
 |
|
May 24, 2013
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Feb. 24, 2006
/ 26 Shevat, 5766
Just because you're Islamophobic doesn't mean you're wrong
By
Kathleen Parker
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
That distant thunder you hear is the sound of thousands of harrumphing
pundits and politicians clearing their throats.
"Ah, what we really meant to say was that we love all G-d's people,
but we'd really rather not have Middle Easterners managing our ports. If
it's not too much trouble."
But trouble it is to admit what's really got Americans in high dudgeon over
the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. ports to the
United Arab Emirates (UAE). It's not just the sale itself, but the Bush
administration's apparent lack of respect toward American citizens
concerning a business deal that at least seems
untimely and counterintuitive.
As I inadvertently failed to mention in an earlier column on the subject,
the ports in question already were managed by a British company, which is
selling the operational rights to Dubai Ports World with American approval.
As I've now written in countless e-mails, "Some foreign companies are more
foreign than others."
Great Britain, though home to the infamous shoe bomber, is nonetheless a
blood brother in the war against terror. The UAE is now being lauded as
helpful in that global fight, but its history relative to terrorism is
problematic. The emirates joined Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in recognizing
the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan. The UAE also was a
transfer point for shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and
Libya.
Given that history, it's hard to pretend that there's no reason whatsoever
for concerns about Dubai Ports, a government-owned company, managing U.S.
ports.
In the several days since the pending sale was announced amid much Sturm und
Drang, new facts have surfaced that ultimately may convince Americans that
the sale won't threaten national security. The ports will continue to be
protected as they have been by the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Customs
Service, for instance. And American workers will continue to comprise the
bulk of the ports' workforce.
Other justifications for the sale appear to be reasonable — not least that
Dubai Ports World is reputedly competent at managing ports — and might be
convincing if only someone bearing the title President of the United States
would articulate those reasons in a spirit of respect rather than as a
dismissive parent managing an impudent child.
We're at war, remember? We're fighting terror. We're staying the course and
holding fast. You're either with us or against us. Americans got all that
and the part about taking down Saddam Hussein in case he had weapons of mass
destruction. They also got the part about planting seeds of democracy in
hopes of changing hearts and minds that are stalled in the 12th century.
Check.
At the same time, Americans have gamely tolerated interminable airport lines
as old ladies got frisked and terrorist look-alikes strolled through
magnetometers. They're mostly cool, in other words. But they're also
watching the news and seeing a world gone mad over a few political cartoons
and wondering whether it's such a good idea to increase even administrative
traffic between "over there" and here.
These are not the xenophobic ravings of a fevered populace. Rather, they are
a few reasonable questions, to which President George W. Bush replied: "I
want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden
a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great
British (sic) company."
Not to be a smart aleck or anything, but does "Duh" work for anyone?
The implication that Americans, including a fair number of Republican
leaders, are reacting negatively to the sale out of racist attitudes or
Islamophobia is, well, probably true, which is not the same as insane. No
nation on Earth is more welcoming or inclusive of others than the United
States, which presumably is why people keep mobbing our borders. But
Americans are also not simpletons.
When 19 men of Middle Eastern descent hijack airplanes and murder thousands
on U.S. soil, reasonable, fair-minded people are not going to pretend not to
notice that the perpetrators are all Middle Eastern men of a certain
complexion. That's not racist, though it may be racially aware. It's not
Islamophobic, though a little phobia isn't always inappropriate. I'm
cautious around snakes even though many are non-poisonous.
The Bush administration could have defused much of the controversy now
swirling had officials clearly explained the practical (business) value of
allowing the sale to go through, as well as the larger purpose of
demonstrating open-minded goodwill toward allies. Instead, as is too often
the case, Bush effectively said, "Trust us. We're in charge; we're on top of
this; we'll take care of it."
In these dangerous times, Americans deserve more than a pat on the head. So
do Republican incumbents whose midterm elections may be at greater risk than
our ports.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Kathleen Parker can be reached by clicking here.
Kathleen Parker Archives
© 2005, Tribune Media Services
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|