Most of you are probably familiar with Irshad Manji, a Canadian "journalist", a wanton Muslim-basher who proudly called herself an atheist before realising it was more profitable to market herself as a "practising Muslim" who just happens to hate Muslims, the Qur'an, Muhammad, and Palestinians, and who happens to love Bush and praise Israel for its "compassionate" policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians.
M. Junaid Alam (who for some reason has now taken to calling himself M. Junaid Levesque-Alam), an excellent writer, explores some of the reasons for Manji's extreme popularity among the American intelligentsia, from both the right and the left.
The only thing American conservatives and liberals can agree on, it seems, is that Mozzlims suck.
Check it out:
http://counterpunch.org/junaid08272008.html
Levesque-Alam's coverage of the Asbahi affair, and Manji's reaction to it, is worth paying close attention to.
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Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
I Got Into Harvard! (But Israel Won't Let Me Go.)
Some university students in Gaza who were accepted for admission to Harvard and other Ivy League schools were denied permission to leave the country by Israel. Israel did not cite security or other concerns (and how could they, considering the students would be leaving Israel/Palestine). It simply denied them their right to education.
There is a public Israeli precedent for this. In the past - most recently in the fall of 2000, off the top of my head - the United Nations General Assembly voted in favour of resolutions granting Palestinians basic rights, such as the right to obtain access to an education within their own homeland. Naturally, all of these resolutions passed easily with overwhelming vote counts of roughly 148-2 and 151-1 (this is no exaggeration; look up the exact votes on the UN homepage). The two votes against? The U.S. and Israel. And in cases when there was only one opposing vote, it was cast by Israel, with the U.S. abstaining.
Apparently, the U.S. and Israel are alone among nations in the world in believing that Palestinians have no right to an education.
A snippet here of the recent Ha'aretz article, with the full link below:
Gisha, an Israeli organization aimed at protecting Palestinian freedom of movement, says the problems the Palestinian students faced are not out of the ordinary.
"There are hundreds of students in the Gaza Strip who were accepted by universities abroad and have valid visas," said Gisha executive director Sari Bashi.
But, she added, "Israel issues a comprehensive ban on students from Gaza going abroad, as part of its policy of collective punishment toward Gaza residents, thereby impinging on the right to education of hundreds of talented young people who want to study, develop, and create a better future in our region."
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No matter how you slice it, this shit is fucked up.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1008866.html
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There is a public Israeli precedent for this. In the past - most recently in the fall of 2000, off the top of my head - the United Nations General Assembly voted in favour of resolutions granting Palestinians basic rights, such as the right to obtain access to an education within their own homeland. Naturally, all of these resolutions passed easily with overwhelming vote counts of roughly 148-2 and 151-1 (this is no exaggeration; look up the exact votes on the UN homepage). The two votes against? The U.S. and Israel. And in cases when there was only one opposing vote, it was cast by Israel, with the U.S. abstaining.
Apparently, the U.S. and Israel are alone among nations in the world in believing that Palestinians have no right to an education.
A snippet here of the recent Ha'aretz article, with the full link below:
Gisha, an Israeli organization aimed at protecting Palestinian freedom of movement, says the problems the Palestinian students faced are not out of the ordinary.
"There are hundreds of students in the Gaza Strip who were accepted by universities abroad and have valid visas," said Gisha executive director Sari Bashi.
But, she added, "Israel issues a comprehensive ban on students from Gaza going abroad, as part of its policy of collective punishment toward Gaza residents, thereby impinging on the right to education of hundreds of talented young people who want to study, develop, and create a better future in our region."
====
No matter how you slice it, this shit is fucked up.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1008866.html
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Monday, August 18, 2008
Foreigner? An American Outcast in His Own Homeland
Guest Column by Pak-Man:
Am I a foreigner? Americans certainly seem to think so. In the space of a couple of hours, I was once "accused" of being a foreigner, and once informed that I am being investigated by the highest intelligence levels of the United States Air Force for being a "foreign national".
I was born in Washington, D.C., not far from the White House. I am as American as motherfucking apple pie.
By e-mail, my roommate from college notified me that I may soon be receiving a call from the United States Air Force and/or CIA. He is currently upgrading his security status to "Top Secret" and underwent an extensive interview and vetting process in which he was asked about his contact with any and all foreign nationals during his lifetime.
He writes: "I told them about our long history together" (we roomed together at a Southern university for eight months). He then writes that "they may be calling you over the next few days to ask you a few questions."
Once again, I was born in Washington, D.C., the capital of these United States. I have never been a foreign national, and I never will be. Now I have the feds breathing down my neck because I have a Muslim surname.
