Hampi bridge collapse

My photo of the bridge under contruction in December 2008.

When I was in Hampi, I went to see the construction of a cable stay bridge. Since I had never seen such a bridge under construction before, I was really looking forward to it. But what I saw was less than inspiring. It just didn't look right. I took 2 photos and quickly moved on to something else.

Today, while having lunch in Kolkata, I bought a copy of the Times of India. In the newspaper, there was a little article that the bridge under construction in Hampi had collapsed, killing 5 people. Am I somehow responsible because I didn't report that the construction didn't look right? There are lots of things that don't look right here in India.

I could not find the article in the online version of the Times, but I found an article at Daijiworld, with pictures. This article claims no one was killed. The following photos are from the article.

Happy New Year

I spent New Year's Eve watching Pirate of the Caribbean: At World's End. The movie ended a few minutes before midnight, then I went up to the rooftop to watch the fireworks. I decided to stay away from any parties, just in case something happened - like the fire in a club in Bangkok. 2009 will be a very interesting year for me, as I plan to venture further into the more unstable parts of the world. I may or may not keep you up-to-date. :-) And now for something completely different.

My Naïve Take on the Israeli Palestinian Conflict

You know, sh*t happens. And has always happened throughout history. People overthrowing other people. People occupying other's land. And in this case, the international community displaced the Palestinians to give the Jewish people their historic homeland. Right or wrong, it happened.

When a people have been conquered, occupied or just pushed aside, they have one of two choices. They can accept their new fate or they can fight to overthrow their conquerors and expel their occupiers. So the Palestinians could accept the new State of Israel, or they could fight. And fight they did. And they continue to fight. But they can never win. Israel has superior military power and the backing of most of the most of the international community. But they continue to fight, never accepting Israel.

But why would they continue to fight, knowing they can not win? Islamic countries, from North Africa to South East Asia, all (except Egypt & Jordan) do not acknowledge the State of Israel. In this way, they act as instigators, egging on the Palestinians in their continued resistance. Not helping the Palestinians in their fight against Israel, just ensuring that there never will be peace. Mahmud Ahmadinejad came the closest in talking about wiping Israel of the earth, but he was just talk. They know that for every attack by the Palestinians, Israel will react with overwhelming force, stopping whatever peace plan was being worked on.

Israel is to blame also, for allowing herself to be caught in that trap. By reacting disproportionately to attacks, Israel gives reason to side with the oppressed Palestinians, making it difficult to see the role of the world Islamic community in preventing peace. Now Israel is out of control, killing hundreds, determined to stamp out all resistance, once and for all. But unless all the Palestinians are killed, there will always be resistance.

In my opinion, the only hope for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, is for the Islamic countries, starting with Saudi Arabia, the home of Mecca, to make a good faith effort and officially recognize the State of Israel and establish regular diplomatic relations. If they are not willing to do this, then they must join, all of them, with the Palestinians in overthrowing Israel. Not a weak replay of the failed Arab-Israeli wars, but a real war with all the Islamic countries contributing. Or maybe, they hope Israel will eventually exceed the tolerance of the international community, and be overthrown by a US led force.