Author Archives: Ibn Tufayl

Culture of impunity

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

AFP: Israel picks Gaza war commander as new military chief…

Posted in Gaza | 4 Comments

How Marty Peretz misrepresented Cordoba in Muslim history

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

Marty Peretz’s reading of "Islamic" history is selective. He reads Islamic history in the same manner an anti-Semite reads Jewish history (to demonize them). He quotes a claim that "Cordoba," the name chosen for the Islamic center near Ground Zero, … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 9 Comments

Do we have to divide Cinderella’s castle?

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

This weekend the Times Fashion section ran a piece on a fastgrowing trend, American students taking junior years abroad in the Middle East, reported by Jennifer Conlin. The students go to Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine | 17 Comments

Greenwald wounded him. The pack moves in

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

Check out all the trashings of Jeffrey Goldberg:

Posted in Beyondoweiss, Israel Lobby | 87 Comments

US tax dollars at work in Egypt

Posted on June 26, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

This is where US tax dollars are spent: propping up a ruthlessly violent Egyptian regime that doesn’t respect human rights, civil society, and democracy: at Foreign Policy, Soha Abdelaty reports on the tyranny of Egypt’s emergency laws.

Posted in US Policy in the Middle East | 13 Comments

‘Renowned philosopher’ says Jews invented democracy (OK, but what about hummus?)

Posted on June 21, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

More proof that the occupation has made some intellectuals stupid and their ethnocentrism visible and risible to all, Bernard Henri Levy in Ynet:  "I’ve covered many wars, and I’ve never seen an army that asks itself so many questions related … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, US Politics | 93 Comments

Steven Cook of CFR works overtime to make sure US shares Israel’s new enmity to Turkey

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

I am really bothered by Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations. Check out his page 1 soundbite in the Times yesterday (piece on US-Turkey relations by Tavernise/Slackman). There he confused and conflated Israel’s critique of Turkey with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, Israel Lobby | 40 Comments

Why do they hate us?

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

Drudge’s headlines all imply that the aggressor is the victim: Activists send new boat to challenge blockade… Thousands of Gazans rush for Egyptian border… Turkey’s PM says Israel should be punished… …Israeli gov’t defends ‘Next time we’ll use more force’… … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 40 Comments

Now US wants to be pariah state

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

Change you can believe in. Ben Smith at Politico says the U.S. is emulating Israel’s isolation: For while much about the incident remains unclear, a day of carefully parsed statements from the White House and State Department left at least … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, Israel Lobby, US Politics | 6 Comments

‘Economist’ suggests Israel shares South Africa’s destiny

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

The Economist, reviewing Sasha Polakow-Suransky’s book on Israel and South Africa (unsigned), appears to accept the conclusion that Israel will face South Africa’s fate. In essence, The Economist accepts the premise of the comparison as valid and worthy of noting. … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, US Politics | 8 Comments

how to win friends and influence people

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

Reuters has the international reaction statements. Typical: SPANISH SECRETARY OF STATE DIEGO LOPEZ GARRIDO: "Spain unequivocally condemns the Israeli attack on the humanitarian flotilla and it does so as a country and as the acting president of the EU Council. … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 3 Comments

Isabel does her job

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

NYT: "Israel Denies It Offered South Africa Warheads" By ISABEL KERSHNER Published: May 24, 2010 JERUSALEM — The office of Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, strongly denied Monday that Mr. Peres, as Israel’s defense minister, offered to sell nuclear warheads to … Continue reading →

Posted in Beyondoweiss, Israel Lobby | 60 Comments

The Arab turf at Brookings

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

Someone passed me an email from the Brookings Institution in Doha, Qatar, hiring for two jobs: Salaam all, Brookings-Doha, where I’m deputy director, is hiring for two positions, Research Assistant and Communications and Program Assistant. The job descriptions are below. … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, US Policy in the Middle East | 25 Comments

Neocons need not apply

Posted on April 12, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

Below, an event at Tufts last week that will give heartburn to neocons. Notice: no one from Brandeis is participating. The neocon pursuit of corridor, their modus operandi (avoid direct sunlight – why, look at Rob’t Satloff’s dishonest interaction with … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, Neocons, US Politics | 5 Comments

Neocons take over Buckley’s inheritance

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

The neocon takeover of NRO is complete: "Petraeus’s Israel Problem." WF Buckley Jr., who opposed the war in Iraq, must be turning in his grave. And Pamela Geller the fevered Israel devotee writes that Petraeus is pushing "jihadist rhetoric of … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel Lobby, Neocons | 10 Comments

J’aime Paul Berman beaucoups

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

 From Ron Rosenbaum at Slate: Paul Berman’s new book exhibits the same dedication to moral clarity on these questions demonstrated in his earlier Terror and Liberalism. Mais oui, the clarity that he demonstrated when he defended the assault on Gaza’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, Middle East, US Politics | 17 Comments

Packer’s criticism of Ramadan recalls his mentor’s hazing of Chomsky

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

Ibn Tufayl, our correspondent at Harvard, responds below to the conversation between Tariq Ramadan and several Americans at Cooper Union last night. Ramadan’s antagonist in the conversation was George Packer, of the New Yorker, who assailed Ramadan for too weakly … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Middle East, US Politics | 21 Comments

Liberal internationalism, in a shambles, meets Tariq Ramadan tonight in NY

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

There is an important event in NYC tonight at 7, a discussion about Islam and secularism between Tariq Ramadan, Joan Wallach Scott of Princeton, Dalia Mogahed of Gallup, Jacob Weisberg of Slate, and George Packer of the New Yorker. They’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 36 Comments

Meet the Coindinistas

Posted on April 2, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

Andrew Exum, the coindinista blogger– counterinsurgency for the uninitiate–relies heavily upon the Norwegian Thomas Hegghammer, whose studies of al-Qaeda and Islamic militancy have made him a rising star in global intelligence circles. Today both linked Israel to global Islamic militancy … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Neocons, US Policy in the Middle East | 8 Comments

Kramer gave Harvard a black eye

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

This story didn’t make it to the Martin Kramer blog, which contains reflections on "Harvard and I": From the Harvard Crimson, letter from Beth Simmons, director of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs: The director observes of Mr. Kramer’s prose: … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel Lobby, Neocons | 20 Comments

It’s complicated

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

At Harvard Law School tomorrow, "The Indeterminacy of International Humanitarian Law: Difficult Questions for Military Practitioners," a lunchtime conversation featuring Israeli Defense Forces lawyer Gabriella Blum.

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine | 8 Comments

Alan, Alan, come in, Alan, we thought you were holding the law school– do you read me, Alan?!

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Ibn Tufayl

This afternoon at Harvard Law School, 4:30-6 at Langdell South, Christine Chinkin, a member of the UN Fact-Finding Mission and Professor of International Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, will speak on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, Israel/Palestine | 2 Comments