Sunday, 09 September 2001 11:18PM [Aus time] Sunday, 09 September 2001 06:18AM [SD time] To: joni From: anthony Subject: taliban [I reply to my Australian mate without reading any of the email content]
Monday, 10 September 2001 03:09PM To: anthony From: joni Subject: Re: taliban Hi! It was wonderful to catch up on the phone yesterday! I haven't read the taliban article yet: I'm sure it's not good news. Decided I wasn't going to read it just yet... need my strength today... and because the situation in Afghanistan is truly terrible... it deeply effects me. Is it a petition or just information? Obviously, if it is a call for action, I'll read it sooner rather than later... thanks. Now I'm off to read your story you forwarded from Liam... can't wait to see what our little lost pup is up to in big bad Melbourne... God bless his pierced nose! Miss you [can't say more than you know 'cause you know exactly how much!] --jw
Tuesday, 11 September 2001 11:07AM [Aus time] Monday, 10 September 2001 04:07PM [SD time] To: joni From: anthony Subject: Re: taliban The taliban article is a petition. Put your name on it and pass it on. What did you think of Liam's letter? Chip off the old block! xxx The petition reads: On May 23rd 2001 the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan confirmed that all Hindus will be required to wear a strip of yellow cloth sewn onto a shirt pocket in order to identify themselves. They claim that the measure is for their protection. The world has faced this before: in 1939 the world was required, at great cost, to rid itself of Hitler's tyranny, it is not hard to spot his child. Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to relive it. The taliban's record on respecting other religions gives great cause for concern that their ultimate aim, upon which they are intent, is religious cleansing. They have already demonstrated their distain and intolerance for other religions and traditions by the desecration and destruction of the ancient Buddhist statue, our collective heritage, within Afghanistan. Whatever your religion, or even if you have none, we hope that you will agree that this fundamentally wrong. Remember, "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing". Please do not do nothing, add your voice to the petition below. To: The Secretary General, Security Council and General Assembly of the United Nations We the undersigned are appalled by the decision of the taliban government of Afghanistan to require all Hindus to wear a piece of yellow cloth sewn onto a shirt pocket in order to identify themselves. An individual's communion with God, however they find him, is a matter of personal conscience and must not be the subject of intimidation or persecution. The right of everyone to worship as they wish is fundamental and inalienable. The United Nations was founded in order to defeat Hitler who required the same from another religion with all it's horrific consequences. It is completely unacceptable that nearly 60 years later history is repeating itself. We ask the following: 1. That the taliban government is made aware in the strongest possible terms that the world will not countenance this perversion of human rights. 2. That prior to the United Nations and/or its constituent members granting recognition of the taliban government this obscene policy is reversed. 3. That the United Nations widen the terms of the trade sanctions currently in force. [That night when I went to bed, I closed my eyes and I saw the face of death. I was scared... I remember thinking, "I won't be able to drive to work if I feel like this in the morning." I tossed and turned... at long last I nodded off... only to receive "the mother of all wakeup calls"]
Tuesday, 11 September 2001 11:50AM [Upon hearing my CEO's words, "We must never let the people who suffered stray very far from our thoughts... Our company has enjoyed a very close and family-like relationship... let's try to keep it that way in these times of difficulty," I wrote the following message to my coworkers] To: coworkers From: joni Subject: Thanks for your support I'm pretty upset about this morning's tragic events. I have a twice-weekly 7:30am chat with a co-worker from IBM. I awoke this morning to words, "Joni, go turn on your TV... history is in the making. Washington and New York is blowing up... jets have crashed into the World Trade Center." I hung up, ran downstairs, and turned on the TV... I was presented with a scene of incredible proportions: I watched live, and in disbelief, the 2nd WTC tower as it fell to the ground. I looked at the time... the horrifying realization that thousands and thousands of people just died... I was completely overwhelmed. My head started to pound... you won't believe my first thought: go get your coffee now, because when they find out about this, they will shut the place down... can you believe it? I drive to Starbucks... children going to school... nobody knows! Walked into Starbucks with my secret... there was smiling and laughing people... no mention... no sign.. no acknowledgement of event... nobody knows! Ridden with guilt about my selfish need for coffee.. hiding my tears so nobody will ask why I am crying... I decide that I will not mention anything... I want to return to the safety of my home as soon as I can... I don't have the energy for anything else. All of a sudden I realized I was wrong with my assessment... EVERYBODY was aware of the event... however, it wasn't a subject of particular concern... people laughing... chatting... small talk... my God! We are at war... our safety is under attack RIGHT NOW... and the day is early. I stood there at the counter and cried and cried... they gave me my coffee for free. At this point, the world makes no sense to me. I go home... I call Rob... I don' think I can make today's meeting: he said he'd get the message to Peter. My friend, Gloria, calls... she knew