Total number of comments: 5 (since 2012-06-17 23:06:02)
Environmental activist and former Green Party candidate, now focusing on women's rights and civil liberties and their absence from Muslim world. Probably considered leftist but more libertarian and eco-radical.
Website: http://www.lornasalzman.com
Apparently he didn't read the introduction to this list and why those names were on it. So for those who are possibly literate, here is what this list is about. No mention of any of these being "enemies of the Jews" but I am not responsible for useful idiots injecting lies. You can check it out yourself on my web site, where you can also check out my other articles instead of
taking the word of those who choose to be liars and slanderers.
Hall of Shame (from http://www.lornasalzman.com)
Here is a partial list of notable journalists, academics, politicians and organizations who not only routinely ignore or justify islamist violence, misogyny and anti-Semitism but who go out of their way to smear and intimidate those (such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali) who dare to speak out about islamist violence and repression.
They regularly suppress, attack and file lawsuits against critics of Islam while turning a blind eye to Islamist violence against women and Jews, "honor" killings, anti-Semitic preachings, and suppression of freedom of speech.
Some of them also support the incorporation of sharia law into western secular legal systems, while others "merely" support appeasement of muslim demands for special treatment and exemption from secular civil society's laws. The journalists have written approving or uncritical articles and interviews with radical islamists such as Tariq Ramadan. A few are hard=line marxists and outright sympathizers with terrorists and haters of the USA. Most disseminate anti-Israel propaganda while whitewashing or concealing the truth about Israel's adversaries, especially Hamas. Organizations like PEN and ACLU purport to be impartial defenders of freedom of expression but their actions tend to show favoritism towards Islam.
None of these responses are worthy of reply. Invective, ad hominem attacks, snap judgments, and general refusal to address the issues rather than attack the writer: none of these constitute informed dialogue. The writers on this blog are like the
five year olds throwing sand in the sand box, saying "You stink". If throwing around
personal insults makes you feel good, be my guest. I'll wait for some informed and intelligent responses before I waste more time on people who think their prejudices are worthy of attention and are the most important statements they can make. My positions are quite clear for those who take the trouble to actually read them and aren't content to simply throw out accusations of racism. In this latter respect they mirror exactly what radical Muslims do in their mosques and the media. You could probably improve your invective by listening to Al Jazeera. Or maybe you already do so.....there's no difference actually. It all sounds so familiar. PS: my parents
picked my name. What was your point anyway? I'm not the Jew ashamed to be one, but the Jews on this blog apparently are making up for what they think was
misbehavior by Jews hundreds of years ago. I've got news for you: you aren't to blame for them any more than Thomas Jefferson can be blamed for having slaves.
Ancient history.
(I am not Lorna Fitzsimon; I am Lorna Salzman, a secular atheist rationalist, not a Zionist nor a liberal but a
radical environmentalist opposed to global industrial capitalism and probably further left than most leftists on the
important issues like health care, energy, environment, human rights, indigenous people, etc. I also was a US Green Party candidate for congress and for the USGP
presidential nomination. I don't follow dogmas or doctrines of any kind. I examine issues on their merits and make up my own mind, unlike the kneejerk
supporters of the Palestinians).
Comment:I am not clear as to what you (Kevin) mean. If you mean that some on the right have pointed out the authoritarian repressive character of Islam, they have
pointed out the same facts which I have verified for myself over the past seven years elsewhere, in numerous blogs, journals, books, and personal contacts with people like Ibn Warraq and Tawfik Hamid. Unfortunately many people automatically dismiss anything that the right wing says. This is not only ridiculous, but
shows that most people refuse to do their own research and reach their own conclusions. It is unfortunate the the leftists and liberals have
abandoned this issue to the right wing, with whom I have major disagreements on many other issues..actually nearly all. But my work on Islamism
began before I knew anything about Geller et al. Incidentally, while I don't agree with Spencer's aggressive attacks on other people like the quite
honorable credible Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, Spencer does happen to be an excellent scholar and speaker on these issues, as is Pipes. Geller and Horowitz
are however right wing zealots with ulterior motives and agenda. It is therefore important to distinguish between them and others who may or may not
be on the right. You may be unaware that some highly credible informed leftists have been among the strongest critics of Islam and Islamism: the late
Christopher Hitchens of course, Bernard-Henri Levy, French socialist, Nick Cohen (UK journalist), Pascal Bruckner (French leftist philosopher), Paul Berman, Salman Rushdie, and among the ex Muslims the scholar Ibn Warraq, Tawfik Hamid and Ayaan Hirsi Ali stand out. For speaking out they are at constant risk of assassination....proving the point that Muslims are intolerant of dissent and will not tolerate criticism of Islam. The same applies to the left: there are credible leftists who believe in human rights and freedom of speech such as Michael Berube and those mentioned above, and then there are the loony leftists like Chris Hedges, Ramsey Clark, Robert Fisk,etc (there is a long list; see my Hall of Shame on my web site, lornasalzman.com) whose views should embarrass the liberal left just as Geller and Horowitz embarrass the credible people on the right.
