It?s a given here in Israel, that cab drivers and kiosk owners have a certain political acumen. If you?re ever confused about what you?ve been hearing on the local radio station or been reading in between those first sips of morning coffee, just hop into a Jerusalem taxi. After a 12 minute ride, you?ll emerge with the clarity and insight of one who has spent 12 days at an ashram in Tibet. The only difference being that you?ll still have that nervous twitch in your right eye and knot in your stomach.
Well, what did you expect? This is the Middle, not the Far, East and although your driver will address the current national and world situation with an utter simplicity that?s not lacking in profundity, the TAO to him is simply an acronym for Terror, Arabs and Oil. He understands with sagacious depth that those three things are what makes our present world go ?round, and that?s the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
I have a theory about these men behind the wheels and grocery counters. Their common wisdom stems from the fact that they never had the opportunity to wallow in the hallowed halls of Oxford, Yale and the likes; whereas, the privileged among us tend to lose ourselves in a linguistic maze as tangled as the vines that grow up the walls of those distinguished institutions. Some will remain untainted (miraculously) and will only gain from their years of higher education. Others will receive degrees in journalism, communications, Middle Eastern affairs and diplomacy. They will then leave those polished academic corridors with a Masters in BS. Once they land a prestigious and challenging position with an international media service like the Associated Press, they will, with unparalleled enthusiasm, put those university-acquired skills to work.
Two weeks ago the AP reported on the terrorist kidnaping of an Israel taxi driver. In a staggering use of verbiage, one brief report refers to the ?Palestinian criminals?, ?Palestinian militants?, ?the Palestinian Authority?, ?Palestinian Police?, ?the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - a group affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement?, ?Islamic groups?, ?members of the gang?, and ?a suicide attacker?.
The reporter is obviously suffering from a classic case of over-education. He bends over backwards in order to avoid the very fundamental "T" word. Let?s go back to basics, shall we?
Q: Find the common denominator in all of the above terms (you have ten seconds).... Time?s up.
A: I suggest that the missing link can be found in the term ?terror?, as all of those groups use and endorse terrorist tactics.
Rather elementary, isn?t it?
Your simple Israeli simply doesn?t care about the hair splitting ideological differences behind Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, al-Alska Brigades, Hizbollah, Abu Nidal, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), and Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), because he or she knows that all that really matters right now is that ?these guys wanna kill me.? Save the analysis for Harvard.
I imagine the Arabs leaders at those summits rolling on their oriental rugs in hysterical laughter, as they devise and bankroll another dozen or so groups to keep thousands of American and Israeli intelligence agents busy running around and gathering historical/ideological background information.
Take note America: It?s all very imposing when those Fox, CNN and NBC correspondents discuss, with Pentagon officials, the subtle and intricate distinctions between the Sunnis and Shiites, Baathists and Wahhabists, Al-Qaida and the Taliban. Meanwhile, while you?re breaking your head and teeth trying to understand and say the names of these groups, your American soldiers are caught in the blistering desert sun, watching their buddies being cut down. Those guys must be asking themselves, ?Let?s see, was it about deposing Saddam or liberating the Iraqi people? Was it about WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) or securing oil fields??
Darn shame the distraught GI can?t take a bit of leave and hightail a taxi over to a Jerusalem kiosk. For the time it takes to purchase a package of Bamba snack food, the guy on the other side of the counter will tell it to him straight. He?ll tell him that America was blind-sided on 9/11 and lost 3,000 American citizens. He?ll say, ?You guys have every right to kick ass.? What he means is, any regime that supports that kind of terror is fair game. And, you didn?t have to spend months groveling, spinning stories and convincing Kofi Anan and Europe about your intentions.
He?ll also lean over and, in no uncertain terms, tell that soldier the naked truth. Too bad I can?t use the vernacular in this article, but he basically whispers that America is sleeping with the enemy and we Israelis are the reluctant third party in this illicit threesome. Disaster is emanating from the eminent Saudi regime. Jihad and Mecca are at the foundations of a kingdom that American petro-dollars built. The sooner the relationship ends, the better for America, Israel and the good people of this world.
The American GI finishes his Bamba and gulps down the last of his overly-sweetened grapefruit drink. It?s time to hail a taxi and head back to the sweltering tents of Babylon. As he turns, he can?t help but notice the man with the slight smile who, through the whole conversation, was stacking boxes of Telma Flakes in the corner of the store.
That man never had the time to attend university or any glorified yeshiva, as he was too busy putting bread on the table for his family. Heck, he doesn?t even fathom the Eastern philosophical idea behind that which drives him. The TAO says that ?Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know.? What he does intrinsically know is that the world really isn?t any more complex then it was at the beginning of time. The addition of man?s ego and the media just make it seem that way.
