Wednesday, March 27, 2013

An Intellect as Sharp as Shark


The prof from California etc attempts to justify Arab paranoia thusly:

So what is David Petraeus up to these days?


"He met not long ago in New York with Fouad Ajami, the Middle East scholar".  You honestly fault Arabs for subscribing to conspiracy theories?

What does this mean? If Petraeus were to meet with himself, the perpetually rage-engorged  AbuKhalil, would that justify a slew of phantasmagorical conspiracy theories by Israelis, Jews and/or Americans?

Saturday, March 23, 2013

The Great Pretender

The perpetually enraged Arab talks about the "smearing" of Chomsky.

Glenn Greenwald, perhaps the most courageous US journalist, writes about smearing of Chomsky: "But what is at play here is this destructive dynamic that the more one dissents from political orthodoxies, the more personalized, style-focused and substance-free the attacks become. That's because once someone becomes sufficiently critical of establishment pieties, the goal is not merely to dispute their claims but to silence them. That's accomplished by demonizing the person on personality and style grounds to the point where huge numbers of people decide that nothing they say should even be considered, let alone accepted. It's a sorry and anti-intellectual tactic, to be sure, but a brutally effective one."

And here I am, thinking about Chomsky the purist-anarchist par excellence. What could possibly be a greater smear on his "dissents from political orthodoxies" than the way prof. AbuKhalil bowdlerizes and abuses anarchist theories in the service of his own fascist, particularist agenda?

Imagine, just for the sake of the point I want to make in this post, No'am Chomsky saying something like AbuKhalil's repeated refrain, with one tiny alteration

I don't like flags, and I don't like nationalisms but for Israel and the Jews, everything and anything. 


"Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority and hierarchical organization in the conduct of human relations. Proponents of anarchism, known as "anarchists", advocate stateless societies based on non-hierarchical voluntary associations." (Wikipedia)
 
 According to Wikipedia, "Chomsky has stated that his "personal visions are fairly traditional anarchist ones, with origins in the Enlightenment and classical liberalism".

AbuKhalil's concern for Chomsky's reputation is rather vacuous. It simply does not make sense and misrepresents Chomsky's rejection of all statehoods, nationalisms, and flags as illegitimate corruptions of human justice and freedom. The two of them are certainly not on the same page. I have little doubt that Chomsky's political vegetarianism precludes the possibility that any exception might be made for one special place in his life where he can  always indulge in carnivorous gastronomy.

To conclude, let me remind you of how Paul Ricoeur defines evil: "Evil is, in the literal sense of the word, perversion, that is, a reversal of the order that requires respect for law to be placed above inclination. It is a matter of a misuse of a free choice...”

So here is the prof. of political science, here are his principles: [as a self-proclaimed anarchist] "I don't like flags, and I don't like nationalisms" except that he cannot subject his own personal inclinations to the very principles he claims to uphold:  "..for Palestine and the Palestinians, anything and everything".

__________

Update: It is tragically amusing to note the extent of Prof. AbuKhalil's self-regard and cognitive dissonance. It's not as if he is incapable of noticing structural contradictions of the type I reported above in others:

 "It is an extremely disturbing interview [with Chomsky] ... the reference to Israel "harming itself" as Chomsky put it, is telling enough. It is time that we learn that we dont have to stand and applaud any White Man who comes to our region with some criticisms of Israel, OK? I mean, imagine if a supporter of the struggle of blacks against Apartheid were to say: I count myself as a supporter of the Apartheid regime."

What emerges is a clear picture of an absolutist academic incapable of even the tiniest bit of self-reflection or self-criticism. I wonder what he teaches* his students? What benefit, what learning, what skills, do they gain from attending the classes of such a "teacher"?? 

BTW, Is Chomsky a "white man"? A redneck? Perhaps a "new Afrikaner"? An Aryan, perhaps? (Apparently, one is a "white man"when one is not as virulently hostile to Israel's very existence as one ought to be. When a "white man"comes along and praises the Angry Arab, the white man's words are not only welcome but paraded with some pink-faced pleasure:) ).

*Sidebar about teachers:

 Bertrand Russell, in one of his Unpopular Essays, tries to explain that the role of a teacher is to be the guardian of civilization. A teacher, says Russell, "should be intimately aware what civilization is'.

