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Total number of comments: 105 (since 2009-08-30 22:45:32)

sky7i

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  • Send in the clowns
    • sky7i April 28, 2013 at 5:53 am

      In denial about your bald apartheid? Come to the Y and discover whether the toupee or the comb-over is the better hairpiece-process. $29.95!

  • Did Oren's iron dome of affability stop Colbert's brilliant strikes?
  • Such were the joys of my Muslim education (Updated)
    • sky7i January 11, 2013 at 10:29 pm with 1 replies

      In the popular slang sense I'm using it, "hillbilly" just refers to socially backward, anti-intellectual people, nothing more. Such people can be of any socioeconomic category, as far as I know. Apologies to Cletus Spuckler and to anyone who uses the term in some other manner.

    • sky7i January 10, 2013 at 12:11 am with 3 replies

      This article is rather offensively written; it paints abusive behavior as normative and integral to Islamic pedagogy. Many Muslims, including traditional scholars, would find child abuse or even corporal punishment "applied out of a sincere belief that mastering the contents of the Quran would save one's neverdying soul from hell" an unambiguous evil on the part of the guardian. For Muslims, children are born sinless and remain 'angelic' at least until puberty; Quranic knowledge is not needed to save any child's soul from Hell. The presumption is innocence.

      Theodore's experiences and generalizations may apply to certain hillbilly elements of the Muslim world, but this is because of their hillbilly-ness, not their Muslimness.

  • Netanyahu's reliance on Arthur Finkelstein led him to completely misread the US presidential race
  • Netanyahu up close and personal
  • West's lecture on free speech would go down better if Islamophobia was not 'acceptable bigotry'
  • Ridicule of Netanyahu at UNGA won't quit
  • Savage Geller bus ad hits San Francisco Muni
  • To understand the history of Palestinian dispossession look to the words of Zionist and Israeli leaders
  • Canadian band attacked by Israel lobby group after playing song titled 'Apartheid'
    • sky7i July 26, 2012 at 4:06 pm

      Wow, great song! What beautiful and luminous human beings these fine women are.

      This press release could be improved by adding an address to write to in support of the band. The producers at CTV may be unaware of the aggressive nature of the pro-Israel apartheid types; they'll feel better about hosting such acts in the future if they get supportive messages citing Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter and Jewish voices for justice. So: send your considered comments to CTV Regional Vice-President Richard Gray: Richard.Gray@bellmedia.ca

      It's also a good idea to give the band some well-deserved publicity. Here's their FB page: link to facebook.com
      link to facebook.com

  • MJ Rosenberg is leaving 'Media Matters' to start his own blog
  • Josh Block is not an Israel firster! No way, man
    • sky7i January 28, 2012 at 2:13 am

      Tuna? This man is obviously an anti-Gefilte. But a nice change after all the red herrings he's served us.

  • Mondo... Beyondo
  • Welcome to the new Mondoweiss
    • sky7i November 15, 2011 at 2:53 pm with 2 replies

      Brimming with potential, but there are lots of whitespace and visual hierarchy issues that impact ease of use and information absorption. Some example:

      1. "The War of Ideas in the Middle East" - in this new design, having "East" on the second line looks like a mistake.

      2. In the bar below the logo, those five menus stand out as the most prominent thing on the page thanks to their inverted appearance and the fact that the inversion doesn't cross the whole page. That's not right; the most prominent item should be the main headline, followed perhaps by the masthead. Those menus should blend in gracefully and quietly to the site design, not be its most noticeable feature.

      3. Redundancy: you have social media links at top right, and at left margin. Consider consolidating on the left. (Perpetual problem with the Left, I know!) Similarly, last 100 comments -- keep the link on the right, ditch the one at the top. Reduces clutter.

      4. Latest/Most Shared/Most Discussed is a great feature, but it looks awkward set off in a different font with different spacing. Match it to the rest of the site, and set it off with a slightly different background.

      I like what you're trying to do, feature-wise, but a careful thinking through of the visual integrity of the site (aesthetically AND functionally) is worth doing now rather than later.

  • 'Neocon' is suddenly a bad career move (and Rachel Abrams ain't helping the Elliott Abrams brand)
  • Will 'Occupy Wall Street' give Jon Stewart political identity crisis?
    • sky7i October 19, 2011 at 12:10 pm

      "Records also indicate that Mister Stewart–through his real estate trust, which happens to be named after his cat and dog–also owns a water front home in the Bay Point area of Sag Harbor, NY.

      In November of 2005 Mister and Missus Stewart sold their Greenwich Village apartment to too tan bon mot making fashion designer Michael Kors for $3,995,000. The family traded up to a $5,800,000 doo-plex penthouse in lower Manhattan's TriBeCa neighborhood. Reports from the time of the purchase reveal the condo crib spans approximately 6,000 square feet on the interior with another approximately 1,800 square feet of outdoor space. The Stewarts share the top of their building with mustachioed baseball stud Mike Piazza who had his 2 bedroom and 2 pooper penthouse on the market in 2008 and early 2009 with an asking price of $6,500,000."

      link to realestalker.blogspot.com

  • Desert Bloomism: The Israeli myth that won't spoil, wither, or die
  • A young American Jew describes being arrested for standing in opposition to the Jerusalem Day parade
  • Writing on the wall: 'Coldplay' endorses 'Freedom for Palestine' song
    • sky7i June 1, 2011 at 2:48 pm

      There are more dislikes than likes now... clear recognition of how powerful these shining faces and joyous voices are.

  • All star ensemble-- 'We are the people, this is the time-- Stand up, sing out for Palestine'
    • sky7i May 31, 2011 at 9:26 pm

      This is utterly fantastic! I hope everyone here shares this far and wide; it'll reach people in ways little else can.

