May 2005 Archives

Well, OK, maybe not pay, but still...it'd be interesting to watch.

Labour Friends of Iraq challenges Galloway and Hitchens to debate

I should say it would be. Apparently Hitchens has accepted. George?

I hope everyone had a fine weekend, or extended weekend as the case may be. Let's get to it.

Today's first link comes to us from a Marxist mailing list and accuses Israel of burying tons of radioactive waste in all of the populated areas of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

[Marxism] Genocide? 'Israel Buried 80 Tons of Nuclear Waste in the Palestinian Territories'

It goes on. Do otherwise intelligent people really believe this? The post hasn't attracted any discussion, so no one's refuting it, either, but a brief look at the thread index indicates that many postings do not attract much discussion. Take that as you will. You will note that the list is hosted on Columbia University's server and moderated by Columbia Professor University Employee, Louis Proyect, a self-described "leftwing activist" and believer in "peace and social justice" - honesty apparently figuring fairly low on the priority list.

Do I really need to belabor the reasons why this "report" is transparent nonsense? I suppose it's worth taking a moment to do so. Israel's slanderers can't seem to keep their complaints straight. Either Israel wants to hold on to the land, in which case it makes no sense to poison it, as they supposedly want to kick all of the Palestinian Arabs out and that would leave them with nothing, or they want to leave but are going to poison the population centers of Gaza and the West Bank as a sort of vindictive revenge as payback for withdrawal. Either case makes no sense. Whether the Israelis are staying or going, why would anyone massively irradiate their next door neighbor's land? It seems rather self-defeating doesn't it? And poisoning the ground-water of the entire region?

Further, why would Israel, with the eyes of the world upon it, perpetrate such an obvious and provable crime, when any investigator with a geiger counter could be taken to the dump-sites and have the story of the year?

But will anyone investigate these claims? If the article were just a posting on a Marxist email list, or the online diary-entry of some fevered activist who's spent too much time in the hot Gaza sun, I'd rather fairly assume not.

The trouble is, the source for this story is not some internet backwater fantasy-land, but the Palestinian Authority itself. The original source is apparently here, at the PA's own web page. Yes, this is an official release - in this time when the PA is charged with preparing the ground for peace.

So now I ask why this story is ignored by all but the true believers - the people who will believe anything that fits their pre-conceived "Israel as Satan" paradigm, or who are dishonest enough to know it's nonsense but recognize its use for their political ends regardless? This would, after all be a slam-dunk for any energetic reporter. Simply visit the territories - I'm sure the PA officials would be happy to give a tour of these toxic sites - bring along a geiger counter and some baggies for soil samples and voila - instant Pulitzer, and you'll be saving lives and preventing birth-defects for generations to come.

Of course, the reason that doesn't happen is that everyone, including the official quoted in the story, knows the idea that Israel is intentionally depositing tons of nuclear waste around Palestinian population centers is pure nonsense - the product of a sick and fevered mind.

So that begs the obvious question. Here we have posted on an official PA web site the most outrageous of transparently slanderous stories - one that could be disproven easily and quickly - so why is no one reporting on this? Imagine some agency of the American, or even the Israeli, Government posting such whoppers. The outcry would be instantaneous. The calls for resignations would reach high decibels. The Government's word would be broken and untrustworthy into the forseeable future, and the press wouldn't hesitate to remind us of the story with every statement from that agency or official until well into the misty future.

The answer lies in many factors, but prominent among them is the light racism of low expectations. Most people expect fevered propaganda from Arab governments as a matter of course. Pointing it out would be redundant. Further, demonizing Israel and America is a favored blood-sport of even our own press. For the dishonest, it suits their short-sighted political purposes to have this story out there. Aiding and abetting the type of hatred a story like this engenders is a secondary matter to the vogue of the moment - taking the side of the noble savage against the evil colonialists. And for the morally lazy, demonizing Israel is free and bares no consequences, even questioning the PA means a loss of access, and maybe even a danger to life and limb. Those who question the "Palestinian national consensus" need to watch their backs - even if that consensus is based on a vicious fantasy.

Most know the story is nonsense, hence no word in the mainstream press, but no criticism either. Imagine the Palestinian Arabs were held to the same standards as everyone else, and this story got the attention it deserved. It might actually mean that the PA and the people they supposedly lead would need to grow up and be responsible for the things they say and do.

And that would change everything.

I await the outpouring of international condemnation and the solidarity among academics across international borders in response to this government crackdown against a scholar for his political views and against his academic freedom.

Arutz-7: PA Ousts Dr. Sari Nusseibeh

That isn't Jeff Jacoby?

Hiawatha Bray calls out his union's president.

Good on him.

DePaul Professor Thomas Klocek finally gets to tell his side of the story in DePaul's student newspaper.

The DePaulia Letters to the Editor

Here's the story of a minor flap over the timing of a statue unveiling dedicated to Maj. Robert Rogers of Rogers' Rangers and French and Indian War fame. Some think the unveiling of the statue on Memorial Day is in bad taste. Apparently, when the Revolution rolled around, Washington didn't trust him and refused his application to join the Continental Army, and Rogers ended up fighting as a loyalist against the Revolution (to little effect). I can see the reason for the objection, and without taking a side one way or the other, I just thought it might be interesting to note (or not, but here it is), that Rogers had made no small - though unwitting - contribution to the success of the cause of the Revolution himself. You see, many of the participants in the Battles of Lexington and Concord had been veterans of Rogers' Rangers. The experience of some of these older men was a large measure of the reason that the British troops, far from encountering the country-farmer bumpkins, only skilled at shooting deer from a distance that they expected, instead encountered well-lead militiamen, drilled in formal skirmishing and guerilla tactics.

Vets Criticize Timing of Statue's Unveiling

President Bush is telling the Democrats that they've got all they need to confirm John Bolton, and they're not getting the unredacted versions of the emails they want.

Washington Times: Bush denies Democrats Bolton files

This must be a principled fight, since I can't imagine the Democrats actually continue to believe that being the party that stands as champions of the UN is a winning national strategy. It's not. I suppose that's it, though, this is about appealing to their home constituencies right now. This fight is a winner for Republicans, and they should stick to it.

