One of the unique (being charitable) memories I have from childhood is the triennial visit to the "cousinas" in
For that kid (me), the rotten cherry on top of the stale cereal has got to be a trip to a bungalow colony in the Catskills with our cousins. We didn't have bungalows in
Getting there it turned out we weren't going to be in a bungalow, but instead we had a room in this big house called the Hacienda. They always give foreign names to the junkie places, to fool you into thinking its some hot-shot place. I went out the first day and saw a bunch of kids playing. I wanted to join, but being a skinny runt, not good at sports and foreign – they didn't let me play. To get the attention and approval I craved – I threw stones at the kids at them. Stones being thrown where I live – in
"Y'know I'm from
"Huh, wha'?" the Hulk said, blinking furiously.
"Where'ya from?
"Yeah" the Hulk answered in Brooklynese (something close to English. Brooklyn – in case you didn't know – is a form of
"So you wanna re-start the 'War between the States'? Huh? HUH?" I said, suitably striking a cocky bantam pose. And the Hulk skulked away.
I learned I may be able to survive by my wits and a healthy dose of serendipity. I also learned how the attacker (me) could shift the blame to the victim (the Hulk). That was an important lesson that enabled me to better understand politics in general and in the
In 1947 the UN suggested partitioning the
In 1967 the Arabs initiated another war to drive the Jews into the sea – but lost. Despite that – they (the aggressors) succeeded in convincing the world that we (the intended victims) were the ones at fault.
Arabic-Islamic countries consider all non-Muslims "dhimmis" – third class people. The Arab countries have kept refugees from the
Some Islamic countries have committed widespread massacres: Turks killing Armenians, Iraqis killing Assyrians and Sudanese killing non-Muslims in Darfur – but
As Charlie Brown (well, Charles Schulz) said: "Sometimes I lie awake at night and I ask: 'Does anyone remember me?' Then a voice comes to me out of the dark that says: 'Sure, Frank, we remember you'".