But what does Russell mean when he invokes the term "civilization"?

It's much more than advanced technology. It is "a thing of the mind"

"it is a matter partly of knowledge, partly of emotion... A man.. should see his own country not only as home but as one among countries of the world, all with an equal right to live, and think, and feel. He should see his own age in relation to the past and the future".

The danger and impossibility to fulfill the true role of the teacher is much less present in democratic countries. A teacher, however, in totalitarian countries, cannot hope to serve his noble goal, for

"In each of these countries fanatical nationalism was what was most emphasised in the teaching of the young, with the result that the men of one country have no common ground with the men of another., and that no conception of a common civilization stands in the warlike ferocity". In such countries, he goes on to say, "Collective hysteria, the most mad and cruel of all human emotions, is encouraged instead of being discouraged".

Yet Prof. AbuKhalil does not live in a totalitarian country. What's his excuse for encouraging his readers, on his blog  "Collective hysteria, the most mad and cruel of all human emotions"??

In Pain ...

Our perpetually rage-engorged Arab friend is in pain.

Just wondering: What if these are "Israeli books ... found in Egyptian libraries"?
Would he still be in such declaratively acute pain?

I am sceptical ...

__________

BTW, there is no way of verifying whether this is indeed a photograph of the "The library of college of Arts and Letters at Alexandra University". All we see is a room space piled up with  discarded books.This could be anyplace in the world.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013


... ad Hitlerum 

  According to Eric Hoffer:  "Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life" [Example: "My mission in the West has been to make the categorical rejection of Israel cool and fashionable again." Prof. AbuKhalil]  Remember Kritzinger's story 


Our Perpetually Apoplectic Amigo, the professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus and visiting professor at UC, Berkeley, is very upset with Obama's visit to Israel. So he takes special pleasure and consolation in the way Palestinians are planning to welcome the American president.

This is one way they do it. (CC warning: graphic representations of the horrors of life in "Palestine").

And here is another:

PA's welcome to Obama:
Americans behind 9/11 attacks and
Hitler was greater than Roosevelt

Official PA daily:
History is written by the victors,
therefore "Muslim terrorists" are falsely blamed for 9/11
and Nazism is prosecuted instead of honored

"Had Hitler won, Nazism would be an honor"

***
Hitler has also been on Prof. AbuKhalil's mind today:
"Michele and I have been arguing: who is the better failed artist, Hitler or George W. Bush.  I argue that Hitler was a far better failed artist than George W. Bush.  Just google some of his paintings [Link helpfully provided by CC].

Friday, March 08, 2013


A woman to admire ...

 Here is Charlize Theron on Samira Ibrahim:

Samira represents the model of how to stand up to fear, and the impact she has made reaches far beyond Egypt. It takes just one woman to speak out, and thousands of others around the world will listen and feel inspired to act. 

Tweets by this model for inspiration by women all over the world, Samira Ibrahim:

"An explosion on a bus carrying Israelis in Burgas airport in Bulgaria on the Black Sea. Today is a very sweet day with a lot of very sweet news."

 “I have discovered with the passage of days, that no act contrary to morality, no crime against society, takes place, except with the Jews having a hand in it. Hitler.”

  “Today is the anniversary of 9/11. May every year come with America burning.”

"  (Al Saud  dirtier than Jews) "آل سعود اوسخ من اليهود #ثورة_السعودية

 "Today is the anniversary of 9/11. May every year come with America burning."
__________

Update: So far the  professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus and visiting professor at UC, Berkeley is silent on the subject of Samira Ibrahim, even though he is aware of this day's significance. He cannot remain silent for long, as I'm sure his many readers will ask him to respond to the incident. Let's wait and see what he has to say. (I suspect he is probably trying to find the sweet spot between her antisemitic and anti-American rants and his instinctive inclination to agree with each one of her tweets).*

_________

Update II: "Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokeswoman, had said earlier Thursday that Ibrahim was on her way back to Egypt and would not participate in a State Department ceremony Friday that will honor nine other recipients of the International Women of Courage Award.”

________

Update III: Just remembered this incident

________

*Update IV: Looks like the enraged professor from the West Coast found his sweet spot. Or so he thinks. Of course he cannot quite get it right when he says: "1) hateful words by Arabs are worse--according to Western standards--that actual killing of Arabs by Israel.", forgetting, that one of her tweets was a celebration of the killing of  Israelis  by Arab terrorists. It appears that the actual killing of Israelis by Arabs - according to AbuKhalil's standards- doesn't matter one little bit. 

