BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

by Emilio Karim Dabul There was a time centuries ago in Arab countries when intellectual introspection was common and the culture produced searching, self-critical scholarship in various arenas. That time is gone. Today, brave and questioning souls like Irshad Manji, who calls for an Islamic Reformation, receive death threats. Without the ability to look inward, Arab blame for problems is projected outward - meaning, at Israel and the U.S. That is very dangerous for the world. As an Arab-American, recent events have reminded me in very stark terms why introspection needs to return to the Arab world in a big way, as quickly as possible, as a prerequisite for anything resembling peace, in the Middle East or elsewhere, to be a real possibility. First, look at what Fatah just attempted to do regarding American victims of Palestinian terrorism. Because of the 1990 Anti-Terrorism Act, numerous lawsuits have been brought against Fatah and other Palestinian terrorist groups that have injured o...

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS CAN BE TOXIC Chaim over at Freedom's Cost had a great post that really got me thinking about political correctness. ( Chaim , by the way, is a superb writer and very knowledgeable - its a blog to read even from my side of the aisle!) One of my children has a serious problem being bullied. A very sensitive, good looking, tops in class, wins awards at school kid so, hmmm... wonder why? Be that as it may, it's very hurtful. I have been talking with them about it, giving them things to read and doing as much as I can to raise my kids' self esteem. It's hard when the other parent is overly critical, as he was when we were married. He wasn't the first person to do this to me. The abuser gets you defending yourself about things you didn't do, never said and have no clue about and thereby successfully diverts you from their behavior. As my child said, "what did I do to them to make them do this to me?" I don't know because I...