Politically Correct, from Sea to Shining Sea
When the same kind of politics or world-view invades a small off-Broadway theatre group and a small Oregon student newspaper, I really get worried. Can Big Brother be far behind?
Last week, the student editors of Reed College’s Pamphlette responded to an incident of anti-Semitic graffiti in the library bathroom at a nearby college (Lewis and Clark) by publishing a “fake article” that said Lewis and Clark “students had killed all the Jews in their school.”
“In what is being called a ‘tragic, but all too predictable’ event, the staff of The Leaphlette, a student humor publication at Lewis & Clark College, have been accused of rounding up and gassing all of the Jews on their Portland, OR, campus. The phony article goes on to describe students asking the chemistry department for a chemical to conduct ‘Jewsperiments’ and a ‘towering crematorium’ where the library once stood…a previous Pamphlette article had ‘spoofed Anne Frank’s diary.’”
Clearly, this is what some progressive American students think is funny. To them, taking the Holocaust seriously has become a sanctimonious, even odious tradition, and all such traditions (other than Islamic traditions) must be spoofed, satirized, mocked, taken down. Nothing is sacred, the Old Order must be overthrown—I think that’s what they’re saying.
Well, while they’re at it, I suggest they spoof the riots over the Mohammed cartoons, President Obama’s deep bow to the Saudi King—and why not fictionalize blowing up Mecca? Well, you get my point. These students are not courageous thinkers. (Thank you Dr. Morris and Rikki Platt for calling this to my attention).
Now, for the actors and their audiences.
Last night, I attended a performance of what sounded like a very interesting play: Mahida’s Extra Key To Heaven, written by Russell Davis and directed by Will Pomerantz at the Epic Theatre Ensemble.
The minute I opened the program I knew I was in trouble. Apparently, there are “talkbacks” with the audience after the play; various authors and experts sometimes join these “talkbacks.” My heart sank as I read some of their names: Amani Ahmed, of the Palestine Awareness Committee; Anthony Arnove, Howard Zinn’s co-author and the author of Iraq. The Logic of Withdrawal ; Alyson Cole, author of The Cult of True Victimhood: From the War on Welfare to the War on Terror; Chris Hedges, author of War is a Force Which Gives Us Meaning and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America; and on and on.
Maybe the play was “not the thing” but was meant to function as a teaching moment.
I had, willy-nilly, wandered into a politically correct theatre space. Perhaps the “talkbacks” were meant to indoctrinate, not educate; perhaps the theatre ensemble functioned like a Cult.
First, let me be clear. The acting was magnificent, the play genuinely interesting, the staging quite imaginative. Mahida (brilliantly played by Roxanna Hope whose Iranian accent is pitch-perfect) is a university student from Iran. Her brother Ramin (played by Arian Moayed) expertly, carefully, frightens the audience. Ramin has just come to America to force Mahida to return to Iran.
Mahida insists that she wants to continue her studies, it’s what their father, a modern man, supported—and thus, Ramin throws her out of the car and forces her to walk four miles in the darkness, uncertain if he is following her or not. In any event, Mahida is now trapped on “the island,” unable to get a ferry until the next day.
Thomas, a stranger, (played by James Wallert with intensity and humor) rescues her. He brings a fearful and reluctant Mahida home to his mother Edna (so well played by Michele Pawk). When Ramin comes to claim his sister, he is arrogant, menacing, dangerous, and ultimately violent.
Ramin is an Islamist, (he says he trained in Pakistan and Afghanistan and attended a Qu’ranic school in Lebanon). Ramin is, quite possibly a terrorist, certainly a fundamentalist. Edna is the symbol for The Ugly American, so sure that America is good, right, and represents “the light.” She is meant to sound foolish, hopeless, when she says that America has “evolved” and hopes to bring other countries “along.” Ramin mocks and scorns her, trots out the usual arguments about allegedly American and Western pornography, homosexuality, child sexuality, adultery—as if legalized child rape, pederasty, polygamy, concubinage, sexual slavery, harems, and prostitution did not exist in the Islamic world long before the birth of America. But mainly, Ramin is meant to terrify, terrorize, which he does quite well.
Afterwards, the audience was drilled, interrogated really, on the play. And here is where things got really interesting. What did the audience think? How did they conceive of “borders?” Could they draw what the play meant to them? What do they think really happened between Ramin and Edna? Did he really hurt her? What did they think?
Not a single audience member (at least not in the first half hour after which I left) uttered any of the following words or phrases: “Islam,” “jihad” “terrorism,” “home invasion,” “Iran,” “women’s rights,” “Islamic gender apartheid,” “a long history of Islamic imperialism,” “escalating Islamic crackdown on Christians and Jews,” “Thomas, an American, actually rescues Mahida—he is the hero.” Edna (robustly played as a nosy, fussy, “hovering” kind of mother) was not seen as having held her own against a violent intruder who insulted her religion and her country, etc.
The audience was ashamed of being Americans. They were worried about whether they might be “politically profiling” a terrorist if they “assumed/presumed” (that was the night’s big concept) that Ramin had actually harmed Edna or that he meant to harm Mahida. The audience was relatively shy, awed, pacified, perhaps deeply respectful of Ramin’s “assumed” nobility. Despite his misogyny and terrorist intentions, Ramin had, after all, come to cleanse our dirty, dirty capitalist-colonialist-imperialist land.
No one spoke up for Nedda, the young Iranian girl who was murdered before our eyes by the ruthless Iranian police as she was caught up in the pro-democracy march in Teheran. No one spoke up for Mahida either.