Which is funny, because that's just what the people in the rest of the country would like to say to the voters in California.

JTA: French journalists defame Israel

JTA: British academics try another boycott

It's like deja vu all over again.

JPost: IDF arrests would-be suicide bomber

What a horror! George Bush has nominated someone who may actually represet America's interests to the world, instead of playing along with the delusion that everything's AOK in UN land. Bolton's sin is that he recognizes that the Emperor has no clothes and he wants to throw a blanket over the poor old fellow before he freezes to death instead of standing there pretending with everyone else.

Washington Times: Democrats block vote on Bolton

So what's the problem?

Is it likely to matter? No.

Ask yourself whether you or anyone you know could weather this scrutiny unscathed, with entire staffs of people looking to get ya:

In a land of the blind, the one-eyed man is a heretic.

Get on with it and give the walrus a vote.

Here's what's left:

Photo by The Wandering Jew where you can read more about the Jews of Kaifeng.

Much as the AUT boycott of Israeli Universities has now been overturned by a grass-roots effort of the normally silent majority - a majority with common sense - it looks as though the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s divestment call will be defeated in a similar way. Like the AUT's boycott, the PC(USA)'s efforts are "more like advocacy of a determined minority than the product of considered debate, reflection, and judgment" and are thus unlikely to stand once the masses give the issue a fair shake. PC(USA)'s decision will take a bit longer to get rid of, however.

Says my emailer:

The article, with the complete text of the "overture" is here:

The text of the overture itself is just about everything an opponent of the divestment effort can ask for (I wish they had avoided talking about the "67" borders - the fence is located where necessary to save lives, the '49 border is not), and hits all the right notes. In that way it's quite satisfying and worth reading in full if you have the time and are interested in the subject.

My blog, all pimped out 'n shit. Other modes available here.

Via Rishon-Rishon via Daniel in Brookline.

I like how some of the endorsements come out:

Heheh.

An emailer asks:

Those are all good questions, and I'm sorry to say I don't know enough about the specifics of the EU to give you any good answers (hence the lack of posts in a search of the blog), but where else but on a blog to flaunt my ignorance, so here go a few musings on the subject. Oh, and maybe someone more knowledgable will stop by and fill us both in on the specifics.

I believe the Dutch are leaning further toward a no vote, too, BTW. (See also here.)

I'm sure the pro-EU people would argue that the EU is not about sacrificing national sovereignty - it's more about economics (the EU is replacing the old EC, after all) and working toward common goals to carry more weight in international politics, while the opponents would argue it is exactly that - a sacrifice of identity that some people are suddenly realizing they rather like now that they are facing a growing possibility that they will lose it, and not just lose it, but actually vote to get rid of it. The opponents would also likely argue that the EU is somewhat magical thinking, or putting the cart before the horse in that European culture and interests are still distinct enough that imagining them coming together in a unified and consistent front is still wishful, and thus dangerous, thinking. So none of the pro-EU side would admit they should be combining seats at the UN, since they're not disolving their separate identities, and the loss in international power would defeat part of the purpose of the thing - though you and I would probably agree that they are and they probably should.

From here (this is a BBC site, so read with your appropriate filters on - what they say it means and what it really may mean or may come to mean may be very different things):

I wouldn't start caring much about it until it becomes a non-academic issue, which it is at this point. If the EU actually works, and there does come to be a United States of Europe that's really working like one, then we can talk about it. I think there was a CIA report (yeah, I know, do they even know the Soviet Union broke up yet?) that said the EU would be broken up regardless within the next fifteen years unless it radically alters some of its economic practices and demographic trends - things that are unlikely to happen. Oh yeah, here it is. Maybe creating a massive continent-wide beureaucracy in Brussels will just accellerate the trend by increasing the moribundity. Oh, and let's not forget that as long as they all have separate seats in the UN, it's just another factor that gives them all separate interests and makes a truly unified EU even less likely. Separate seats provide plenty of gaps to insert wedges, appeal to distinct interests and separate the one from the other. Take this part from that BBC page:

Now, they SAY it doesn't mean member states won't be able to go their own way, but in practice, how long until someone actually does try to go their own way on something, and the opponents start bringing all sorts of pressure to bear in order to make it completely impossible in practive. For instance, it's not hard to imagine a member state finding it impossible to pursue their own military goals or projects while their entire defense structure was tied down with all sorts of entangling alliances, contingencies and plans. It's not difficult to imagine that there would be all sorts of forces within the EU trying to do exactly that. Once power starts to consolidate, the tendency to accumulate more will be great.

Anyway, just a few thoughts. I really should read more about this.

Sorry for the lack of posts the past couple of days. (Miss me?) My excuse is: One, I have spent considerable blog and brain time finally finishing the draft of my Richard Landes interview which I had put off for far too long. I have new found respect for the amount of effort it takes to assemble a lengthy interview. I had a little over an hour of audio which I first went through and sort of indexed with notes on subject and the time the bits came up on the tape (actually, it's a digital recording). You can measure the time that took in hours. Then I had to think about it and assemble the conversation into something readable, do the real transcribing, and flesh it out with some bit of introduction. That took several hours each night for about three nights running. Now I've sent the result over to Professor Landes to take a gander at, as I agreed to let him look at it and comment before I post it, so the ball is somewhat in his court at this point. I also may hold it back from posting for a bit until we get closer to the point that he is ready to actually open his new web site to the public - that by way of saying I'm not sure exactly when it will be up, but you'll be the first to know!

Now, I already knew how much work goes into some of these things, all of my longish reports have taken at least most of a day set-aside to prepare them from whatever notes and recordings I have had, to say nothing of some of my essays (I do write them occasionally, despite my more frequent linking and short commentary - sometimes if that). On the other hand, I have a new-found disrespect for reporters who conduct long interviews and then end up mischaracterizing what their subjects said, or taking them out of context. It would have been much easier had I had a subject and spin I wanted to achieve, had the article mostly outlined in my head, then spent an hour with the subject, only to extract about five minutes of juicy quotation to fit into the mold I already had decided on. There's really no excuse for that. It's not terribly difficult to speak to a person for an hour and extract a quote who's meaning you can easily twist to your own ends.

