Ignoring Guantanamo

Islamoyankee recently got on my case because of my lack of posting, so I am pretending to work, listening to Dylan, and feeding this up instead. Sadik J. Al-Azm,Emeritus Professor of Modern European Philosophy, University of Damascus, and a recipient of the 2004 Erasmus Prize, has written a thoughtful article straight from the heart of the Arab world. The article entitled, “Time Out of Joint” can be viewed in this months Boston Review. In it, Al-Azm questions his own reactions to 9-11 and Huntington’s theory. It is indeed refreshing to read an article that addresses the issues rationally and approaches…

Last night was a good night for me. I was flipping channels because the Law and Order episode on TNT was one that I had previously seen. As a was bypassing all of the reality shows (Are people really this shallow? If there is to be a clash of civilisations as the both the Bush administration and Osama and his bearded minstrels seem to be taking all of us toward, the current state of American television, would lead one to conclude that it may be a fair fight.) Anyway back to the matter at hand. As I was flipping channels,…

Several news outlets (1, 2, 3, 4) are reporting that the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahatir Mohammad, opened the summit of the Organization of Islamic States with some good ol’ fashioned anti-Semitism. I’m not talking anti-Israeli comments – which are often labeled as anti-Semitic, but more on how that lazy use of language, and how it does a dis-service to all involved, in another post – but full out Judeophobia. Just so you don’t doubt me, here’s the most obvious example: “The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews are in control of the…