Bringing Israel into NATO alliance is a bad idea
The Daily Star – LebanonFeb 19, 2004 In December 1941, when the Japanese bombed US ships at Pearl Harbor, little did they know that the “isolationist” Americans would roar into World War II, occupy Japan and Germany and change the course of history. Could a real “clash of civilizations” over Israel be an unforeseen consequence […]
Islam’s evolution in a secular nation
The Austin American-Statesman2003 A.B. Mohammad Musa was my boss at the Pakistan Observer newspaper in the East Pakistani capital of Dhaka. He almost never prayed, and he recoiled at the word “Islam.” He and many other East Pakistani Muslims carped about West Pakistanis dominating them in the name of Islamic brotherhood. By 1971, East Pakistan […]
Islam’s Missing Link To The West
Middle East PolicyMarch 21, 2003 The Turks are secular Muslims,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan. For centuries they have “lived in peace with different cultures.” His Justice and Development party, known by its Turkish initials AKP, stood for justice for all Turkish citizens regardless of their creeds or cultures. Erdogan said he appreciated U.S. support for […]
Don’t Expect Instant Democracy
Hartford CourantMarch 17, 2003 President George W. Bush announced the other day he would help democratize postwar Iraq, which would spur a drive for “freedom in other nations in the region.” Democracies “desire peace,” and he expected democratic Arab regimes to facilitate peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians. Two days later, the parliament in Turkey […]
Bernard Lewis and the decline of Muslim civilization
Middle East PolicyJune 2002 While the United States has yet to bring the masterminds of the September 11, 2001, suicide attacks to justice, its attorney general has issued an indictment against their faith. “Islam is a religion,” said John Ashcroft, “in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is […]
US Pushes Pakistan Toward Danger Zone
Boston GlobeSeptember 19, 2001 MY DAUGHTER, ALIA, WAS SHAKEN WHEN SHE CAME HOME FROM SCHOOL THE OTHER DAY. A MAN HAD ASKED HER FRIEND, AN 11TH-GRADER, ABOUT HIS PARENTS’ NATIONALITY. THE BOY SAID, “PAKISTANI,” AND THE MAN SPAT ON HIM. A friend in Frederick, Md., inquired if I was OK. She had been discussing last […]
Did the Kurds Win Anything in Kosovo?
San Francisco ChronicleJuly 6, 1999 TURKEY’S “trial of the century” ended last Tuesday with a death sentence for Abdullah Ocalan, who was charged with treason. He had been fighting for the cultural rights and political autonomy of 12 million Turkish Kurds, and was captured in Kenya by Turkish commandos on a U.S. intelligence tip. Nearly 37,000 […]
It’s the Kurds’ turn for world recognition
The Christian Science MonitorDecember 9, 1998 Last week Washington hosted an international fund-raiser for former guerrilla leader Yasser Arafat, which netted more than $3 billion for his would-be Palestinian state. A few days earlier the Clinton administration repeated its demand that Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan, now under house arrest in Italy, be put on […]
A ‘law of return’ for Christians?
The Baltimore SunJune 10, 1997 WASHINGTON — Most scholars have dismissed Samuel Huntington’s warning that the Western Judeo-Christian civilization is entering upon a phase of confrontation with the Chinese and Islamic civilizations. The Congressional Human Rights Caucus appears, however, to have taken it seriously and introduced a bill that could get the “clash of civilizations” […]
Turkey Remains Strong U.S. Ally, Why Not For EU
Chicago TribuneMay 15, 1997 Despite its Islamists-led government, Turkey is again one of America’s favorite allies, and Washington has stepped up efforts to help latch it more closely to Western economic and security systems. Americans are warning European governments not to belie the continent’s secular credentials by barring Turkey from the European Union. The EU […]
