Herem (H pronounced like the hard H in Hannukah, or the ch in German ich) is the term when the Jewish community shuns someone as a nin member)
from Miami Herald:
Obama to ease travel restrictions to Cuba, allow more U.S. cash to island
Passengers wait in line to check in as they prepare to travel to Cuba at Miami International Airport in Miami, Thursday, Dec. 23, 2010.
Photo Alan Diaz / AP
Ed
I have never understood the reasons for our long term boycott of Cuba. Whatever passions persisted from the era of the missile embargo, why do those continue today?
Cuba is a threat to our system, but it is now a peaceful threat. If Communism, Cuba style, is better than capiatliusm in making a Caribbean nation happy, why not allow that experiment to proceed?
Today we eagerly deal with the remnant regimes of Soviet totalitarianism, with the state capitalism of Singapore and Beijing, and the Fatwa wielding regimes of Wahabi Arabia. Are these less of a threat to our way of life than Castro’s Cuba?
Is Cuban socialism more of a threat to US capitalism than the Chinese Army’s ownership of Lenovo?
Despite its own past mistakes in inserting armed revolutionaries into Africa and Latin America, Cuba has built an impressive society. From what we read, Cuba trades a level of repression for universal health care, a lack of poverty and level of education that a large part of the world rightly desires. Perhaps Cuba has something to teach the people of Sudan, Nigeria, Burma, Egypt, or Kazakhstan?
Nixon engaged China. That may be his greatest achievement.