Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow--But Remember: Heroism Is Our Only Alternative

2009

A Civilized Dialogue About Islam and Honor Killing Pajamas Media March 2, 2009

It has been my privilege to know and to work with Dorchen Leithold who is a fearless, tireless, driven, and heroic champion of womens’ rights. I remember Dorchen back in the days when we were both anti-pornography activists. She then became an anti-trafficking activist which she still is. We have participated in many important demonstrations, conferences, and memorial services over the last forty-plus years. Dorchen went on to become a lawyer. She is now the director of legal services for battered women in New York City (Sanctuary for Families) and has, Sojourner Truth style, literally rescued and saved the lives of many a woman.

A Civilized Dialogue Between Feminists Who Disagree About Islamic Gender Apartheid. Part Two. Pajamas Media March 3, 2009

Last night I posted the first part of a dialogue between myself and my esteemed colleague, Dorchen Leithold, who is a dedicated and brilliant lawyer and feminist activist. Unsurprisingly, tragically, we disagree about Islam and the nature of its relationship to domestic violence and honor killings, including the recent horrific beheading of Aasiya Z. Hassan in Buffalo.

The Blood Libels at National Geographic Magazine Pajamas Media May 18, 2009

Menacing anti-Israel demonstrations in the street, rabid anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations, obsessive anti-Israel boycott resolutions among western academics, relentless anti-Israel headlines in the world media are “politics as usual,” involving the young and the fanatic. Most civilians barely notice it. They are worried about employment, health insurance, college tuition for their children—or about celebrities, whose decadent rise and fall distracts them from their own more ordinary miseries.

Honor Killing Averted: Muslim Convert to Christianity Flees For Her Life Pajamas Media August 13, 2009

Yesterday afternoon, my living room was filled with lights, cameras, and two very friendly ABC crew men. We were taping an interview for Good Morning America which appeared today and which is preserved at their website. We talked about honor killings and the plight of Fathima Rifqa Bary, the Muslim teenager from Ohio who converted to Christianity and who ran away from home because she knows her father will kill her.

Seventeen year-old Rifqa’s interview is heartbreaking. She knows that if a Muslim leaves Islam, converts to another religion, is an “apostate,” that they are supposed to be killed by any other Muslim; this includes members of her own family.

The Burqa: Ultimate Feminist Choice? Pajamas Media August 31, 2009

Women in chadors are really feminist ninja warriors. Rather than allow themselves to be gawked at by male strangers, they choose to defeat the “male gaze” by hiding from it in plain view.

But don’t you worry: Beneath that chador, abaya, burqa, or veil, there is a sexy courtesan, wearing “Victoria Secret, elegant fashion, and skin care lotion” just waiting for her husband to come home for a night of wild and sensuous marital lovemaking.

Hijab (The Headscarf) – Yes; The Burqa – No Pajamas Media September 15, 2009

Banning the burqa in the West might be one way to ban Islamist fundamentalism and the barbaric subordination of girls and women in certain immigrant communities. For this reason, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and French Minister Fadela Amara have again called for this ban. Earlier today, French immigration Minister, Eric Besson, called the burqa “debased.”

The Jihadist is Always the Victim Pajamas Media November 5, 2009

The moment I first heard about the mass murders at Ft Hood I knew in my bones that the shooter or shooters were Muslims.

Call me “Islamophobic,” call me “psychic,” call me what you will.

It now seems that there was only a single shooter: Major Malik Nidal Hasan, a Muslim man of Palestinian/Jordanian descent but an American citizen who is a physician—a psychiatrist to be exact—as well as a religious Muslim.

Canada to Immigrants: No Tolerance for “Honor” Killing Pajamas Media November 13, 2009

The Canadian government has just revamped its citizenship guide for immigrants. The document is titled “The Rights and Responsibilities of Canadian Citizenship.” According to Canada’s National Post,

“In Canada, men and women are equal under the law,” the document says. “Canada’s openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, ‘honour killings,’ female genital mutilation or other gender-based violence. Those guilty of these crimes are severely punished under Canada’s criminal laws.”

A Balkanized Imagination versus Zealous Uniformity Pajamas Media November 17, 2009

Well, as they say, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Try to help others, indeed, devote your life to doing so and you will inevitably find yourself attacked, especially by the people on your own side.

No big deal. Read the Torah. While I’m no Moses, this happened to Moses too; he had to get out of Egypt in a hurry lest the Jewish slaves turn him right in to Pharaoh.