My second excuse is this. Memorial Day is a very important day in my real world job. I rarely blog about this. In fact, I don't think I ever have. Anyway, I have some work that needs to be done by this weekend, and I have been waiting for a supplier to complete their part of the work and ship the product back to me in time to be placed so that the family (my customer) can have a ceremony at the cemetery this weekend. It's already taken an inexcusably long time for this work to be done and my supplier, who I give a pretty good amount of work to, has been making excuses and ducking me. Last week they told me the work was done and ready to go - something I then passed on to my client. Well, when I called this week to find out why the product wasn't on the truck with the rest of my delivery, I was told, "Oh no, that's not even near done. It probably won't be ready at all." Oh shit. I get one last delivery before the weekend, and if it's not on the truck today, I'll have to call my client and accept whatever's coming. Not a fun position to be in for anyone but the most callus, which I am not. So I spent all day yesterday with this horrible feeling in the back of my head, thinking about that phone-call I was going to have to be making and not at all feeling like blogging or doing much of anything else for that matter.

The happy ending - so far - is that I came in to my office this morning to an unexpected but welcome message that the work was done and shipping out on tonight's truck, so it looks like I won't be making that phone call after all! We're not quite there yet, but I have a big weight off my shoulders.

Back to surfing.

The AUT boycott of two Israeli Universities has been overturned by the AUT special session. An email I have says the vote was by a ratio of 2:1. Frankly, the fact that such a misguided, immoral and hypocritical effort should not have been overturned by an even more overwhelming margin is not encouraging, but let's take the good news as it comes. Congratulations to all those across the pond who put so much effort into the fight.

I've watched every episode of 24 this season. It's down to the last two episodes. I go to the TV just before 9 tonight - the time it's been on every night all season, only to find out that they're showing the final two episodes and they started it an hour early, so I missed an hour.

WHAT FUCKING NUMB-NUT AT FOX MADE THAT BRILLIANT PROGRAMMING DECISION?

Asshole.

Sigh. I guess that's why God created usenet.

Boston Globe: Bishop backs off push to divest funds

Lynn B. notes, further on the piece below in which official repremands were supposedly made to the not-at-all-unusal psycopathic Gaza preacher who ranted on the other day and somehow managed to attract international attention to himself...where was I?...oh yeah, anyway, Lynn points out that his "punishment" was all a lot of crap (she pointed it out in the comments to the entry below, as well, now she has the quotes to prove it).

"We won't suspend him just because Israel and the US want so," he said. "We are now studying the complaints and we will announce our decision at a later stage."

"We must polish our messages very carefully, especially those that are broadcast on air..."

Read on.

More truth than poetry according to this interesting post by John-Paul Pagano:

JPost: UK student warned to stop protesting anti-Semitism

More in the extended entry.

WaPo: New Swedish Documents Illuminate CIA Action

Probe Finds 'Rendition' Of Terror Suspects Illegal [According to Swedish Law - something the Post saves for inside the article.]

Just sit back kid, we'll show you how it's done. Imagine, treating terror suspects with extreme caution before letting them on a plane! The nerve! Slicing their nickers off? Why, their self-esteem may have suffered.

Do I have "concerns" about extraordinary rendition? Of course. I simply learn nothing to address them from this article, despite the Post's efforts at creating an ominous tone.

Previous entry on the Washington Post and the CIA's private jet is here.

Edit: What you can lose sight of very quickly is the fact that this story isn't really about the CIA and extraordinary rendition. This was done at the request of the Swedish Government who wanted them sent back to Egypt fast before their lawyers could file appeals. Sweden has been found guilty by a UN committee of violating the torture treaty. Leave it to the American press to let us know who's fault it really is - not Egypt's for (probably) actually torturing the guys, not Sweden's for sending him there on the double, but America's for providing the taxi. Everyone has their bit of responsibility. Where the reportage tends to assign it is always interesting.

Even the artist couldn't keep his story straight. Husband/wife? Father/daughter? Respected subject or not?

Boston Globe: 'American Gothic' has become a cultural icon. But why? And what is it really about?

NPR: Present at the Creation - American Gothic

I just can't get over how skinny that pitchfork is. I'm fixated on it.

I remember when James Watt was considered rather a laughingstock of the Reagan administration, but this piece is rather eyeopening.

WaPo: The Religious Left's Lies by James Watt

...just got the news from Netflix. Can't wait. I missed it in the theater (which is true of most movies).

Norm has several links, including one to another letter from British law-firm, Mishcon de Reya, this time on behalf of several AUT members threatening legal action if the AUT spends any money on pursuing the boycott, something they allege is outside the AUT's mandate.

Sometimes lawyers are our friends.

Not a lot, but something. LGF notes, apropos the vicious anti-Semitic screed from the pulpit of a Gaza Mosque noted below, that the PA is publicly taking action against the preacher involved. Thanks to the internet, and MEMRI, things like this don't pass by quite as easily as they used to. Of course it's mostly BS for international consumption...look at the faces of the people in the video, listening as that sicko vomits on - that's what impresses me about it - they don't react at all. Blank. Like they've heard all that a thousand times before in a thousand other Friday sermons. Because they have.

Reuters: Senior Palestinian slams cleric for anti-Semitism

That is the typical Reuters editorializing BS. Nowhere does he mention "occupation," "West Bank" or "Gaza Strip," because that's not what he's talking about. He's talking about all of "Palestine" - from the river to the sea. The reporter, Nidal al-Mughrabi, is just editorializing to give the impression that it's just the "occupation" that causes fevered minds like this to exist. As though this man, this Muslim preacher, this "spiritual leader" isn't responsible - the only one responsible - for his own hate. You know better.

I think Jeff Jacoby has it just about exactly right in this Globe piece. Newsweek certainly has their responsibility, but so do others have theirs...

Boston Globe: Why Islam is disrespected

Read the rest here.

You think I'm kidding. Heh. DePaul's administration has responded to FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) on the Klocek case. Says DePaul's President, "Recently, I have found myself as president standing up for this academic freedom when the university withstood a nationally organized campaign against a production of The Vagina Monologues on campus. I have also found myself supporting certain faculty when outside political interests call for a professor's removal because of his or her opinions on controversial issues." That's Norman Finkelstein he's referring to in that last bit, I presume.

