Dry Bones P ASERENCE Opinion Editorials are posted and archived on JNonline.us . GENTLEMEN, THERE'S 6000 NEWS AND BAD NEWS ABOUT THE WAR ON TERRORISM. Editorial EXPLOSIVES. Christian-Jewish Connection R adical Islam does not even like moderate Muslims, so how can it be good for Christians?" asks a Syrian Orthodox magazine edi- tor quoted by Newhouse News Service. "We Christians belong to this land and to our country, but the ride of radicalism will affect our presence?' The editor is pro-Palestinian. But his quandary illustrates a dilemma that is largely over- looked in the clash of civiliza- tions in the Middle East. Christian populations among the Palestinians and Lebanese may define themselves by nationality. But real power is passing to the Islamic extrem- ists — Hamas and Hezbollah. The activities of these terrorist groups have dragged Christians into the middle of the war waged against Israel. "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people" has been a familiar graffiti in Arab countries for years. In the past, especially when the more secular Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat was calling the shots, some Christians joined in instigating terrorism. But terrorism now has become an Islamic enterprise. Christians are helpless in the face of the armed thugs in Gaza and Tyre and feel threatened as they never were by Israel. In Iraq, criminal gangs have especially targeted the Christian Chaldean community for kid- napping and ransom, knowing that many of them have well-to- do relatives in America. As a result, Christians are trying to get out of these places in historic numbers. It is an ironic footnote that Israel, founded as a safe haven for Jews, is the only country in the region where the Christian population is growing. According to statistics from 2004, a total of 144,000 THE 6000 NEWS IS 'NAT BRITAIN STOPPED A TERRORIST PLOT TO BLOW UP PLANES USING UNDETECTABLE LIQUID Christians live in Israel. A good many of these are Russian immigrants who were first-degree relatives of Jews. But among the Arab Christians in Israel, their demographic profile corresponds more closely to that of Israeli Jews than to that found in any Arab country. In terms of birth rate and education, Arab Christians are alMost iden- tical to Israeli Jews. About 60 percent of this popula- tion lives in the north and were among those killed by Hezbollah's rockets. It was also a Christian shrine, the Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, that was taken over and desecrated by Islamic gunmen in a standoff with Israeli troops during the second intifada. One of the tragedies of the Middle East is that the legitimate nationalistic aspirations of Arab THE TERRORISTS NOW HAVE UNDETECTABLE LIQUID EXPLOSIVES. groups have been hijacked by those who wish only to impose Muslim fundamentalism on the populations that come under their sway. The Saturday and Sunday people are faced with a common threat. The sooner they realize that and recognize their interests are conjoined, the faster Islamic extremism can be confronted in meaningful fashion. E E-mail letters of no more than 150 words to: letters@thejewishnews.com . Reality Check Castro, Pluto And Others W hile watching Miami's Cuban- American commu- nity pour into the streets to cel- ebrate the news of Fidel Castro's serious illness, a thought kept occurring to me. The one thing about praying for the death of an enemy is that, eventually, your prayer will be answered. • Sign at an anti-war rally in San Francisco: "Nazi Kikes Out of Lebanon." One-third of a poll sample of Muslims in England also finds nothing wrong with killing Jews. Now tell me again about how we just don't under- stand the difference between being anti-Israel and anti- Semitic. • Reuters apologetically admits using doctored photos of people in Lebanon posing as corpses, the same woman 28 August 24 • 2006 shrieking over the destruction of her house in two different cities on two different days, children's toys that miraculously emerged from bomb blasts clean and whole. And this is what passes for journalism in much of the world. • If Pluto is still considered a planet, what is Goofy? • Two of the people I'm hap- piest for in the resurgence of the Tigers are Tom Gage and John Lowe, the two longtime baseball writers for the Detroit dailies. They covered lousy teams for years, and now they get this wonderful surprise. You cannot imagine how dispiriting it is to cover a team no one cares about. They deserve this season as much as anyone. • One of the strangest anti-Semitic rants I ever came upon was in the pages of the old Dearborn Independent, the rag underwritten by Henry Ford in the 1920s. The author was deploring the Jewish influence on popular music and went off on a tirade about the subversive influence of Irving Berlin. This would be the same Irving Berlin who went on to write "God Bless America" and "White Christmas" — not to mention "Yiddle on Your Fiddle, Play Some Ragtime?" Deeply subver- sive stuff. • Is there anything more essen- tially Jewish-American than a tuna fish sandwich on challah? • Those were interesting stories about the guys who were buying prepaid cell phones to resell at a big markup to retail- ers. It turned out the security fears were way over- blown, and it was described as mere- ly a "traditional" way for young Arab-Americans to make a few bucks. So forget about Homeland Security. But I wonder if the Internal Revenue Service knows about this "tradition?' • I try to keep an open mind on these things. But when I see a guy with rings in both ears and tattoos all over his arms pound- ing down beers as fast as he can at a ballgame — and then the little kid sitting next to him asks "Can I have some cotton candy, daddy?" — I feel queasy. I won- der if the kid was the designated driver. • Someone once said to Noel Coward: "I believe that life is for living, don't you?" To which he responded: "I can't imagine what else you'd do with it?' Which is pretty much my reac- tion when people ask if I feel Tiger Stadium should have been saved. To do what with it? We said our goodbyes seven years ago. Let its memories rest. • Aren't you relieved to know that the French will be in charge of keeping the peace in southern Lebanon? Bring on Beau Geste. ❑ George Cantor's e-mail address is gcantor614@aol.com .