Chesler Chronicles
Earlier today, on Al-Jazeera, Osama Bin Laden threatened to start killing Americans taken hostage if America executes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, whom Bin Laden described as a “mujahid and hero.” Despite President Obama’s attempts to appease the Muslim world, nothing he’s done (yet) is good enough for either Ahmadinejad or Bin Laden, who said:
“Your master in the White House continues to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor in many important matters, like his escalation of the war in Afghanistan and the oppression of our prisoners you are holding – first and foremost among them the mujahid and hero, Khaled Sheikh Muhammad. The White House declared that it wanted to execute them. The day the US makes this decision, it will have made the decision to execute those of you who fall prisoner to us.” (Thanks, as ever, to Jeffrey Imm, who immediately alerted me).
But not to worry. I am sure that American left lawyers will fight so hard for their Gitmo prisoners that there may be no executions. On the other hand: If America fills up its jails with terrorists as Israel has been forced to do, why then, all the jihadists will be demanded in return for the release of the next American captured; yes, all of them for one, just as in the case of Israeli Sergeant Gilad Shalit.
We have also just been told that Islamist terrorists are surgically implanting bombs (not silicone) into breasts so that female terrorists can blow themselves up on plane—while Al-Qaeda’s Mastermind threatens the American President with an eye-for-an-eye.
Meanwhile, the American left is busily hosting the triumphantly arrived Tariq Ramadan, the grandson and heir to the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood and other smooth Islamist and pro-Islamist speakers. Next week, in New York City, at the Great Hall at Cooper Union (a place I once knew well), Ramadan will be speaking together with Ian Buruma (see below), Dahlia Mogahed, and Joan Wallach Scott, with whom I once crossed swords over Scott’s support for the boycott and divestment in Israel. I do not know if I’ll have the stomach to attend. Ramadan is not my problem, I know him for the snake he is. Rather, it would be the sight of so many Americans who’ve glamorized him, who are fooled by him, who have come to worship Death at his feet. I may recognize too many of them personally.
Osama Bin Laden
Tariq Ramadan
Just the other day, I was in a restaurant and noticed that a very old left feminist friend was there too. She was talking a little too loudly, her eyes were very wide and I deftly turned my back and slipped out. I shocked myself. Trust me: In the past, we would have greeted each other warmly and had the most cultured of conversations. Given her perfidy on the subjects of both America and Israel, I truly have nothing to say to her. At least not privately. Steering clear of that elephant in the room is beyond me. Wasting my time in superficial conversation for “old time’s sake” is a luxury I can no longer afford.
Bin Laden is not our biggest problem. There’s also the Palestinian and Arab invasion of the cultural scene. It’s one thing that they’ve done so on American campuses. It’s quite another thing when they do so in film and literary festivals. On the one hand, I want to promote Muslim dissidents, Muslim moderates, Muslim secularists, Muslims who are not Islamists and who are ready to stand together with infidels to fight jihad—but it is another thing when the speakers, including Muslims and Arabs who are featured, have purposely been chosen for their (hopefully) anti-American, anti-Western, anti-imperialist points of view. Thus, PEN, an increasingly left-oriented writers group with some spectacularly impressive members, whose chair is Salman Rushdie and whose President is Anthony Appiah, has invited not only Ian Buruma (a Dutch-British writer and academic who has savagely and unfairly critiqued Ayaan Hirsi Ali), but also many artists from Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Pakistan, Lebanon Afghanistan, Iran, India–including “Palestine.”
I welcome the large contingent from the Arab and Muslim world, but exactly what does PEN mean when they describe someone like novelist and translator Randa Jarrar as representing “Palestine?” She seems to have been born in Chicago, grew up in Kuwait and Egypt and then moved to New York when she was a young teenager. She apparently studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College, Middle East Studies at the University of Texas in Austin, and creative writing at the University of Michigan—and now lives in Texas.
None of these universities are located on the West Bank or in Gaza. Nor is Texas. Thus, what can PEN mean by identifying Jarrar as a native of “The United States/Palestine/Egypt”? Is saying that someone is from “Palestine” (even if they are not, even if their ancestors once lived in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, or even in Trans-Jordan) to be taken as a symbol of PEN’s political allegiance? To what? To worldwide Revolution aka Al-Qaeda, The Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah? Shouldn’t PEN’s political allegiance be to the writers whose work is censored, who are jailed and tortured, whose very lives are taken by precisely such terrorist regimes?
