Frequently Asked Questions

A: America's unprovoked invasion of Iraq, with barely a mention of all the Iraqi human beings "we" killed is so offensive that I must make it screamingly clear that THIS Arab has a reverence for life that Americans can't even imagine. I will have more to say about that, but for now, I will put this new version on the internet. The Web address -- www.rondavid.net -- is still the same.

Q: You are an Arab but you are not a Muslim. How can you speak for Muslims?

A: If you believe in the principle that America is built on --all people are equal-- only a retard or a demagogue could contend that one race, nationality or religion is better or worse than any other. So, in a very important sense, I don't speak for Muslims, I speak for everyone who believes in the principle of equality.

On the second night of the 1991 bombing of Iraq, I saw my wife sitting in front of the TV, crying. I asked her about it. She said, "I feel like I felt when we were standing in Dachau, except that it's happening now and I can't do anything about it." My wife--my strong, smart Irish wife--said, "We have to become Muslims."

I am nobody's mouthpiece. I don't speak for anybody but myself. But no matter what your ethnicity is, if you have any sense of honor, you will "be" a Muslim. You mess with them, you mess with me. It's that simple.

Q: Why does this website contain so much "stuff" that is irrelevant to defending the rights and full humanity of Arabs?

A: For starters, it's my website, elvis. I don't have to justify it to anyone. But I will tell you the logic behind it. 1. I'm not going to waste my time "preaching to the choir." I speak largely to the people who don't understand or disagree with Arabs & Muslims. 2. To address people, soul to soul, you have to begin with the things you have in common. I enjoy so many different aspects of life that I might find that commonality in sports or humor or trash talk or jazz or opera or Toni Morrison or ... I'm sure you get the point. So I will "come at you" with everything I am. If we connect, great. If we don't, I'm not going to cry about it. 3. Any Arab who cares only about Arab issues is irrelevant in/to America. The issues at the heart of what I believe--democracy, equality, economic opportunity for all, etc.--are both universal and typically American. 4. A website is potentially a new art form. I want to explore its possibilities. 5. My dear Arab brothers & sisters: Where is our Toni Morrison? Our Pavarotti? Our Miles or Coltrane or Allen Iverson or Michael Jordan or Bernard Malamud or Lenny Bruce? I issue you the same challenge I pose for myself: Become the Arab Caruso or Toni Morrison or Michael Jordan--a human being who is so spectacular at something that he or she transcends ethnicity.

Q: What is the overarching intent of this website?

A: There are several (and they overlap with the list above): 1. To have a forum in which I and others can speak out immediately on urgent matters instead of having to start from scratch every time America or Israel launches a new campaign to slaughter or dehumanize Arabs/Muslims. 2. To establish a "place" where the American people know that they can get the truth in plain no-bullshit English. 3. To find a way to make American politicians answerable to the people (a real Democracy). 4. To "level the playing field" between rich and poor (not socialism, but a realistic Minimum--and Maximum--Wage. 5. To help writers and independent publishers reverse the trend toward a few corporations "owning" the media and corporatizing the truth. 6. To write to somebody other than myself. 7. To make the point that, "by the way," all of this good shit was done by an Arab. 8. To DE-bullshit our language and clarify what terms like "American interests," "pre-emptive strikes," "collateral damage," "[Israeli] settlers" really mean. 9. To bridge the gap between Academic America and Working Class America so that we can work together toward our mutual best interests...and a few dozen other things.

Q: There may be one or two million readers who believe all that silly shit about Arab terrorists and Muslim fundamentalists. What do you have to say to them?

A: I think I'd like to give them a serious answer to that stupid racist question: Neither I, nor any Arab or Muslim I know, have ever killed anyone or intentionally caused severe injury to anyone or attempted to blow up anything. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, do any of us intend to do so.

I will, without hesitation, take a polygraph test to that effect. My only condition is that my accuser take one with me.

Rumsfeld, Cheny, Wolfowitz, Perle, Pipes, Feith, Fleischer...do any of you have the balls to take me up on my offer?

The AyRab Gazette

Dedicated to:

1. the protection of every human life (white, black, arab, jew, american & non-

2. telling--and demanding--the truth (whenever possible with a sense of humor)

3. political & economic democracy for everyone

4. a REAL Salary Cap--America needs a Maximum Wage

5. the radical principle that Arabs & Muslims are plain ol' people (aka: "all men [& women] are created equal"

6. common sense, plain talk, no bullshit [an AyRab Thomas Paine?]

7. Asking the right Questions, like: Would you have a better chance of learning the truth about the 9/11 terrorist attacks by giving lie detector tests to:

a) all people of Middle Eastern descent, OR

b) to all American politicians, the CIA, the FBI, the Mossad?