Please note: These “talkbacks” are funded by the New York Council for the Humanities/The National Endowment for the Humanities which also funds the Epic Theatre’s work in public high schools, community settings, and on the web.
Thus, it is not only the professoriate or Acorn who are organizing Americans into false moral equivalences, multi-cultural relativism, self-blame, and other politically correct views. It is also theatre groups who are doing so—and in our high schools. Really, someone ought to look into what our tax-dollar is paying for in terms of theatrical education. No, I am not suggesting that the Epic Theatre Ensemble be shut down or that none of their politically correct experts be allowed to speak. I am talking about the importance of allowing another kind of voice to be heard, about presenting, rather than censoring, another point of view on the themes of their plays.
I challenge the Epic Theatre Ensemble: In the interest of “fairness,” why not invite some of the following experts about Islam, Iran, and women’s rights to your future “talkbacks”: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Seyran Ates, Zeinab al-Suweij, Anat Berko, Nonie Darwish, Manda Zand Ervin, Roya Hakakian, Nancy L. Kobrin, Marnia Lazreg, Azar Nafisi, Maryam Namazie—to name only a few.
Yes, and I can give you a long list of male experts who have important things to say about jihad and terrorism and whom your audiences ought to hear from as well. For example: Steven Emerson, David Ghanim, David Horowitz, Ibn Warraq, Mordechai Kedar, Herbert London, Daniel Pipes, Barry Rubin, Robert Spencer, Kenneth Timmerman, etc.
Afterword
Some readers have asked why I didn’t jump right in and show that audience “what for.” For years now, I have had to explain to people that I don’t fight at the dinner table but only on the battlefield; don’t become part of the story that I’m covering. “Sounding off” is not my style. I am old-fashioned that way. I take something in, think, then write about it. Had I jumped in, it would have changed the dynamics. The audience’s views were of interest to me. Mine are contained in this blog.
Trust me: I had no idea what I’d be getting myself into when I accepted this invitation to the theatre. The description of the play was an existentially interesting one about lost souls or about people who do not feel they belong where they live. There was no hint of Iran, terrorism, the war of ideas, the mighty clash of civilizations. I was lured in–as were others, I presume.
Might I suggest that the theatre is not the proper forum for a streetcorner shouting match nor should the audience become a key Actor. Finally, using art to bludgeon people into agreeing with a particular political vision or to accomplish a specific political purpose is dangerous. The Nazis and the Communists did just this.
PJM Home
Woman's Inhumanity to Woman
The Death of Feminism: What’s Next in the Struggle for Women’s Freedom
Women and Madness
The New Anti-Semitism: The Current Crisis and What We Must Do About It
Women of the Wall: Claiming Sacred Ground at Judaism’s Holy Site
Letters to a Young Feminist
With Child: A Diary of Motherhood
Feminist Foremothers in Women’s Studies, Psychology, and Mental Health
Patriarchy: Notes of an Expert Witness
Sacred Bond: The Legacy of Baby M
Mothers on Trial: The Battle for Children and Custody
About Men
Women, Money & Power
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
61 Comments
1. David W. Lincoln:As for the spoofing by the indoctrinated at Lewis & Clark, whatever they had to say now has the weight of a donut hole. They don’t want to take others seriously, well then I am happy to reciprocate.
As for the play, let me say that various ways are used to communicate narratives. The narrative communicated by the rudderless revisionists is one that shows the weakness of being self involved, at least in the eyes of us who gauge actions by what is always true.
Oct 18, 2009 - 3:30 pm 2. George Jochnowitz:A Pamphlette and a Leaphlette! Wow! When you have breakfast in Oregon, do you put a waphlette in your mouphlette?
Oct 18, 2009 - 4:25 pm 3. Norman Simms:I don’t like conspiracy theories, but does the possibility exist that the members of the audience were actually actors, part of the cast, who were playing their roles? What would happen if a group of people with different opinons went to the play and expressed their views?
Phyllis
George is right. If you examine the full documentation and feedback on the Seattle students’ lightweight satire, they come off fairly well–and pretty well exonerated of anti-Semitism. The danger comes because these days the PC brigades and the Palestinized left can’t control contexts and have little or no sense of history, and so things go haywire. But grant this incident the silence it deserves.
As for the play and the feedback (vomit) that follows, there is something we need to be all worried about. Freedom of speech is used to unbalance rational discourse by prempting debate, loading the decks, and marginalizing opposition: pure post-modernism. Ignoring them won’t make the evil go away, though not going to see such “artistic performances” might save us all from high blood pressure and brain explosions.
Answering them, confronting their arguments, and providing knowledgeable contexts has to be done elsewhere than in the theatre at that time, outside in the streets, or anywhere else where “they” can claim their rights and protection from local law enforcers and colluding and frightened venue-owners.
The only way, probably, to fight against them is in alternative events which somehow gather larger numbers of spectators.
Norman
Oct 18, 2009 - 4:52 pm 4. MiamaMan:But, why Phyllis do you place yourself in such company? This Islamic BS will infect, and affect, anyone. Don’t you have enough having to write all this, agitate for the truth, sometimes receive Moho-like feedback, emails, and then some? I would never put myself through a wringer like that, some Iran sorry play that is enacted daily in some Islamic-Sharia-Hellhole in real life. Not even with Lawrence Olivier as the Moor of Tehran, I would attend. And of course that even the spirit of Arafat and nutjob Muhammad will be floating around the ether there, with a plethora of the worst types of Rakshasas and Pisachas from the vital world. Couldn’t you find some gayish play instead of this Friedrich Durrenmatt-avant-garde-play?
