My sister and her husband in Windsor sent me a beautiful card for Channukah. I guess with the proliferation of broadband, the email cards you can send these days from sites like Hallmark include real video - not just animated gifs and computer-generated images. It was a really nice treat. Thank you Miriam.

Miriam also forwards a lot of email. I once got on her case about indiscriminately forwarding the stuff, but now, even though she forwards lots of mail - it always is interesting and often thought provoking. Just the other day, she sent me a couple of articles that addressed the issue of terrorism against Israel and Jews.

One dealt with Muslims and their attitude towards Jews. The message was that although the great majority of Muslim individuals are not terrorists, the fact that Muslim states (and their citizenry) condone acts of violence places them in the same historical context as countries like WW-II Germany (whose citizens, by and large, were not terrorists either). The message - what you accept from your leaders is what you would do if you were the leader.

The second email addressed Palestinian claims of being "thrown off their land" and being denied the right to self-determination (statehood). The author of that piece (a non-Jewish author, just like the previous piece) challenged Palestinians to offer proof that they were ever a nation in their own right - by asking for the most basic proofs of "national" existence - a common currency, national anthem, etc. The piece basically labeled these people as throwoffs from neighboring Arab states who refused to accept them as citizens.

I generally try not to be too emotional about politics. But these times are trying. Where else in the Middle East would a freely held party nominating election take place (an election that offered more than one "real" candidate). And where else would the winning candidate be the less-hawkish of the two rivals. With Ariel Sharon defeating Benjamin Netanyahu for the leadership of his party, Israelis on the right-wing are still saying that attempts at peace should be made. And today, a suicide bombing in Kenya (yes, KENYA) destroyed a hotel owned by an Israeli. Elsewhere in Kenya, terrorists tried (and thankfully failed) to shoot down an airliner bound for Israel.

Jesus - can you imagine what the world would say if Jews around the world started behaving in a similar fashion?

Talk about fucking hypocrites.

I hope all my U.S. friends had a good Thanksgiving.

Happy Channukah to all Jews, whoever and wherever you are.

Now it's off to work, where I can finally calm down.