<b>DREAMer</b>: Thank you for those valid distinctions that you make; I hope that they are accurate. Any lawyers here? They say that the Taliban is focusing on our weakness which they say is our soft heart. What are we to do about that?
Please, tell me this is a joke. I didn't think people gullible enough to believe what they hear on talk radio were smart enough to use computers.
<A HREF="http://www.sdsu.edu/announcements/20011018.html ">STATEMENT ON SEPT. 22 INCIDENT AT SDSU LIBRARY</A> <A HREF="http://www.sudanforum.net/discussion/general/19947.shtml">Ethiopian Student threatened after defending America</A> Took less than 10 minutes to find it. Mango
That's both amazing and a travesty at the same time. Someone's word against another, and of course the wrong person gets the business for doing the right thing. Rich, the title of this thread hits home.
<b>Mango</b>: I love you! Thank you for legitimizing me in this small but important way....... <b>swopa</b>: eat your words........ What kind of idiotic generalization are you making with that observation?
From the articles Mango posted, it's clear that the problem was the Saudi students filing a presumably exaggerated complaint against the Ethiopian student. What should the school have done after getting a complaint of harassment? Ignored it because one side claimed to be supporting popular political beliefs? Now THAT would be the exact sort of bias of which talk-radio sorts love to accuse universities. The school talked to the Ethiopian student and dropped the matter with a form letter telling him to stay cool in the future -- just as they would if the students had gotten into a heated argument over football. Good for SDSU, I say. What this incident shows, more than anything else, is that all of the students involved were true Americans. At the first hint of criticism, they rushed (the Saudis to the school, and the Ethiopian to the media) to proclaim themselves victims. In that sense, I suppose the thread title is correct.
<B>SWOPA</B>: "From the articles Mango posted, it's clear that the problem was the Saudi students filing a presumably exaggerated complaint against the Ethiopian student." <B>RR</B>: No the problem is that we welcome non-citizen traitors and enemies into our country with open arms whilst providing them the best of education and the safest of existences no matter what. That is the problem. <b>swopa</b>: "What should the school have done after getting a complaint of harassment? Ignored it because one side claimed to be supporting popular political beliefs? Now THAT would be the exact sort of bias of which talk-radio sorts love to accuse universities." <b>RR</b>: The university's lilly-livered handling of this matter is exactly that sort of bias that talk-radio sorts love to accuse the universities of. Thank you for the confirmation, SDSU! <b>swopa</b>: "The school talked to the Ethiopian student and dropped the matter with a form letter telling him to stay cool in the future -- just as they would if the students had gotten into a heated argument over football. Good for SDSU, I say." <b>RR</b>: This is so lame that it barely deserves mention. People died, swopa. Thousands of them. The assault on America continues. For you to equate this to an argument over a football game is disrepectful of the dead and the living. The guy used good judgement. He spoke to them in Arabic so as not to draw further attention. Who sent the bully over to him? I wish the campus police had gotten involved earlier and dragged their sorry asses out of the library amidst loud protests. Maybe we would have known about it then. <b>swopa</b>: "What this incident shows, more than anything else, is that all of the students involved were true Americans. At the first hint of criticism, they rushed (the Saudis to the school, and the Ethiopian to the media) to proclaim themselves victims." <b>RR</b>: I thank the Ethiopian student for bringing this lame response to the attention of the media. I wish it had gotten wider recognition. That's kind of ironic, huh?
Let me see if I've got this straight, RR. If I want to have the police "drag your sorry ass out" of any public place, all I have to do is tell them that I overheard you saying you approved of the WTC & Pentagon attacks -- and you will approve of this. I have to admit, that would a great way to get a table in a crowded restaurant. In your zeal to attack the "lily-livered handling of this matter" by the university, did you notice that they had notified other law-enforcement authorities of the incident? I can guarantee you that the local police/FBI/whoever found the part about Saudis speaking approvingly of the attacks more interesting than the Ethiopian student. And their follow-up will be a lot more productive, one way or another, than dragging people out of a library.
Speaking of only in America. Today I'm driving down Mason Road out near Katy and I see a guy driving along with one of those flag things you put on the top of your driver's side window. The only thing is that the flag was a friggin swastika.
<b>swopa</b>: swopa, this really happened. I'm not approving of filing false reports to get people's asses dragged out of anyplace. What in the world are you thinking? The skimpy version that I reported seems to be pretty accurate. The Saudi students were not innocents. That is a radically different from what you are proposing. They committed no crime, yet their behavior is hugely suspicious and deserves investigation. If they have to be dragged out of the library to get it done, I'll help if needed. The Ethiopian kid deserves a medal. I'll chip in a fair share to send him a Steve Francis Rockets jersey. Any takers?!
The Ethiopian student says the Saudi students were celebrating the Sept. 11th attacks, the Saudi's say they weren't. Since there don't appear to be any third-party witnesses to corroborate either side of the story, how can we be sure that either side is being completely truthful?