Thursday, March 07, 2013

The Purveyor of Scientific Truths


Prof. AbuKhalil seems to credit the recent conspiracy theory about the death of Hugo Chavez with not only possibility but likelihood.* Here is his justification for thinking so:

In theory, carcinogens ... can be applied as a weapon. Carcinogens are employed in experimental animals to study cancer initiation and progression. However, cancers take a (long) while to develop, and the impact of using a carcinogen cannot be carefully targeted. If applied in large doses, they can cause cancer development in multiple tissues. These uncertainties limit their usefulness as an assassination tool (if it is going to take a few years for someone to die as a consequence of their use, then they would be too blunt of an instrument).



Far more useful and clever to my mind has been the use of Polonium 210 as an assassination tool. It is difficult to detect and decays naturally over time. Arafat was probably assassinated that way.



BTW, Chavez was a heavy smoker, which is a risk factor for cancer. His cancer was reported to be pelvic, although its exact provenance remains unknown. It has been speculated that it could be a bowel cancer.



Of course, a conspiracy theory for Chavez demise has its roots in his targeting by the US early on. The 2002 coup against him was an intrinsic component of the Bush administration quest to control oil producing countries as part of its overall aim for American hegemony in the 21st century. That coup failed, but the invasion of Iraq followed. This month is the 10th anniversary of that catastrophe."

 

I then asked him if it is possible that the government science of assassination is ahead of civilian medical science, and he wrote:

 

"Of course there are methods of assassination that must have been developed as part of programatic efforts to improve the practice of assassination. The polonium 210 and the ricin assassinations (most likely KGB and FSB, respectively) and the case of Khaled Mishal (Mossad) most likely reflect such programs. I am sure the Americans have their own. The science of such assassinations is however relies on known properties of the agents involved, not some secret unknown effects that no one in the scientific community knows about."
 I think it is obvious from this exchange how eager AbuKhalil is to have this conspiracy theory credited with scientific truth.Consider how his interlocutor ("a comrade") is equally eager to lend some plausibility to this outlandish proposition, relying on a non-fact for his "scientific"explanation. Which explains why the prof. contacted him for enlightenment in the first place.

However, I'm a little puzzled as to why AbuKhalil attributes such progressive methods and knowledge to Israel's Mossad (for who else could have done the deed?) after reassuring his readers time and again of how dumb the Mossad is?

This is a teacher of some academic stature, entrusted by the American Ministry of Education to teach young minds how to collect information, think critically and rationally and grow in understanding and knowledge.

* A possibility is  a thing that may happen or be the case. A likelihood is almost certainty. A subtle difference but not that subtle to a trader in words of Angry Arab's ilk.

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Hate Crimes


According to wikipedia:
"A hate crime is a category used to describe bias-motivated violence: "assault, injury, and murder on the basis of certain personal characteristics: different appearance, different color, different nationality, different language, different religion."[2]

Prof. AbuKhalil complains about hate crimes against Palestinian students:

"I thought it would interest you to know that there have been hate crimes committed against Palestinian students at St. Olaf College ... .  After the SJP chapter at St. Olaf posted a display for their annual Palestine Awareness Week, 2 large Palestinian flags that were part of the display were stolen. Soon after someone wrote "Death to Gaza" on one of the posters on the display, and several other posters by an SJP member were stolen"
I'm willing to bet, without even checking, that the law-loving, anti hate crimes, professor would never record this kind of event:
"School officials are busy rebuilding the library at United Talmud Torahs elementary school in Montreal, Canada, after vandals firebombed the room April 5, the eve of Passover. The school was closed at the time and no one was hurt, but the blaze left the library a charred ruin. Only a box of 25 books was salvaged from the 10,000-volume collection, which served some 235 K–6 students. The fire did not spread to the rest of the school."

Or this:
 "A Jewish schoolboy was punched in the back of the head and beaten up in the latest anti-Semitic attack to hit France.
The 12-year-old was walking near his Jewish school in southeastern Paris yesterday when a gang set up on him, calling him a 'dirty little Jew'."