I was upset... I ask her if it is wise to for her to go to work. I am compelled to call my friend, Nick... who lives in a tall apartment block in downtown San Diego to ensure that he is not there... he is a work... good... stay there. I cry... I'm angry... Matt and I snap at each other... network television gives a taliban member the respect of a press conference... film footage of children celebrating in the streets of Palestine: insane acts begets insane actions. I cry again. I am worried that San Diego is going to be hurt because no one is taking this seriously... and start to feel guilty that I have allowed this to impact my ability to go to work. Then the responses appropriate to the situation started to appear... the closing of Sea World and Federal buildings... and the message of support from the company. I am relieved... and I know by this time the element of surprise is gone and as each minute passes the probability of more attacks wanes. I'm OK now, but I think I'll spend the day praying... thanks for your support. These eerie words from NY Mayor Guiliani stay with me: Stay calm. Evacuate Manhattan. --jw [it should be noted while the Starbuck clientele and baristas were aware that the WTC had been hit by a plane, they had no idea that the WTC towers were gone. Starbucks closed at 11:30am that morning for the rest of the day]
Tuesday, 11 September 2001 12:16PM To: joni From: cms Subject: Re: Thanks for your support Hang is there Joni. I think we are all feeling vulnerable and it frankly sucks! cms
Tuesday, 11 September 2001 12:40PM To: joni From: nick Subject: Re: Thanks for your support Joni, Recognize emotions are a big part of who you are. Experience them, learn from them. I understand they could be exhausting, non-bearing at times. But it's part of who you are, it's part of how wonderful you are also. I was very touched by your call of concern. Thank you. Also want to say that if we (general public) panic, it will only fall into the plans of the attackers. It's right that we need to be more cautious, but as general citizens, we are not empowered to react out of our day to day responsibilities which is to contribute to the economy when appropriate. We will have to leave the matters to our leaders of this country. Trust them in leading us through the tough times. Make sense? Feel free to call and talk. Nick
Tuesday, 11 September 2001 02:31PM To: joni From: CEO Subject: Re: Thanks for your support I think we all have been and continue to be affected greatly, but not all of us can express our feelings as well as you have. It has been a horrendous day and will only get worst as we begin to hear the names of those who have died tragically and unexpectedly. Our lives will go on, but in a much more sober fashion for some time. CEO
Tuesday, 11 September 2001 10:31PM To: jen, trev From: joni Subject: God Bless America Hi kids-- hope you are keeping well in the light of recent events. Sorry about the airport incidences: Hope we can talk about it sometime. Seems a million years ago... The events of 11 September 2001 make no sense: they never will... no matter who responsible. We must move forward with love, but we must send a clear message that this act of terror was wrong and will not be tolerated. Now is the time for coming together... finding someway to strengthen the fabric of America. Study. Work hard. Follow your heart... and most importantly... take action for the things you believe. I love you. Stay safe. --jw [My daughter is a Military Police officer in the Army; my son lives with his father in Washington state.]
Wednesday, 12 September 2001 12:08PM To: coworkers From: joni Subject: The Power of Words A question posed to Secretary of State Colin Powell during a State Department debriefing this morning: How can we return to normal at a time like this? Yes, we believe that acts of war have been committed against the American people and we will respond accordingly... but at the same time, life has to go on... in all of the difficult times we will be facing ahead... we have to still to try to return life to a sense of normalcy... we cannot be a people who are afraid to live.. we cannot be a people who will move away from a relatively open society... we cannot be a people who walk around terrified... we are Americans... we don't walk around terrified... we are going to be strong during this difficult period... we are going to move forward with pride and with determination... and we will get our society back to normal... with whatever additional precautions nevertheless might be necessary to secure our society without locking ourselves down. God Bless America. --jw
[the following song was written by my friend Gloria] God made Man. to love and respect his creations... the land, the holy land... a sacred ground in ruins. What sick mind does a Man have? through the palm of his hand... it's greed, power and hate... that sheds the blood of an innocent Man. it's not fair... and it's not right. our brothers and sisters... the loss of innocent lives. it's not fair... and it's not right. our brothers and sisters... a tragedy that changed our lives. do you feel what i feel? such anger and confusion... our close deepest loves... never knew what hit them. if i could turn back time. reach for your mother and children... and love them deep within... we will rebuild again... i'm proud to be an American. [please note the following may offend. I found it amusing, albeit a little scary. Trust me, these thoughts are balanced with a Saudi perspective that follows]
