Ron Radosh

July 9th, 2009 7:12 am

Jeffrey Goldberg’s Must Read Interview

Jeffrey Goldberg, perhaps the most astute writer and commentator on the Middle East, has a must read interview today with Michael Totten. Goldberg comes to conclusions based on years of experience living in Israel, and going to speak with various Arab leaders, including those of Hamas.

His thoughts give no grounds for optimism, but he tells what he thinks is true, regardless of the consequences. Anyone concerned with Israel’s future should pass this around.

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2 Comments

1. David Thomson:

“Goldberg: I don’t know. The argument is that Arab society is somewhat stagnant.”

This is the understatement of the centuries. Arab society is inherently reactionary. Its overall interpretation of the teachings of Mohammed cannot be reconciled to the values of Western Civilization. I don’t see anything changing for the better in the near future. At the very best, it will take fifty years. One therefore must sadly conclude that the Israelis must keep these people at arm’s length. Only a relatively few Arabs are likely to ever get their acts together.

Jewish/Christian theology embraces change. We are supposed to improve the lives of everyone living on the planet. The “true believer” Muslim, however, believes modern science somehow insults God. Only infidels are unsatisfied with an eight century existence. I am convinced that terrorists have recruited many well educated Muslims because the latter fell guilty about their active pursuit of knowledge. It makes them feel unclean and even heretical.

Jul 10, 2009 - 3:39 am 2. Professor Guvinoff:

Another excellent interview by Michael Totten, and another brilliant example of how to maintain your sanity and live in the Middle-East at the same time. After reading this interview, I still don’t understand the Middle-East, but I feel that one corner of the veil has been lifted:

The West has internalized the ancient Greek notion of logic, which the Persians rejected as coarse, brutal, unsensitive, and irretrievably inadequate in the cerebral stratosphere of nuance and supreme refinement. This rejection could well have been the seminal event that eventually led to the seminal invention of political correctness in the western sphere? The Judeo-Christian world managed to satisfy itself with 12 stops in its musical scale (Good enough for Beethoven, right?), but the Persians insisted on 24. Who are the Persian composers who can compete with Beethoven? Why don’t we know their names? Are they too supremely nuanced for us?

Professor Zadeh, a promising Iranian mathematician, became the head of the mathematics faculty at Berkeley, made himself famous (infamous?) for introducing the field of “fuzzy logic”. I’m not making this up. He got some mileage out of it, but never got it respected, and was eventually expelled, quite an accomplishement in and of itself. (That was a long time before anyone had ever heard of Ward Churchill).

Perhaps we would understand the Middle East better if we were willing to repudiate logic. Get some booze, and get the picture?

Jul 10, 2009 - 3:15 pm