Judeosphere points us to two interesting antisemitic diatribes in the media. First this from Jostein Gaarder of Norway, author of the novel Sophie’s World:
There is no turning back. It is time to learn a new lesson: We do no longer recognize the state of Israel. […] There are limits to our patience, and there are limits to our tolerance. We do not believe in divine promises as justification for occupation and apartheid. We have left the Middle Ages behind. We laugh uneasily at those who still believe that the God of flora, fauna, and galaxies has selected one people in particular as his favorite and given it funny stone tablets, burning bushes, and a license to kill.
[Update: Gaarder responds to his critics here. Judeosphere responds here.]
Then this by Kurosh Arianpour in the Berkeley Daily Planet:
One should ask why anti-Semitism has persisted throughout the centuries… Let us go back to 539 BC, when Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, went to Babylonia and liberated Jews. One can ask why Jews were enslaved by Babylonians. Also, one can ask why Jews had problem with Egyptians, with Jesus, with Europeans, and in modern times with Germans? The answer, among other things, is their racist attitude that they are the “Chosen People.” Because of this attitude, they do wrong to other people to the point that others turn against them, namely, become anti-Semite if you will.
“If you will.” Nice flourish.
To this sordid little roundup we should an instance of rank anti-Muslim bigotry. It comes from Daniel Pipes, a right-wing “expert” on terrorism-related matters. Pipes has coined the term “Sudden Jihad Syndrome” [note: I am not making this up] and used it to explain Naveed Afzal Haq’s shooting rampage in Seattle on July 28:
…Mr. Haq’s actions are a clear instance of “Sudden Jihad Syndrome,” whereby normal-appearing Muslims unpredictably become violent. His attack confirms my oft-repeated call for special scrutiny of Muslims. Because the identity of the next homicidal jihadi cannot be anticipated, Muslims generally need to come under heightened observation.
These words of wisdom appeared in the New York Sun. No word yet on Pipes’s grand strategy for dealing with postal workers.
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