And, he?s smiling because he knows that one day (may it come soon), ?The humble shall inherit the earth, and delight in abundant peace.? (Psalm 37)
Well, what did you expect? This is the Middle, not the Far, East and although your driver will address the current national and world situation with an utter simplicity that?s not lacking in profundity, the TAO to him is simply an acronym for Terror, Arabs and Oil. He understands with sagacious depth that those three things are what makes our present world go ?round, and that?s the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
I have a theory about these men behind the wheels and grocery counters. Their common wisdom stems from the fact that they never had the opportunity to wallow in the hallowed halls of Oxford, Yale and the likes; whereas, the privileged among us tend to lose ourselves in a linguistic maze as tangled as the vines that grow up the walls of those distinguished institutions. Some will remain untainted (miraculously) and will only gain from their years of higher education. Others will receive degrees in journalism, communications, Middle Eastern affairs and diplomacy. They will then leave those polished academic corridors with a Masters in BS. Once they land a prestigious and challenging position with an international media service like the Associated Press, they will, with unparalleled enthusiasm, put those university-acquired skills to work.
Two weeks ago the AP reported on the terrorist kidnaping of an Israel taxi driver. In a staggering use of verbiage, one brief report refers to the ?Palestinian criminals?, ?Palestinian militants?, ?the Palestinian Authority?, ?Palestinian Police?, ?the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - a group affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement?, ?Islamic groups?, ?members of the gang?, and ?a suicide attacker?.
The reporter is obviously suffering from a classic case of over-education. He bends over backwards in order to avoid the very fundamental "T" word. Let?s go back to basics, shall we?
Q: Find the common denominator in all of the above terms (you have ten seconds).... Time?s up.
A: I suggest that the missing link can be found in the term ?terror?, as all of those groups use and endorse terrorist tactics.
Rather elementary, isn?t it?
Your simple Israeli simply doesn?t care about the hair splitting ideological differences behind Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, al-Alska Brigades, Hizbollah, Abu Nidal, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), and Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), because he or she knows that all that really matters right now is that ?these guys wanna kill me.? Save the analysis for Harvard.
I imagine the Arabs leaders at those summits rolling on their oriental rugs in hysterical laughter, as they devise and bankroll another dozen or so groups to keep thousands of American and Israeli intelligence agents busy running around and gathering historical/ideological background information.
Take note America: It?s all very imposing when those Fox, CNN and NBC correspondents discuss, with Pentagon officials, the subtle and intricate distinctions between the Sunnis and Shiites, Baathists and Wahhabists, Al-Qaida and the Taliban. Meanwhile, while you?re breaking your head and teeth trying to understand and say the names of these groups, your American soldiers are caught in the blistering desert sun, watching their buddies being cut down. Those guys must be asking themselves, ?Let?s see, was it about deposing Saddam or liberating the Iraqi people? Was it about WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) or securing oil fields??
Darn shame the distraught GI can?t take a bit of leave and hightail a taxi over to a Jerusalem kiosk. For the time it takes to purchase a package of Bamba snack food, the guy on the other side of the counter will tell it to him straight. He?ll tell him that America was blind-sided on 9/11 and lost 3,000 American citizens. He?ll say, ?You guys have every right to kick ass.? What he means is, any regime that supports that kind of terror is fair game. And, you didn?t have to spend months groveling, spinning stories and convincing Kofi Anan and Europe about your intentions.
He?ll also lean over and, in no uncertain terms, tell that soldier the naked truth. Too bad I can?t use the vernacular in this article, but he basically whispers that America is sleeping with the enemy and we Israelis are the reluctant third party in this illicit threesome. Disaster is emanating from the eminent Saudi regime. Jihad and Mecca are at the foundations of a kingdom that American petro-dollars built. The sooner the relationship ends, the better for America, Israel and the good people of this world.
The American GI finishes his Bamba and gulps down the last of his overly-sweetened grapefruit drink. It?s time to hail a taxi and head back to the sweltering tents of Babylon. As he turns, he can?t help but notice the man with the slight smile who, through the whole conversation, was stacking boxes of Telma Flakes in the corner of the store.
That man never had the time to attend university or any glorified yeshiva, as he was too busy putting bread on the table for his family. Heck, he doesn?t even fathom the Eastern philosophical idea behind that which drives him. The TAO says that ?Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know.? What he does intrinsically know is that the world really isn?t any more complex then it was at the beginning of time. The addition of man?s ego and the media just make it seem that way.
And, he?s smiling because he knows that one day (may it come soon), ?The humble shall inherit the earth, and delight in abundant peace.? (Psalm 37)