On the other hand, Imad Farajin, the playwright, and another PEN participant, seems to honestly, truly, be a native of the West Bank and has performed in plays in Ramallah where he, himself, was born. Not where his great-grandfather was born.
Had PEN asked me, I would have suggested that they consider inviting at least the following Muslim and ex-Muslim speakers: Turkish-American feminist author, Zeyno Baran, who has just edited and introduced a very important book, The Other Muslims: Moderate and Secular; and Ibn Warraq, the author of many books, including Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said’s Orientaism, Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out, and his forthcoming collection of essays, Virgins? What Virgins? And Other Essays. I would also have suggested Marnia Lazreg, an Algerian-American who has written an elegant book titled Questioning the Veil: Open Letters to Muslim Women .
Then again, what do I know?
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Comments on Pajamas Media:
17 Comments
1. George Jochnowitz:
I am puzzled that Ian Buruma and other people from Holland, including someone I know personally, are so very hostile to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. They should be grateful that someone of her background is anti-terror, and they should be proud of their country for letting her move in and even become a member of parliament.
Attempting to appease extremists like Bin Laden only makes them hate us more than ever. Jihadists are filled with venom against those who are so weak that they try to make friends with Islamists.
[...] Read the entire story here. [...]
Mar 25, 2010 - 11:24 am 3. Adina Kutnicki, Israel:
There is a reflexive psychosis which the bon ton crowd is unable to extricate itself from,
regardless of scores of dead bodies their objects of fixation are guilty of killing- Mao, Che, Hugo, Castro, Arafat, Ramadan…..
Does anyone in their sane mind believe that the cult-like worship of Obama and his minions, of the bloodiest killers of all time, is accidental? Or, is it more like birds of a terror feather flocking together, albeit the fawning birds are too chicken sh-t to pull the actual trigger. So what do they do? They lend immoral cover, raise funds, raise the profiles of their demi-gods of the month.
It is interesting to note that Ramadan, as heir apparent of the Muslim Terror Mafia, has nothing to fear from his crowd of adoring fans, even though they claim to be the real champions of human rights, unlike their conservative counterparts.
As if!!
Mar 25, 2010 - 12:10 pm 4. Ray O"Donohue:
Please continue the good work,Ms.Chesler,but wake up.Things are worse than you think.The folks you refer to as moderate Muslims are apostates.
Mar 25, 2010 - 12:29 pm 5. Abigail l Rosenthal:
Without the mirror that Phyllis Chesler holds up to the contemporary scene, we would scarcely know in what times we are living. We are deeply in her debt.
Mar 25, 2010 - 12:41 pm 6. siobhan:
I wonder if the US like the province of Quebec will ban the wearing of the veil. It dehumanizes women and more than that, doscourages real democratic dialog. How does one teach or talk to someone I cannot see. With all due respect, I respect their desire to wear if they must but in our western countres where religion is a choice (It is NOT a choice in most Arab countries though it IS in Israel!), how can one send young women to school and allow them to self segregate or arrive at a voting booth claiming to be someome when one’s facial features cannot be seen. It is hardly discriminatory – it is more pragmatic. Certainly, the Quebec decision has its critics but I for one think it is a good decison. How this relates to Osama – this just shows how little he cares for women that he will use them for violent and nefarious means. Sigh!
Mar 25, 2010 - 12:41 pm 7. David W. Lincoln:
Here is a very different picture of what Phyllis displays: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100031446/meps-criticise-the-most-successful-democratic-leader-in-latin-america/
Also, take a look at what Reut R. Cohen has come up with here: http://www.reutrcohen.com
Here is a picture of how far the rot has set in: http://www.charlesadler.com/2010/03/tehran-on-the-rideau.html and http://ezralevant.com/2010/03/ann-coulter-speaks-in-calgary.html
and this from Ann Coulter:
Welcome to Canada!