(Judging by his recent complaint about the tentacles of "Jewish power" in France, perhaps he doesn't consider these to be hate crimes, but rather a legitimate resistance against  Israeli occupation of the whole of Palestine.)

Sunday, March 03, 2013

Read and weep for freedom of speech on Canadian Campuses




"... United States and Canada are the two worst places in the world for pro-palestinian talks in college campuses, academic freedom..."

 Indeed.

Act I: Here is a little historical record for this statement:
"For the duration of the standoff, ticket-holders pushed their way through a thick crowd of protesters and police outside the building, entering the Hall building through a secured access point complete with metal detector. They were then escorted to the auditorium where the lecture was to take place. Ticket holders later complained that the protesters had subjected them to antisemitic slogans and even physical attack. Holocaust survivor Thomas Hecht was kicked in the groin by protesters and a local Rabbi was also physically assaulted.[2]

Shortly after ticket holders were escorted into the Hall building the large window front that protestors and bystanders were banging on shattered, prompting a police officer to immediately discharge pepper spray through the window of the Hall building, poisoning both the small minority of protestors involved and the large majority of innocent bystanders. The spray entered the building's ventilation system forcing an evacuation of the entire building. At approximately the same time, a second window on the building's first floor, on the western side was broken when protesters threw a metal barricade into it because they were being intimidated by police.

The immediate result of the protest and subsequent evacuation was the cancellation of the lecture"

 And here is the visual record

Act II: The follow-up: 

 "A Montreal university has barred former
Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak from speaking on
campus, igniting a storm over whether the institution
is curbing free speech in the name of keeping peace on
its politically fractious campus.

Concordia University, the site of violent clashes two
years ago that scuttled a speech by former Israeli
leader Benjamin Netanyahu, has turned down a request
by a Jewish students group to have Mr. Barak deliver a
lecture this month."

*****

Just a little reminder and then, two questions: 

Who exactly is being denied the exercise of their freedom of speech?
What good is a cause that needs to rely on lies, distortions and violence in order to sustain its "justice"?

Friday, March 01, 2013

Whoever chooses to sleep with dogs ...

According to Tehran Times, the film "Argo" is  an anti-Iranian propaganda film, on the same level as the films of Nazi publicist Leni Riefenstahl. She made Nazi war-mongering and Jew-hatred look beautiful. "Hollywood, you see, is a virtually 100% Jewish enclave. And with a few noble exceptions, the Jewish billionaires who own and run Hollywood, and determine what kinds of motion pictures dominate the world, are rabid supporters of Israel's genocide in Occupied Palestine."

Why does the author of this article think Jews make films like "Argo"?

Because: 

"... war on Iran -- as Zbigniew Brzezinski and Chuck Hagel and all genuinely American strategists have been screaming from the rooftops -- is an Israeli plan, not an American plan."

The Snarl of the day:

Angry Arab cannot wait for Amos Oz to die ... 

Here is why:


"Oz was one of the first Israelis to advocate a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict after the Six-Day War. He did so in a 1967 article "Land of our Forefathers" in the Labor newspaper Davar. "Even unavoidable occupation is a corrupting occupation," he wrote. In 1978, he was one of the founders of Peace Now. Unlike some others in the Israeli peace movement, he does not oppose (and in 1991 advocated[2]) the construction of an Israeli West Bank barrier, but believes that it should be roughly along the Green Line, the pre-1967 border.[1] He has also advocated that Jerusalem be divided into numerous zones, not just Jewish and Palestinian zones; including, one for the Eastern Orthodox, one for Hasidic Jews, an international zone, and so on.[2]
He has opposed settlement activity from the beginning and was among the first to praise the Oslo Accords and talks with the PLO.[2] In his speeches and essays he frequently attacks the non-Zionist left and always emphasizes his Zionist identity. He is identified by many right-wing observers as the most eloquent spokesperson of the Zionist left. His views can be encapsulated as follows:

Two Palestinian-Israeli wars have erupted in this region. One is the Palestinian nation's war for its freedom from occupation and for its right to independent statehood. Any decent person ought to support this cause. The second war is waged by fanatical Islam, from Iran to Gaza and from Lebanon to Ramallah, to destroy Israel and drive the Jews out of their land. Any decent person ought to abhor this cause." (April 7, 2002)"