And thus, I have recently been on the receiving end of quite a bit of nastiness from both the political left and the political right. At their best, both groups seem to share a capacity for viciousness and vulgarity that is quite uncompromising. Makes my life an exercise in irony, one both tragic and hilarious.

Boycott Burqa Barbie Pajamas Media November 21, 2009

What will they think of next? A be-headed doll?

That’s right. I am talking about the new Burqa Barbie doll which is now on display in Florence, Italy, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Barbie doll. As my colleague over at weaselzippers wonders: Will clean-cut Ken now come (pun intended, ’tis mine) with four burqa’ed Barbie doll wives?

“I Hope the West Does Not Give In” Pajamas Media November 30, 2009

This interview with Turkish-German lawyer, Seyran Ates, first appeared in the land of the fjords, the land of oil, the home of the political correctniks who choose and bestow the Nobel Peace Prize. I am talking about Norway, where my friend and colleague, the American author Bruce Bawer, also lives. Bruce has written a number of important books such as While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying The West From Within and Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity.

Vienna, My City of (Anti-Semitic) Dreams/Nightmares Pajamas Media December 14, 2009

This past Saturday evening, Chabad rabbi Dov Gruzman was conducting the annual ceremony to light the public Chanukah menorah in Stefenfaltz Square in Vienna, Austria. Suddenly, a local Muslim rushed over, began cursing the Jews, then “hurled himself” at the Rabbi, punching and kicking him. As the rabbi tried to hold off his attacker, the Muslim suddenly “bit his victim, severing part of his finger.” The attacker was caught and arrested; the rabbi was hospitalized, and doctors tried to reattach his finger.

Europe Cracks Down on Honor Killings Pajamas Media December 17, 2009

A decade ago in London, a father terrorized, then plotted to honor-murder his 15-year-old daughter. After attacking her twice, the girl simply…disappeared. Nevertheless, due to a British police decision to revisit and reclassify old cases, the father has just now been convicted of her honor murder.

The Lonely, Murderous Sons of Allah: A Psycho-analytic View Pajamas Media December 29, 2009

One is the 17th son; the other is the 16th son. Neither are the sons of a first wife. One is an engineer; the other was an engineering student. Both have ancestral roots in Yemen. Both are educated and come from wealthy families.

2010

Artists4Israel 2 the Rescue Pajamas Media January 7, 2010

In 2004 and 2005, a group of “oldsters,” myself included, decided that what was really needed to combat the steady stream of sophisticated propaganda against Israel and America was an instantly recognizable, credible, “catchy” way to tell the truth to high school and college-age “youngsters.” Something hip, something cool, (well, that dates us), something with a beat, something colorful–maybe a hip-hop or rap style musical which could tour the campuses.

Honor Killers: Prosecuted in Europe, Seen as Psychiatric Victims in America Pajamas Media January 14, 2010

When it comes to honor killings and honor-related violence, America had better start learning a few things from Europe.

On October 20, 2009, near Phoenix, Arizona, Noor Al-Maleki’s father, Iraqi-born Faleh Hassan Al-Maleki, ran over his 20-year-old daughter with a two-ton jeep. He struck down her female companion and protector as well. His daughter died. Although she was seriously wounded, Amal Edan Khalaf, the other woman, survived. Just like Yaser Said, who fled Dallas after honor murdering his two daughters (and who has not yet been found), Faleh Hassan Al-Maleki also fled, first to Mexico, and then to England. However, he was captured, extradited back to Arizona, and charged with first-degree murder.

Lancet Study Blames Palestinian Wife-Beating on Israel Pajamas Media January 24, 2010

It’s official. Britain’s premier medical journal Lancet has been completely Palestinianized. It no longer bears any relationship to the first-rate scientific journal it once was. Perhaps Lancet is no longer a leader but has become a follower in the global movement in which standards have plunged, biases have soared, and Big Lies now pass for top-of-the-line academic, scientific work.

The Steady Erosion of Women’s Rights in Egypt: A Photographic Story Pajamas Media January 28, 2010

These photos, sent by my good friend Tareq Heggy, speak volumes about the politicization of the Islamic Veil. In the 1950s, Cairo University graduates were not veiled. By the twenty first century, the veiling of educated women was fully underway.