Tuesday, 18 September 2001 To joni From doug Subject President Bush's real speech Good evening my fellow Americans. First, I want to pass on my condolences to the people of New York and all Americans that are hurting in this tragic time. You can rest assured that anything and everything that can be done to assure the safety of our country will be done. This is the greatest country in the world and we will get through this trying time. Now is the time for all people to set aside our petty differences and show the world that no one or nothing can destroy the fortitude of the American people. To the people responsible for today's tragedy, I say this Are you fucking kidding me? Are the turbans on your heads wrapped too tight? Have you gone too long without a bath? Do you not know who you are fucking with? Americans are so hungry to kill, that we shoot at each other every day. We will relish that opportunity for new targets for our aggression. Have you forgotten history? What happened to the last people that started fucking around with us? Remember the little yellow bastards over in Japan? We slapped them all over the Pacific and roasted about 2 million of them in their own back yard. That's what we in America call a big ass barbecue. Ever seen Texas on a map? Ever wonder why it's so big? Because we wanted it that way, Mexico started jacking around with the Alamo and now they cut our lawns. England? We sent them packing. Ask your buddy Saddam about fucking with the good ol' USA. The only reason he got away the first time is because it's too hard to shoot someone when you're doubled over laughing at them. Our soldiers aren't trained to laugh and shoot at the same time. Now he couldn't stop a pack of cub scouts from taking over his shitty little country. Trust us, Afghanistan will end up a giant kitty litter box. Go ahead and try to hide, Bin Laden. There's not a hole deep enough or a mountain high enough that's going to keep your camel riding asses safe. We will bomb every inch of the country that harbors him, his camps and any place that looks and even smells like he was there. Hell, we might even drop a few bombs on people that have pissed us off in the past. This is America. We kick ass. This is what we do. Go ahead and laugh now, but the Tomahawks are coming and we will smoke your sorry asses. God bless America!
Tuesday, 18 September 2001 To: joni From: coworker Subject: Saudi Article This was sent to me by my friend, H, who moved to Saudi Arabia as a child and has family in Saudi. She asked us to pass is on. It's long, but worth reading. C ******************************************* This was sent to me from Saudi this morning, and I do think I have a responsibility to pass it on. We are all beyond horrified and shocked with what happened, Arab or not. This act does not represent Muslims or Arabs in any way! H ****************************************** Dear H Thank you for your warm thoughts and prayers. I am praying for both of you as well. It must be very distressing times in the US now. We are hoping that life will assume some normalcy soon for all of you. I am enclosing an article, which came out by a well-known American philosopher, intellectual and professor. Please read it and pass it on to as many friends as possible. We have to do our share of counteracting all this madness in the States and around the world. Take care, and do stay in touch. S ********************************************
Edward Said Sunday September 16, 2001 The Observer Spectacular horror of the sort that struck New York (and to a lesser Degree Washington) has ushered in a new world of unseen, unknown assailants, terror missions without political message, senseless destruction. For the residents of this wounded city, the consternation, fear, and sustained sense of outrage and shock will certainly continue for a long time, as will the genuine sorrow and affliction that so much carnage has so cruelly imposed on so many. New Yorkers have been fortunate that Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a normally rebarbative and unpleasantly combative, even retrograde figure, has rapidly attained Churchillian status. Calmly, unsentimentally, and with extraordinary compassion, he has marshalled the city's heroic police, fire and emergency services to admirable effect and, alas, with huge loss of life. Giuliani's was the first voice of caution against panic and jingoistic attacks on the city's large Arab and Muslim communities, the first to express the commonsense of anguish, the first to press everyone to try to resume life after the shattering blows. Would that were all. The national television reporting has of course brought the horror of those dreadful winged juggernauts into every household, unremittingly, insistently, not always edifyingly. Most commentary has stressed, indeed magnified, the expected and the predictable in what most Americans feel terrible loss, anger, outrage, a sense of violated vulnerability, a desire for vengeance and un-restrained retribution. Beyond formulaic expressions of grief and patriotism, every politician and accredited pundit or expert has dutifully repeated how we shall not be defeated, not be deterred, not stop until terrorism is exterminated. This is a war against terrorism, everyone says, but where, on what fronts, for what concrete ends? No answers are provided, except the vague suggestion that the Middle East and Islam are what 'we' are up against, and that terrorism must be destroyed. What is most depressing, however, is how little time is spent trying to understand America's role in the world, and its direct involvement in the complex reality beyond the two coasts that have for so long kept the rest of the world extremely distant and virtually out of the average American's mind. You'd think that 'America' was a sleeping giant rather than a superpower almost constantly at war, or in some sort of conflict, all over the Islamic domains. Osama bin Laden's name and face have become so numbingly familiar to Americans as in effect to obliterate any history he and his shadowy followers might have had before they became stock symbols of everything loathsome and hateful to the collective imagination. Inevitably, then, collective passions are being funnelled into a drive for war that