Inter-Culturalism

Where's the Apology to the "Arab Street"?

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A few days ago, I came across a wonderful op-ed by a journalist and Middle East commentator in the Danish newspaper Politiken – which one might call Denmark’s answer to The New York Times – that I think admirably sums up how the last few months’ events in the Middle East have exposed the abject superficiality and thinly-veiled prejudice that often infects Western and especially American MSM analysis of Middle Eastern politics. For far too long, it’s been customary to dismiss the Arab masses with this offensive, meaningless shorthand — the “Arab Street” — that casts them as mindless herds of animals ever on the verge of violence and in thrall to extremists. What follows is my (no doubt imperfect) translation of the article in its entirety. Anders Jerichow: “Vi skylder araberne en undskyldning” [“We owe the Arabs an apology”] (Politiken – April 21, 2011) [Original in Danish]:
It wasn’t so long ago that Western governments–and, admittedly, Western media–warned of “the Arab Street.” It was code for all the ugliness that would break out should the spirit of the Arab masses be set free.

General News

New Videos up from Tikkun's 25th Anniversary Celebration!

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We’ve got a bunch of exciting new videos up from our 25th Anniversary on March 14th! Watch Rabbi Lerner’s moving keynote, Judge Richard Goldstone’s acceptance speech for the Tikkun Award, and the great animation about Citizens United and the need for a constitutional amendment (like the ESRA!) put together by the wonderful people from the Story of Stuff. Co-Managing Editor Alan Yu-lan Price speaks about the atomization of progressive movements and the need to form anti-generational, cross-class alliances in building a caring society. Associate Editor Peter Gabel gives a moving piece on the relevance and importance of Tikkun today, and Founding Publisher Nan Fink-Gefen tells the unlikely story of Tikkun’s origins. See the amazing spoken word of Josh Healey as well as two poems read by Pulitzer prize winning poet and Tikkun Award recipient C.K. Williams. Watch all the acceptance speeches, including Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, Naomi Newman, Rabbi Marcia Prager, and Congressman Raul Grijalva.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Muslims Condemn Yesterday's Attack on the Bus in Jerusalem.

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From the Jerusalem Post yesterday:
A woman was killed and 39 people were wounded on Wednesday afternoon when a bag exploded next to a bus stop across the street from the Jerusalem International Convention Center (Binyanei Ha’uma), near the capital’s western entrance. It was the first serious terrorist bombing in the city since 2004, and for many residents it brought back terrible memories of the second intifada. We are grateful to have received this press release from our friends at the World Muslim Congress (and while we are about it, we include below their last week’s condemnation of the attack on Michael Lerner’s home):
Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem. PRESS RELEASE
March 23, 2011, Dallas, Texas
Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem. The world Muslim Congress strongly condemns the attack on the bus in Jerusalem as well as the resumption of the rocket attacks on the civilian population.

General News

The Bay Guardian's Profile of Michael Lerner

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The Bay Guardian, a Bay Area newspaper, just published a profile of Michael Lerner on the occasion of Tikkun’s 25th Anniversary. In an extensive comment on the article on the Bay Guardian’s site, Michael describes it as
the fairest story I’ve ever had printed about me in S.F. And far better than the profiles of me in the NY Times Sunday Magazine, the Washington Post, Newsweek, and the Wall Street Journal when they were describing me as “the guru of the Clinton White House,” not to mention far better than anything that has ever appeared in any Jewish magazine. Asaf Shalev did a masterful job of incorporating a lot of information and avoiding the normal cynicism of the media. I deeply thank the Bay Guardian for having such a competent reporter! In the aftermath of another assault on his home, the article allows Michael to speak for himself.

Environment

Japan's Crisis: Nuclear Power and Methadone

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There is no doubt that nuclear power has some real advantages over coal and oil. In the short run it probably has fewer toxic emissions (mercury from coal fired plants is a significant health problem, for example). Mining uranium, while implicated in toxic waste, probably has less damaging effects than the large-scale land and ocean pollution from oil (oil tankers routinely take more cargo than they can handle and if the weather acts up, they simply jettison it). Though a Native American, with cancer rates eighteen times the national average from uranium mining on Indian land, might disagree. As well, in the long run, nuclear power produces far less in the way of Greenhouse gases.