The provost of the University of Ottawa, average student IQ: 0, wrote to me — widely disseminating his letter to at least a half-dozen intermediaries before it reached me — in advance of my visit in order to recommend that I familiarize myself with Canada’s criminal laws regarding hate speech.
This marks the first time I’ve ever gotten hate mail for something I might do in the future.
Apparently Canadian law forbids “promoting hatred against any identifiable group,” which the provost, Francois A. Houle advised me, “would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges.”
I was given no specific examples of what words and phrases I couldn’t use, but I take it I’m not supposed to say, “F— you, Francois.”
While it was a relief to know that it is still permissible in Canada to promote hatred against unidentifiable groups, upon reading Francois’ letter, I suddenly realized that I had just been the victim of a hate crime! And it was committed by Francois A. Houle (French for “Frank A. Hole”).
What other speakers get a warning not to promote hatred? Did Francois A. Houle send a similarly worded letter to Israel-hater Omar Barghouti before he spoke last year at U of Ottawa? (“Ottawa”: Indian for “Land of the Bed-Wetters.”)
How about Angela Davis, Communist Party member and former Black Panther who spoke at the University of Zero just last month?
Or do only conservatives get letters admonishing them to be civil? Or — my suspicion — is it only conservative women who fuel Francois’ rage?
How about sending a letter to all Muslim speakers advising them to please bathe once a week while in Canada? Would that constitute a hate crime?
I’m sure Canada’s Human Rights Commission will get to the bottom of Francois’ strange warning to me, inasmuch as I will be filing a complaint with that august body, so I expect they will be reviewing every letter the university has sent to other speakers prior to their speeches to see if any of them were threatened with criminal prosecution.
Both writer Mark Steyn and editor Ezra Levant have been investigated by the Human Rights Commission for promoting hatred toward Muslims.
Levant’s alleged crime was to reprint the cartoons of Mohammed originally published in a Danish newspaper, leading practitioners of the Religion of Peace to engage in murderous violence across the globe. Steyn’s alleged crime was to publish an excerpt of his book, “America Alone” in Maclean’s magazine, in which he jauntily described Muslims as “hot for jihad.”
Both of them also flew jet airliners full of passengers into skyscrapers in lower Manhattan, resulting in thousands of deaths. No, wait — that was somebody else.
Curiously, however, there was no evidence that either the cartoons or the column did, in fact, incite hatred toward Muslims — nor was there the remotest possibility that they would.
By contrast, conservative speakers are regularly subjected to violent attacks on college campuses. Bill Kristol, Pat Buchanan, David Horowitz and I have all been the targets of infamous campus attacks.
That’s why the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute (a sponsor of my Canada speeches) and the Young America’s Foundation (a sponsor of many of my college speeches) don’t send conservatives to college campuses without a bodyguard.
EDITED DOWN, TOO LONG, READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Mar 25, 2010 - 12:46 pm 8. Jay Getty:
Bin Laden (Achmatjihad Iran) is a mercenary marketing director for various government own weapons manufacturers parading as a “religious person” which he, by “English” definition, could not be: no definition of “religious” could include flying planes into buildings…
…and by the way, believe it, do not believe it, my charactization of Ben Laden fits better than his own and mine makes it hard for him to recruit…we do his work by accepting he is religious…is that clear?
If Israel, G-d forbid goes, these terrorist will tear America down in no time.
It is correct that we do not need invading armies to woop their sorry a…;
We start winning by not buying any mid east oil and embargo all food, oil, and steel to/from Iran, Saudi, Syria et al (embargo by land, sea, and air: no phones, no lights, no internet)…Just like we did Japan in June 1940; not in your history book is it.
Domestically produced cellulose ethanol equals: full employment in the USA, balanced trade deficit, cut off of funding for terrorist; set the minimum price of fuel at the pump at $1.75/gal to keep monopoly OPEC from lowering the price long enough to rust out our stills.
I could convert the USA to cellulose ethanol in 18 months; WAR ENDS WE WIN!
(Did you, invalid objection, ethanol dissing Lilliputians add the BTUs for the war ships and dead Army men to the cost of crude?)
