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Poll
peace
peace 100%

Votes: 12

 peace

 Author:  Topic:  Posted:
Sep 11, 2001
 Comments:
Peace, friends.

I have just received an email from a friend in Scranton who took a gun to work.

He took a gun to work because there are arab american students at the nearby university, and he is afraid that these arab americans will celebrate the attacks, as some Palestinians are doing in Nablus, West Bank, Israel.

In undernet.org's #politics, there are howls of anger, comparisons to Pearl Harbor, and, most siginificantly, calls for attacks on ethnic Arabs and Middle East nationals in the United States.

I hope that nobody will allow their anger to get the best of them, and that everybody will stay peaceful.

In a few hours, urban areas and universities may erupt in protest.

Below, a few thoughts.

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First of all there is this comparison to Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor was an attack on our Hawaiian base by the Japanese, and it was our reason to enter into war against the Japanese.

At least until we are certain who this attacker or attacker is, we should not be using this comparison.

Many people I have spoken to are calling for a generalized attack on Arab nations, particularly Iran, Afghanistan, and Palestine, employing this metaphor. However, these calls for attack may provoke hatred in the United States, and we should be careful when making these statements.

The true "enemies" are not any race, creed, religion or political movement.

The "enemies" are the callow, cowardly terrorists, whoever they are, and our administration which could not prevent this attack. Other "enemies" are people who would abrogate constitutional freedoms, cause witch hunts, or jump to conclusions.

Remember that after the OKC bombing, many people accused Arabs of the attack. Think about that now, when the horror and fear is so much magnified. It is OUR responsibility as citizens to be patient and wait for the truth, and, meanwhile, to dispel aggression amongst ourselves and in our communities.

I have been praying all morning, and I think that that is a good idea for other people too. My other friend who works at a law office here in Rochester New York stopped at a church on the way home and prayed with people from all religions, and some non-believers, too. It made her feel a lot better after learning that some of her colleagues in NYC were probably dead.

Please stay out of the streets if you can! There is so much fear and terror in everyone's hearts right now. A man in NYC who said the attacks were retribution for American acts of terror, which may be true, got pelted with food and interrogated by the police. Save your words of resistance for a safer time, a time when emotions have abated somewhat and people are prepared to hear your thoughts! Don't risk violence to yourself!!

If you are stranded in an airport, please help your fellow travelers with their basic needs. Watch each others' kids while people go on supply trips or to the restroom. Talk together and pray together.

I personally am very afraid right now, of an authoritarian crackdown in the United States. The city I am in is already beginning to react. The reservoir in my town of Rochester, New York is closed. Primary elections were cancelled here, and our Federal building was closed. Many town activities were shut down, and many people are coming home from work in tears.

Exclusive links to coverage and pics here.


Thank you (5.00 / 4) (#2)
by motherfuckin spork on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 10:44:15 AM PST
Thank you, Perdida, for a well written piece.

This is indeed a sad and difficult moment - and not just for Americans. Events suchs as this clearly have a global impact.

I indeed impatiently await word on who did this, but I wait none the less. I have family that lives about 2-4 miles from the Pentagon (its so hard to tell, the roads being so tangled there), and now my wife and I find ourselves hoping and praying for their continued safety.

Be you a believer or not, I ask you all, pray for peace.


I am not who you think I am.

 
Innocence lost in the Tech Industry (3.00 / 2) (#3)
by typical geek on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 10:45:53 AM PST
Wow, just to think that a few days ago my biggest gripe about foreign workers was their hygeine. Now people are carrying guns in fear of them.

Than again, Scranton is in Pennsylvania. For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with this state, it's been described as two bastion of civilization (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) with Alabama in between.

Of course, no you won't be able to buy a handgun in PA, not because of regulation, but because fear mongers will be snapping them up.


gcc is to software freedom as guns are to personal freedom.

 
Arabs stay home (5.00 / 2) (#4)
by alprazolam on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 11:02:05 AM PST
I'm certainly glad I'm not flying anywhere today. Same for my father. I hope he's careful on his way home from work though.


 
Man (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by Anonymous Reader on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 11:09:13 AM PST
Everyone's emotions are running high right now, that's to be expected. Hopefully, though, it does not escalate...
Lets hope our esteemed government doesn't just say "oh, must be Palestine, lets nuke `em" or something stupid like that. Also, this is going to be an interesting time (as you note) for our rights- will the USA stand tall in the face of this disaster, or will we succumb and take the easy way out?
Hell, we don't even have much proof it was a terrorist attack- although there isn't really anything else it could be.


