We are seen as hypocrites to the Muslim world, I have read. Condemning every car bombing or act of terrorism and ignoring Israeli soldiers firing on unarmed civilians. We have openly favored Israel for basically one reason, there are more Jews in the US than Muslims.

I am mad at the Israelis for being xenophobic wannabe theocrats who won't admit to being racists. I am mad at the Palestinians and their supposed supporters for not protesting using passive resistance and other non-violent methods proven effective by great men like Gandhi and Rev. Martin Luther King.

I am mad at my government for giving Israel a huge proportion of our foreign aid to a nation who was extremely friendly to apartheid era South Africa and giving military assistance to a nation known to have its own nuclear arsenal.

I am mad at my own Congressman for saying a few weeks back after a trip to Israel paid for by a pro Israeli group that "Arafat wants war." To prosecute war one needs tanks, planes, and other military hardware that the Palestinians do not have. And if they are at war, by the numbers, the Palestinians are losing.

I am mad at Yasser Arafat for not denouncing violence in all forms and following the true path of the peacemaker. His own refusal to deal with the xenophobic tendencies in his own people shows lack of good judgement and decency.

I am mad at Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, for not denouncing the extremists in his own nation and party as the xenophobic racists they are.

All my life, I have seen the headlines on newspapers and TV and I am tired of it.

Even though it's only been a few hours since the terrorist strike as I'm starting to write, I'm certain everyone will have heard the news of the tragedy by the time they read this.

I believe this was inevitable because of our behavior towards other countries and our hypocrisy. we purport to be the land of the free, and push for "democracy" everywhere, but all we really do is subvert the will of the people in other countries to put friendly puppet governments in power, and turn a blind eye to the acts of oppression and terror that our friends commit against others. Israel has been one of our worst hypocrisies, so bad that even a Jew I know is bitterly and vocally opposed to the succor we offer the Israeli government, he is strongly anti-Zionist and very vocal in his opposition. He is a man I hold in extremely high regard, one of my favorite professors from my academic experience. It takes strength of character and mind to be able to sympathize with and support adherents of a traditionally hostile ethnicity, to see that justice is not being done and to take a very unpopular stand. He pushes his cause publically and is condemned and despised by almost everyone who responds to his essays and letters to the editor. I only saw the tip of the iceberg in his classes, I came to respect him much later when I came across some of his essays and public letters and learned more about his background. I feel sorry that people attack him so much, it is fortunate that he's a tenured professor, for his strength of character is what tenure is there to protect (academics tend to get in lots of trouble if they are honest). Maybe I'll seize the opportunity to write him and tell him how much I respect him, but since he already does what he feels is just, my support will do little but let him know what he already knows.

"Great spirits have always found opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence"-- Albert Einstein

The Palestinians and Arabs whose cause Osama bin Laden has claimed to be fighting for have been oppressed by the Zionist Israeli government for the past 50 years. They have been driven from their homes by bulldozers making room for new Jewish/Israeli settlers. When their youth, out of frustration, throw bottles or rocks at the occupying forces, they are attacked and killed with bullets and grenades. For each and every Israeli civilian or soldier killed through tensions between ethnic war there, tens of Palestinians have been killed, yet the Israelis claim they are at a disadvantage? Palestinians have been incarcerated for political reasons without trial, rounded up on the supposition that they might be a possible bomber or a member of the PLO, but were not American patriots purportedly fighting that very same tyranny? Why, then, have we supported, and continue to support the tyrannical Israeli government? Why do we offer them foreign aid loans, that they may bulldoze homes? Why do we favor a government that signifies everything our forefathers fought against?

We are now gravely hurt and humiliated by a terrorist act. Many innocent Americans have now suffered for our government's treachery and hypocrisy, just as many foreigners have suffered for those reasons in the past, and many more people from both sides will pay as we seek retaliation. But were these really innocent victims who died today? Perhaps not. By remaining silent and ignoring or just not *wanting* to know about the injustices our government commits, we tacitly grant our approval. There have been so few people crying out for the Palestinian cause in front of the White House and capital, that their grievances were dismissed by the general public. This terrorist act that has struck two of our national symbols of prosperity and military power was committed out of desperation and rage. I, for one, am outraged at our government's pathetic attempts at facilitating "mid east peace", those talks have always been a complete farce because we refuse to enforce any of the accords, our representatives just make a show but never got tough with the Israeli oppressors. Whenever any disagreements arose during those discussions, we would exhort the Israelis to take the peaceful tack, but would never force the issue even through such mild means as just withdrawing foreign aid to them. The "Palestinian-controlled" areas in Israeli-controlled territories are a farce anyway, there is no autonomy, and the Israeli army is quick to shut everything down in those sectors if they feel there is any threat. That is not a free Palestinian state, that is martial law from an outside force.