  • Jewish man, 62 y.o. but vital, seeks unh... world domination
    • sky7i May 23, 2011 at 11:16 pm

      FWIW, from link to thejc.com
      ---
      'In France, a person's religion is regarded as a private matter and is seldom discussed in public. While Mr Strauss-Kahn has made no mystery of the fact that he is Jewish, it has not been a political issue for him. Anti-Zionists have nevertheless regarded him as a Zionist because he reportedly said in 1991 during the Gulf War: "Every diaspora Jew, wherever he is, and this includes France, must help Israel. This is the reason why it is important for Jews to take political responsibilities. In my position and in my daily life, I modestly try to help to build Israel."'

  • Tweeting Hedy Epstein
    • sky7i April 29, 2011 at 3:16 pm

      Ironically, Zach Novetsky ( link to tikvahfund.org , link to cgis.jpost.com ) himself is using his ancestral identity to score political points. He's not a Holocaust survivor (he grew up in Chicago, graduated from NYU last year) and he's not a believer either ("I practice, in that I follow tradition, despite my belief that religion is objectively untrue."). Interesting identity issues.

  • Arrigoni documented Israeli attacks on Palestinian ambulance workers, 'the most heroic people I ever met'
  • Director of Emergency Committee for Israel cackles over Arrigoni and those who mourn him
    • sky7i April 16, 2011 at 7:11 pm with 1 replies

      I remember seeing (on the Pelican Parts auto forum) Noah express a fawning, gushing, libidinal adoration of the welding on the German-engineered gas chambers of his Porsches, complete with slobbering photographs. What can we say about a man who adores technology -- especially technology with such a lineage -- more than human beings? Such objektsexualität seems a common feature of Nazism and Zionist ideology of the Jabotinsky school.

      It boggles the mind and the heart to think an overprivileged Porsche-driving Yalie (connections, connections) feels he has an inherent right to take the lives and land of children who have nothing.

  • Livni pushes int'l code to police Arab elections and bar some parties (hint: Muslim B'hood)
  • NYU students feature Israeli soldier who attacked Mavi Marmara during 'Israel Peace Week'
  • Let Pollak's refusal of leniency be read in every Hebrew school down thru time
  • Abulhawa: Delegitimization? We are merely drawing back the curtain on child arrests and confiscation of water
  • Burston on the Jewishness of Israel
    • sky7i November 5, 2010 at 2:51 am

      Exactly right!

      I would just add that, in the case where a religious state is ethically founded (whether that religion be Islam, Judaism, or Liberalism) there should be some sort of explicit, guaranteed rights protection for those who are not Muslim, Jewish, or Liberal respectively.

  • A tale of two ghettos
    • sky7i November 4, 2010 at 2:54 pm

      It would be helpful if the story mentioned addresses (Farber's, SDM corporate office) where we could write in and complain.

  • Resolved: Noah Feldman should be open about his views on the two-state solution
    • sky7i October 25, 2010 at 8:49 pm

      Resolved? So what is Feldman's view? He's written two books on Islam and statehood -- more thoughtful than most -- so it's somewhat ironic that his views on I-P are so opaque. Haven't any attendees reported on what was said?

  • Hoo-ha: Conservative British P.M. calls Gaza a 'prison camp'
    • sky7i July 28, 2010 at 2:36 am

      Maybe he would parrot hasbara in Tel Aviv (and we can rightly complain when he does), but he has openly stated an important truth here, one which our own politicians are too timid / corrupt to say out loud, and by stating it he opens the door for others to do so. Let's give credit where it's due.

  • Did State Department official get his Zionist swill about Lincoln from mytho-historian Michael Oren?
  • New battleline: 'Tablet' calls 'anti-Israel' blogs 'agents of influence'
    • sky7i July 22, 2010 at 1:07 am with 1 replies

      This from Lee Smith, the guy who writes, anti-Semitically, that "violence is central to the politics, society and culture of the Arabic-speaking Middle East" and expects to be taken seriously. Like Wieseltier's piece (not his hairpiece, his Sullivan piece), this is going to fall flat.

      If these people really cared about anti-Semitism, they'd be doing what Phil is doing --- preventing the State of Israel from laying claim to Jewish identity as it commits injustice. Not defending those injustices with wilful blindness.

  • Note to Kristof: Palestinians don't need Israeli tutelage with nonviolent protest
    • sky7i July 10, 2010 at 12:46 am

      Sounds like Witty has finally reached #4 on link to jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com

      Anyhow, now that Witty has his own blog, it would be more sensible of him to post the majority of his spiel there with a trackback to here, with truly novel comments posted here directly. Some of us who understand his viewpoint don't need to see it regurgitated ad nauseum -- it just makes the comments section more tiresome. Is the slow colonization of this blog his strategic aim...?

  • Petraeus emails show general scheming with journalist to get out pro-Israel storyline
    • sky7i July 3, 2010 at 2:05 pm

      When will the press pick up on our boot-licking general? That's a four-star headline right there.

    • sky7i July 2, 2010 at 2:26 pm

      I hope Weiss gets this published in Rolling Stone. Surely Americans should be outraged at seeing their top general so readily emasculated by a third-rate representative of a foreign power?

  • Dithering is the last refuge of the apologist
  • Nicholas Kristof: 'The occupation is morally repugnant'
    • sky7i July 1, 2010 at 4:07 pm

      I think he was genuinely surprised by the reaction to his naive comment "I believe Palestinians wld accomplish far more if they put rocks down and mobilized a massive civil disobedience movement,ideally women-led." (His car was recently hit by a rock as his family drove through East Jerusalem on a tourist jaunt.)

