Curiously similar names of terror suspect and Arab activist

A terror suspect was arrested with a knife "artfully concealed" in a book was stopped at Detroit Metropolitcan Airport trying to get on a one—way flight to Yemen. The man's name? Mohammed Ghanem.

"Someone had carved out the inside of the book and placed the knife inside it, said Ghanem's attorney, Nabih Ayad."

The story does not inquire who provided attorney Nabih Ayad immediately after the arrest.

Ghanem is an unusual name that rang a bell. A Dr. Jess Ghannam is styled as "president of the American—Arab Anti—Discrimination Committee" in San Francisco, and is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF. Ghannam is a dedicated propagandist for Palestinian and Arab causes.

For example, Al Jazeerah cited Ghannam's interview with the Palestinian singing couple Duo Doloroso.  One of their Christmas songs for 2004 goes

Silent night, holy night,

All is lost, see our plight.

Round our towns Israelis patrol,

Of our lives they have full control.

Let us live in peace,

Let us sleep in peace

Ghannam remarks that "Your poetry is well—crafted and very powerful." 

Which would be more persuasive had we not seen Yasser Arafat turning down the offer of  more than 90 percent of the territories in question, including a headquarters in Jerusalem. The PA could have chosen not to have Israeli soldiers patrolling Bethlehem. But Arafat wanted Israel dead, and so do the current Palestinians.

It is curious conception of  "Let us live in peace/Let us sleep in peace" if "peace" can only be achieved by killing six million Israelis.

A final coincidence: the West Bank YMCA was just burned down by Palestinian Muslims.

Local government sources identified the attackers as members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, saying the identities of the gunmen are "well known" to Qalqiliya's security forces, which are controlled by the Hamas government.Today's arson follows a series of warnings by the Muslim leadership of Qalqilya accusing the city's YMCA of missionary activity and demanding the Christian organization close its offices and leave town or face likely Muslim violence.

So much for "Silent Night, Holy Night." Apparently Christmas carols are only good for sucker audiences, not in practice.

Hat tip: Little Green Footballs

James Lewis   9 10 06