Oct 18, 2009 - 5:18 pm 5. Instapundit » Blog Archive » PHYLLIS CHESLER: Killing Jews In Oregon, Embracing Terrorists Off-Broadway….:[...] PHYLLIS CHESLER: Killing Jews In Oregon, Embracing Terrorists Off-Broadway. [...]
Oct 18, 2009 - 11:44 pm 6. Shelby:I suggest adding to the above account the relevant article from the Oregonian: http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/10/reed_students_take_heat_for_sa.html
Oct 19, 2009 - 12:52 am 7. Marc Malone:So, why didn’t you sound off, rather than leave. You write very militantly, but you have no courage face-to-face. I knew there was something hollow I detected in your writings. Now I know what that is.
My brother went to Reed where he got indoctrinated. He has this elitist disease. He knows my IQ is wicked high, but his education is superior, so what I have to say has no merit, and indeed, is not worth listening to.
Nevermind that, being disabled, I’ve spent hours just about every day reading up on the very issues we discuss. Nevermind that his argumentation is juvenile filled with argument from authority and strawmen arguments. He just LIKES being elite. His self-image depends upon it. Drives the right car. Drinks the right wines. Blah, blah, blah. Still love him, though. (sigh)
Oct 19, 2009 - 1:38 am 8. Pajamas Media » Killing Jews in Oregon, Embracing Terrorists Off-Broadway:[...] Read the entire piece here. [...]
Oct 19, 2009 - 2:18 am 9. Porkov:Get over yourself. I recommend you read the classic satires – Candide, Gulliver’s Travels, Don Quixote. Read them in a classroom setting so someone can explain the humor to you. Then check out The Onion and Iowahawk.
Oct 19, 2009 - 3:12 am 10. Adina Kutnicki, Israel:Or, if you realize that you are hopelessly humorless and terminally grim, forget about it.
Phyllis,
I can one up you when referring to opening up a program for a play and getting a wet noodle in the face.
Imagine, just imagine, the upset of a 19 year old student who attends a school dramashop production by the head of its Theatre Department, at none other than the venerable MIT.
Well, this wet noodle episode is exactly what happened to my son in 2004 as he (wearily) sat down to enjoy what he thought would be a relaxing evening of student theater, after working like a dog for weeks on end.No rest for the weary….
To get the full extent of the smack down he received, please go to – tech.mit.edu/V124/N6/_%5BLTE%5DThe_.61.html
and you will want to retch. If the link doesn’t work, google Chaim Kutnicki + When History Becomes Hijacked.
Readers, read it and weep. Our institutions are terminally infected with Jew hatred. Them’s the facts.
Oct 19, 2009 - 4:05 am 11. Dblade:The problem is that there is no other kind of voice. Why don’t conservatives, you know, write plays?
Conservatives are quick to decry liberal indoctrination and intolerance, and that while important, can only go so far. If you want different and counterbalancing voices, you need to be willing to create culture, not just criticize it. You need to make plays and satires, and support the arts.
A lot of it is that tax dollars fund what actually gets made, and conservatives too often retreat from real culture (like VDH’s piece on the same page) while decrying what actually gets made.
Oct 19, 2009 - 4:11 am 12. DSDan:Every few years the humor publication at my old undergrad institution would write a piece that someone (always on the left) would find offensive. The best response would be to ignore the piece, but the progressives on campus would instead talk themselves into a lather of righteous indignation, and it would occasionally end in the ignominy of a newspaper burning festival. Don’t be those guys.
Oct 19, 2009 - 4:26 am 13. Mike2:Phyllis,
The real problem is not “allowing alternative voices to be heard” but that our tax dollars are being used to promote art to begin with. The truly great creative ones in America are able to support themselves and indeed prosper by their art whether it be visual, written, spoken or musical. I give Tom Clancy, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Elvis Presley and a myriad of others as examples. I may not agree with successful artists’ politics nor personally like their art but I can’t quarrel with the fact they didn’t need to feed at the public trough to succeed.
6. Shelby:
I believe that Leslie Zukor’s comment to the article you reference tells the whole story.
Good article Phyllis and good comments from the rest. Thanks.
Oct 19, 2009 - 4:54 am 14. Judy, NYC:the infection is caused by the diarrhea slop trickling down from the mouth of the blabberbower in chief. an undereducated, inept at everything but jew hating, he feeds into the very lowly opinion young americans now have of their country aand themselves. he is germany in the 30’s. jews are a distraction and a convenient target. now, open wide.
Oct 19, 2009 - 4:55 am 15. Dblade:Mike, that’s not the case for every aspect of art. A lot of vital art forms, like community theater, simply cant see the immediate returns in cash to be self-supporting, without reducing them to the level of Tom Clancy and writing potboilers. Or in theater’s case, mostly playing endless Disney-inspired plays and tossing serious ones to the curb. Very few artists really earn enough to do so anyways, especially with the magazine market dying, and the shift in culture towards decentralized internet models as opposed to local.
I find it ironic that when an actual conservative artist heads the NEA, like Dana Gioia, there is little outcry about supporting arts with taxes.
Oct 19, 2009 - 5:04 am 16. Jerry:Why hasn’t anyone made the point that it was the Nazis and Communists – Russian and Chinese – who were most expert at hijacking the arts to serve their purposes? It is a sign of tyranny when we accept that the medium is the message. We can laugh at any tragedy because that is the way in which are brains are constructed, but learning to avoid such pitfalls and riveting on the contents of the issues is the only way to save our species.
Please read “From Death Camp to Existentialism” by the psychiatrist, Victor Frankl. As a psychiatrist and a Jew he felt it necessary to attend one of Hitler’s early rallies to try to understand him. The Charisma of the Leader was so great that in spite of the anti-Semitism and illogic of his arguments, he found himself screaming no less loudly than the rest of the mesmerized ethnic Germans – Zeig Heil – again and again.