      See the ensuing discussion he read at:
      link to twitter.com

  • 'NYT' reporter who grooved on Jewish terrorism made Chomsky out to be 'self-hating' nut
    • sky7i June 27, 2010 at 3:04 am with 4 replies

      Solomon also did an appallingly ignorant interview with an appalling ignorant Ayaan Hirsi Ali :
      link to muslimcomment.com

      Apparently American Muslims are never preached to (yeah, right!) and apparently Islam has no scholarly traditions, only mosques where men casually (but nefariously!) shoot the breeze.

      Judging by what I've read from her, I don't think she's ever really stepped outside her ethnocentric New York clique to actually spend time with Muslims or any other folks who might think a little differently.

      link to jewishjournal.com
      Is the greatest Diaspora of Jewish history taking place right now on the Upper West Side of Manhattan? (asks Solomon) “As I see my neighbor, Phillip Roth, buy his groceries every day, and as I see him traipsing up Columbus Avenue murmuring to himself, no doubt about the paragraph he just finished writing, I often wonder, ‘Is this the greatest Jewish Diaspora? Has there ever been a moment like this scene in New York, which is so full of literary promise and intellectual accomplishment? What other moment in history can compare to this one?”

  • Sister Rosanne asks, How can I keep my soul and be a Jew when Israel is blockading Gaza?
    • sky7i June 20, 2010 at 2:04 pm with 1 replies

      "I’m glad Rosie is trying to purge her conscience. "
      From the article, it seems that Rosie was never an explicit or tacit support of militant Zionism to begin with, so why does she need to purge her conscience?

      The terminology in this interview is imprecise at times (and remember, it is a spoken interview, not a written one) and there are a few things to quibble with, and you are correct in that "liberal Zionism" is insidious, but on the whole I (as a Muslim or as a plain human being) find her sincere and believable. I don't think she would endorse any specific act of ethnic cleansing. Save the harshness for the harsh.

  • Who does Tony Blair work for?
  • Casual prejudice against Muslims
    • sky7i June 19, 2010 at 5:55 pm

      "Women’s place in Muslim societies and in the workplace is still far from acceptable by modern standards"

      This is just way too simplistic and linear a statement. Modern standards are far from unquestionable (various feminisms are of ambiguous success) and Muslim societies are much more complex and interesting than modern liberals realize.

      These are worth a read for those who haven't come across them yet: link to masud.co.uk
      link to masud.co.uk

  • A conversation about the Warsaw Ghetto
    • sky7i June 14, 2010 at 4:26 pm

      We know from Milgram that people can do all sorts of disturbing things even when subjected to slight pressures or power imbalance. I can only imagine what spending one's entire life in a situation of massive oppression and untrustworthiness can do to people. Would we fare any better than some of the darker elements of Hamas? Impossible to say. Ehud Barak himself said ""I would have joined a terrorist organization." if he were born a Palestinian. I'm reminded by John Pilger's look at the motivating factors of Wafa Idris, a female suicide bomber, in his documentary @ 13 minutes 20 seconds: link to video.google.com

      That said, I believe (and any devout Muslim would believe) that there are absolute standards that can't be compromised. Suicide bombings clearly break that standard (link to tinyurl.com), and maybe there are some other transgressions.

      So how to resolve these two points? I guess the answer is neither to excuse such actions as justified, nor to insist on lockstep reduction in violence on both sides (which favours the oppressor), but to prioritize and put root causes (the injustices of colonization) first; when those are resolved, these follow-on problems are likely to vanish in an instant. Resistance, measured or not, is a foreseeable symptom of the occupation, not its cause, and we have to avoid the danger of a recursive loop which makes it seem otherwise.

  • Israel's 'self-defense' narrative falls apart
  • Israel, your Sun City moment has arrived
  • Remember that Herzl came up with Zionism when he heard Parisians crying 'Death to the Jews!'
  • Were Israeli photos of flotilla 'weapons' faked?
    • sky7i June 2, 2010 at 4:41 pm with 1 replies

      "All wheelchairs from the flotilla will be shipped to Florida. We don't want to give disabled Hamas militants a tactical advantage." -Israel Global PR via Twitter

  • Global flotilla hits NY chocolate shop
  • Elvis Costello cancels Israel concerts: sometimes it's 'impossible to simply look the other way'
  • Israeli leftist: Join us in our war against this fatal affliction, the occupation
  • Tutu: Issue is the same in Palestine as it was in South Africa, 'equality'
    • sky7i April 11, 2010 at 1:31 pm

      I hope Tutu sends a copy of this to his fellow four-letter friend Bono.

      link to facebook.com

      And if they do play, will they show Tutu's speech during the concert, as they have been doing here in North America?

  • Tariq Ramadan and American Jewish identity
    • sky7i April 9, 2010 at 7:01 pm

      Speaking as a sort of post-liberal Muslim (still friendly, but much more cautiously, to liberalism, and still cautious about Tradition) ... I offer the following observations.

      1) Liberalism, like democracy, is only as good as the people practicing it. People, left to themselves, are not guaranteed to be very good -- self-centeredness is deeply engrained in our being -- and therefore the risk of tragedy is ever-present, whether it be the vacuous, myopic, brutal type of liberalism of Martin Kramer or the more subtle sort of self-absorption our society has become notorious for (narcissistic, neglectful of children and the elderly, and so on). So there is a space for, and a need for, alternatives, as even John Rawls sort of conceded.