Two hours later, a patient in the hospital, a veteran of the Vietnam War with bilateral above the knee amputations shouted at me, "The reason I'm like this is because of a foreigner like you!"
Once again, I am not a foreigner. I am proud of whatever foreign heredity I have, from both Pakistan and India, but by no definition of the word am I a foreigner. I was born here and have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxes here, and have even, if truth be told, saved more than a few American lives in my work as a physician - far, far more lives than our "brave boys in the service" have saved in their murderous raping rampages in Iraq.
I needn't even have informed the Vietnam veteran that my "foreigness" is not related to Vietnam in any way, nor is it related to Korea or Germany or Japan or Iraq or Afghanistan or Panama or Grenada or the Philippines or Somalia or Cuba or any of the other places in which our fearless government has sent its fearless Christian sons.
This is what you get for being Muslim in America: accused of being a fifth column, never accepted as a "real American". Ever noticed how racist the description "all-American girl" or "all-American guy" is? It just means someone with blue eyes and blonde hair. No black person can be said to have "an all-American" look.
Motherfuckers. This is my reward for saving their lives. No white person ever flew to Pakistan or India to save my grandparents' lives when they were suffering and dying in hospitals there.
Am I a foreigner? Americans certainly seem to think so. In the space of a couple of hours, I was once "accused" of being a foreigner, and once informed that I am being investigated by the highest intelligence levels of the United States Air Force for being a "foreign national".
I was born in Washington, D.C., not far from the White House. I am as American as motherfucking apple pie.
By e-mail, my roommate from college notified me that I may soon be receiving a call from the United States Air Force and/or CIA. He is currently upgrading his security status to "Top Secret" and underwent an extensive interview and vetting process in which he was asked about his contact with any and all foreign nationals during his lifetime.
He writes: "I told them about our long history together" (we roomed together at a Southern university for eight months). He then writes that "they may be calling you over the next few days to ask you a few questions."
Once again, I was born in Washington, D.C., the capital of these United States. I have never been a foreign national, and I never will be. Now I have the feds breathing down my neck because I have a Muslim surname.
Two hours later, a patient in the hospital, a veteran of the Vietnam War with bilateral above the knee amputations shouted at me, "The reason I'm like this is because of a foreigner like you!"
Once again, I am not a foreigner. I am proud of whatever foreign heredity I have, from both Pakistan and India, but by no definition of the word am I a foreigner. I was born here and have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxes here, and have even, if truth be told, saved more than a few American lives in my work as a physician - far, far more lives than our "brave boys in the service" have saved in their murderous raping rampages in Iraq.
I needn't even have informed the Vietnam veteran that my "foreigness" is not related to Vietnam in any way, nor is it related to Korea or Germany or Japan or Iraq or Afghanistan or Panama or Grenada or the Philippines or Somalia or Cuba or any of the other places in which our fearless government has sent its fearless Christian sons.
This is what you get for being Muslim in America: accused of being a fifth column, never accepted as a "real American". Ever noticed how racist the description "all-American girl" or "all-American guy" is? It just means someone with blue eyes and blonde hair. No black person can be said to have "an all-American" look.
Motherfuckers. This is my reward for saving their lives. No white person ever flew to Pakistan or India to save my grandparents' lives when they were suffering and dying in hospitals there.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Muslim Smear Applies to Muslims (not just Obama)
Mazen Asbahi, whom Barack Obama chose to coordinate his Muslim American affairs, resigned from that position just days after being selected for the prestigious (or notorious?) post because of controversial alleged ties to a "mosque in Chicago controlled by a fundamentalist imam".
His childhood friend, Rany Jazayerli, of Baseball Prospectus fame, and a physician, writes passionately on fivethirtyeight.com that "Mazen was forced to resign because of a smear campaign that targeted him for the sin of being Muslim: nothing more, nothing less."
Jazayerli examines the media's coverage of Asbahi's resignation, particularly the Wall Street Journal's "expose" on the subject.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/perspective-on-mazen-asbahi.html
The entire affair is a disgrace.
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His childhood friend, Rany Jazayerli, of Baseball Prospectus fame, and a physician, writes passionately on fivethirtyeight.com that "Mazen was forced to resign because of a smear campaign that targeted him for the sin of being Muslim: nothing more, nothing less."
Jazayerli examines the media's coverage of Asbahi's resignation, particularly the Wall Street Journal's "expose" on the subject.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/perspective-on-mazen-asbahi.html
The entire affair is a disgrace.
#
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