Both FIRE's letter to the school, the school's response as well as FIRE's latest press release are on this page. The letters are in PDF, sadly (or I would have posted them when they were released - I hate pdf).

Marathon Pundit has the press release and links here.

I was going to say I almost feel sorry for DePaul's president, but really, I feel sorry for Thomas Klocek, who lost his job and had his name dragged through the mud. I feel sorry for the truth, I feel sorry for students being tossed in to boil in a politically-correct stew and I feel sorry that "academic freedom" and "free speech" are more often used as shields for people who want to use their positions to flog their politics without consequence or question for themselves, while those in the "out" group (who are sadly in the right in this case) are cast aside.

On further thought, and after reading these Oliver Kamm and Christopher Hitchens pieces (which I recommend) [hat tip to Michael B in the comments], I thought this was a more appropriate picture of Galloway than the one in the entry below:

The PC(USA) and Palestinian Christian activists abroad export the idea that it's Israel that's responsible for the massive migration of Christians from their homes PA controlled areas. This article will give you a slightly better idea of the truth of the matter, and the difficulties they face.

SFGate: Bethlehem's star-crossed lovers - Christian girl runs off with young Muslim -- Vatican, U.S., Palestinian president intervene after street violence erupts

Maybe a few more than a million, I'd buy five minutes of network air time and show the video of the Palestinian sermon discussed in this post below. I think one five minute video can tell you more about what you need to know than all the history lessons on the planet. If these were your neighbors, what would you do? Come to think of it, what are we doing to prevent this from coming into the neighborhood?

Take five minutes and watch this.

Click on View Live Committee Hearings

Quite a show. He just closed his opening satement. (Fireworks started very quickly.) I missed a bunch in the middle, damn.

Coleman has started his questioning. So far, Coleman is completely ignoring Galloway's barbs.

Update: Well, I watched most of it. Missed a bit (darn customers). George Galloway put on a nice show for himself. If I were a fan of his I'd love him even more. He'll be a hero to his peeps back home, even as he did his best to turn every question into an attack on someone else. I'm surprised he didn't show up surrounded by strobe lights and dangly, shiny objects - he does like to distract. Wish he'd hammered a bit more on AIPAC and Israel - stuff that would be popular with his supporters, but display what some European political characters are really all about to the American audience which really doesn't understand how bad they are. BTW, I don't many people were watching. Few people here know who George Galloway is, and still don't. The Senators stuck to the facts and refused to be baited for the most part.

The Daily Ablution has a good live-blog, as does Mary Katherine Ham.

Update2: Harry's place has a thread here, and catches Galloway in a fibby-fib here. Last of the Famous... isn't too pleased with Coleman's limp performance. I have to say that while I, too, like a good scrap, the committee was right not to muddy itself with Galloway. There's no way to win a shouting-match with such a person, and figuratively climbing down to his level would have been giving Galloway a sort of victory in itself, and played even more to Galloway's benefit in the international press. They'll go through the testimony in substance later.

Update3: Another lengthy description here.

There are two showings of the film scheduled (via JAT-Action):

Not Jewish? Jewish, but haven't been to Temple in awhile? No one cares. Just go see the movie.

The ADL has a page where you can "sign" a letter to the AUT asking that they revoke their boycott of Israeli Universities. I've generally felt that such things probably don't mean much signed by non-academics and non-UK'rs, but at this point I think it can't hurt to show how this decision has brought the AUT - an organization most people were never aware of before now - into international ill-repute.

Thereis an image of the letter here.

You can sign it here. It's quite easy.

Oh, and to show you the serious nature of some of the boycott's supporters, here's a link to a fun song you can sing to the tune of Bye Bye Love, as found on one of Sue Blackwell's web sites.

I ventured down into the wetland behind my house and came upon a Canada Goose nest the other day. I've visited a couple of times since, but finally managed to take some pictures [click for large versions].

Here's the general area. That sort of land bridge is where the nest is. It's visible in the picture, but not in focus:

That's Mr. Goose watching me approach the nest from a distance:

Approaching Mrs. Goose sitting on her feathered nest:

[Much more in the extended entry.]

Neo-neocon compares the recent jihadi murder/riot spree for which Newsweek served as a catalyst to the Blood Libel.

As I mentioned way back here, we're all Jews now.

Marathon Pundit does a little digging and finds a couple of interesting things concerning the Klocek case and the school paper's reporting.

First, the letter from a colleague defending Professor Klocek - the only DePaulia piece printed that defends the professor - already edited, is no longer present on the paper's web site (that he could find) [note: 5/19/05 - It's back up.], while the latest letter attacking Klocek is still there. I'd like to know where the friendly letter went. A technical quirk, or an intentional redaction on the part of the paper or the administration?

Further, the author of that letter fails to disclose (or the paper fails to disclose it) that he is an officer in one of the groups responsible for getting Klocek dismissed - UMMA (United Muslims Moving Ahead).

See Marathon Pundit's post, here.

A few days ago, in my entry about Rashid Khalidi's opposition to the AUT boycott of Israeli academics, there was some question as to whether Joseph Massad was also against the boycott. I should have checked CAMERA's blog, where I discovered for certain that Massad does, in fact, support a comprehensive shunning of Israeli academics, even beyond what the AUT has called for. Says CAMERA:

Judith was at the Free Muslims Against Terror rally, and came away with a more optimistic view than I expressed below.

She has pictures and links.

Is this the PA idea of moving toward peace?

YNet: 'A blatant anti-Semitic broadcast':

Update: Much more from Palestinian Media Watch in the extended entry.

The misguided sympathy of this BBC reporter is palpable. He is blatantly on the side of the vicious here. Has he no concept that most "collaborators" simply want something done about the thugs and murderers who ride herd on them, who hide behind and amongst them, who destroy their neighborhoods and people? (Remember this guy?) Clearly to this BBC reporter, they are tainted...traitors. He has accepted terror's narrative.

Here is a "traitor's" fate in 'Palestine'...

Stigma of life in 'Traitors' Village' by Tim Butcher:

Via Melanie Phillips who notes something else odd about the report.