We are imperfect; we need better tools to overcome our imperfections. Theater is, unfortunately, not one of those tools. Worse yet, the discussion that followed the presentation is filled with stumbling blocks to clear thinking, since we are herd-creatures even in our verbal interactions. Perhaps we ARE doomed! But thanks for trying, Phyllis.
Oct 19, 2009 - 5:32 am 17. Right Angles » Blog Archive » Two examples of why we’re in real trouble:[...] Chessler gives two harrowing, real-world examples of political correctness run amok, which is the only place political correctness ran run, when you [...]
Oct 19, 2009 - 5:48 am 18. pelaut:Where were you in the 60s? The 70s? All the years since?
Your outrage, like Roger Simon’s, rings like a cracked bell, since your generation failed to sustain the culture when it was your turn.
Now you’re too late, and you whine. And you ran that night when you could have stood up, even though it would have been useless.
Don’t whine. Go Galt.
Oct 19, 2009 - 6:37 am 19. Meryl Yourish:Phyllis, I agree with much of what you write, but I think you’re off the mark with the kids from the Oregon college. When I first read about the story, I searched until I found more than the AP report. Here’s why they did the spoof (http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/10/reed_students_take_heat_for_sa.html):
Yes, they were stupid. And yes, they were offensive. But frankly, I think they were being, well, young. My bar for anti-Semitism is set extremely low. I think this incident is overblown.
As for the play, well. I’m really glad I moved from NJ to Virginia. Central Virginia, anyway, where people aren’t ashamed to support Israel.
Oct 19, 2009 - 6:40 am 20. Porkov:Regarding the Reed satire – is it the anti-semitic graffiti at Lewis and Clarke that’s objectionable, or is it Reed’s satire at Lewis and Clarke’s expense?
Oct 19, 2009 - 6:56 am 21. Jeremy Abrams:In chapter six of Candide, Voltaire describes the Inquisition’s use of auto-da-fé, sacrificing Jews and other heretics to placate the angry God who sent an earthquake. Is this acceptable? It seems to me that the Inquisition and the Holocaust are cut from the same cloth. Is it acceptable to use one for satire and not the other? Or do you think that there should be public book-burnings, or that people whose humor you don’t get should be sent to education camps?
Ms. Chesler has every right to remain silent as a matter of personal style, and moreover her doing so allows us a clearer glimpse of what these gatherings are like uninterrupted.
However, I do take issue with her statement: “Might I suggest that the theatre is not the proper forum for a streetcorner shouting match nor should the audience become a key Actor.”
The theatrical event ended when the audience participation began, and an inferior production would end the moment it descended on stage to raw polemics. At such time, pushback by free citizens becomes absolutely permitted, and unless a fair number of such citizens not having Ms. Chesler’s personal philosophy actually do push back, we are asking for Europe’s likely fate.
Oct 19, 2009 - 7:01 am 22. Coral:Phyllis, thank you for writing about what you saw and for your suggestions about how to respond. Little can be done until people are aware and your blog is making some aware. We need a fraternal vigilence–we are our brother’s keeper. Now each can ask themselves, How can I take a stand?
Oct 19, 2009 - 7:14 am 23. digitalis:THe audience did not need to shout. They could have left. Silently.
Oct 19, 2009 - 7:30 am 24. jb:What is it with people who live on the two coasts? Is there something in the water? As for college and university degrees, more and more worthless everyday.
Oct 19, 2009 - 8:35 am 25. Cynthia:Phyllis,
Oct 19, 2009 - 9:11 am 26. DZ Sokol:EVERYONE says they don’t like to fight at the dinner table. But you are not an “observer” as you might think. You are part of the picture and part of the problem. Everyone knows that the observer affects what is observed as in “Columnist who claims to fight against growing anti-semitism by writing an internet column and some books remains silent in public forum re: this very issue” (see, I am a writer as well and that is my observation) In this column and in your books you are basically preaching to the choir. Had you spoken up for what you believe in at this play you might have influenced far more people than you ever have or could in this column. You also might have helped give others the courage to speak up. This column doesn’t mean much to me anymore. I don’t mean this as an insult. But words typed out in the safety of your office mean very little if you are not willing to state your beliefs in a public forum. This was no dinner table, by the way, it was a public event asking for feedback. Your silence was a type of collusion. Probably you will not invite me to dinner for writing this. The Germans were the most “polite” people in the world. They stayed silent. Perhaps some wrote “columns”–but Hitler won–and you are, ultimately, doing very little to change the situation with just a column.
A once-avid reader of your column,
Cynthia
Cynthia – good comments!
Oct 19, 2009 - 9:39 am 27. MiamaMan:26. Cynthia:
Cynthia, you are being unfair with Dr. Chesler. She is not a gladiator, nor that theater was the Roman Coliseum…That she remained silence is a sign of class. Besides, do you think a shouting match there would have convinced any of the “fellow travelers” there? I doubt it.
My contention was why to attend such a consciousness-lowering event. You have to be careful, actually very careful, who you mingle with. But you see, finally Dr. Chesler is a real New Yorker, and New Yorkers attend plays and stuff, they are a breed apart.
What do you mean by “words typed in the safety of your office…”? Words are so powerful, they are like an arrow that strikes the target, they are more powerful than speech (order is: Thought – prayer, mantra – then words, finally speech). Besides, last time I heard Dr. Chesler is not 30 anymore (no offense intended, please), come on Cynthia, unwind, do some Pranayama.