Politics & Society

Zionist Extremist Hate Crime Against Rabbi Lerner: Third Attack on His Home and the Limits of "Freedom of the Press"

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Only one day after Rabbi Lerner presented the Tikkun Award to South African Justice Richard Goldstone, at a celebration of Tikkun’s 25th Anniversary attended by over 600 people at the University of California, Berkeley, Rabbi Lerner’s home was again assaulted by extremist Zionist haters who plastered posters over his home once again. This is the 3rd assault on his home since Lerner announced the award to Justice Goldstone whose report on Israel’s human rights violations during the Israeli assault on Gaza in Dec. 2008 and Jan.2009 was denounced by the State of Israel and by the AIPAC-dominated House of Representatives last year. You would not have known about the 2nd attack, which was reported to the police but not to the media because Lerner had been advised that not giving the attackers attention might make future attacks less likely. That strategy failed.

Politics & Society

Talk about an "off-color joke"

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A Kansas politician has “joked” about gunning down “illegal immigrants” (read: Mexicans) like animals. The naked prejudice of such a quip and the irresponsibility of it issuing from the lips of an elected official are mind-boggling. Kansas GOPer: Let’s Shoot Illegal Immigrants Like Pigs | TPMDC
Kansas State Rep. Virgil Peck (R) suggested Monday that the best way to deal with the illegal immigration problem may be the same way the state might deal with the problem of “feral hogs” — by shooting them from a helicopter. [MORE]
Not to distract us from the appalling anti-Mexican and anti-Latino racism of this odious pronouncement, but I have to say it: Imagine if a Muslim politician (say, Congressman Keith Ellison) said something this extreme about his own (in some cases quite “feral”) opponents. Ponder why such forms of hate speech and racism – which emerge at regular intervals in our post-9/11 political landscape, often directed at Muslims – by non-Muslims have no place in Representative Peter “I should testify to myself” King’s hearings on extremism and radicalization in America.

Christianity

Christian Right calls Christian Left "A Rising Power"

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According to a recent post by the Family Research Council, “the Christian Left is a rising power in American politics, finding allies at all levels of government. Arguably, the movement played an important role in electing Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008.” In the following video, Dr. Mark Smith of Cedarville University gives a very interesting and informative (albeit long) lecture on the differences between the Christian Right and the Christian Left. At the end of the talk, Smith offers his own critique of the Christian Left’s call for government intervention to create a more socially just society:

1) Government-imposed social justice is unjust because plans for redistribution cannot distinguish between those who are rich or poor through oppression and those who deserve their status. According to Smith many poor people “deserve to be poor through their behavior” — as Proverbs puts it, through their “laziness,” “love of sleep,” “love of pleasure,” “love of food,” and “love of wine.”

Politics & Society

Blaming Obama for “dithering” when that’s been Washington policy for decades

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In a curiously un-self-aware move a few weeks ago, Christopher Hitchens has slammed President Obama’s handling of the unrest in North Africa as “pathetic” and “cynical” in a piece for Slate Magazine. Employing a facile (and – given how devoid of neutrality US policy often is – a tad euphemistic) analogy to a fickle Swiss banker, he declares:
The Obama administration also behaves as if the weight of the United States in world affairs is approximately the same as that of Switzerland. We await developments. We urge caution, even restraint. We hope for the formation of an international consensus. And, just as there is something despicable about the way in which Swiss bankers change horses, so there is something contemptible about the way in which Washington has been affecting – and perhaps helping to bring about – American impotence. Except that, whereas at least the Swiss have the excuse of cynicism, American policy manages to be both cynical and naive.
He’s right, but I’m not sure he has the credibility to point this out.

Politics & Society

"El Général's rap broke the spell of fear"

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Here’s another story about a individuals who made a difference in generating the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The article starts with an anecdote about our own Mark LeVine, Tikkun’s longest serving contributing editor and author of Heavy Metal Islam, in Tahrir Square saying to a friend “This is really metal!” Then it gets to Hamada Ben Amor – better known as “El Général” – a 21 year old rapper in Tunisia, a fan of Tupac Shakur, whose Arabic raps against the dictator led to his arrest by the regime. Eventually, thanks to a storm of public protest, El Général was released and returned to Sfax in triumph. Even the cops were now treating him as a celebrity.