Happy Nakba day! It doesn't sound like the new Palestinian Regime is all that intent on promoting peace and accepting Israel's existence. Until that happens, misery is the order of the day.

Here's a report, with video, from Palestinian Media Watch:

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 14, 2005	Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 15, 2005
Al-Quds, May 15, 2005

If you're not followig the medieval Jihadi rioting caused by Newsweek's agenda-based regurgitation of anonymous sources, you should be. See this post at Roger L. Simon, and multiple posts at LGF.

Someone is in denial.

Looks like the Free Muslims' march against terrorism flopped. Jihad Watch reports attendance at about 50 or so, which judging from this photo at LGF looks about right. David's Medienkritik also has photos and pegs attendance at only a couple dozen.

So very weak. So very sad.

Steven Vincent is in Iraq (right now!) and talks to a local Sheikh:

Functional societies require a sense of responsibility from their members. One of the details that Vincent paints in his book is the amount of trash that accumulates on the streets of Iraq.

Someday, maybe, the streets will be clean and this Sheikh will be laughed at as an old excentric fool.

Iran's future you say? No, our future, too.

From Michelle Malkin who says, "One of Michael Moore's "Minutemen" in the making:"

AP: Mohammad Hossein, 4, plays with his toy gun, in front of his mother, who is a member of a suicide commandos unit, during a meeting where more than 200 young men and women volunteers prepared themselves for special training to carry out suicide bomb attacks against Americans in Iraq and Israelis, at the Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery, just outside Tehran, Iran, Thursday, May 12, 2005. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi via Yahoo!.)

I can't be sure if it's the same group, but you can see the application form I believe members of this group fill out here.

But really now, it's the legacy of imperialism and 1000 other excuses that makes 'em do it.

A commenter to this post points out that #48 on the list of groups endorsing the Free Muslims's March Against Terror is the "The Uzbekistani Kcid Skcus Hsawan Foundation For Peace."

And "Kcid Skcus Hsawan" spelled backwards is...?

Sigh.

Last month I posted the resignation speech of Luciana Berger on behalf of the Jewish members of the [British] National Union of Students Executive Committee. I had wondered about some of the details behind the decision. This post at Engage, reprinting a piece by Berger in The Guardian (originally printed in April) fills in much of the blank space:

Why I had to resign from NUS Executive, Luciana Berger

Midwest Conservative Journal has an able fisking of this story of a trip to Israel by an Episcopal delegation:

The Episcopal Church looks to be the next lemming to follow the PC(USA) off the divestment cliff.

Undeterred by the tidal-wave of condemnation the British AUT has taken for its call for a Boycott of Israeli Universities, some of its members are planning on using the upcoming emergency session - called in the hope of repealing the measure - to stack more dung on the pile, even to the extent of trying, it would appear, to yet again burn time and prevent the intrusion of another agenda (the boycott's supporters managed to prevent any dissenting voices from being heard during the original session). This seems to be a sort of childish, "You think that was something? Watch this!" response, now delving far more blatantly into pure politics.

The four motions to be discussed by the AUT's University of Manchester branch, and which were forwarded to me, are in the extended entry.

To his credit, even Columbia's Rashid Khalidi has signed the petition against the AUT's boycott of Israeli Universities (see signature 2729), as well as this post at Cliopatria with a list of other notables, including Juan Cole. I have a quote from a post that says Joseph Massad signed it, but now cannot find that post on the blog.

Update: The often-maligned Middle East Studies Association is also against the boycott.

A very interesting post at New Appeal to Reason highlights the testimony of an Islamist anti-evolutionist's (how's that for ponderous?) testimony at the Kansas State School Board's meeting on Intelligent Design.

Mustafa Akyol might seem a bit out of place at first, but his is a sort of "enemy of my enemy is my friend" appearance, making common-cause with the ID'rs.

One thing this reminded me of, is that Europe and those sectors of the Left who retreat from and bash all religion thinking that it will protect them from the radicals ("Don't bother me! I don't believe in any of it!") are dead wrong. If there's one thing the Islamists hate even more than Christians and Jews, it's the Godless.

Akyol gets something about right in this quote at The Panda's Thumb from the Kansas City Star:

While the blogger poo-poo's this, I actually think it's just about right on, though easily over-stated. The "bad guys" would hate us no matter what we believed in the particulars - they'd want us to believe exactly as they in all things. Theirs is a totalitarian ideology. But one of the things they particularly hate us for is the degree to which the cool, God-unreliant (that is, it does not necessarily rely on God, but it need not - to us - necessarily be against God) rationality of the West is creeping, creeping into their benighted havens. The inevitable, virtually unstopable cultural-imperialism of rational thought and a comprehensible world is, to them, a virus we carry with us.

It was a beautiful day today, so I spent about five hours listening the Sox game on the headphones and painting the picket fence in front of my house. It wasn't the first day I worked on it, and I'm still not finished. I need another gallon of paint. Almost there, though. [BTW, it occurs to me that the number of tiny insects forever entombed in still-wet paint wherever paint is drying must be...phenomenal.]

My foot is still oddly numb from squatting all those hours...what a PITA. I honestly didn't think it would take this long. If I did, I might have spent more time trying to work the paint spraying thing I bought - trouble is, I couldn't get the coat right, it uses a lot of paint, and I worried about spraying too much of the vegetation.

Anyway, posting has been light today as a result, although I finally got started on writing that piece I've been trying to get to. That's what I really intended to do today, but I couldn't let my outdoor work go by on a day like this.

Now I'm tiiired (whine, whine, whine), although I can't help but fiddle around with design stuff by playing around with the forum (see the link at the left) which is now laying fallow and unused since Joseph Alexander Norland decided not to do his blogburst anymore. If anyone has a use for it - if you'd like me to set you up with a forum for your use - I'd be happy to listen to ideas.

Maybe I'll relax now by creating yet another page banner for the blog - by now you've probably noticed that they change randomly under the default page style.

Mishcon de Reya is a heavy-hitting London law firm. The firm, and particularly the lawyer (solicitor, I believe?), Anthony Julius, represented Deborah Lipstadt in her successful libel defense against Holocaust-denier David Irving (see here, here and here), as well as Princess Diana in her divorce from Prince Charles.