      2) I understand where Phil is coming from when he expresses concerns about Muslim women, but I think he hasn't probed the issue thoroughly enough. I wish he would endeavour to learn about Islam and gender issues from learned Muslim women themselves, for example people like Ingrid Mattson (ISNA president, hijab-clad Chicago PhD holder, with Jewish and Catholic siblings). Many of them, rightly so, see liberalism as ultimately detrimental/hostile to female interests. I also wish he would be more specific in his complaints, so as to distinguish between Islamic teachings and prevalent practices in some Muslim-majority countries which run counter to those teachings. And as Chaos4700 pointed out, many Muslim societies can be proud that they have long guaranteed women's rights more secularly than liberal societies have. The two most major universities in the Muslim world were founded by and named for women. Shaykh Murad, the lecturer that Olive points to, also quotes Israeli academic Ruth Roded:

      Biology should be destiny, but a destiny that allows for multiple possibilities. Women’s discourse valorizes the home; but Muslim women have for long periods of Islam’s history left their homes to become scholars. A hundred years ago the orientalist Ignaz Goldziher showed that perhaps fifteen percent of medieval hadith scholars were women, teaching in the mosques and universally admired for their integrity. Colleges such as the Saqlatuniya Madrasa in Cairo were funded and staffed entirely by women. The most recent study of Muslim female academicians, by Ruth Roded, charts an extraordinary dilemma for the researcher:
      ‘If U.S. and European historians feel a need to reconstruct women’s history because women are invisible in the traditional sources, Islamic scholars are faced with a plethora of source material that has only begun to be studied. [ . . . ] In reading the biographies of thousands of Muslim women scholars, one is amazed at the evidence that contradicts the view of Muslim women as marginal, secluded, and restricted.’

      Stereotypes come under almost intolerable strain when Roded documents the fact that the proportion of female lecturers in many classical Islamic colleges was higher than in modern Western universities.

      3) Shaykh Keller is respected, but he is only one voice of many. Some other prominent scholars very close to Keller also recently issued this fatwa: link to mardin-fatwa.com

      "Prominent Muslim scholars have recast a famous medieval fatwa on jihad, arguing the religious edict radical Islamists often cite to justify killing cannot be used in a globalized world that respects faith and civil rights." (from Reuters coverage of the fatwa: link to blogs.reuters.com )

  • 'Night'-time for Barack
  • 'Simpsons' go to the 'happiest place on earth'
    • sky7i April 3, 2010 at 11:49 pm

      This episode sounds absolutely disgusting, especially, as Pam Olson noted, the tasteless remarks about a besieged population. I hope some of you will write to Matt Groening and express disappointment; I certainly plan to.

      Addresses at this site:
      link to animatedtv.about.com

  • Kramer gave Harvard a black eye
  • Linkage-- 'iron-clad'
  • consciousness is rising, even in New York
  • CODEPINK activists disrupt Netanyahu (and use the AIPAC director's table to do it)
  • Obama could study Reagan and grow a pair
  • East Jerusalem isn't 'disputed,' it's 'occupied'
  • They're backing down
  • Marty Peretz, Arabist
    • sky7i March 12, 2010 at 10:59 am with 2 replies

      5 million Arabs “returning” to Israel
      ---
      Julian,
      if you put "returning" in quotes in this context, then you've utterly repudiating Israel's law of return as well, and undermined the very basis of zionism which is predicated on it. This makes you either an anti-zionist or a hypocritical narcissist.

  • Why some favor cultural boycott
    • sky7i March 8, 2010 at 3:11 pm

      Mr. Livnat, give credit where credit is due.

      "Without the State’s support, Israel would not be walking on the West Bank tonight."

  • Israel's 'sensitive artist narrative' just might implode at the Oscars tonight!
    • sky7i March 7, 2010 at 7:20 pm

      This story is reported on the CBC: link to cbc.ca

      The most wonderful bit: check out the "Most Agreed" comments below the article. The first five pages or so are dominated by people with a sophisticated understanding of what's happening to the Palestinians. And people are modding up those comments. People are wising up, en masse, to the situation.

  • Memo to Kramer: Gazan 'youth bulge' is matched by Orthodox
    • sky7i March 6, 2010 at 12:55 am

      marc b.: His facebook wall.

    • sky7i March 5, 2010 at 5:31 pm with 3 replies

      An aside:
      Kramer recently (Dec. 26, 2009) pointed to this journal article (published by mostly Israeli geneticists) in an attempt to discredit Shlomo Sand's thesis:
      link to nature.com

      Interestingly, he failed to noticed this study by the very same Israeli geneticists:
      link to springerlink.com
      "Part, or perhaps the majority, of the Muslim Arabs in this country descended from local inhabitants, mainly Christians and Jews, who had converted in the seventh century AD. These local inhabitants, in turn, were descendants of the core population that had lived in the area for several centuries, some even since prehistoric times."

      Taken together, they seem to support Sand's thesis quite strongly.

  • Is House committee vote on Armenian genocide tit-for-tat for Turkey's Gaza criticism?
    • sky7i March 5, 2010 at 3:19 am

      "My ‘puppet master’ is the survival of the Jewish people. And in my opinion, Israel is a key factor for our survival."

      1) You absolutely must broaden this to "the survival of all innocent people". This will necessarily include "Jewish people" to the degree to which they choose to reproduce and to the degree that they aren't harming other people, so you needn't make a narrow statement as you have.

      2) If you think "the survival of the Jewish people" trumps the survival of other people, then you are no better than those who previously were concerned about "the survival of the Aryan people". Do you really want that? It is also counter-productive, as this is the way to create enemies you wouldn't otherwise have.

