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And another thing
In this piece for ZNet, referred to me by reader Pat, Omar Barghouti asks: To put it bluntly, would the west accept or tolerate cartoons which are anti-Semitic, novels which deny the Holocaust, or poetry which favorably evokes the Protocols of the Elders of Zion? This from Jason Zengerle at TNR’s “The Plank” includes the following rundown from the Jerusalem
More on the cartoons
Rami G. Khouri has a spectacularly evasive editorial in Lebanon’s Daily Star. Read it here. Khouri writes: The current wave of intense protests was sparked when half a dozen other newspapers throughout Europe provocatively reprinted the cartoons last month. This was coupled with European political and press leaders flat out telling the Islamic world that Western freedom of press was
Discs I’m filing through…
Catoire, Piano Trio/Piano Quartet/Room-Music (Hyperion) Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Live at the BBC (Castle Music) Ahmad Jamal, The Legendary Okeh & Epic Recordings (Epic/Legacy) Ilona Knopfler, Live the Life (Mack Avenue) Mike Marshall & Chris Thile, Into the Cauldron (Sugar Hill) Dave Holland & Barre Phillips, Music From Two Basses (ECM) Yusef Lateef, The Golden Flute (Impulse!)
Abunimah v. Ajami
There was a worthwhile exchange about the cartoon protests on last night’s PBS Newshour, between Ali Abunimah and Fouad Ajami — two bright people whose views on the Middle East could hardly be more opposed. Read the transcript.
That’s a laugh
From today’s NY Times: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said publishing the cartoons ”runs counter to the principle that different religions and civilizations should respect each other and live together in peace and harmony.” Thank goodness we’ve got the government of China — ruthless persecutor of Christians, Tibetan Buddhists and Falun Gong adherents — to teach us all about
Worth a thousand words
Courtesy Filibuster Cartoons.
“What the media isn’t telling you”
A diarist at Daily Kos alleges that Saudi Arabia drummed up this whole cartoon controversy. Why? To distract the Muslim world from Saudi ineptitude following yet another stampede tragedy at Mecca during the Hajj. (Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan.)
Music in brief
Sorry for the abrupt gear-shift, but I’ve been meaning to put up some recent musical highlights. —François Moutin (bass) played the 55 Bar on Thursday, Feb. 2. If I see a better jazz show this year I’ll be surprised. The quartet had Joel Frahm on tenor, Jim Ridl on keys and Ari Hoenig on drums. I’d been under the weather