The University of Haifa has retained (they seem to call it "instructs") the firm to represent them against the British AUT:

So sweet. There's nothing that changes the complexion of a situation better than having a serious lawyer representing you.

(via Norm)

Update: Sue Blackwell's (one of the leading "lights" behind the boycott) employer doesn't seem to see things quite the same way as she:

(via email and Norm)

Steve Burgess catches The Guardian (I'm shocked! Shocked!) printing a column full of conspiracy and has a bit of fun at AL Kennedy's expense. And some sectors of the Left wonder why we don't take them seriously?

Read and laugh at others' expense:

More 'Frothing Nonsense' in the Grauniad

This is, as far as I know, the first time Professor Thomas Klocek's side of the story has appeared in print in the DePaul student newspaper. It's a letter to the editor by the faculty member who's been speaking out in Klocek's favor.

Klocek's side of the story

Read the rest.

I'm also given to understand that a request has gone out for students who support Professor Klocek to mail their support and contact info to klocekbacker@yahoo.com.

Update: Marathon Pundit has posted the complete text of the letter sent to the DePaulia. Some bits had been edited.

Interesting part:

...from the Guardian:

Via Norm

It's difficult to take the claims of the Presbyterian Church (USA) seriously - that their goal is a "selective, phased divestment" solely against the occupation and that they respect the right of Israel to exist in security - when the people they associate with, the people they invite to indoctrinate educate their congregants, and the people who support their efforts clearly have far more in mind.

Case in point, this event (sent in email):

This announcement was sent on the al Awda email list - al Awda being one of those groups for the destruction of Israel apparently by any means necessary, about a performance by a guy who clearly believes Israel's creation was a mistake and travelled there to return with not a word of criticism for the massive hate indoctrination he surely must have witnessed, to be held at a Presbytery who's pastor, I am told, was one of the backers of and speakers at the anti-Israel/anti-Semitic PSM hatefest held at Duke last Fall.

It's hard to take the PC(USA)'s modest sounding goals seriously, when their real goals keep bobbing to the surface. That's not to say that every person who supports the PC(USA)'s divestment goals, or even the AUT's boycott of Israeli Universities, also supports the destruction of the State. It's just that if they'd occasionally look to their left, and look to their right, and see who they're walking in step with, they'd see that they're being used for cover by some very bad actors.

Another good letter against the British boycott at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies:

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross writes to give me a heads-up to his latest piece in the Weekly Standard:

You can download the article from the blog entry above in Word format as the piece is not online without subscription.

Here's a snip:

I wonder if they show any of this stuff in Control Room? Naaahhh...

BTW, this talk about media perfidy reminds me I've got to get my butt to work on writing up my interview with Professor Richard Landes. I've been way too lax on that. I've got over an hour of audio I've already gone through and indexed. Now it's just a matter of finding the time to sit down and compose the piece. Stay tuned.

And seeing as it's cropping up mostly in Islamic countries (not that it shohuld matter, of course, but it does), the WHO thinks that wealthy Islamic countries should pony up some dough.

WHO Asks Islamic Nations for Polio Funds

Of course, one of the reasons for this outbreak is the conspiracy-theory thinking that goes on in these countries. Hatred and ignorance cause real disease, not jus the mental variety. See: Muslims' fears pose barrier to fighting polio in Nigeria

Do the Saudis have their oil supply rigged to render it unusable for a generation should the worst happen to their regime? A new book by Gerald Posner says so. If true, the implications are interesting to say the least, and could present at least one reason to worry about Islamists with a medieval suicidal worldview taking power, among other considerations. Far too much power in the hands of a country...a region...with no history of bloodless transfers of power.

HUFFINGTON POST EXCLUSIVE: EMBARGOED BOOK CLAIMS SAUDI OIL INFRASTRUCTURE RIGGED FOR CATASTROPHIC SELF-DESTRUCTION

Reactions from Daniel Pipes and Brian Haig.

My first link to the Huffington Post! I predict that that place is going to be providing one heck of a lot of blog-fodder.

There's a "blog" entry from (I feel like I should say "purporting to be from" in this case for some reason) Russell Simmons, chastising the ADL's Abe Foxman for calling on African-American leaders to "reconsider their support" for the upcoming "Millions More" march commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Million Man March. Simmons says that opposing the march will...wait for it...create more anti-Semitism! In the piece he doesn't get into his reasons, but this should be a familiar canard. Speaking out against anti-Semitism and hate just creates more of the same. Don't get uppity! It only makes matters worse.

Foxman opposes the march because its organizers, Louis Farrakhan and Malik Zulu Shabazz are virulent anti-Semites. They're not anti-Semites because Jews don't like them, they're anti-Semites because they don't like Jews! They don't need a reason. They need to be opposed.

And we're not talking about a mild case of the hate, like saying "Some of my best friends are Jews," or "Psst...You know those Jews, they're a little cheap..." or even once calling New York City "HymieTown." These guys make a living off Jew hate.

Here's Farrakhan this past February:

Shabazz is the head of the New Black Panther party, quoted as saying:

At a recent appearance at Carnegie Mellon University, in which members of his "security" entourage paraded around carrying nightsticks, one student described the scene:

These aren't quotes out of context. These quotes are a career.

I can't wait to hear his speech at the march. And these are the people Russell Simmons thinks Jews shouldn't speak out against. I have a question, why aren't more African Americans joining their voices with Abe Foxman's? If these are the best that the Black Community has to offer, what does that say about the sorry state of Black leadership in America today?

Russell Simmons thinks that Abe Foxman should be quiet and take this opportunity to embrace the positive aspects of the march (the same argument that was made ten years ago), and take this as an opportunity for dialogue. What kind of dialogue is that? We know what Farrakhan and Shabazz think of Jews. What is there to say to them? Where do you start? "We're sorry for being conniving cheats...really we are...and we apologize for everything in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion too while we're at it."