      3) Prizing survival above all is nihilism, a betrayal of faith and thus a betrayal of Judaism. Any moral people would rather die out as the oppressed than as the oppressor. I hope that if I were ever in the awful position of having to choose either (a) death or (b) survival at the expense of other innocent lives, I would have the courage to choose the former.

      "Two democratic states side by side, one Israeli and one Palestinian is the only solution."
      That's what segregationists in 1950s America wanted, and what white South Africans wanted before the end of apartheid. It did not bring peace when it existed that way; peace came when the people learned to live together. Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived there relatively harmoniously until the chauvinists arrived. Defeat the chauvinist within you. Not only will you survive -- your spirit will be freed.

  • Define 'loose cannon' (Peretz attacks 'old' Jews who go to 'gentile soirees')
  • You be the judge
    • sky7i March 3, 2010 at 3:10 am

      Here's an added detail as reported in The Guardian:

      link to guardian.co.uk
      Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli human rights lawyer, said Barkat was playing into the hands of right-wing Jewish settlers, who are increasing their influence in East Jerusalem. "He is doing the bidding of extreme settlers," Seidemann said. "These are partial demolitions and replacing Palestinian families in order to allow for a construction of a settler-inspired pseudo-Biblical park. He is making genuine public needs subservient to the ideology of the settlers."

  • ''Lawfare' project has some interesting roommates'
  • A Palestinian reflects on the lifelong experience of Israeli viciousness
    • sky7i February 24, 2010 at 4:53 pm

      When I wrote a letter to Weatherhead, I too was leery of using the word 'genocide' as it does sound hyperbolic. I used the EI passage anyways, because although Kramer may not be intending a genocide (that is debatable), there is no question that such actions are a significant step in that direction. The most charitable way of interpreting his message is that he (a) wishes to see food aid disappear so that reproduction becomes infeasible (implying starvation/malnutrition is acceptable, as that is already an outcome of the siege)) and (b) he believes Israeli actions are not the cause of the refugee status and desperation in the first place.

      Even if this falls short of genocide, it is certainly evil enough to be deemed a crime against humanity. Maybe using the term 'genocide' gave Weatherhead wiggle room to deny and defend the indefensible. Even so, pointing out that birth policies are part of genocidal practice is not itself hyperbolic, upon careful reading.

  • Harvard finds Kramer 'appalling' but won't divorce him
    • sky7i February 23, 2010 at 11:06 pm

      If these words are simply 'controversial' at Weatherhead, then shouldn't there naturally be some reaction from other Weatherhead associates vigorously contesting Kramer's contentions? One would expect, in a lively academic environment, to hear all sides of a 'controversial' issue, yet strangely this is not the case. Is the term reserved simply for those cases where the powerful say something a little too repugnant for the wider public to stomach?

      Biljana Plavšić, time to dust off your resume and applying for a fellowship!

  • Harvard faces pressure for sponsoring neocon who wants to limit Palestinian births
    • sky7i February 23, 2010 at 5:56 pm with 2 replies

      I already posted this on the original post concerning Kramer, but since this post is collecting letters (and more recent) I thought it was worth repeating here. It's by a fellow named Ian G. Anderson who posted this to Kramer's Facebook page. It was promptly deleted but I saved a copy:

      ---
      Your thoughts are genocidal for a simple reason: you advocate for a reduction in the Palestinian birthrate for the inaccurate reason that a mere surfeit of young men has resulted in their opposition to Israel, rather than a cogent and valid opposition to Israel's oppressive policies (the destructive economic sanctions which, you generously note, you are not advocating increasing). Rather than attempt to understand the Palestinian's grievances, you write them off as simply overcrowded and I suppose bored, as though extremism springs up from the aether. This is a fascist way of thinking, because you ascribe an unrealistic threat to the regional hegemon to that threat's ethnicity. "You must stop breeding, because overpopulation is a periodic inconvenience to our economic dominance and expansion-minded extremist settlers."

      Your position is disgusting, euphemistic racism, but it is exactly what I have come to expect from Israel and its supporters--after all, 55% of Jewish Israelis support the encouragement of Arab emigration from Israel, 78% oppose allowing Arabs political representation, and 74% of Jewish Israeli youths feel that Arabs are "unclean." (Source: link to haaretz.com) 90-95% supported the disproportionate crackdown of Operation Cast Lead, which resulted in 1,400 dead and a gutted infrastructure (economic and otherwise), which combined with the ongoing blockade and sanctions, have resulted in the sort of desperation one might expect in any ghetto. According to the Nation, "According to the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce, the de facto unemployment rate is closer to 65 percent. At least 75 percent of Gaza's 1.5 million people now require humanitarian aid to meet their basic food needs, compared with around 30 percent ten years ago. The UN further reports that the number of Gazans living in abject poverty--meaning those who are totally unable to feed their families--has tripled to 300,000, or approximately 20 percent of the population." But I'm sure anyone angry about this are just "superfluous young men" right?

      You presume, arrogantly and without support, that overpopulation is an indication of success. Are you at all familiar with the behavior of impoverished peoples?

      In addition to being racist, you are incorrect. Palestinian opposition to Israel, even extremist opposition, is not motivated by religion or demographics, but revenge. Compare this to Israelis, which are motivated by a hagiographic and mythological connection to a land which was never rightfully theirs, and which they took by force. One group is motivated by history, the other by self-interest and religion.

      The demographic problem is not young Palestinians, but rather young radical Israelis.

