SALAM

Salam is the word for peace in Arabic, the language spoken in both Darfur and Gaza.

Finally! At least a little more movement and contribution to relieving the sorrow in Darfur. See article: U.S. begins Darfur supply fights. Click here for a History on the Conflict, and here to find out how you can help.

And then there's Gaza.. I was listening to NPR this morning on the way to class and heard an interesting thought, that somehow had escaped me. The caller said that she saw the Israeli strike on Gaza as "one last chance" because they know that they have President Bush's full support in their efforts to take down Hamas. Therefore they have used the last few weeks of his Presidency as a way to strike at Hamas, because they are unsure of what President Obama's view would be. I think that's interesting. Think its true? It very well could be.

I know that it is a very complicated situation, and I keep wanting to write a blog post fully about it, and come up with a completely 100% " I feel this way " statement, but it is hard. It is a disproportionate offensive, that's for sure. Israel has so much more power than Gaza. Which, in reality, no matter who sent the first rocket of attack, shouldn't Israel realize that by putting up such a large offensive and killing so many CHILDREN, that they are really just doing an injustice to themselves? The Arab world is going to hate them even more now. And the Osama tape that came out, somehow it really just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. He doesn't even really seem all that relevant anymore.

Some disturbing facts from this Conflict:

• UNICEF reports 320 children have died, and 1,500 have been injured. See article here: UNICEF: Children bearing brunt of Gaza war; watching this video (also embedded below) makes me sad.
  
• 1,000 total Palestinians have been killed, with nearly 5,000 wounded.
• 13 Israelis have died: 10 soldiers and 3 civilians.
• Israel won't let any media inside Gaza.. it really BOTHERS me. In this article they somewhat explain why, but I'm not really convinced.

Sigh. If only there could be peace.. Maybe everyone needs to take my Dispute Resolution class, eh?

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Importance of Internet

I really enjoy it when the Internet at my home works well. It has become a rare occurrence, that I am currently experiencing.. so although I have to run out the door in about 2 minutes I thought I would let all of you share in my excitement. 

More later.. I wrote a super long almost-essay about why I don't like China yesterday, just got to edit it and add my links and pictures and then we can all join in the fun of bash on China day. And probably Israel.. because well, they're bombing and killing people as we speak, and that's just not cool.

So, in a nutshell:

Internet: YAY!

China: BOOOO! yuckiness

Israel: Awesome history... double yuckiness for Politics and world issues

Happy New Year's Eve Eve!

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