Let's talk about Beirut and Paris, shall we? Then we will talk about Baghdad too if you still think we are not being fair enough.
And we will stay away from religion during this blog for two reasons:
Reason 1: Terror knows no religion.
Reason 2: Building and maintaining cities is more of a Civil/Social Engineering job than a religious awakening.
We will also stay away from talking about the innocent victims in Paris during this blog - since you don't want to hear about them unless the victims of Beirut, Baghdad, Gaza, West Bank, Kabul,Yemen, Burma, Kashmir, Karachi, Peshawar and Somalia, etc., are mentioned in the same breadth too.
So, let's stick to Beirut and Paris. And let's keep it simple.
As many of you (or at least some of you) may recall, before the civil war destroyed Beirut, it was affectionately known as "the Paris of the Middle East".
And, it was an actual civil war (aka in-fighting) that turned this "Paris of the Arab world", the jewel of a city overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, into ruins - long before ISIS or even Israel came to try to finish it off.
See, the muslims in general (even the moderate ones), and Arabs in particular, have this fascination for all things Western. Including "the Western media."
If you disagree with this statement, wake up and smell the hummus. And while you are at it, try this: Burn your US or UK passport, pick up the passport of the country of your origin and try to get a visa for all of the countries belonging to those flags that you want all of the Facebookers to use for their DPs just because you want a fair deal. See which one of those countries would welcome you with open arms and not kidnap you for ransom or relegate you to second class citizens.
While Israel was thinking of strolling into Beirut in 1980 long after that city had been turned into ruins, the Mayor of the Makkah region announced the plans to turn Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, into Paris.
I was in school in Jeddah at that time. And, I gotta tell you, I, along with thousands of expats living in Jeddah, laughed at this notion since there was garbage all around in the streets wherever we went. I couldn't imagine the city of my childhood would turn into the City of Light any time soon.
My point is this: The whole world, including the Arab world, loved Paris - young rich Arab lads would sing "Fly there, with Swiss Air" - and would love to build cities on that template.
Would you imagine seeing Paris turn into "the Beirut of Europe?"
What next once Paris is in the ruins?
Where does this cycle end?
That is why, my dear reader, we are shocked to hear of the destruction coming to the streets of Paris. And that is why we want to draw the line right here. We will not let them destroy the city that serves as the model for cities around the world.
And, just because Beirut has been burning since the early 1970's, effectively desensitizing us (if I could get a nickel for every time we heard about a car bomb going off in Beirut, I would be the richest man on the face of the Earth), doesn't necessarily mean Paris has to burn too.
Now, please excuse my French when I say: ISIS can go blow themselves up some place else.
Click here for Part II
And we will stay away from religion during this blog for two reasons:
Reason 1: Terror knows no religion.
Reason 2: Building and maintaining cities is more of a Civil/Social Engineering job than a religious awakening.
We will also stay away from talking about the innocent victims in Paris during this blog - since you don't want to hear about them unless the victims of Beirut, Baghdad, Gaza, West Bank, Kabul,Yemen, Burma, Kashmir, Karachi, Peshawar and Somalia, etc., are mentioned in the same breadth too.
So, let's stick to Beirut and Paris. And let's keep it simple.
As many of you (or at least some of you) may recall, before the civil war destroyed Beirut, it was affectionately known as "the Paris of the Middle East".
And, it was an actual civil war (aka in-fighting) that turned this "Paris of the Arab world", the jewel of a city overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, into ruins - long before ISIS or even Israel came to try to finish it off.
See, the muslims in general (even the moderate ones), and Arabs in particular, have this fascination for all things Western. Including "the Western media."
If you disagree with this statement, wake up and smell the hummus. And while you are at it, try this: Burn your US or UK passport, pick up the passport of the country of your origin and try to get a visa for all of the countries belonging to those flags that you want all of the Facebookers to use for their DPs just because you want a fair deal. See which one of those countries would welcome you with open arms and not kidnap you for ransom or relegate you to second class citizens.
While Israel was thinking of strolling into Beirut in 1980 long after that city had been turned into ruins, the Mayor of the Makkah region announced the plans to turn Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, into Paris.
I was in school in Jeddah at that time. And, I gotta tell you, I, along with thousands of expats living in Jeddah, laughed at this notion since there was garbage all around in the streets wherever we went. I couldn't imagine the city of my childhood would turn into the City of Light any time soon.
My point is this: The whole world, including the Arab world, loved Paris - young rich Arab lads would sing "Fly there, with Swiss Air" - and would love to build cities on that template.
Would you imagine seeing Paris turn into "the Beirut of Europe?"
What next once Paris is in the ruins?
Where does this cycle end?
That is why, my dear reader, we are shocked to hear of the destruction coming to the streets of Paris. And that is why we want to draw the line right here. We will not let them destroy the city that serves as the model for cities around the world.
And, just because Beirut has been burning since the early 1970's, effectively desensitizing us (if I could get a nickel for every time we heard about a car bomb going off in Beirut, I would be the richest man on the face of the Earth), doesn't necessarily mean Paris has to burn too.
Now, please excuse my French when I say: ISIS can go blow themselves up some place else.
Click here for Part II
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