      These are the real anti-Semites. Israel has long used its Jewish identity as a crutch, an excuse, and a scapegoat. Worldwide anti-Semitic incidents rose sharply in 2009 due to revelations of Israel's brutality and deliberate targeting of civilians and their homes in the Cast Lead invasion (an invasion, I will note, which was precipitated by Israel, which broke the 2008 ceasefire--a ceasefire in which the number of Qassam rockets fired into Israel dwindled almost to nothing), no doubt exacerbated by Israel's repeat accusations of anti-Semitism toward anyone making even constructive criticism of its actions. Were I a Jew, I would be furious at the Israeli government for using my identity as an excuse to commit genocide, and endangering me in the process.

      The Electronic Intifada is not a "death-to-Israel website."

      Honestly, you sound more like a schoolyard bully than a professor. Shame on you.

  • Canadian Hasbara outfit is scraping the bucket
    • sky7i February 22, 2010 at 5:49 pm with 12 replies

      1) The two sides are not equal. One is occupied, one is the occupier. Can you imagine some successful Jewish businessman during WW2 converting to Christianity and going on the German touring circuit talking about the dark, shadowy nature of his former religion and extolling the virtues of National Socialism? As opposed to courageous German (i.e. IDF) soldiers who, as a matter of conscience, speak out against crimes against humanity being done by their government/army? Do you not see the difference?

      2) Like Shoebat (who was exposed as a fraud by none other than the Jerusalem Post), this man seems to be more of opportunistic buffoon than anyone with anything serious and meaningful to say. I'd be tempted to attend this event more for its Maury Povich-style over-the-top theatrical entertainment value than for its ability to give me a sense of the life of a Palestinian 'militant'.

  • Imagine a Harvard fellow calling for limiting Jewish births
    • sky7i February 23, 2010 at 5:14 pm with 1 replies

      Someone named Ian G. Anderson posted a great reply to Kramer on his Facebook page, which Kramer then deleted as he does with posts that get under his skin:
      ---
      Your thoughts are genocidal for a simple reason: you advocate for a reduction in the Palestinian birthrate for the inaccurate reason that a mere surfeit of young men has resulted in their opposition to Israel, rather than a cogent and valid opposition to Israel's oppressive policies (the destructive economic sanctions which, you generously note, you are not advocating increasing). Rather than attempt to understand the Palestinian's grievances, you write them off as simply overcrowded and I suppose bored, as though extremism springs up from the aether. This is a fascist way of thinking, because you ascribe an unrealistic threat to the regional hegemon to that threat's ethnicity. "You must stop breeding, because overpopulation is a periodic inconvenience to our economic dominance and expansion-minded extremist settlers."

      Your position is disgusting, euphemistic racism, but it is exactly what I have come to expect from Israel and its supporters--after all, 55% of Jewish Israelis support the encouragement of Arab emigration from Israel, 78% oppose allowing Arabs political representation, and 74% of Jewish Israeli youths feel that Arabs are "unclean." (Source: link to haaretz.com ) 90-95% supported the disproportionate crackdown of Operation Cast Lead, which resulted in 1,400 dead and a gutted infrastructure (economic and otherwise), which combined with the ongoing blockade and sanctions, have resulted in the sort of desperation one might expect in any ghetto. According to the Nation, "According to the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce, the de facto unemployment rate is closer to 65 percent. At least 75 percent of Gaza's 1.5 million people now require humanitarian aid to meet their basic food needs, compared with around 30 percent ten years ago. The UN further reports that the number of Gazans living in abject poverty--meaning those who are totally unable to feed their families--has tripled to 300,000, or approximately 20 percent of the population." But I'm sure anyone angry about this are just "superfluous young men" right?

      You presume, arrogantly and without support, that overpopulation is an indication of success. Are you at all familiar with the behavior of impoverished peoples?

      In addition to being racist, you are incorrect. Palestinian opposition to Israel, even extremist opposition, is not motivated by religion or demographics, but revenge. Compare this to Israelis, which are motivated by a hagiographic and mythological connection to a land which was never rightfully theirs, and which they took by force. One group is motivated by history, the other by self-interest and religion.

      The demographic problem is not young Palestinians, but rather young radical Israelis.

      These are the real anti-Semites. Israel has long used its Jewish identity as a crutch, an excuse, and a scapegoat. Worldwide anti-Semitic incidents rose sharply in 2009 due to revelations of Israel's brutality and deliberate targeting of civilians and their homes in the Cast Lead invasion (an invasion, I will note, which was precipitated by Israel, which broke the 2008 ceasefire--a ceasefire in which the number of Qassam rockets fired into Israel dwindled almost to nothing), no doubt exacerbated by Israel's repeat accusations of anti-Semitism toward anyone making even constructive criticism of its actions. Were I a Jew, I would be furious at the Israeli government for using my identity as an excuse to commit genocide, and endangering me in the process.

      The Electronic Intifada is not a "death-to-Israel website."

      Honestly, you sound more like a schoolyard bully than a professor. Shame on you.

    • sky7i February 22, 2010 at 9:04 pm

      Kramer will just delete the messages. Perhaps it’s better to send to the Director, plus (via to the link to the center above) two or three other high-profile people at Weatherhead likely to be outraged by Kramer’s statements.

      The Director, Beth Simmons:
      bsimmons @ wcfia.harvard.edu

    • sky7i February 22, 2010 at 7:31 pm

      Kramer will just delete the messages. Perhaps it's better to send to the Director, plus two or three other high-profile people at Weatherhead likely to be outraged by Kramer's statements, and cc: Kramer if you must.

      The Director, Beth Simmons:
      bsimmons@wcfia.harvard.edu

      Amartya Sen:
      asen@fas.harvard.edu

      Stephen Walt:
      stephen_walt@harvard.edu

      Can we somehow get more people to write in? These statements are so depraved and sickening; how can any ethical person let them stand??