The thought that people will suffer ill if they commit ill against others, good if they are kind to others, is a common thread in most world views. That which you sow, so shall you reap. We have been the looming force in the background, helping a tyrannical government that forced a majority of its population to live in fear. We chose to become a great satan and to turn a blind eye to the suffering and hardship which we needlessly facilitated. We have now had suffering visited upon us by a frustrated, hate-filled terrorist. He will probably soon receive his karmic rewards for his violent actions (I hope he does), as will the Afghan and Lebanese people.

Where will the cycle of violence end? I feel that it won't, not until we kick the Zionist Israeli government in the teeth, do what is right and condemn them, oppose their regime at every turn, until they do what is just for the Palestinians. Karma knows the past, but does not dwell in it. It exists in our minds and deeds and the feelings we cause others to have towards us. As soon as we forget the past wrongs committed and work for justice, then karma will treat us better. What is the Israelis' homeland now was the Palestinians, and before that it was the Hebrews', before that it belonged to even more ancient peoples. The Hebrews started out with campaigns of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the times the Torah was written, genocide has been visited upon their descendents. Now the Israelis try the ethnic cleansing thing again (only have to be a bit more careful because they know we won't tolerate the mass killings of unarmed civilians, so they torture and starve their political prisoners and force the other civilians from their homes), and we are a party to it. The cycle will only end when they put aside their ethnic hostilities and share the land with fellow human beings, and the American people will continue to suffer terrorist acts around the globe until we bring our government back in line with what we know is right.

I don't see us making any progress through this, in light of the lush and shallow character of our President. I hope I'm wrong, but all I see on the horizon is more retribution, an escalating cycle of violence, and the possibility of a repeat of past mistakes, as I fear internment camps will open up and American citizens will be imprisoned. We have already taken the xenophobic knee-jerk response of closing the Mexican border and not allowing any international flights into the country, even though we were attacked from our very own soil.

Wake up America!

I was at a church service last night and was reminded of the words of Lao Tsu. While I cannot remember the quote exactly, it was something akin to this...

If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in our nations. If there is to be peace in our nations, there must be peace in our communities. If there is to be peace in our communities, there must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, there must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in our hearts.

Peace. It begins inside each of us, in our hearts and in our spirits. When we know peace, we become a beacon to others, so that they may know peace as well. It spreads, like a plague, from person to person, until one day, the whole of the world is affected. Imagine that - the whole of the world, the whole of humanity, infected with ease instead of dis-ease, a plague of peace running rampant through all lands. I beleive this can be. I believe in the possibility of peace, worldwide peace, and I carry hope deep within my heart. And I know that the pathway to peace is forgiveness.

I open up my eyes
to the sunlight shining through
and in the dream that takes me back
a single word rings true
my memory awakens
to the horrors come to pass
one word in the morning light
brings freedom home at last

forgiveness...

for the ancient wounds still hurting
for the wrongs I've never known
for all the children left to die
near fields where corn was grown
like the ones who braved the ocean
in the fever sheds to burn
let all the hated leave these shores
never to return

forgiveness...

- luka bloom

I couldn't stop these lines from running through my head yesterday. Over and over, the words played in a continuous loop and I knew how truly important they were. They've always affected me, always brought tears to my eyes. When Luka performed this song live, I was moved beyond anything that words could describe. And now... now... Now I am compelled to shout it in the streets. FORGIVENESS!!! The pathway to peace is forgiveness. The insanity ends with forgiveness.