Nobel peace prize: Obama, sends 30,000 more army men to fight the religion of peace;
The nice “long lasting war and sell lots of weapons” (C1991 Getty on/referring to this war and delivered to every member of congress in 1991,
Mar 25, 2010 - 12:51 pm 9. Dr McCosker:
Phyllis – do you know any people – younger and faster on their feet than you are – who could credibly gain entry to that ‘let’s admire Tariq Ramadan’ event, in order to observe, and observe, and observe?
They would have to have read Caroline Fouret’s ‘Frere Tariq’ and also that other book (cannot name the author off the top of my head, right now) about the Muslim Brotherhood in America, and know *exactly* what sweetly-innocent questions to ask in order to force Mr Ramadan outside of his smiling mask. (Re. the Brotherhood – if you have not yet read John Roy Carlson, “Cairo to Damascus”…do. That came out in 1951 and has an excellent chapter on the Ikhwan/ Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo. Americans should *not* have been caught on the hop; Carlson’s book contained a clear and sufficient warning).
Alternatively, some kind of silent protest could be held outside the Hall, with people holding up placards quoting key passages from Fourest’s book.
Mar 25, 2010 - 1:18 pm 10. David:
Now this is why we need the home addresses of our politicians. Instead of fearing old Bin, let him work for those of us that would like a free US.
Mar 25, 2010 - 1:39 pm 11. Poor Citizen:
The left wing of New York welcome Jihadists?
Let me check the recent history of the left wing and the “Left Wing” Commies they have had for the last decade or more:
Rudy Guliani, former mayor of NYC
Michael Bloomberg, current mayor of NYC
oooookkkkkk, I am sure the people of New York City, these two guys (I think they are both millionaire businessmen), and the Republican Party they represent might have a slight problem with your article……dont you?
Mar 25, 2010 - 1:47 pm 12. Fern Sidman:
You ask a profuond question when you say,”Exactly what does PEN mean when they describe someone like novelist and translator Randa Jarrar as representing “Palestine?”
I guess PEN is following the Palestinian party line when it comes to implementing the right of return of Palestinian refugees to their future state. After all, the most expedient technique for eradicating the Jewish state does not involve violent terrorist tactics, but through population transfer.
The UN would love nothing more than to confer refugess status on the descendants of those Arabs who left Israel after it’s creation in 1948. Israel is a vibrant democracy that already has 10 or more Arab members of the Knesset. If the scenario ever unfolds in which millions of descendants of those Arabs who lived there prior to 1948 would come to Israel, then that would arguably serve as the death knell for Israel in terms of the demographic timebomb that it represents. Quietly, democratically, would Israel see it’s final days.
The fact that Randa Jarrar has never lived in “Palestine”, doesn’t bother the folks at PEN. They are clearly promulgating a pernicious political agenda as evidenced in their selection of speakers at Cooper Union. To these people, their agenda obviates the truth.
Mar 25, 2010 - 2:19 pm 13. Bin Laden wants to kill us all if we execute his mass-murdering terrorists — Winds Of Jihad By SheikYerMami:
[...] [...]
Mar 25, 2010 - 3:49 pm 14. Forgotten Man:
I think lawyers have done more damage to the USA than Osama ben Rump Wrestler. Every day seems to raise the level of stupidity in this country. The Empire State Building was built, start to finish in about a year. The Would Trade Center has been gone for over 8 years and it is till a hole in the ground. Why? Lawyers. Prisoners at Gitmo for 5,6, or 7 years and nothing has happened, oh wait there have been hundreds of lawsuits. Lawsuits to speed the system? Oh no, lawsuits to help the poor goat herders that did nothing worse than marry one of their goats. The next person that votes to send a lawyer to congress is just showing off this lobotomy.
Mar 25, 2010 - 4:19 pm 15. Alicia:
The information here on Randa Jarrar makes me wish I had put Palestinian as my race on the census form!
If we’re all Palestinians, then there are no Palestinians. 
Oh well. (I joke to keep the dread at bay.)
You Have Got To Be Teasing, RIGHT?!?
Bin Laden has been DEAD for almost TEN YEARS. Give me a BREAK. “Our” War Machine has kept you all in FEAR to further their goals…Get a Life and turn off the TV!
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/01/24/israel-please-no-more-bin-laden-tapes-nobody-is-buying-it/
Just for starters, try this.
