not just because
some Americans would die fighting their way through Afghanistan to Bin
Laden's hideout. It's much bigger than that folks. Because to get any
troops to Afghanistan, we'd have to go through Pakistan. Would they let
us? Not likely. The conquest of Pakistan would have to be first. Will
other Muslim nations just stand by? You see where I'm going. We're
flirting with a world war between Islam and the West.

And guess what: that's Bin Laden's program. That's exactly what he
wants. That's why he did this. Read his speeches and statements. It's
all right there. He really believes Islam would beat the west. It
might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into
Islam and the West, he's got a billion soldiers. If the west wreaks a
holocaust in those lands, that's a billion people with nothing left to
lose, that's even better from Bin Laden's point of view. He's probably
wrong, in the end the west would win, whatever that would mean, but the
war would last for years and millions would die, not just theirs but
ours. Who has the belly for that? Bin Laden does. Anyone else?

Tamim Ansary


Stafford Boyd 88 wrote:
I appreciate you facilitating a dialogue about the recent tragic events via
the website. Like other alums, I have personal connections to and stories
about those that lost their lives and I too ABHOR the violence, death, and
hate undertaken on Tuesday.

A great response I read to Tuesday's events were by a 24 year old University
of Colorado student named Nicholle McClelland:

"The entire world created the world we live in now. Our histories have come
together, and people need to do the same."

As the nation--and the people within the nation--search for short-term and
long-term answers, solutions, and understanding from their own experiences
and perspectives in regard to eradication of terrorists and terrorism around
the globe, I hope that in taking actions within our borders and
internationally to "secure" the liberty, freedom, and democracy that we HAVE
we also continue to take actions within our borders and internationally to
allow people "participation" in liberty, freedom, and democracy as something
we DO.

So, I hope you post the following column that I feel contributes a unique
perspective to the dialogue.

Justice for Palestinians essential

By Pius Kamau
Denver Post columnist

Saturday, September 15, 2001 - For me, the World Trade Center's bombing and
destruction had a sense of deja vu. It was as if I'd been there before, but
this time it was in Technicolor. This time it was a motion picture that's
been repeated a thousand times, those moments of impact as fully fueled
planes carrying human cargo were used by terrorists as missiles against
America's prized twin towers. I've seen it all countless times, at different
angles and directions.

Three years ago, my sister was in the American embassy in Nairobi when it
was destroyed by terrorist bombs. Fortunately she survived, but 11 Americans
and 250 Africans didn't. Four thousand Africans were maimed and blinded;
many more were left destitute and without means for a livelihood. Few have
had any help from the U.S. government.

Both tragedies, it now seems, may have the same architect: Osama bin Laden,
who aimed his wrath at his constant target, America. The attacks in Africa
and the United States have killed and maimed Africans, Americans, Arabs,
Jews and others indiscriminately. This much can be said about all the
tragedies that he's masterminded: They've accomplished nothing. America
hasn't changed the way it conducts its military and diplomatic business; its
support for Israel didn't diminish an iota.

After Tuesday's attack, there's a likelihood some changes will take place.
If we're to believe the Bush administration's pronouncements, terrorist
blood will be spilled. A great nation cannot be hurt without a resounding
response. We're about to retaliate on a grand scale and probably wage a war
against our attackers.

Yet I ask: At the end of the "war," will we have truly eradicated Middle
East terrorism with our revenge killings? Will we have a lasting peace?
That, I think, should give all of us pause before we go too far down the
road of revenge. We should pause to consider the reasons behind terrorist
acts against the United States. If America is a great, pure, peace-loving
nation, why do some people hate it so much?

Clearly the reasons are as varied as the people who hate America. The
Vietnamese, Nicaraguans, Chileans, Mexicans, Cubans, some Africans - all
have their own reasons for disliking the United States. Often the reasons
are closely related to America's atrocities against native populations and
the CIA's practice of torturing and murdering people perceived to be
America's enemies. Often, much is done in the name of America that the
ordinary citizen has little knowledge of, much of it dirty and cruel. It has
led to hate and loathing for America by those who should rightfully look up
to the United States for support. But they don't fight America.

The only groups that seem to have enough motivation and wherewithal to lash
out against U.S. interests seem to be of Middle Eastern origin. The
overriding reason for much of the Arab wrath revolves around America's
unquestioning support for Israel. The United States has backed most of
Israel's measures against Palestinians: confiscation of Palestinian land;
capricious demolition of Arab homes; continued expansion to new Jewish
settlements; and clear mistreatment of Palestinians by the Jewish army.
Instead of adopting a neutral, mediating attitude, the United States has
since 1948 acted as if Israel's interests were always concordant with
America's.

The lack of American sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian people has
been astonishing. We've watched a whole people be uprooted from their homes
to become wanderers. Many live in the squalor of refugee camps, ignored by
America and the great European nations who helped create Israel in the first
place. It's unfortunate, but hunger, displacement and maltreatment tend to
harden people's resolve to strike out. Without trying to justify terrorist
acts like the ones we've just witnessed, we must all understand that the
hate so apparent in acts of terrorism is an expression of 50 years of hurt
and rejection.

I realize and fully agree that this is a time not for reconciliation but for
revenge. A careful calibration of the response against those behind the
carnage in New York and Washington is called for. But remember that until we
deal with the root cause of Palestinian landlessness, unbearable poverty and
discrimination by Israel, we'll continue to breed new generations of
terrorists. An Osama bin Laden, like Abu Nidal, may die, but others will
rise to take their places. We'll only see an escalation in the levels of
destruction with rising numbers of casualties, people who - like my sister -
have nothing to do with Israel, Palestine or America. The answer lies in
justice and equality for the people of the Middle East.

Pius Kamau of Aurora is a cardiovascular, thoracic and general-surgery
physician. He was born and raised in Kenya and immigrated to the United
States in 1971.


Where Islamic History Intersects with Other Religions

Islam, historically, has been a very tolerant religion. At a time when
conquest was a way of life, Spain's Moorish conquerors allowed Christians
and Jews to practice their faiths freely. Islam offered an enlightened life
when most of Europe was struggling through the Medieval period. And, in
Constantinople, to this day, Christian scholars can study the icons and
history of the Haghia Sophia. The Haghia Sophia was originally a Christian
church, built in the 6th century, so it stands as an invaluable repository
of history. After the Ottoman victory in the 15th, the Orthodox church
became an Islamic mosque. Unlike conquerors in the Americas, the Ottoman
Turks and their successors preserved the church's essence, despite the ways
in which it runs contrary to Islamic beliefs. Fifteen centuries after its
construction and five centuries after its conversion, Christians can still
study its wonders. Tolerance in Islam presents the text of a seminal lecture
on the subject given in 1927.
Moorish Spain: http://www.xmission.com/~dderhak/index/moors.htm
Haghia Sophia:
http://www.virtualistanbul.com/virtualistanbul/HaghiaSophia.htm
Tolerance in Islam: http://users.erols.com/gmqm/toleran1.html


Be careful out there!

Harlan Lau '73
Encina HS alumni webmaster
www.encinahighschool.com
harlan@rambus.com