Our friend Dan Bielak argues that we must defeat Arab and progressive anti-Zionist propaganda with actual historical truth. I heartily agree. Dan has been kind enough to share some of his notes on the I-P topic in the comments, but I think that much of this, certainly, is very worthy of front page status. I hope that Dan does not mind if I just go ahead and front page some of this material over the coming days.
Dan starts by telling us this:
Stupidity: "What anti-Jewish racism? What genocidal anti-Jewish racism?"
Vanity (and, as part of that, stupidity): "I'm so 'moral' for 'tolerating' the propagation of intendedly genocidal libels against my own people."
Cowardice (and, as part of that, stupidity): "Don't call out their anti-Jewish bigotry and don't denounce their anti-Jewish bigotry and don't refute their malicious intendedly genocidal lies! They might get angry at us and hurt us! (That is: They might get angry at me and hurt me!)"
Stupidity is not virtuous. Vanity is not virtuous. Cowardice is not virtuous.
Stupidity causes harm. Vanity causes harm. Cowardice causes harm.
Stand up for, and therein, and thereby, protect, your own people like normal human beings - simply by telling the truth.
Indeed.
Off-topic in a specific sense, but on-topic in a general sense:
ReplyDeleteA description of integrity, and a manifestation of integrity:
What Is Right About Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, by Eric Allen Bell
http://europenews.dk/en/node/52614
Read it.
Y'know, I'm not particularly familiar with the writings of either Geller or Spencer.
DeleteMy sense is that Geller is too strident, but Spencer is a scholar.
I know that both are maligned as "Islamophobic" by progressive-left ostriches, but that is to be expected.
I suspect that the difference between those two and other critics of radical Islam is that they tend to see the problem as essential to Islam, itself, while others talk about "radical" Islam as the problem.
Anyway, at least there are venues to have that discussion. Not on the left, certainly, but out there.
As I wrote: read the article. Leave aside one's own prejudices, and leave aside one's own fears about how one may be viewed by others who hold prejudiced wrong views. Read the article.
DeleteAn overview of the situation that Israel is in:
ReplyDeleteFitzgerald: Reversing the roles of the Arabs and Israel, by Hugh Fitzgerald
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2008/03/fitzgerald-reversing-the-roles-of-the-arabs-and-israel.html
A comment by Hugh Fitzgerald on an article by Thomas Sowell
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2006/08/will-cease-fires-never-cease.html#comment-258447
A comment by Hugh Fitzgerald about the British Mandate of Palestine
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/04/uk-authority-western-wall-not-in-israel.html#comment-661191
The blog of Hugh Fitzgerald
http://www.newenglishreview.org/The_Iconoclast/