Today, I ask each and every one of you, in your own way, coming from whatever spiritual perspective you will, to open up your hearts to whatever God/Goddess/Spirit/CosmicIt you will and find forgiveness for whatever you can. Even the smallest piece of forgiveness is a step in the right direction. If you can forgive the grand scheme of things, if you can forgive the terror and the horror, the pain and suffering, the attack on freedom, so be it. If you cannot, start with something smaller, something more intimately personal. And if you find you cannot forgive another, try to begin by forgiving yourself. And I ask each and every one of you to pray - pray for the lives lost and the dreams not yet realized, pray for the hearts and minds turned so hard and cold that it was believed that this was the right thing to do, pray for justice achieve through right action instead of retaliation, and pray for peace.

A Naoimh Bhríd, guí orainn (St. Brigid, pray for us).

The news over here [Britain] tonight is not good. Most channels have suspended normal programming, and are running with the story. I've been flicking between BBC1 and Channel4, and the idea is the same on both sides - we're about to go to war. ALL the commentators they've had on have said the same thing, it's an act of war, committed against all of us in the 'free world', and now is the time for massive retaliation.

Personally, I agree with the concept of a Just War, that there are times when war is the only option, and the cause you are fighting to defend is right. However, we've also recently seen a huge amount of media coverage over here about the plight of the Afghan people, the terrible things the Taliban are doing to their own nationals, particularly to women and girls. We've had pictures of women and girls, in full purhda (ie eyes covered) being dragged to the goal line in a football stadium, forced to their knees, then shot in the head in front of baying crowds. For wearing make up, or teaching girls to read. We've seen the bodies of young boys, skinned alive by the Taliban soldiers, because they're from a different ethnic group. We've seen an interview with 3 little girls whose village was raided by the Taliban. The men were rounded up, taken away and killed, and the soldiers decided to take over the family's house. Their mother made the mistake of protesting, asking where they should go. She was shot in the head in front of her children. The 3 girls were held by the soldiers for 3 days. They refused to talk about what was done to them. But their mother's body was left lying in the yard the whole time.

If we bomb Afghanistan, these are the people who will be killed. The reason we have so many Afghani refugees at the moment is because the Taliban are waging war against their own people. We armed these people. We put them in power. We payed for the sodding football stadium they're using as a public execution site, for God's sake! And now we're going to bomb them, or rather their people. You can be sure Bin Laden will be in a nice safe bunker somewhere.

War is coming, but whether it will be Just or not is another matter.

After September 11, 2001, I spent a day wishing for "peace on earth". But before long I began to wonder just what it meant.

Does it mean all people everywhere should become like-minded? No.

Does it mean everyone should live the same? No.

Does it mean that in the world there would always be tolerance? No.

With human nature being what it is, is non-violent conflict possible every time? No.

So, just what then is this so-called "peace on earth'?

Perhaps it is being careful to not hurt another's feelings with your own thoughts when you know they'll hurt someone else.

Perhaps peace is taking the time to understand a fellow being rather than deride or dismiss his lack of money or way of dress to make you comfortable.

Perhaps earth peace is a compassion shown to the weak and strong equally, not hating one for his weakness or the other for his strength.

Perhaps peace is not the lack of conflict. Even armed conflict when necessary, for the saving of innocent lives.

Perhaps keepers of peace are those who champion the underclass without condescension or self-congratulation.

Perhaps peace sometimes must come from the stopping of evil.

Perhaps peace on earth exists only in the warm enlightened heart that honors the truth he espouses and his fellow man espouses as well.

Perhaps it is being open to the other person's point of view and truly trying to learn something from him when you are sure you are right.

Perhaps peace on earth is the lack of name-calling, the lack of viciousness to those that may be unenlightened and are vicious to you.

Perhaps peace is the opposite of self-righteousness no matter your cause.

Perhaps earth peace will come when the poorer of us stop feeling sorry for themselves and blaming others for their plight, thus causing more conflict.

Perhaps it is when those who have give generously and those who can do above and beyond any call and those who need ask for only what they need, earth peace is found.

Perhaps peace on earth is an unreachable ideal, but a good practical personal goal.

Perhaps peace in the heart toward those that deny us due to unenlightenment is earth peace.

Perhaps we overlook the good in our brothers and sisters due to their worship choice or political rhetoric, and thus deny peace a place in us.

Perhaps peace on earth is something only we can achieve in ourselves, and grant outwardly to others.

Perhaps earth peace exists when we gain it in our hearts.

This is what I wish for.