    • sky7i February 22, 2010 at 5:26 pm with 5 replies

      Kramer appeared to be equating any humanitarian assistance at all with inducement for Palestinians to reproduce.

      In other words, don't feed the babies or pregnant moms. Absolutely merciless. How can people get away with treating him as mainstream? Who are the right people at Harvard to write to?

  • Rebranding the 'New York Times'
    • sky7i February 20, 2010 at 1:48 pm

      Is that Bronner's office on the right? Is that where he brought his son on Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® Day?

  • Liberal internationalist/neocon is looking for one good Muslim
    • sky7i February 21, 2010 at 6:08 am

      This simply shows your own idiocy. The choice has never been "Islam or death". Islam has always seen all prior religions as being of divine origin and worth protecting, and Muslim civilizations have protected other groups repeatedly throughout history.

      link to zope.gush-shalom.org

    • sky7i February 20, 2010 at 4:26 pm with 2 replies

      Hirsi Ali is emphatically NOT Muslim; she describes herself as an atheist and explicitly rejects Islam. As there is no hereditary/ethnic component to Islam, one cannot be a "Muslim atheist".

  • Why not Judeo-Christian-Muslim?
    • sky7i February 19, 2010 at 9:08 pm with 1 replies

      And on the Judeo-Islamic aspect:

      The Great Islamic Rabbi
      link to washingtonpost.com

      Two ironies emerge from Kraemer's book. First, that the great architect of medieval and modern Judaism seems to have lived for a time, at least outwardly, as a Muslim; whether this was a feigned or true conversion, he was an insider in Muslim culture. And second, that what is often considered original in Maimonides is not very original at all. Throughout the book, Kraemer shows how many of Maimonides' contributions are derivative, not just of Aristotle and Plato, but also of Muslim thinkers. He notes that Maimonides's discussion of the five types of speech in Jewish law employs the same five categories contained in Islamic jurisprudence. He shows that Maimonides's prohibition of using sacred poems for mundane purposes (such as setting them to music at communal gatherings) is taken directly from a commentary on Plato's Republic by the Muslim philosopher Averroes.

    • sky7i February 19, 2010 at 9:01 pm

      There's plenty of academic support for this already, most notably (in recent memory) by Richard Bulliet, history professor at Columbia:

      link to cup.columbia.edu

      And of narrower interest:
      77 N.C. L. Rev. 1635 (1998-1999)
      Islamic Origins of the Common Law, The ; Makdisi, John A.
      link to heinonline.org

  • I heard all this at AIPAC
    • sky7i February 18, 2010 at 2:55 am with 1 replies

      "The cherry tomato is regarded as a botanical variety of the cultivated tomato, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme. It was widely cultivated in Central America when the Conquistadores arrived and is thought to be the ancestor of all cultivated tomatoes." (Wikipedia)

  • The transformation of 'anti-Semitism'
  • Muslim Oz and Jewish Nichols have common ancestor
    • sky7i February 9, 2010 at 6:03 am with 10 replies

      wonderingjew:

      "But if one accepts both Islam and Judaism as man made religions this “culmination” idea becomes rather insulting. My religion is the completion of your incomplete religion."

      If you accept both Islam and Judaism as man-made, you are in insulting both Islam and Judaism, denying them their ethical foundation and reducing Judaism to a matter of baseless identity politics -- crude tribalism. That's exactly what's gone wrong; Zionism elevates Nationalism into an idol/false god.

      From the Islamic viewpoint, Judaism was wholly sufficient from the time of its inception. Abraham, peace and blessings upon him, was a fully complete Monotheist, as was Moses. The scope of Moses' prophethood was the Hebrew people, not humanity as a whole, which was appropriate for its time. It is not insulting to say that or to acknowledge that Judaism doesn't really address the whole of humanity. The coming of Muhammad marks the universalization of the Abrahamic message to humanity as a whole. You could say Islam is Universalized Judaism; in fact, many medieval rabbis saw Islam in a similar manner, as "Judaism for the non-Hebrews". Thanks to Islam, the Hebrew prophets (amongst many others, as 'every nation has been sent a guide') are honoured from Mali to Indonesia.

      You can hear a bit more on this from Marc Abdallah Schleifer, a noted American Muslim journalist of Jewish stock: link to youtube.com

    • sky7i February 8, 2010 at 11:49 pm with 26 replies

      "Isaac, the founder of Judaism, and Ishmael, the founder of Islam."

      This is not accurate; rather it is a case of people projecting the ethnocentric side of their Jewish faith on others to create a false dichotomy. You could argue that Isaac is the granddaddy of the Hebrews, and Ishmael of the Arabs, but in Islam ethnicity is irrelevant and the religion encompasses and embraces both Isaac and Ishmael. Abraham, Moses, Jesus are all considered fully "muslim" even though they are not descended from Ishmael.

      I've never had a problem considering Islam as the culmination of the Jewish tradition; indeed all Muslims are taught that Islam "is not a new religion" but a summing up and completion of "what has come before". My great-grandfather was named "Israel", and I think it's very sad that the usurpation of this name by very secular Zionists has led to a decline of such touching reminders of our commonality; I'll bet few Muslims choose to name their children as such today.

  • Disgusting English neocon suggests that brooding on Israel made Tony Judt sick
    • sky7i February 11, 2010 at 5:09 am

      Eh? Where does Krauthammer fit in?

    • sky7i February 8, 2010 at 7:26 pm with 2 replies

      Martin Kramer wrote on his Facebook page:

      "Tony Judt has become a metaphor for Jewry before Israel: a disembodied amalgam of grand ideas, unable to act in the physical world or move about freely to create or defend, incapable of self-sustenance, and therefore utterly dependent on the good will of others. The loss of muscularity that he wishes upon the Jews as a collective, fate has imposed on him as an individual. As ironic as it is tragic."

