One male Caucasian McCain/Palin campaigner donned an Obama Halloween mask, of and by itself not a big deal, but then attached a hand-printed cardboard “Hamas for Obama” sign perpetrating a lie and creating an implication of terrorist ties to presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. On the flip side of the sign are the words “Honk for Socialism NoBama.”

Debating the issues, building an case for a candidate rooted in facts, is one thing. This kind of ill-informed misinformation and dis-information starts with the word “stupid,” meanders into “childish,” and continues with “dangerous” and “malicious.” Where it ends remains a question mark.

There are elements of racism, hatred and politics at a new low, in this display, and it is right here in Clarksville, Tennessee.  Election 2008 has seen levels of viciousness at the local, state and federal level that are appalling, prejudiced, intolerant and ugly.

The reference to “Hamas” is troubling, because Obama is as far removed from Hamas as an American can be.

Hamas, for those uncertain of just what it is, is defined as an organization created in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Mohammad Taha of the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood at the beginning of the First Intifada. Notorious for its numerous suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli civilians and security forces, Hamas also runs extensive social programs and has gained popularity in Palestinian society by establishing hospitals, education systems, libraries and other services throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Hamas’ charter calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Hamas describes its conflict with Israel as political and not religious or antisemitic. However, its founding charter, writings, and many of its public statements reflect the influence of antisemitic conspiracy theories.

America has a lot at stake: economic and military issues compete for ranking as the crisis of the day. Instead of looking at qualifications and abilities, some are presenting incorrect information, blatant lies, as truth. And playing the race card and the terrorism card in the process. They are making judgments rooted in faith and fear, and fear of certain faiths and the color of a candidate’s skin. Never mind that Obama is a Christian  or an American.

This campaigner seemed to be having a good time with his personal little joke. Many  of us, however, are not responding with laughter. We are too disgusted. Appalled. Ashamed.

Paradise is the second part of O’Malley’s famous war trilogy and is set amidst the horrifying conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorists. The play follows the lives of two young girls, one Israeli and one Palestinian who in another place could have been friends. O’Malley follows their lives, their teenage crushes, their dreams as the cloud and horror of war looms over them and colors their world.

The show was first requested by The Cincinnati Playhouse as part of its educational outreach, but in the Post 9-11 world, the tour was cancelled and a threat was made to cease the production. However, the play eventually opened to a sold out opening night at the Kirk Theatre on New York’s Theatre Row in March 2005 for a limited run, and has since played to standing room only audiences through out the United States.

While O’Malley was a playwright at APSU, he often pointed the tragic events of 9-11 as the genesis for his war trilogy. The playwright spent the last five years of his life probing the psyches of religious fanatics, who commit unfathomable atrocities in the name of their God, and the victims of those atrocities. What O’Malley reminds us of in his trilogy is that those victims are not just on the battlefield, but also in those left behind at home during war, or in this case, two little girls caught up in a conflict they do not understand in a world that seems to be falling apart little by little around them.

While at Austin Peay, Glynn O’Malley met the widow of a fallen Fort Campbell soldier. Eventually, O’Malley established the Sgt. Ariel Rico Memorial Scholarship designated for the children of dead or wounded soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division. APSU’s production is directed by Dr. Sarah Gotcher, a long-time friend and associate of O’Malley. The play will run from Wednesday through Sunday with shows at 7:30 PM and a 2:00 PM matinee show on Sunday. The cost is $4.00 for students and $6.00 for General Admissions. Dr. Gotcher, respecting the wishes of O’Malley, has stated that all proceeds from the production will be given to the Sgt. Ariel Rico Scholarship. To reserve tickets call the Trahern Theatre ticket booth at (931) 221-7379.

The people of the United States must acknowledge the role we play in the current crisis in Israel, Lebanon, Gaza and Iraq. Our responsibility lies in our support of the state sponsored agression by our government and the government of Israel against innocent women, children and other non-combatants.

The current round of actions against Lebanon, Gaza and Iraq violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which sets out the obligations of occupying powers and specifically prohibits collective punishments, “targeted” assassinations, and destruction of the infrastructure of an occupied territory.

Disregard for International Law Creates More Victims

The Israeli attacks constitute collective punishment of the entire Gazan population and the sovereign nation of Lebanon, and have created a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions in Gaza. While the United States should not support the actions of terrorists against innocent civilians in Israel, neither should it support the actions of a democratic state against innocent civilians in Lebanon and Gaza.

The current actions of the Israeli government must be condemned because they violate international law. It is unlikely that the United States will condemn actions which mirror its foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. The truth of the matter is that US agression against the people of Iraq and Afghanistan has been of a greater magnitude and the suffering caused by our foreign policy worse than the current crisis in the Middle East.

While this may be only a microcosm of the 300,000 killed in Iraq and the $324 billion spent to date, Americans have had an opportunity in the most recent crisis to see exactly how we are seen by the rest of the world. Although Israel does have a right to defend her territory and has a right to protect her people, global opinion is strongly against Israel’s actions, because once again, Israel is collectively punishing an entire group of people for the crimes of a few. There is essentially no difference between this behaviour and our collective punishment of the people of Iraq by destroying her infrastructure as well as our imprisonment, torture and murder of countless innocent Iraqi civilians.

Collective punishment is immoral, and United States policymakers have a responsibility to speak out against this aggression. The eyes of the Arab world are once again upon us and upon Israel. waiting for our response. Will we choose to step in line with international law and the Geneva conventions and deal with terrorism with common sense, or will we bomb airports, bridges, generating stations, water treatment facilities, schools, hospitals and private residences in our quest for revenge?

The odds are not good. We have already committed to spending $6 billion dollars a year to supply Israel with the most effective killing machines we can invent, as we have invested $324 billion to the same purpose in Iraq.

Additionally, the expansion of the military escalation to Lebanon represents a potentially serious threat, especially if there is involvement from Syria. The ongoing crisis is political, not just humanitarian. It reflects the failure of Israeli unilateralism, the failure of the “Roadmap,” the failure of the U.S.-orchestrated exclusion of the UN, and failure of the international community and the UN to intervene.

The Gaza and Lebanon escalation demonstrates once again the need for an entirely new, international (not U.S.-sponsored) diplomatic process based on international law and human rights, aimed at ending the occupation and establishing equal rights for all, the only basis for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.