If the KKK were sponsoring a "Mom, Dad and Apple Pie" summer picnic, would Simmons suggest we all attend and focus on the positive for that one day and forget about the rest of the 364 days of the year? Of course not! You don't give legitimacy to groups like the KKK for putting on one day of happy face, and you shouldn't do it for Farrakhan and Shabazz, either.

Simmons:

You know what's sad? Simmons is probably right in that, and that's too bad. It shouldn't take Abe Foxman issuing a press release to encourage Black leaders to do what they should be doing for themselves.

Update: Abe Foxman has his own response here (and hits most of the same points I do, only more...professionally).

Joe Klein doesn't think a Hillary in '08 run is a good idea. "Enough already."

Reuters: Police nab activists seeking Bush's nuke suitcase

(via Daleynews)

Sunday was both Mother's Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day.

I took the family to the Shriner's Circus - a fairly low-rent affair, but plenty entertaining for a four-year-old and way more reasonable in price than Barnum & Bailey and you don't have to mortgage the house to buy a battery-operated toy or two. They also have pony and elephant rides during the intermission. Very good for kids. Previous years were better, though. Now if my daughter could only get over her fear of clowns...

Oh, the show had one of the best trained-dog acts I've ever seen, and a message to the beautiful showgirls who also do some of the acrobatic stuff - one word: Atkins. 'Nuff said.

There was a ceremony held at Boston's Holocaust Memorial which was threatened to be demonstrated against by a Nazi group, and that demonstration counter-demonstrated by an Anarchist group (hey, anything for attention). This caused some concern to the organizers of the prime event leading up to the day until it was decided that the best thing to do would be to ignore it all and let the police handle it - something they do well. A good choice considering the Nazis amount to a small group of losers who are usually outnumbered by the police who show up to surround them and protect the crowd from them and them from the crowd - as you can see from their previous appearance at the Boston for Israel Rally last year. In this case they were being faced down by an even larger group of Anarchist losers, so there were even more cops on hand.

Dowbrigade has a lengthy report on the day with many pictures. Take a look. (via Carpundit)

The group pushing for divestment in the city of Somerville, Massachusetts (see many entries by searching for Somerville in the box at left) is back at it again, in spite of having their first try voted down by the city's Board of Aldermen - now they're resurrecting the effort as a ballot initiative. And I thought Leftists were supposed to understand that "No means No."

Part of their effort has involved a letter-writing effort in the Somerville Journal. Here's my contribution:

An emailer points to an article in Insights, the journal of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which presents the pro and con views of the PC(USA)'s divestment effort. My emailer notes that the remarkable part of the piece is that it is one of the lone examples in what could be construed as an official Presbyterian publication that actually presents an argument against divestment - they are usually just one-sided indoctrination efforts.

The article starts on page 35 and each essay is only about 3 short pages. The pro-Divestment position is penned by Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel who seems to be one of the central foot-soldiers in the divestment effort. His piece includes such whoppers as arguing that the separation fence is meant only to protect "settlements," and not Israel proper, and quoting as an authority none other than Jeff Halper, who, it is important to note, pens essays justifying Palestinian terrorism, "The Palestinians' need to resort to terrorism raises questions of fundamental fairness."

Not to be overly-critical, but I was disappointed to see that the anti-Divestment essay is written not by a Presbyterian, but by a Rabbi - thus reinforcing the view that support for Israel is a purely partisan Jewish issue. Couldn't they find a fellow Presbyterian to make the case? I know they're out there.

Via my referrer logs I find that Haifa University has put up a page with their response to the AUT boycott.

...in Iraq...and blogging. The author of In the Red Zone is back in Iraq and blogging his trip. Do make sure to visit his blog and take a look.

Keep safe Steven!

A few weeks ago I noted that Columbia University's Middle East Institute was honoring notorious anti-Semite and conspiracy-theorist, Amiri Baraka - notable for the fact that Baraka is neither a Middle-Easterner, nor does he write about the Middle East.

The MEI defended themselves by saying that they were not, in fact, honoring Baraka, but were instead simply forwarding an event announcement by an outside group - something they do regularly. The 'we're not responsible, we do it automatically' defense. OK.

Now enter Daniel Pipes' Middle East Forum and a request that the MEI forward their announcement seeking summer interns.

No go on that one. It's not up to their exacting standards:

Got that? Forwarding an announcement about an event honoring a notorious racist, anti-Semitic, anti-American conspiracy-theorist: OK. Sending out a call for interns for a Middle East think-tank: No-go.

Remember this when they deny that political bias or personal turf-protecting have anything to do with their decisions.

The Free Muslims Against Terrorism are organizing a march...against terror...and it should come as no surprise that none of the 'major' national Muslim advocacy organizations are joining in, and frankly, of the 66 "groups" listed as participants, there are some pretty marginal names on there, including some individuals' blogs.

And why would the big groups attend? The party line is that Muslims are not particularly responsible for terror - that only 'Islamophobes' believe so - so that they have nothing to apologize for, or particularly speak out against. Signing on to a march like this would just be admitting that they did.

I truly wish them luck in that.

...and more.

If this is a "shaky" lull, how much worse can it get?

Haaretz: Gaza lull shaky as Palestinians fire rocket at settlers' school bus

Abbas can/will do nothing to stop this. What next?

From "moderate" Qatar (via the ADL):

Al-Watan, May 3, 2005 (Qatar) On the right: "Britain, Turkey, Russia"; on the left - "America"

Islam-Online: Jerusalem Greek Church Dismisses Patriarch Over Land Sale

Congress is not, thankfully, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars of aid, EU-style, into Abbas's government in an unaccountable manner. They're not ready to use it properly and Congress isn't going to let it go willy-nilly into the PA graft and terror machine - especially with Abu Mazen continuing to show himself unwilling or incapable of deep change. Cash in pocket is not going to create a moral backbone.

But just read how the Washington Post bitches and moans about how $200 million isn't just being turned over in the form of a blank check to 'empower' Abbas - one may ask to empower what at this point.

WaPo: Restrictions Imposed On Aid to Palestinians

It's a new day.