Oct 19, 2009 - 9:40 am 28. David S:The kids at Reed were not trying to downplay the holocaust. They were merely mocking their cross-town rival school over some recent incidents on campus.
I always thought that conservatives opposed “speech codes” – apparently that only applies if the speech being criticized is from a right wing source?
This was satire, though done in poor taste. Still, your headline is totally off base. No killing occurred in Oregon. The hyperbole serves you poorly.
Peace.
DS
Oct 19, 2009 - 10:21 am 29. Berlet98:What Do We Do About Israel? Part II
The signs have been frequent and definitive: The Obama administration is no Bush administration when it comes to American-Israeli relations or, for that matter, the survival of the Jewish state of Israel.
Despite assurances by Obama that he would stand by Israel, many Jews who stood by their liberal man last November 4th are coming to realize his promises represented a bait and switch game, as prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz put it.
Still vainly attempting to find some positive affirmations in Obama’s public positions since the election, Dershowitz concludes his essay, “Has Obama Turned on Israel,” with the understatement that, “There may be coming changes in the Obama administration’s policies that do weaken the security of the Jewish state:” http://bit.ly/103KNc.
Alan, you ain’t seen nothing yet! The “settlements” issue may come to seem an irrelevancy compared to what lies ahead.
A Jewish news service even sees dangers for Israel in the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded Obama since it could lead to a reticence in opposing the most imminent threat against Israel, Iranian nuclear ambitions: http://bit.ly/2nfJUs.
But what do Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian lands or the Iranian threat to Israel mean to us in the long term?
Precious little.
The simplest solution to determine what Americans truly feel about Israel and how far they are prepared to go to risk a major war between the United States and the Muslim world, including possible enormous casualties and a probable, crippling oil embargo, is to ask the American people what they think. . .
(Read the rest at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1266)
Oct 19, 2009 - 10:42 am 30. biblio44:29. Berlet98: “Despite assurances by Obama that he would stand by Israel, many Jews who stood by their liberal man last November 4th are coming to realize his promises represented a bait and switch game, as prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz put it.”
This gives the idea that Dershowitz has turned on Obama. But his article – a link is helpfully provided by Berlet – should be read in full, including:
“A majority of American-Jewish supporters of Israel, as well as Israelis, do not favor settlement expansion. Thus the Obama position on settlement expansion, whether one agrees with it or not, is not at all inconsistent with support for Israel. It may be a different position from that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but it is not a difference that should matter to most Jewish voters who support both Mr. Obama and Israel…. [I]t’s important to be vigilant for any signs of weakening support for Israel’s security — and to criticize forcefully any such change. But getting tough on settlement expansion should not be confused with undercutting Israel’s security.”
Oct 19, 2009 - 11:34 am 31. Cynthia:Response to MiaMan
I do not think that remaining silent is a sign of class. Silence is a form of consent. Saying that, I do respect Phyllis Chesler for posting my criticisms. I think the fact that I spoke strongly and you responded is proof that this is the way to get people to respond or to listen or (more likely) to voice their own opinions. “Political correctness” is the destruction of free speech and politeness is not what is always called for. “Class” is an image. We are dealing with serious issues here. No one knows that more than Phyllis Chesler. Your criticism of me is fair in the way that my criticism of Dr. Chesler is fair. It is called “free speech” and/ or “an exchange of ideas”—it does not have to turn into a shouting match.
New Yorkers are a breed apart? I am a New Yorker. I have no idea what you are talking about. (I no longer live in New York but a New Yorker is a New Yorker and they are not a breed apart—I think Dr. Chesler proves this out by giving two examples: one in Oregon and one in New York. The one thing in common is that people don’t speak up. They are afraid. “you have to be careful, actually very careful, who you mingle with?”—We are talking about a play here. We are talking about art. We are talking about an invitation for audience participation.
Words are powerful. But the written word is not more powerful than speech. Obama got elected through the spoken word. His books didn’t put him in office–they might have helped–but all he has done is speak and he has swayed the world while doing nothing while in office except apologize for America and make more people “like” him. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize on Feb. 1 after being in office for a week or two. So let us not minimize the power of the spoken word. That said, actions speak louder than words. I agree with those who say Obama is no friend to Israel. Also, since you are a New Yorker, please read Maureen Dowd’s (! imagine that!) essay on Obama–surprisingly, it is finally, a criticism of Obama (in the NYTimes. Yes. The written word. It will amount to nothing. The White House isn’t afraid of Maureen Dowd–they are afraid of Fox News and talk radio. Oh to think I used to be a liberal democrat! The word “democrat” has no meaning anymore.
Oct 19, 2009 - 12:14 pm 32. buddy larsen:This may be a little silly, but it’s not off-topic. This public service announcement (lower right of page, click on ‘watch our PSAs’, view ‘Dollhouse’) is running pretty heavily –at least it is on the Fox business channel during business hours here in central Texas. It’s a fast-talking Jewish-looking real estate lawyer trying to con a hispanic couple into signing a deal on a house. And all three of the actors are around ten years old. Search on the advertiser and it’s –said to be –an ‘astroturf’ in support of ‘payday’ lenders and such. I could be wrong on the optics but it does bug me –on several levels –and I was unsurprised to learn the –alleged –payday lending connection couched in the “I love you, let me help you” format. Unsavory stuff.
Oct 19, 2009 - 12:45 pm 33. SYD:Not long ago, a pickpocket attempted to lift my i-phone from my coat pocket. While I was grocery shopping. A rash of small burglaries has since plagued me. From my car, my purse etc…..
