The know-nothing segment of the Republican Party may daub Phyllis Chesler a prejudiced feminist fighter. Why dwell on her struggle for our majority (women) when her facts are correct & most frightening to women in zones occupied, or threatened, by theocratic aggrandizement of Muslim medievalism? Does Phyllis not have the right and duty to sympathize with women who get gang-raped by soldiers of fascist types? Why should she not be concerned about all who get high-jacked for the pleasure of bandits to meet their Allah in paradise? Is she not often bombarded by young Arab-trained radicals who are misdescribed as pious suicide bombers, preferably of school children, women on their shopping bus or blown up in their homes?
As one who has fought apartheid in South Africa, she gets offended by the more complete segregation of women from the activity and prominence of males of any age in the Molsem theocracies around the Gulf of Araby & far beyond that restricting reactionary territory. It is one thing when women veil themselves to hide some ugliness but another if it is the man's command & when only men execute the laws of "Sharia" most barbarously.
Even if some old-fashioned Mormon women can consider the other wives of her husband good sisters of charity, it normally is the younger wife who commands the labors of no love of the first-married. If female oppression prevents girls from getting schooled or job-trained, the widow or divorcée will then be condemned to beggary, homelessness and to a wretched condition in old age or when sick.
But how can a western woman of warm-heartedness condone women slavery in Islam? Or the stoning to death of a Muslim woman who is accused of adultery even if untrue? Or the murdering of a woman by her own family if she gets raped & thereby "dishonored" her folks even if occasioned by one of her own little brothers? Not to speak of the circumcision of female organs in the Sudan, Nigeria & other Muslim human deserts. Has Chesler not the right to cry with the female victim of male musculatura?
Of course, such high-minded socially-virtuous lady is called a Jew-friend for sympathizing with the Jews who were expelled from 22 Arab countries and also from non-Arab Islamic nations. Jews cannot become citizens in the 2 Arab countries - Jordan & Egypt - which concluded a dishonest peace with Israel to make their countries safe & to receive a huge payoff in cash and arms from US for this apparent goodwill while their government -controlled press vilifies Israel, its political leaders and every Jew almost daily. Some of the worst slanders, anti-Jewish lies and deadly attacks had the origin with these 2 "friendly" neighbors.
We don't think that Phyllis is a hater like her namesake, Schlafley. But she has the right to hate their sins, crimes and murderous intentions from which only fences & walls can protect a very small nation of hard-working, ambitious readers, writers and socially-minded Jews. The problem is how to guarantee their survival when the rest of the world dreams of their renewed holocaust with the blessings of Allah, His Prophet and the rest of stand-by blood feuders who keep lying that the victims are the ones who eat blood on a holiday when good Christians may love blood sausage - "black pudding" -and blood shed.
Barnard College was the scene of the colloquium on women's art which didn't include male artists or art critics. But it was also a one-opinion "Unart" affair which badgered the only exponent of truth & history, Phyllis Chesler. College leadership had the temerity to criticize a very knowledgeable facts-empowered invitée "for attacking Islam in a culturally misleading & historically uninformed way."
Phyllis spoke what all historians must agree on. But if bullies defend Islam in spite of its derogatory teaching about the life of women & practise this homicide along with the denigrating of "Dhimmis" - Christians & Jews - under the heels of Islam, they destroy the college ideal of civil discussions by nasty, interpretive clamor; then freedom of speech is lost in our nation as much as under Islam. It seems that Edward Said's anti-Semitism has spread to Academia. He insulted truth in most clever & nearly civil ways. His less educated disciples only apply their abusive instinct to express what Said said in more scholarly terms. He kept up appearances while his mob of anti-Semitic followers does not stick to polite discourse when inciting to hatred and most dire consequences of their slanders.
Of course, sophisticated scholars like Martin Jay use tricks of well-trained social "scientists" to blame the victims of hatred for causing this unending hatred themselves. Like Albert Lindemann, he is no Holocaust denier. Anti-Semites like these don't have to deny the obvious truth. But they happily use the old trick of blaming all horrors & state-directed persecutions on the "thinking" of crowds on both sides of the issues in the abstruct and blame all Jews for the looks, outlooks & possible misdeed of one. They invent social interrelations of Jews with their enemies & deduce that some malfeasance caused hatred. To those indirect liars, all Jewish reaction to their sufferings is hyperbole, exaggeration & unreasonable complaining. Their motto seems to be: "You are a Jew, &, therefore, you have to take your punishment for being born. Shut up! Or you make it worse.
Dis-Honor Roll II
Reporters Matt Rees & Jamil Hamad continue to prefer their biased (Time May 3, 2004) character assassination of their Jewish victims as the I.D.F. retaliates for admitted Hamas assassinations of civilians, by taking out only the leaders & guides of terroristic attacks by precision-missiles. That should strike a civilized world as a fair & just way to avoid "collateral damage" as much as humanly possible. But the pro-Hamas reporters use twice again their judgment of "assassination" for Jews & never for intentional assassins.
Such falsifying reportage, although not deadly, led USA Today & the Washington Post to fire editors who let socially-minded inventors of news suffer the axe a little late. The terms assassin or assassination for victims of recurring assassinations of women & children proves hate-filled prejudice. If Hamas & its reporters were more honest, they could praise P.M. Ariel Sharon's offer to evacuate 7500 orthodox Jews from settlements outside the fence of defence. Logically, that could be a cause for restarting sincere negotiations. But terrorists want every Zionist, and most likely, every Jew dead.
On May 2, a demented John Roberts, as anchorman of Viacom's CBS, called the assassination by 2 Hamas Arabs of a woman & her infants killings. Unless fired, that Hamas beautifier will again call retaliation for an obvious evil crime by I.D.F. assassination as do thousands of other Jew-haters worldwide.
Week 34 - May 12, 2004 - Some Basic History