uncannily resembles Captain Ahab in pursuit of Moby Dick, rather than what is going on, an imperial power injured at home for the first time, pursuing its interests systematically in what has become a suddenly reconfigured geography of conflict, without clear borders, or visible actors. Manichaean [see note1] symbols and apocalyptic scenarios are bandied about with future consequences and rhetorical restraint thrown to the winds. note1: 1 : a believer in a syncretistic religious dualism originating in Persia in the 3rd century A.D. and teaching the release of the spirit from matter through asceticism 2 : a believer in religious or philosophical dualism Rational understanding of the situation is what is needed now, not more drum-beating. George Bush and his team clearly want the latter, not the former. Yet to most people in the Islamic and Arab worlds the official US is synonymous with arrogant power, known for its sanctimoniously munificent support not only of Israel but of numerous repressive Arab regimes, and its inattentiveness even to the possibility of dialogue with secular movements and people who have real grievances. Anti-Americanism in this context is not based on a hatred of modernity or technology-envy it is based on a narrative of concrete interventions, specific depredations and, in the cases of the Iraqi people's suffering under US-imposed sanctions and US support for the 34-year-old Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Israel is now cynically exploiting the American catastrophe by intensifying its military occupation and oppression of the Palestinians. Political rhetoric in the US has overridden these things by flinging about words like 'terrorism' and 'freedom' whereas, of course, such large abstractions have mostly hidden sordid material interests, the influence of the oil, defence and Zionist lobbies now consolidating their hold on the entire Middle East, and an age-old religious hostility to (and ignorance of) 'Islam' that takes new forms every day. Intellectual responsibility, however, requires a still more critical Sense of the actuality. There has been terror of course, and nearly every struggling modern movement at some stage has relied on terror. This was as true of Mandela's ANC as it was of all the others, Zionism included. And yet bombing defenceless civilians with F-16s and helicopter gunships has the same structure and effect as more conventional nationalist terror. What is bad about all terror is when it is attached to religious and political abstractions and reductive myths that keep veering away from history and sense. This is where the secular consciousness has to try to make itself felt, whether in the US or in the Middle East. No cause, no God, no abstract idea can justify the mass slaughter of innocents, most particularly when only a small group of people are in charge of such actions and feel themselves to represent the cause without having a real mandate to do so. Besides, much as it has been quarrelled over by Muslims, there isn't a single Islam there are Islams, just as there are Americas. This diversity is true of all traditions, religions or nations even though some of their adherents have futiley tried to draw boundaries around themselves and pin their creeds down neatly. Yet history is far more complex and contradictory than to be represented by demagogues who are much less representative than either their followers or opponents claim. The trouble with religious or moral fundamentalists is that today their primitive ideas of revolution and resistance, including a willingness to kill and be killed, seem all too easily attached to technological sophistication and what appear to be gratifying acts of horrifying retaliation. The New York and Washington suicide bombers seem to have been middle-class, educated men, not poor refugees. Instead of getting a wise leadership that stresses education, mass mobilisation and patient organisation in the service of a cause, the poor and the desperate are often conned into the magical thinking and quick bloody solutions that such appalling models provide, wrapped in lying religious claptrap. On the other hand, immense military and economic power are no guarantee of wisdom or moral vision. Sceptical and humane voices have been largely unheard in the present crisis, as 'America' girds itself for a long war to be fought somewhere out there, along with allies who have been pressed into service on very uncertain grounds and for imprecise ends. We need to step back from the imaginary thresholds that separate people from each other and re-examine the labels, reconsider the limited resources available, decide to share our fates with each other as cultures mostly have done, despite the bellicose cries and creeds. 'Islam' and 'the West' are simply inadequate as banners to follow blindly. Some will run behind them, but for future generations to condemn themselves to prolonged war and suffering without so much as a critical pause, without looking at interdependent histories of injustice and oppression, without trying for common emancipation and mutual enlightenment seems far more wilful than necessary. Demonisation of the Other is not a sufficient basis for any kind of decent politics, certainly not now when the roots of terror in injustice can be addressed, and the terrorists isolated, deterred or put out of business. It takes patience and education, but is more worth the investment than still greater levels of large-scale violence and suffering.
[OCT 2001: My twin brother lives in Duluth, MN. Our blood line includes North American Indian ancestry. While I am quite fair, my twin is quite dark-skinned. He has sported a beard for the past 10 years... and looks Arabic. Last week due to the menacing glares of the general public and for the safety of his family, he shaved his beard off. Enough said.]
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