The very odd thing I have noticed is that, nobody wants to know what color were the folks who took this stuff. It is “tabu” to say, apparently.
When I returned home after the pick-pocket incident and reported to my kids that I did not file a police report cuz I was too stunned…. and did not know what to say…. (I was in shock at having my body touchedso closely by a stranger.) Do you know what they said?? They said “that’s good mom. It would only have led to more racial profiling.”
There is something VERY wrong with the way young people are being indoctrinated. Such that they cannot even tell the truth if they know it…. because they fear they will be “profiling” or… that they will be accused of “profiling.”
I am stunned by what is unfolding before my senses.
Oct 19, 2009 - 1:20 pm 34. ic:Perhaps the “talkbacks” were meant to indoctrinate, not educate;
“indoctrinate”, “educate”, what is the difference?
They have been indoctrinating our kids, most recently with creepy praise Obama songs, and call that education.
The problem, so far, with American kids is, they don’t get indoctrinated well. They are too restless, and too suspicious of old people, (people, say, older than 30?), the pendulium will swing back, give them time.
About that talkback session: how enthusiastic was the crowd? May be they were being polite to the “indoctrinators” or just kept their mouth shut while in hostile territory. How many of them agreed with the indoctrinators? How many of them would never go to the theatres to see that kind of stuffs? You don’t know, do you? Neither do the indoctrinators.
Oct 19, 2009 - 1:41 pm 35. MiamaMan:31. Cynthia:
Cynthia, I ain’t from New York, but MiamA, which used to be a colony of New York, and it is now a Cuban one. So I wrote “they are a breed apart”, excluding myself.
Noticed you probably did some Pranayama, for the tone is mellower, calmer, nicer.
After reading your explanation, I realize I did not explain myself properly. I still believe that the written word is more powerful than the spoken one, but you are right when pointing out the examples of Obama (and Hitler too, I may add), whereby speech has been so important in deceiving and moving the masses.
Your statement:
‘I do not think that remaining silent is a sign of class. Silence is a form of consent.’
Silence can be so many things. Silence can be used as consent, but also as dissent.
Oct 19, 2009 - 2:50 pm 36. Jose A. Garcia:Liberty resides with those that earn it.
If these are the people that inherit the US of A; so be it. Freedom and liberty demand a payment. One generation of sacrifice does not pay the price for a millenium.
Perhaps freedom and liberty are savored best by those that know the yoke of slavery.
Oct 19, 2009 - 2:50 pm 37. zhombre:Theatre in America, even regional theaters, has for a long time been the arts and propaganda arm of identity politics. Doesn’t surprise me at all that the audience Ms. Chesler describes would be dutifully passive, compliant and complacent. This is what they went there for: a choir eager to be preached to.
Oct 19, 2009 - 3:33 pm 38. Now and Then:7. Marc Malone:
“My brother went to Reed where he got indoctrinated. He has this elitist disease. He knows my IQ is wicked high . . . ”
Who was it the other day decrying how liberals are always touting their IQs? Was it you, Malvo? Or was it our Man Mensa, Chuck Pelto? Either way, the ceiling you speak of may be lower than you think, given your choice to use “wicked.”
Oct 19, 2009 - 3:43 pm 39. Bleepless:The last time I saw a parody of Anne Frank was a little pamphlet entitled “The Diary of Ann Fink” and showed Alfred E. Neuman in ringlets. It was issued by the American Nazi Party. Why am I not surprised by the latest garbage, or its source?
Oct 19, 2009 - 3:52 pm 40. buddy larsen:Jose/#36; “Perhaps freedom and liberty are savored best by those that know the yoke of slavery”
Or savored at all, if disarmed. This bit of news today
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/19/nih-funds-study-of-teen-firearms/
with this thread, reminds that “Kristallnacht” was timed with Germany’s new 1938 gun control laws and their legal confiscation of private weapons. This PDF is worth opening just for the title page’s stunning side-by-side sentences spoken by Justice Felix Frankfurter and Fuehrer Adolph Hitler:
http://www.stephenhalbrook.com/article-nazilaw.pdf
Oct 19, 2009 - 4:20 pm 41. westerncanadian:Students find it easy to have opinions because they don’t yet have much information. They are blown along with the prevailing ideological wind. Today that means PC opinions that are pro palestinian and anti israel/jews. After they leave college they may get an education and aquire some information.Their opinions may become informed.
The only way to counter this stuff is to speak out. This article is a great way of doing that.
Speaking out at the theatre is a personal choice, not something one should never do or always do. I’m old so I don’t give a damn but younger people are more constrained. If I were with my kids I wouldn’t want to embarrass them. If I were by myself who’s to embarrass but me – not really a concern any more.
Oct 19, 2009 - 4:35 pm 42. Seth Poole:It took more courage and class for Dr. Chesler to sit there and listen and then come back and report on what she saw and heard. A shouting match would not have accomplished anything. Hatred for Jews has always been present. With Obambi in the WH it appears to be on the rise again.
Oct 19, 2009 - 7:28 pm 43. Camo in Turkey:I graduated from the University of Portland a few years ago and had friends in Reed as well as Lewis and Clark and can attest to the elitist, liberal Mecca that Portland has become. I currently live in the Middle East and know first-hand that a parody of their culture here could land you in jail or beaten in the streets. It’s pretty ironic that the terms of “fairness” and “tolerance” we purport to have are virtually non-existent outside the Judeo-Christian west. It’s not so much our religious and cultural freedoms that the local people here don’t like, it’s the inconsistent vomit of politics, the double-faced values spouted by liberal versus conservatives. They just don’t know where we are coming from, or why we do what we do, such as supporting a stance on one hand, but then attack the supporters of it on the other? They think we are neurotic.