The biggest mistake that leftist Israeli Jews have made is their failure to fight back against the ultra orthodox and haredim, who have shored up a militaristic right wing government. Had they fought for a written constitution guaranteeing full rights for Israeli Arabs and opposed the privileges and subsidies of orthodox scholars Israel would be a different country today. Instead, the Israeli left chose to align itself with a movement that is no less repressive: the Palestinian cause. Why leftist Jews in Israel and the USA have chosen to support violent repressive movements dedicated to extermination of all Jews is inexplicable. Why these same Jews have failed to support their country's right to self defense is also inexplicable. What they have done is legitimize violent struggles of resistance with no care for exactly what these struggles seek or how they conduct themselves. Like American Zionists who place the state of Israel first, above their own country and its freedoms and civil liberties, Israel leftists have washed their hands of internal reform, joined those who would destroy the legitimate sovereign state of Israel, and in so doing have weakened the principles of both civil society and international law. But they have also strengthened the emergence of latent anti-Semitism, which is perfectly illustrated on this blog by bile, vilification and suffocating anger that exactly mirrors the hatred Arabs have had for Jews for centuries. The Israeli left and its American Jewish allies have provided cover for those who agree with the Arabs about the need to kill Jews.
The left and Arabs will of course deny that they want to kill Jews, and pretend that it is only "Zionism" that they hate. This fools no one except those who agree with them and who are happy to pick up this deception and use it for their own ends.
The double standard of the world in judging Israel and its utter refusal to judge, much less indict, the theocratic Muslim and Arab tyrants and Muslim regimes, are definitive proof that the Jews, wherever they are, are the real target. That so many American Jews are ready to buy into this deception is in the end the most reprehensible of all. Like me, one need not be a Zionist, an observant Jew or a
nationalistic supporter of a Jewish state (I personally oppose the notion of ANY
religious state, Jewish or Muslim) to understand - assuming one is willing and honest - to recognize a double standard of morality and interpretation of international law. There is no longer any doubt in my mind that leftist Jews in Israel and the United States are complicit in denying the facts on the ground and in
promoting anti-Semitism.
Thanks to Lawrence Britt for listing the markers of Fascism; they perfectly fit the entire Arab and Muslim world and most of north Africa (and a few places elsewhere). So here is a bit of history for the foaming at the mouth authoritarians who blame Israel and the US for the world's crimes while exonerating the real fascist patriarchal theocratic regimes.
I am truly amazed when some refer to the Palestinians as "indigenous peoples", when historical facts backed up by direct observation by impartial experts know full well that the Palestinians are Arabs from several nearby countries and have no single ethnic identity or origin whatsoever.
Israel may be presently and primarily a country of those who fled Europe but its citizens, as Jews, have a claim to being "indigenous" in the sense that the Jews resided in the area thousands of years ago. But let's put aside this quibbling and cut to the chase.
You are correct in that there is no solution, not because of mere stubbornness and politics but because of the implacable hatred of Arabs for Jews that pre dates the establishment of Palestine by hundreds of years....starting with Mohammed in the sixth century AD and passed on by him because the Jews of Medina refused to accept him as messiah.
If you doubt this, you can check it for yourself. It seems that most people read second and third hand articles rather than original sources and scholars of history and religion and pick those with which they already agree, i.e. "Don't bother me with the facts".
I do not defend Israel's mistakes and misjudgements, but they pale in comparison to the barbarism and violence of the Arabs, which is constantly on view not only in Gaza and Israel but throughout the middle east and north Africa. The situation in Egypt is a prime example, and Tunisia may be the next to fall to the patriarchal autocracy of Islam....and maybe Turkey. The rest are hopeless: Afghanistan where girls are poisoned and have acid thrown in their faces; Pakistan where at least a thousand women are killed yearly in "honor killings"; India, home to several million slaves, mostly children; Sudan (ruled by a genocidal maniac), Mauritania and Mali, home to entrenched slavery; Saudi Arabia, funder of Wahhabism and founding oppressor of women and exporter of terrorism.... et al, ad nauseum.
It is is puzzling how little credulity is given to the religious origins and inspirations of modern day anti Semitism and the enslavement of women. We are dealing with barbaric fanatics who know nothing of the Enlightenment or its legacies of human rights, democracy and secularism. This is responsible for the retrograde cultures who have absolutely nothing of value in scholarship, science, technology, the arts or socialization. They are mired in the Dark Ages because of religion and hatred for women and nonMuslims.
There is nothing redeeming about the Palestinians whatsoever. Nor is there anything compelling in their complaints; they receive hundreds of millions of dollars from western countries yet are incapable of using them to create a state that is worth living in. Instead they blame the Jews for their sorry condition even though they are themselves responsible. In fact one need not be cynical to observe that it is in their political and ideological interest to REMAIN deprived so as to engender continual hatred and violence against Israel, who can therefore be blamed for everything, along with the USA. This is not cynicism but a quite reasonable analysis, given their original rejection of a two state solution in 1947, which even some of them are now regretting.
Finally, for the west to elevate this relatively unimportant issue to the top of the list of human rights violations is laughable as well as hypocritical. Europe and the UN sat on their hands during the Rwanda massacres and continues to do so with the Congo (not to mention Somalia and other African nations ruled by tyrants).......and we are talking about MILLIONS of rapes and murders in these countries. Why this disparity? There is a simple answer: Israel is Jews and Africa is blacks,who the white liberals can ignore with impunity.
I find the spittle and invective on this blog truly repulsive but give thanks that
I live in a country that allows free speech...unlike Gaza and its Arab neighbors,
where dissenters are hung or beheaded. But of course that's of little consequence to those who foam at the mouth over the rather small problem of some displaced Arabs who struggle to remain prejudiced and unenlightened in order to wreak
their hatred and wrath on the only democratic nation in the region.