O G San

Reply to MOTO industry in Misc JoeUser Forums

I too love bookshops, something about being around all that knowledge. I've started to buy books online but it's just not the same.

Reply to Dismantling The Cliche Network in International JoeUser Forums

V, Welcome to Joeuser. I've put the French dictionary away now

Reply to Dismantling The Cliche Network in International JoeUser Forums

Je pense c'est assez, merci beaucoup. J'espere que tu vas bien.

Reply to Meanwhile, In The West Bank in International JoeUser Forums

Thanks for your comment, mano. I defer to you on the question of what is and isn't part of Eretz Yisrael . If yo don''t know your Bible better than me, you're in big trouble

Reply to Meanwhile, In The West Bank in International JoeUser Forums

Link Interesting piece on this topic from Electronic Intifada

Reply to Dismantling The Cliche Network in International JoeUser Forums

Zena, Can I have another clue as to your identity?

Reply to Dismantling The Cliche Network in International JoeUser Forums

Thanks all for the comments. Allow me to elaborate on my point about a political solution. Our experience in Ireland shows us that "cracking down on terror" never works if the group in question already has public support. In fact, a military response only makes the situation worse. Military action only succeeds if the group being targeted is peripheral (Hamas is the strongest faction in Gaza). So, while missile strikes may kill thi

Dismantling The Cliche Network in International JoeUser Forums

There is no conflict in the world which generates as much verbal diarrhoea as the Israel/Palestinian one. Biased, blatantly pro-Zionist phrases such as "period of calm", "no partner", and "window of opportunity" masquerade as neutral discourse. In fact these cliches serve to reinforce an Israel-centric view of the conflict. For example, there is a "period

Meanwhile, In The West Bank in International JoeUser Forums

When the Israelis offered the PLO control of Gaza during peace negotiations in the early nineties, it is reported that one of the Palestinian delegation quiped: "Great, now what do we get in return?" Even for the Palestinians, Gaza - with its apocalyptic overcrowding, its suicidal birthrate and its epic poverty - is a problem rather than a prize. This is

Reply to Iraq War YES or NO ? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

No

Reply to FEAR in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Insightful as ever but on one point I must disagree. Iraq is not the root cause of these attacks. The war may have been the spark but it wasn't the fuel. I believe that if Blair had not joined in Bush's war, this could still have happened. It is wrong to assume that any single policy change could placate the suicide bombers. It's more complex than that.

Reply to The war is over? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

On the day of the announcement I passed police and army land rovers. In Holywood of all places. If the war is over, someone forgot to tell the loyalists.

Viagra, Comb-Over, Peace Process in International JoeUser Forums

"A lot of it's got to do with age" said Paul Bew during a tutorial on Irish politics some years ago. "Running around shooting people and spending the night in a hedgerow - it's a young man's game. Adams, McGuinness, the lot of them: they're middle-aged now. If nothing else, the peace process is a great advert for the male menopause." As ever Bew was exaggerating sligh

I've Already Forgotten Where I Was When I Heard The News in International JoeUser Forums

"It's only words, and words are all I have" as Ronan Keating once sang. If only real life was as simple as cheesy ballads would suggest. Yesterday's "historic" declaration by the IRA that it is abandoning violence after 35 years of bloodshed is very welcome. As were all those other "historic" declarations about a "total cessation" and "the war" being "over". Fine word

Palestine 2001: Jerusalem, The Second Coming in Travel JoeUser Forums

We arrive back in Bir Zeit with little to do for the last few days of the camp. Violence is raging elsewhere in the West Bank, but Bir Zeit is an oasis of calm. In this mainly Christian town shopkeepers sit outside their shops on those ubiquitous white plastic chairs, trying to manage the tedium of their lives. The sun shines brightly and the town is quiet in a sleepy

Palestine 2001: Jenin And Nablus in Travel JoeUser Forums

After a week and a half of the most stifling heat, Jenin comes as a relief. Or rather, the Arab-American University of Jenin, comes as a relief. This brand new campus is situated, Third World style, well outside the city itself, in the cooler hills above. The drop in temperature is a respite for this northern European but the condition of my feet is of some concern to

Reply to Palestine 2001: Tel Aviv in Travel JoeUser Forums

Thanks all for your comments. Mano, Be careful, I may take you up on that offer one day Meghan, Thanks for your detailed response, you brought back to my mind some things I'd forgotten.

Palestine 2001: Bir Zeit And Ramallah in Travel JoeUser Forums

Checkpoints permitting, it’s a short taxi drive from Jerusalem to Ramallah, from the first world to the third. On the way I half expect some notice, a sign of some sort announcing: “You are now entering the Occupied Territories. Have a nice day.” Of course there is nothing of the sort. Travelling from the capital to Ramallah, the road gradually deteriorates and the su

Palestine 2001: Jerusalem in Travel JoeUser Forums

“You couldn’t hear that behind a bus ticket!” 1989, Strandtown Primary School, Belfast. It’s assembly and our slightly demotic teacher, Miss Ireland (emphatically not a beauty queen) is urging us on to ever greater efforts in the performance of the anthem Jerusalem . For Miss Ireland volume is all, if they can’t hear us in the next postal district, we

Palestine 2001: Tel Aviv in Travel JoeUser Forums

Oh shit. We should have sorted out our lies beforehand. Meghan and I joined the line at passport control at Ben-Gurion airport together. The vigilant, stern-faced young woman at the counter may well have noted this. But as Meghan passes through, having explained her travel plans, I realise that she must have lied. I will also lie, of course. I just hope it’s

Three Little Words: I Don't Know in International JoeUser Forums

"Is increasing aid the solution to poverty in Africa" asks this week's online poll in the New Statesman (a sort of Islington chatter sheet). The result: 93%no, 7% yes; suprised me, given that NS readers tend to be of the hand-wringing "oh, isn't it terrible?" tendency. But what struck me more was the paucity of options on offer, with "yes" and "no

Reply to Seoul-London-Belfast in Misc JoeUser Forums

Back for good?! Do you think I've lost my mind I'll be here in August though, looking forward to meeting up.

Seoul-London-Belfast in Misc JoeUser Forums

I arrive in Heathrow from Seoul, my home for the last fifteen months, on my way to Belfast, my home for the next two. It's my first time in Europe for over a year. Even in the artificial atmosphere of an international airport, the culture shock hits me. No more signs in Hangeul, no-one speaking Korean. Most people around me as I dash between terminals are the same col

Gamsa Hamnida in Misc JoeUser Forums

This is my first blog upon returning to the decadent west and my last blog about life in Korea. I thought it would be appropriate to conclude by thanking some people who I met on the peninsula. So a respectful gamsa hamnida and a solemn nod of the head to the following: To Soupy, first and foremost. As the recipient of an entire gushing blog in his h

Reply to Straddling the Irish Sea in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

I resisted emigration for much longer than most of my contemporaries. At first I felt like a sell-out for leaving but now I think "some birds are too beautiful to be caged." Very arrogant.