09-20-2003, 06:45 PM
I came across a news article condemning a Saudi Prince for making bad statements about America after 9/11. He had donated a $10million check to the Twin Towers Fund and the city returned it. However as I read this news report I found myself AGREEING in part with the Saudi Prince! Now I feel like I might be a bad American - or even accused of terrorism for my views! (I will post the article in a minute so you can read it as well.)
One of the ways that my eyes have been opened (really wide ) about US Policy and behavior was this amazing book written by Queen Noor of Jordan. Her book is called, "Queen Noor, Memoires of an Unexpected Life" It seems like it would be some romance novel about her dream life of becoming a Queen - but instead it reads like a factual text book about the realities of how the US and other key countries have been acting "behind the scenes" when dealing with the Middle East. (The US isn't the only one doing bad stuff.) After reading her book I've been basically in shock. We Americans are not taught about the truth - the reality! of what our country is doing. So I've been so worried about, "How should I think about these things??" I want to say, "America, you are doing a BAD job!" but I'm so afraid I'll disapear into some prison for "terrorist activity". Your rights vanish when you are thus accused...
Anyway, when I read this news report and read the remarks made by the Saudi Prince I about fell out of my chair because they made so much sense! Now don't get me wrong: I do NOT agree one single bit with violence and terrorist attacks against anyone. I am not excusing the terrorists - but I didn't think that the Prince was doing this either....
Please, read the article and maybe share your thoughts and feelings with me. I'm so confused. In one year flat I have done a complete 180 degree turn in regards to what is going on in Israel and how America is acting towards the Middle East. It's scaring me.
And another thing: It seems to me as if the media is VERY biased about the Saudi Prince's comments. They spin everything so that he sounds like a criminal - but when I read the article without the biased lenses in my eyes I didn't see a criminal speaking.... (that's just my opinion)
Giuliani rejects $10 million from Saudi prince
NEW YORK (CNN) --Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday the city would not accept a $10 million donation for disaster relief from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal after the prince suggested U.S. policies in the Middle East contributed to the September 11 attacks.
"I entirely reject that statement," Giuliani said. "There is no moral equivalent for this [terrorist] act. There is no justification for it. The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification for it when they slaughtered 4,000 or 5,000 innocent people."
Prince Alwaleed gave the mayor a check after a Thursday morning memorial service at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the attacks.
The prince offered his condolences to the people of New York, but after the ceremony he released a statement suggesting the United States "must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack."
"The check has not been deposited. The Twin Towers Fund has not accepted it," Giuliani said in a statement late Thursday.
The prince's statement said the United States "should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause.
"While the U.N. passed clear resolutions numbered 242 and 338 calling for the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip decades ago, our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek," the statement said.
Giuliani flatly rejected the prince's position. "To suggest that there's a justification for [the terrorist attacks] only invites this happening in the future," he said. "It is highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous.
"And one of the reasons I think this happened is because people were engaged in moral equivalency in not understanding the difference between liberal democracies like the United States, like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism.
"So I think not only are those statements wrong, they're part of the problem," Giuliani said.
Am I wrong for believeing that US Policies in the Middle East are not good? I mean, I love my country. I even served my country in the Military! My roots go back to ancient times here. (I am a member of the Crow Indian Tribe as well as "white") There are so many wonderful things in America and I'm very thankful for everything. I am not anti-American. I just wish we could change the way we do some things.
"While the U.N. passed clear resolutions numbered 242 and 338 calling for the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip decades ago, our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek," the statement (by the Prince) said. <---- That's SO TRUE and why isn't America DOING something about this?? I'm so confused. I wish I could have a good long talk with that Prince. He could probably educate me on many more things that I think, as an American, I have the RIGHT to know but am being kept in the dark by my own government.
Arrrrrg! I'm not anti-American. I'm just anti-evil, you know?