Obama Is Our First Muslim Presidential Contender In The Same Way That Clinton Was Our First Black President Pajamas Media February 26, 2008

Talk Radio (The Mancow show) called last night and asked me to join them this morning to comment on the Obama-Farrakhan matter. And so I made a dutiful list of “talking points” and tried to overcome my professorial politeness in order to get a few words in edgewise on a wonderfully high-energy program. The interview will be posted in a few hours at Mancow.com and here’s some of what I said.

I believe that Obama is our first Muslim Presidential contender.

No, I am not saying that he secretly is or ever was a Muslim. Obama is a Muslim in the same way that Bill Clinton was allegedly our first Black President. He is , stylistically, a United Nations-style postmodern multi-cultural relativist and that means Obama may refuse to call barbarism by its rightful name if that barbarism is practiced by Muslims .

The Goddess That Failed Pajamas Media March 5, 2010

For years now, newly arrived refugees have been contacting me. They write to tell me that they’ve lost nearly everybody they once knew. Their whole world is gone now. Some whisper over the phone. Others write long letters. They ask me how I’ve managed.

Bin Laden Threatens America, NYC Welcomes Tariq Ramadan Pajamas Media March 25, 2010

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:

Jews Confront the Abyss Pajamas Media April 13, 2010

What more can be said? Are mere words sufficient? By now we know that Jew haters are never deterred by facts—only by force. We also know that the Arab-Muslim world has brainwashed its citizens and the world with a steady stream of blood libels against Jews and Israel. The United Nations, international human rights organizations, the world media, and the world’s so-called intelligentsia have all piled on, as have President Obama and his carefully chosen advisors. Obama, who bowed to the Saudi King, and who publicly shamed the Israeli Prime Minister, has also, for the first time, decided to sell no bunker buster bombs to Israel; to deny Israeli scientists who work at Dimona visas to study in the United States; to manufacture a sham crisis over Israel building apartments in north Jerusalem—all in order to “impose” a Solution (hopefully not another Final Solution) on Jewish Israel.

Islamic Homosexual Pederasty and Afghanistan’s “Dancing Boys” Pajamas Media April 21, 2010

Last week, in Quetta, Pakistan, a homicide bomber attacked a prominent Shiite bank manager—and when his friends and relatives followed him to the hospital emergency room, another bomber attacked them, killing eight. The police assume that this was a “sectarian” (Muslim Sunni vs Muslim Shia) attack. This is nothing new; this is the template, the pattern. For example, also in 2009, in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, a Shiite Muslim leader was shot down; the next day, at his funeral, a homicide bomber killed himself and 28 mourners. Again, the police described this as “sectarian” violence. In 2008, in the same town, after the shooting death of a Shiite Muslim cleric, both the hospital and the funeral were subsequently attacked either by a homicide bomber or by a “planted” device. These Muslims take no prisoners. Yesterday, the deputy mayor of Kandahar, in Afghanistan (123 miles away from Quetta), was shot to death while he was praying in a mosque.

The Female Face of France: Banned Beneath the Burqa Pajamas Media April 28, 2010

All across Europe, government leaders are deciding whether to fine, restrict, or ban the wearing of the Islamic veil. France’s President Sarkozy wants a full ban—one that will also apply to Muslim tourists. Belgium wants one too–although it has been warned that doing so “will violate the rights of those who choose to wear the veil and do nothing to help those who are compelled to do so.” (That vote has not taken place due to the collapse of the government). Recently, a Madrid school expelled a girl for wearing hijab; the government is backing the school, but four of the girl’s classmates have been coming to school wearing hijab “as a sign of support for her.”

Why Is the Washington Post Afraid to Use the Words “Muslim” And “Honor Killing” In The Same Article? Pajamas Media May 26, 2010

In the last seven years, the print version of the Washington Post has covered honor killings sparingly, tangentially, briefly, and only in passing. Clearly, the mainstream media believes that some news is not fit to print.

A Yom Kippur Prayer For Jews who are “Proud to be Ashamed to Be Jews” Pajamas Media September 15, 2010

Why Israel? Why the Jews? Why are so many presumably “civilized” people, “good” people, educated people, so eager to join the Jew-hating, death-eating barbarians–century after century, country after country? In the Book of Esther, set in ancient Persia, Haman, the Viceroy, plots the genocidal extermination of the Persian Jews. He tells the King that “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed in all the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from every other group and they do not observe the King’s laws. Therefore, it is not befitting the King to tolerate them.”