CNN: CIA agents told to deliver bin Laden's head on ice

The photographer who took the above picture describes the story behind it:

Read the whole thing - it's not long. No Pulitzer for Mr. Yon. He's far too sympathetic. (via LGF)

Check out this federal grant. The US Government is providing $300,000 for an exchange program of Muslim "scholars and clerics" between here and the Middle East. Honest questions: Does the government do this for any other religion? Would they? Will this program really accomplish the lofty goals wished for in its description, or is it just a chance for some dawa at government expense?

The short description is here: Islamic Life in the United States

The longer description is here at the State Department's site.

According to JAT-Action:

Can Abbas curb the terrorists, even if he wants to? I actually think he probably wants to, if only to consolidate power and graft for his party. Middle Eastern political parties are not so much about governing and providing services as they are about power, indoctrination and assure a piece of the pie for your friends. With real elections (whenever they should come) and a free society that may change, but one pantomime vote doesn't do it.

The trouble is that Palestinian society is so badly sick that they are totally incapable of living up to the most basic of agreements - like stopping violence against Israel and disarming the terror groups. Maybe the world should call a spade a spade and just recognize Hamas as the government of the PA. One thing's for certain - the PA as constituted can barely be called a legitimate government when they don't even control their own territory.

Telegraph: Hamas protest forces Abbas to free gunman

Gee, y'think?

Meanwhile...Hey, where's Jeff Halper and the rest of the anti-house demolition people?

Efraim Karsh has a devastating critique of Benny Morris's new edition of The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited at the Middle East Forum, linked below. I intended to skim it, but ended up reading word-for-word. Karsh re-constitutes several of Morris's dowdified quotes and provides the context Morris leaves out or distorts. Important? Very. You'll find Morris's work made use of by divestment operatives and many others who want to demonize Zionism.

Bad history is a devastating thing. Quotes taken out of context can take on a life of their own. One distortion can work its way into a sentence out of a letter to the editor, while it would take paragraphs to set the record straight - paragraphs that will never be written.

Stephen Ambrose, after convening a committee to examine the charges made by author James Bacque in his book, Other Losses, in which Bacque blames Dwight Eisenhower for intentionally starving a million German POW's after the war notes:

You can apply the same worry to all sorts of historical narrative. The name Noam Chomsky springs immediately to mind. Here's the link to Karsh's piece:

Benny Morris's Reign of Error, Revisited - The Post-Zionist Critique

From the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies:

What's an average fellow to do? Read past the headline, keep a critical eye...things most people don't have time to do.

News and reaction to the AUT's boycott of two, and potentially a third, Israeli universities is coming too hard and fast to follow. It does appear that the backlash is significant, but don't expect that that will cause the zealots behind the initiatives to reconsider. This is a chance for them to feel heroic.

I am finding it endlessly fascinating, in spite of the fact that I am neither a university professor nor a student, nor am I Israeli, as I find it to be one of the most overt examples of anti-Semitism and hateful group-think in our time.

Norm has been following events closely, with posts involving Sue Blackwell here and here, and another resignation letter as well as a group letter here.

Judith has also been following the issue.

Here is a piece in NRO by Emanuele Ottolenghi patly titled, The Stalinists of the AUT.

Finally, in the extended entry, you will find lengthy but highly worthwhiel letter from Dr. Michael Baum, "one of the world's top oncologists," to the AUT director.

The pictures are here.

(Previous post here)

Natan Sharansky has published his own reasons for his resignation.

Why I can no longer participate in your government, Mr. Sharon

This transcript of an interview with a captured Iraqi terrorist (via LGF) deserves to be reposted widely. From MEMRI TV:

So Natan Sharansky has quit Israel's cabinet. He's certainly got strong principles. Sadly, most won't get past the headlines which indicate that he's quitting due to the Gaza withdrawal which makes it sound like he's some sort of territorial zealot. The truth is, he believes that not enough is being done to hold Palestinians responsible for changes in their own society, and that withdrawal should be coupled with these changes - the only path to real peace. Silly Natan, doesn't he know that the Palestinian Arabs are never responsible for themselves?

I suggest reading past the headline and trying to understand what he's about.

This piece, published in today's Boston Globe (of all places) and linked at the Middle East Forum helps explain a bit more: Retreat from Gaza:

Mauritanians protest the visit of an Israeli diplomat...It's not like they have anything to be ashamed of themselves. I think this is called "chutzpah."

Protests precede visit of Israeli envoy

So what have you done for me lately?

Someone has paid for a billboard in Los Angeles for Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch.

That's one way of getting hits.

Below I mused on some of the overlaps between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism and, of course, the various boycott initiatives and same - I take note here of a couple of examples - with both British AUT and Presbyterian connections.

It comes as no surprise that the leading light behind the AUT boycott initiative, Sue Blackwell, links approvingly to a neo-Nazi web site from her own. See in the Jerusalem Post (via LGF): The academic ban - Nazi connection:

Next, let's take a look at some of the characters - one in particular - invited to speak at a pro-Divestment panel at Oberlin College. Here is the Oberlin paper's write-up of the event: Obies demand divestment:

Shull almost sounds like a reasonable fellow! But I'll let my emailer give you a backgrounder on him. In the extended entry is the draft of a text she has written to the Oberlin paper.

John Hawkins of Right Wing News has done another of his informal polls. You can take a look at it here. I was asked for my votes, but I admit I forgot about the top two vote getters, Mark Steyn and Jonah Goldberg, both of whom would have finished high on my list as well.

A Googler finds my old post criticizing the Washington Post for publishing some bad history with regard to the fate of the ancient Philistines and he decides to clue me in to the racial history of the area in the comments. Take a look if such things interest you. Given the horrible historical narrative being used for contemporary politics, I suppose it's a sadly important issue. If you decide to leave a comment, I suggest leaving it in this post as commenting on old posts means you have to wait for me to see it an approve it first (an anti-spam measure).

A snippet:

I am informed that Bat Ye'or's book on the Euro/Arab axis, Eurabia, is not on the shelves at Barnes & Noble or Borders due to an "executive decision" - although they will special order it. I wonder what the factors in that decision were?

Meanwhile, our press (specifically the LA Times in this case) leaves out some essential facts that might help further show our guys did the right thing in the Giuliana Sgrena affair.

Fortunately, the internet is empowering people to become news predators rather than passive news consumers these days. Still and all, that excuses nothing.