 
Self-fulfilling prophecy (5.00 / 2) (#6)
by zikzak on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 11:27:53 AM PST
Alarmist cries of "urban areas and universities may erupt in protest" and "Please stay out of the streets if you can!" will contribute to the likelihood of protests and rioting, not prevent them. Panick and extreme reactions are exactly what we do NOT need.

Unless you were planning on making a personal visit to your Wall St. stock broker, I recommend that people try to go about their normal day as best as possible. Remember the point of terrorism. The more these events are allowed to disrupt daily life the more we lose.


 
Fuck Peace (4.33 / 3) (#7)
by osm on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 12:51:35 PM PST
i say we turn the entire middle east into an ashtray. if it turns out to be someone else, then nuke them too. fuck them all. what are they going to do? whine to the UN. fucking nuke the un too.


OSM (4.00 / 3) (#8)
by Craig McPherson on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 01:16:31 PM PST
Your ideas intrigue me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.


--
If you want to know why Lunix is so screwed up, just take a look at the people who use it. Idiocy.

Yeah (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by osm on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 01:19:22 PM PST
me too.


 
in that case (2.50 / 2) (#10)
by alprazolam on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 01:27:40 PM PST
let's hope it's some more trailor trash from oklahoma, and nuke them.


 
Scranton (none / 0) (#11)
by Anonymous Reader on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 01:55:01 PM PST
He took a gun to work because there are arab american students at the nearby university

Sounds EXACTLY like what someone from SCRANTON would say.


 
Shoot a f*cking Arab (0.25 / 4) (#12)
by Anonymous Reader on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 07:01:27 PM PST
Take a gun with you. I dare you. When you see some person that looks like an Arab, point at that person's head and shoot. Keep shooting and if there are others like that person in the area, keep shooting. When you're done, I hope someone takes their gun, points it back at you and shoots you in the head too.


 
Insane (2.00 / 1) (#13)
by Anonymous Reader on Tue Sep 11th, 2001 at 07:55:37 PM PST
He took a gun to work because there are arab american students at the nearby university, and he is afraid that these arab americans will celebrate the attacks

I'm sorry, but this is so incredibly far off the racist asshole scale that I can't reply with anything but a flame. And I'm meta-pissed-off that my first post here is tainted so.

The only thing such a person is "afraid" of is that he's going to have to start killing Arabs unprovoked if he sees them. In spite of the fact that no evidence other than pure conjecture points to Arab involvement. In spite of the fact that Arab Americans are unlikely to subscribe to the ideals that are so hateful towards America.

Your trigger-happy friend is simply hoping for an excuse to start shooting someone out of rage, and has already chosen a convenient demographic.

I hope that nobody will allow their anger to get the best of them, and that everybody will stay peaceful.

Yeah, and meanwhile, carry a gun and look out for Evil Arabs!


 
Anyone else suspicious ? (1.00 / 1) (#14)
by HAL9000 on Wed Sep 12th, 2001 at 04:12:40 AM PST
I wonder why everyone is pointing
at the Arabs at first.

Sure, they hate the U.S. for quite many reasons, but is that enough to go and crush buildings with airplanes ?
How about anti-U.S. or anti-government or anti-comercialisation or
anti-I-don�t-know-what-else movements within your own borders ?




 
Your newspaper reference (none / 0) (#15)
by legolas on Wed Sep 12th, 2001 at 03:33:47 PM PST
It's interesting that you decided to post, as a reference, from a paper that describes itself as have being founded by "A group of Zionist immigrants". Usually I wouldn't be a stickler to this sort of thing, but one would expect it to be slanted fairly heavily anti-arab, to say the least.

However, I seriously agree that coming to a rash decision would be doubleplusbad. I heard talk while watching the neverending CNN coverage last night that the US Gov't is considering pin-point attacks on known enemies of the state, which frightens me somewhat. I hope the US takes the time to fully understand what retaliatory action they will take, and not respond to a mob frenzied blood lust.

And, as one of the Arabs in my university class pointed out sarcasticly to me, "I'll probably be a suspect". The fall-out from this will be scary, to say the least.

-legolas


 

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