Oct 19, 2009 - 11:44 pm 44. TG:#25 – Cynthia:
Oct 20, 2009 - 8:53 am 45. Shoshana Rubin:If you’ve read Dr. Chesler for as long as I have, you would know that she has been attacked in public at academic meetings for her pro-Israel, anti-terrorist views. She has displayed more courage and insight over the years than any of us anonymous posters here, including me and you.
Cynthis, #25…..I agree with you. It was more important for Phyllis to speak up at this forum, with spontaneous clarity rather than waiting to gather her thoughts about it and write it here for the choir. That was cowardly of Phyllis and this is the first time I’ve ever thought she is cowardly. Unfortunately, Phyllis did not take advantage of this outstanding opportunity whether she reached anyone or not…..some may be reached the next time they hear Phyllis’s point of view.
Oct 20, 2009 - 10:00 am 46. R. Greener:To all of you so critical of Phyllis… why don’t YOU get out there and do something “public”? Phyllis Chesler has spent nearly 50 years “in public” and owes no explanation for her actions (or lack of same) to any of you. And… as a disclaimer: although I have known her for almost 50 years, I DISAGREE with much of what she has to say especially about Israel. But I respect her right to say it – whatever it is – in any forum she decides is best, or to keep it to herself.
Oct 20, 2009 - 12:16 pm 47. David W. Lincoln:As for plays that are more Mortimer Adler filial, we might want to look at the past. Those who were dubbed, “Inklings” possessed a tremendous amount of intellectual horsepower. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inklings
Now, I am sure that MiamaMan will take me to task for linking to wiki, but I figure that an introduction is best made in a succinct fashion.
Oct 20, 2009 - 6:39 pm 48. Madashell48:18. pelaut:
“Where were you in the 60s? The 70s? All the years since?”
Obviously you weren’t here then, because if you were, you would have made such a foolish remark. You would have known that Phyllis Chesler was everywhere, fighting for the rights of women. I was in her presence a number of times. What she achieved in those years allows you to not only take those rights for granted, but let them slip away by degrees while the very thinly disguised patriarchy you worship is your undoing. It is today’s young generation that thinks those rights were always there and appreciates them not, while they lazily stand by and watch them be whittled away. Would that any one of them had a fraction of the energy, dedication and fortitude of Phyllis Chesler– yet you have the audacity to expect her to continue to haul the water while you relax and wait for the results.
Oct 20, 2009 - 10:49 pm 49. MiamaMan:47. David W. Lincoln:
[Now, I am sure that MiamaMan will take me to task for linking to wiki, but I figure that an introduction is best made in a succinct fashion.]
No problemo David, I am the first Wiki addict too. One would like to use memory, but Wiki is right there and, verily, it has created close to a revolution on quick knowledge.
I followed your link and was surprised not to find there “Sir” Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, and all them other commie spies.
Oct 21, 2009 - 8:34 am 50. Watcher of Weasels » Fighting Tyranny with the Power of Knowledge:[...] Submitted By: Right Truth – Chesler Chronicles – Killing Jews in Oregon, Embracing Terrorists Off-Broadway [...]
Oct 21, 2009 - 11:04 am 51. David W. Lincoln:MiamaMan, so I am thinking that there is a lot of material that can be used to counter the tripe that is trotted out in the name of art.
I recall a script of a radio play by Dorothy L. Sayers, and it was used by a collection of men who gathered on a Saturday morning just for the sake of having some “guy” time. Needless to say, that morning is fondly remembered.
After all, there were British who deserved respect, and the inklings are definitely in that group.
Oct 21, 2009 - 2:23 pm 52. Mike2:15. Dblade:
There are artists all over that earn enough to make a living at their craft and some make a lot of money. I am much more familiar with what goes on in the musical world and many have done very well indeed by performing the kind of music that would bring them good returns and at other times performing other types of music that they truly love for their own satisfaction. Some are lucky enough to do both at the same time. Talent and a shrewd business sense have served them well. Again I hold up Madonna as an example but she certainly isn’t the only one.
Most musicians, and I am an example, know that self employment in the industry is not a good possibility so we put food on the table by other means. But, it does not stop us from doing what we love and most of us don’t need a taxpayer hand out to do so.
Oct 21, 2009 - 8:06 pm 53. logos1j1:So most fall on either one side or another: that Phyllis should have spoken up, or was right not to have done so. But I must agree with MiamaMan #4, and this is not the first time he’s stolen my thunder. More power to him. The wisdom of this position is shown by Victor Frankl’s experience noted by Jerry #16 and by Christ in Mark 6:10-11. What Frankl experienced was nothing less than demonic possession. It was not “group-think” or any other psycho-babble mumbo jumbo. It was not because Hitler was such a stellar public speaker. Hitler was possessed, probably by the Devil himself, and by going to such a meeting – though unsuspecting and/or unbelieving – Frankl put himself under the authority of the demonic powers that were there. This was very foolish. This is where too much curiosity will get the ignorant: as we say, “Curiosity killed the cat.” And, no, satisfaction does not bring it back. There was nothing to “understand” about Hitler except that he was evil and had to be stopped.
In the verse cited Christ says, “… shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.” He means simply that some people are never going to listen to Truth and there is no point in getting into a shouting match with them or allowing yourself to be needlessly hurt by them. It is better to stay away from them altogether and seek out those who ARE willing to listen. This is not cowardly, it is wise. Phyllis should have left as soon as she found out what all this nonsense was really about. Having stayed she should have said something: you don’t go to a battle and then refuse to fight! She should have said her piece and then left, shaking the dust from her feet, before it got nasty. I think she made the worst possible choice: but none of us is perfect, and my point is not to be her judge but to show a better course of action for the future.
