I Don't Remember When Exactly I Read

Take A Young Man From Gaza Living In The Most Horrendous Conditions - Most Of It Imposed By Israel - Who Straps Dynamite Around Himself And Then Throws Himself Into A Crowd Of Israelis. I've Never Condoned Or Agreed With It, But At Least It Is Understandable As The Desperate Wish Of A Human Being Who Feels Himself Being Crowded Out Of Life And All Of His Surroundings, Who Sees His Fellow Citizens, Other Palestinians, His Parents, Sisters, And Brothers, Suffering, Being Injured, Or Being Killed. He Wants To Do Something, To Strike Back.

Power, After All, Is Not Just Military Strength. It Is The Social Power That Comes From Democracy, The Cultural Power That Comes From Freedom Of Expression And Research, The Personal Power That Entitles Every Arab Citizen To Feel That He Or She Is In Fact A Citizen, And Not Just A Sheep In Some Great Shepherd's Flock.

Speaking As A New Yorker, I Found It A Shocking And Terrifying Event [9/11], Particularly The Scale Of It. At Bottom, It Was An Implacable Desire To Do Harm To Innocent People. It Was Aimed At Symbols: The World Trade Center, The Heart Of American Capitalism, And The Pentagon, The Headquarters Of The American Military Establishment.

[9/11] Was Not Meant To Be Argued With. It Wasn't Part Of Any Negotiation. No Message Was Intended With It. It Spoke For Itself, Which Is Unusual.

And In This Relentlessly Unfolding Series Of Interactions, The U.s. Has Played A Very Distinctive Role, Which Most Americans Have Been Either Shielded From Or Simply Unaware Of.