What was the Ethiopian kid's reason for getting involved then? Is there any doubt that, were this true, the Saudi students would like like dogs about it?
Yep, I'm dealing with a talk-radio listener, all right ... no fact is too obvious for him to miss ... RR, read those articles Mango posted. The school informed other authorities without needing any outside pressure. If anything, the **** folks like you are trying to stir up is interfering with the investigation by drawing more attention to the incident and letting the Saudi students know other authorities are aware of them. Nice going. I personally prefer quiet, effective action to counterproductive macho posturing, but obviously some people think differently.
I don't know, maybe he thought the Saudi's were talking too loud and interrupting his studying, and he told them to shut up. I have no doubt that they would lie, but if it weren't true then I also have no doubt that they would tell the truth of the matter. I don't know what happened, and all I have to go one is decidedly uninformative and detail-lacking articles. I'd rather not condemn omeone without knowing exactly what happened. If the story turns out to be true, then the Ethiopian is a very nice fellow, and I think I'd like to meet him. But I'd like to make sure its true first, if that's possible.
<B>. The Saudi students were not innocents. </B> How do you know this? Do we suddenly now get to accuse people and assume guilt without ANY EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER? McCarthyism worked so well the first time around...
<B>What was the Ethiopian kid's reason for getting involved then? </B> Let's see... Could there possibly be anybody in this country who hates Middle Easterners right now? Could there possibly be anyone in this country who wants to get rid of Middle Easterners in America? No, that's not possible at all. I'm certainly not saying he's lying, but why would you assume one guy is telling the truth and the other is not? I would think using your logic, we could very easily get rid of all ME people from this country by just saying they were happy about the WTC. Apparently, I don't even need to provide evidence for you to think they should be deported....
<b>From the news-story</b>: "On Saturday, Sept. 22, Zewdalem Kebede, a political science senior and native Ethiopian, was studying in the Reserve Book Room in Love Library. .... He was attracted to their conversation when the topic shifted to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "They started talking about the Sept. 11 action," he said. "And with that action they were very pleased. They were happy. And they were <b>regretting of missing the 'Big House.'</b> ...Kebede tried to continue studying, <b>attempting to ignore the students</b>, but finally he approached their table and spoke to them. "Guys, what you are talking is unfair. How do you feel happy when those 5 to 6,000 people are buried in two or three buildings?" Kebede said. "They are under the rubble or they became ash. "And you are talking about the action of bin Laden and his group. You are proud of them. You should have to feel shame." Kebede spoke to the students in Arabic so as not to disturb others studying in the library. "I didn't want to spread it," he said. <b>"I didn't want the rest of students to hear it."</b> Another Saudi student approached from a nearby table and spoke to Kebede in English, asking if he had a problem with the other students speaking in Arabic. A heated exchange took place. Kebede told him there was no problem, and the man asked if Kebede was going to threaten them, to which he replied he was not and returned to his table. After about 30 minutes, two university police officers approached Kebede and asked to speak with him. Kebede related his story of what had occurred. The officers informed Kebede that he should have reported the incident to them rather than get involved. "I thought to report it to the police, in order that they follow it and so on, but they would hear my words only, so it is useless," Kebede said. "It was upsetting. Very upsetting." University Police said both parties involved in the disturbance were cautioned and statements were taken from one of the Saudi Arabian men and Kebede. Because the Saudi students are listed as victims in the report and the case is non-criminal, their names cannot be released. The police report states that University Police responded to a disturbance involving Arab students, that Kebede was contacted and that he understood Arabic. No specific mention was made in the report regarding what Kebede heard the Saudi students saying. <b>RR</b>: According to this report, this Kebede kid acted like a complete gentleman. The only belligerence was on the part of the third party who got involved. Where is he in the official report? I wonder who actually called the University police. <b>swopa</b>: I said "if." I understand how espionage works. I said if because I would not molly-coddle these kids. The only witness is the kid who spoke Arabic. I wouldn't give the Saudis the benefit of the doubt. Campus cops have never been too strong on counter-terrorism. It's unlikely that these kids were involved but they are sympathizers certainly. I say kick their asses out of the US. <b>Puedlfor</b>: The story says he tried to ignore them but could no longer when their conversation turned celebratory talking about the events of 9/11. <b>shanna</b>: McCarthyism, huh? You are too much. Why does the Ethiopian kid want to get rid of all MEs in the US? Use your brain. If you want to die while protecting the rights of the our enemies, go right ahead. But don't take me and my family and friends with you, okay!
Why does everyone want to be so skeptical of this guy's truthfulness? Every version of this event has him acting responsibly and heroically. Some of you seem more inclined to believe the Saudis than the Ethiopian. I think that is strange.
I think its strange that you would condemn the Saudis without proof. I'm not believing either side, not until I have some more definite proof.