As an aside I believe it is I who am the Wiki-hater in this group, and I will defend that little hill with all my might. I despise Wikipedia. Its existence makes me angry.
Oct 21, 2009 - 8:24 pm 54. Bryce:What do these two unrelated stories have to do to each other. The first one is about some dumb college kids that took a joke way too far. Yeah it was gross. What makes those kids card carrying progressives, just because they go to Lewis and Clark College, from there actions it is clear they are not progressive. Your next point is a play you really seem to agree with, but you didn’t like what the other audience members had to say. Grow uo its supposed to make you think some people think differently than others. Whats funny is that good old white protestant American Conservatives don’t realize they have the same values as conservative Muslims. Only reason conservatives dont like Muslims their government told them to hate Muslims. Despite all the anti government rheotoric thats sprung up coincidentally now that we have a black president the Republican Party is in fact the party of blind obedience to the state and the big banks that play it like a marrionette doll. Who cares what they do in their own houses the problem is they pose a threat to our puppet Israel, that happens to own a large chunk of our worthless government oh yeah and they are “heathens”. Good old GOP, its the party of big debts big government, big brother, warantless wiretapping secret prisons crackdowns on freedom of expression, big constant wars. Tell me something werent we helping the Taliban in their fight for Burkas and shariah law against girls schools when it was the Soviet Union that tried to modernize. i believe back then the Grand Old Partye was defending a traditional way of life against godless communists. In all fairness all of our wars have had bipartisan support. Both parties are very dissapointing. Their two sides of a money coin im afraid. Its because we let the people up top run things for us and though I voted for Obama too many people are expecting him to make everything better. We need to build a new party thats not just urban or rural and crosses race culture religious lines. Doesn’t have to cross class lines per se, lets build a party of the people
Oct 21, 2009 - 9:45 pm 55. Camo in Turkey:#54 Bryce: Woa, dude, calm down. You’re shooting from the hip with a lot of generalizations and no details. Except the first six lines, the same of what you said could be said of liberals and Democrats, especially since Demos have run the house and senate for a few years now.
Oct 21, 2009 - 10:55 pm 56. logos1j1:Bryce, 54
You are all over the map! Firstly, Islam’s moral system – if it can be called that – is nothing like Christianity or Judaism that is why our JUDEO-CHRISTIAN heritage is in direct conflict with the Islamic world and has been ever since that nut job of a “prophet” started slaughtering people 1400 years ago. I’m not going to waste a lot of time quoting sources when all this is just a bunch of recycled PC pap without any foundation. The contradistinction between Judeo-Christian and Islamic values is so obvious that the burden of proof lies with you to prove that there is none. You offer none.
You claim that the Republican Party is the party of big government, etc. and then vote for Obama! That’s insane. Give him a second term and he’ll be telling you how much toilet paper you can use to wipe you butt! Read the Republican Party plank. The party is for small government, free market capitalism and freedom. The problem is the politicians themselves who betray that plank and their campaign promises when they get to D.C.
Our government told us to hate Muslims? Really? I’d love the reference to that governmental command. For the life of me I can’t remember it – it must have had a subliminal effect on me. By the by, do you remember a little incident long about eight years ago or so …… I think in late summer or early fall ….. maybe in September? Do you know what I’m talking about? For the life of me…. what was it? Maybe another blogger could chime in and help us out.
Pray tell: what is a party of the people again? It sounds familiar….. Gosh, I guess I’m a little off my game here.
Oct 21, 2009 - 11:21 pm 57. MiamiMan:53. logos1j1:
[Hitler was possessed, probably by the Devil himself...]
Definitely so, in occult circles it is known that Hitler was possessed by non-other than the Lord of Falsehood himself, one of the 4 original forces of evil, who likes to call himself The Lord of the Nations (Lucifer – or being of light – is another one, but was converted). That’s why I always recommend that recent book by Van Vrekhem, “Hitler and His God” that not only entertains this subject, but details the occult struggles of both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother to thwart, at the occult level, the evil designs of Hitler during World War II.
I insist that you must be very, very careful, with whom you mingle, the surroundings, and, more importantly the state of your mind when you do so, for, as you hinted, in gatherings the level of consciousness decreases dramatically, and an individual, not protected by a strong physic envelope or grace, will, more than likely, succumb to the evil atmosphere.
Oct 22, 2009 - 5:41 am 58. MiamiMan:54. Bryce:
[Whats funny is that good old white protestant American Conservatives don’t realize they have the same values as conservative Muslims. Only reason conservatives dont like Muslims their government told them to hate Muslims]
Bryce, this is really funny. You must write a book right away on this subject, for our enlightenment and that of future generations.
Oct 22, 2009 - 5:45 am 59. Bookworm Room » Read along with me:[...] Submitted By: Right Truth – Chesler Chronicles – Killing Jews in Oregon, Embracing Terrorists Off-Broadway [...]
Oct 22, 2009 - 7:53 pm 60. Watcher of Weasels » I’m MAD, Mad I Tell Ya!!:[...] place with 1/3 points – (T*) – Chesler Chronicles – Killing Jews in Oregon, Embracing Terrorists Off-Broadway Share and [...]
Oct 23, 2009 - 11:21 am 61. Bookworm Room » Last week’s Watcher’s Council winners — and a couple of announcements:[...] Third place with 1/3 points – (T*) – Chesler Chronicles – Killing Jews in Oregon, Embracing Terrorists Off-Broadway [...]
Oct 28, 2009 - 10:34 am