I had written an article about the anniversary of the September 11 attacks before I went away. When I returned, I found on my desk, among the material collected on my behalf by the research department in this newspaper, an article about those attacks published on the same day, written by British journalist Peter Hitchens. The article mentions the book The Eleventh Day, by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, which I had reviewed in this column. Hitchens is a conservative and independent British journalist, and I am quoting him because he is not a supporter of any Arab side. He said that the most impressive bit in the book was its description of how the official 9/11 Commission deliberately avoided the issue of what had motivated the terrorist attacks. He adds that the authors were right when they said that ‘All the evidence indicates that Palestine was the factor that united the conspirators.' Hitchens concluded that the attacks struck at the alliance between the United States and Israel, and reminded his readers that ten years earlier, he said that the hijacked planes were Yasser Arafat's cruise missiles. Every Arab writer had in fact said the same. Now, a documented book and a renowned British writer are saying it, and America's problem with the Arabs and Muslims shall not be resolved until the United States acknowledges the root cause of it. I continue with other stories: - Rabbi Herschel Gluck is angry at WikiLeaks, after the website published a cable from the U.S. embassy in London that revealed he had been conducting talks with an official from the Iranian regime, over the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who is held prisoner in Gaza, and Ron Arad, who disappeared during an operation in Lebanon in 1986. The cable described a meeting in London between the rabbi and Ayatollah Syed Salman Safavi, brother of the military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. I do not know anything about these contacts more than what I read. However, they left me thinking about a conversation I once had with a foreign minister- and a friend- from the GCC, who believed that the Israel lobby, the other Likudniks and the neocons had not yet lost hope in reviving cooperation between Iran – as it had been during the days of the Shah,- and Israel. The Minister believes that the extremists both in Israel and among American Jews are now convinced that Sunni jihadi Islam cannot be reconciled with, and that Shiite Islam is a prisoner of its own ideas as it prefers to wait for the return of the absent Imam to save the Muslims. - The Australian American actor Mel Gibson, who was behind the film the Passion of the Christ and who angered Jews after he accused them of killing Jesus and held them eternally responsible for the crime, is now causing ire among Jews once again. This has taken place as Gibson decided to produce a new film about the life of the mythical Jewish hero, Judah Maccabee, who led a revolt against the Romans in the Second Century BC, while Gibson has not ruled out the possibility of him starring in the film. Jewish groups in America and Britain reacted in anger, and there are pressures now on Warner Studios to pull the plug on the idea, as the famous actor made public anti-Semitic stances in the past, and accused them of being behind all wars in the world. - Further to the above, a court in Paris had sentenced the British fashion designer John Galliano to paying a small fine, after two incidents at a Parisian bar and restaurant, where he attacked Jews and made anti-Semitic remarks against them. After the scandal broke out, the fashion house Dior dropped Galliano. However, I found the sentence against him to have been rather light after his apology, and did not include a prison sentence as the prosecution had asked, and Galliano may not even pay the somewhat limited fine if he refrains from making anti-Semitic remarks again. I move on from all news about America, Israel, Jews and anti-Semitism, to other stories that are not ‘unnerving'. I chose from my e-mails two messages, one from Miss Evelin who wants to find happiness in me and with me, which is a good offer but then there is a global and personal financial crisis. And as I was thinking of a workaround to the problem, I received the second e-mail message claiming to be from the Rothschild Bank and rewarding me with 750 thousand pounds, and the message wanted my bank details to do the transfer. I say: Fat chance. Money from the Rothschild Bank is treason, and happiness with Miss Evelin is adultery, and both are punishable by death […]. I say: I dismiss all bad, religiously forbidden or illegal intentions in the world. I am a coward, however, and cowardice, before morality, makes me a good citizen and a faithful husband.