  • Haaretz: Bronner's son's service has fostered 'mini blog storm'
    • sky7i February 4, 2010 at 6:23 pm

      Phil is right to hammer away on this issue, but we have to remember that the son-in-the-IDF is only the last straw showing potential for bias and conflict for interest. The most important reasons for pulling Bronner from this beat (in order) are:

      1) Demonstrated bias in his very own writings.
      2) His nationality and the fact that he has very personal interests in this conflict, from his family to the very neighbourhood he lives in.
      3) The fact that his friendly contacts are so overwhelmingly Israelis or tied to Israel, and so few are Palestinian/Arab.

      Having a son in the IDF is the most blunt and direct evidence of conflict of interest -- hence Phil being right to hammer away on this issue -- but we also must try to ensure that the Times does not simply replace Bronner with someone who exhibits 1 to 3 above but has no offspring in the IDF.

  • Apparently, Bono's never heard of Jamal Juma'
    • sky7i January 5, 2010 at 1:14 am with 1 replies

      I think he knows the truth -- his friend Brian Eno wrote an article called "Stealing Gaza" link to counterpunch.org -- but he's corrupted a bit along the lines of Tony Blair and Co., and sadly I've lost respect for him.

      I hope enough pressure mounts to cancel the Israel gig!

  • 'NYT' correspondent in Israel is 'thoroughly Israeli'
    • sky7i December 5, 2009 at 4:29 pm

      Someone needs to compile a list of examples of bias in NY Times reporting, together with a list of facts such as this one which explain the bias, and start a petition that can spread effectively, like Henry Norr was able to do with Amazon's treatment of Carter's book. The petition could demand either more impartiality, or counterbalances to the heavy Israeli tilt.

  • Columbia Sportswear agrees to 'immediately and permanently discontinue' ad campaign marketing to settlers
    • sky7i December 4, 2009 at 6:27 am with 11 replies

      It would be nice if Columbia went a step further and reconsidered doing business with a distributor who promotes such an ideology, but this is indeed better than simply ignoring the issue. Good work, Peter Miller!

  • Viral video puts modish Brits in Palestinians' shoes
    • sky7i December 4, 2009 at 6:32 am

      I'm one of those who sent the link to Phil. I agree with potsherd that "it doesn’t convey anything of the real experience", but I thought it was noteworthy that modish Brits were making such videos in the first place, and winning some sort of award for it. And I think that such elaborate efforts, however imperfect, deserve the encouragement needed to go even further.

  • 'Responsible' Jewish human rights org says: 'It's 1938'
    • sky7i November 23, 2009 at 9:10 pm

      The ad is posted on their Facebook page, where you can leave comments:
      link to facebook.com

      They should have made note that many Palestinians are Christians, that the Palestinians are of Jewish descent, and perhaps mentioned the names of some Jewish collaborators from WW2, or maybe some present-day Israeli fascist sympathizers. Also annoyed to see the Mufti labeled as the "most famous and popular" Muslim leader; an outright lie.

      These guys are a small minority, but they're powerful; the Conservative government has given them money to set up a "National Task Force for Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research": link to facebook.com

  • Feeling the hate in Washington
    • sky7i November 23, 2009 at 4:26 pm

      Wow, that was crass and stupid. I was also appalled by the bigotry in some of the other 'skits' they've done. Why does YouTube/Google permit this tripe, yet somehow find Blumenthal's straightforward and honest video offensive enough to pull down??

  • Palestinian equal rights joins the progressive agenda on 'The Daily Show'
    • sky7i October 29, 2009 at 3:26 am

      If I go to that link, I'm redirected to the Canadian site, but the extended interview isn't available there. So yes, I'd appreciate another way of getting ahold of them. If you need to e-mail me, mail me @hotmail.com
      Thanks!

    • sky7i October 29, 2009 at 2:09 am with 4 replies

      Hmm, can't watch the above videos in Canada, and can't seem to find the extended interview on the Comedy Network (Canada) site either. Anyone know any alternatives? Hopefully someone will upload this to Vimeo/Youtube.

  • Watch 'The Daily Show' tonight!
    • sky7i October 29, 2009 at 4:06 am

      Looking into the price history of the book, it seems to have sold for ~$16 -$20 until recently (I assume yesterday). And rarely do you see a current book at amazon.com at full list price. In fact, it's now the only book on the top 99 bestselling Israel books which isn't sold at a discount: link to amazon.com

      On amazon.ca, the book is unaffected, at CAD$20. They didn't paste the full Goldberg review on the .ca site at the time of the Carter book release. I guess US public opinion is the prime concern.

      Not enough information for a conclusive verdict, but the timing (Anna's most mainstream appearance to date), the quick hike to the highest selling price possible, and amazon.com's past behaviour, one can't help but wonder.

    • sky7i October 29, 2009 at 1:01 am with 4 replies

      That's not good news; it means fewer people will buy the book.

      I wonder if this a deliberate move on Amazon's part to dampen enthusiasm and sales figures for the book. Remember that when Carter's first book on Palestine came out, Amazon omitted the "Peace not Apartheid" part of the title, and they threw up a full 1400+ word negative review by Jeffrey Goldberg on the main book page, with no mention of Goldberg's background, and no positive reviews. Highly unusual. Henry Norr had to accumulate tens of thousands of signatures on a petition before amazon relented. Search for the terms "Norr", "Goldberg", "Carter" and "amazon.com" together to learn more.

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