The Zionist Movement

9 Mar 07
Discussed prejudices and racism today with Ali. We covered racism in the U.S., Iraq, and the rest of the world and agreed that it exists universally and is unacceptable. I couldn’t resist asking about Israel and why it is such a source of animosity to so many leaders in the Middle East. He said, the people he knows don’t care about Israel. I was surprised. Given the present situation 1) their safety in Iraq is too questionable to be distracted by Israel so they must focus on their own personal safety and 2) the people of Iraq are entirely too poor to worry about the “Zionist Movement”—the upper middle class makes approx $1000/month. They can’t afford the luxury of caring about Israel.

He asked me to look into whether or not IqAF pilots could take a coalition C-130 to return to their homes in Baghdad during their leave. He would rather fly than make the dangerous 8 hr drive from Basrah to Baghdad. Aside from the hazards of insurgent attacks and the danger of working with the coalition, he said there is an additional concern for pilots from the Saddam regime that flew against Iran in the Iran-Iraq War. He said the Iranians have offered rewards to kill pilots that participated in the war. Ali was not in the IqAF during the war but thinks that minor detail will be of little consequence to a killer seeking reward/revenge.

Asked SciFi for some ESL material. I’d like to teach some ESL classes in the afternoon to help pass the time. Hope that comes through. I play so much Pictionary trying to explain what I’m talking about that I may as well start giving them some formal instruction.