On the book "Injustice-Story of the Holy Foundation Five" by Miko Peled

Recently, I attended a book signing talk given by Miko Peled on his newest book Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five published by Just World Books. This event was sponsored by the Palestinian Center, Washington, DC.

I solicited comments from my friend Chuck, a guru of Miriam's Kitchen, regarding the Five's apparent attempt to establish an orphanage (or, orphanages) for the children of parents who were deemed terrorists or terrorist sympathizers that had been killed in conflict dating as far back as the 1967 War--that war virtually has led to the US-Israeli denial to a Muslim population in the Palestinian region an independent state.  Having lost the war of 1967, the Palestinians still insist upon an independence from Israeli domination and intrusiveness in regions where Palestinians live.  Israel has said its major concern is that Palestinians no longer engage nor support terrorism upon Israelis; and as victors in that war, have moved to enforce its own provisions for the safety and security of Israeli citizenry.

I asked Chuck, don't the Palestinians realize they lost the war?  Aren't the Israelis entitled to spell out the terms for future peace and stability in the region we know as Palestine?

Chuck pointed out to me that the Israelis may better comprehend the fact that hordes of children under the age of 18 could become a cadre of recruitment into some terrorist army of youths to engage in even further terrorism in the region for years to come--and some of these quite possibly, could come from orphanages well-intended Palestinians might be concerned to establish now, but lack cognizance how these could be swayed by evil-doers who want to continue war with Israel, drawing upon any available group of  malingers and malcontents to renew hostilities once again.

So, while some Palestinians may argue for the establishment of orphanages. they seem unaware of how these orphan children housed altogether could become pawns for furthering a conflict and war for years to come between Jews and Muslims in the region.

Please, let's not forget who won the 1967 War between Israel and a retinue of Muslim nations against them!       

Dan, the Miriam Resident Painter

There's at least one very good painter whose a regular at Miriam's.  His name is Dan.  He's homeless, fearing that if he should change to a domicile, his painting genie would desert him.  He's at least middle-age and is short, sporting a beard he sometimes paints red.  He wears absurd clothing, wanting to make fun of his appearance for others as well as himself to mock.  He boasts he can paint an impressionistic work in three hours!  Each of his paintings is supposed to highlight a singular emotion he is capturing for his audience to appreciate.  To experience the feeling, they must translate the picture's elements into a spiritual composition without space and time, structurally conceived in a bare-bone feeling-dimension.

To conceive of paintings as conveying only feelings, the objects identifiable in the picture become  imaginary; not representing real things, only the ideas of what each item might seem to be.  A person's feet, for example, are blobs at the bottom of stilt-legs appearing on canvas, just suggestions of real feet.

Dan loves to paint Biblical religious scenes in his geometric box of fourfold delimiters--lines drawn to come together at the picture's corners.  He seems to grasp a Biblical view that the myths told therein have intrinsic value--to be enjoyed for their own existence in a universe of paintings.