"Go Back to the Oven" Message to Jews: Not in the News

A woman in a hijab have practical advice to Jews last month in Fort Lauderdale, Florida:

"Go back to the ovens! You need a big oven, that's what you need!"

In a way, I appreciate her practicality. She was offering an achievable final solution to the presence of Jews who defiled the Fort Lauderdale sidewalks, right in view of the woman's right-thinking fellow-demonstrators.

The Final Solution to the Jewish Question - Here We Go Again?

That "You need a big oven, that's what you need" refers to the practical issues that Germany's national socialists had to face, while incinerating Jewish bodies some sixty years ago. Turns out, burning people to a crisp on that scale requires large facilities.

Later, the woman acknowledged that her remark might be interpreted as "insensitive," but would not condemn her comment.

She and several other proponents of a final solution to the Jewish question were part of the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition demonstration in Fort Lauderdale. ANSWER has sponsored many demonstrations like this across America.

An ANSWER state coordinator, Emmanuel Lopez, explained that there might be some anti-Semitism in his organization. But, hey: these high-minded ANSWER people were forced to share the air with "barbaric, racist" Zionist terrorists.

That would be the little group supporting Israel, across the street.

Mr Lopez explained that "Zionism in general is a barbaric, racist movement that really is the cause of the situation in the entire Middle East," a view clearly supported by his followers.

"Go Back to the Oven" is Not News

At least, I haven't found it in the traditional news media, or the more 'intelligent' cable and online news services.

Actually, I found it in two places: The Los Angeles Times (January 6), and FOXNews (January 8). This little "back to the oven" faux pas² may have shown up in national news elsewhere, but certainly wasn't given much prominence.

I did, however, find a video of these supporters of peace, brotherhood, and Hamas, on YouTube:

Pro-Hamas Demonstration - Fort Lauderdale FL

watchobsessiondotorg
YouTube (December 30, 2008)
video (9:12)

Some Palestinians Might Have a Grievance: But is Genocide the Answer?

"Go steal other lands!"
"Go back to the ovens! You need a big oven, that's what you need!"

The young woman seems very sincere in her beliefs, and she offers a very practical solution to the Jewish question.

As I've said before, some Palestinians might have a dispute over land ownership which could be heard in a court of law.

However, practical as killing all those "barbaric, racist" Zionists (and all the other Jews, just to be thorough) might be, this approach to "the Jewish question" has been tried before. It didn't work out quite the way that German national socialists hoped it would.

In fact, what went on in places like Dachau and Auschwitz proved to be a bit of an embarrassment for Germany over the decades.

Third Reich Rhetoric Not Newsworthy?

Calling people you don't like "Nazis" is old hat, and has lost some of its power over the decades.

On the other hand, when a young woman, apparently speaking what's on the minds of many like-thinking people, publicly advocates a return to the failed policies of the Third Reich, I think that it might be reasonable to recall the last time that someone came up with a "final solution to the Jewish question."

"Back to the Oven" - Traditional News Media Just Doesn't Get It

As for the way that traditional news media has politely ignored this story, I think it's another example of how many reporters and editors just don't get it.

It's one thing to be open minded: but it looks like places like The New York Times and CBS News have let their brains fall out.

Fort Lauderdale, Zionists, and Being Insightful

An op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, "Who're the real Nazis?" suggests that a major reason for Israel's failure to exterminate all Palestinians is that Israel isn't trying to commit genocide.

I should warn you, the author's name is Jonah Goldberg. With a name like that, he might be Jewish. So, for those who agree with that young woman in the hijab, I suggest that you stop reading. You don't want to get your eyes dirty.

Excerpt from "Who're the real Nazis?"

"...The Fort Lauderdale outburst is just one window on the upside-down world of Israel hatred. Across the Islamic world, and in too many points West, it is still considered a penetrating and poignant insight to call Zionists the 'new Nazis.' For instance, in Sunday's Gulf News, Mohammad Abdullah al Mutawa, a sociology professor at United Arab Emirates University, penned an essay titled 'Zionists are the new Nazis.' He began: 'Today, the whole world stands as a witness to the fact that the Nazi Holocaust was a mere lie, which was devised by the Zionists to blackmail humanity.'... "
(Los Angeles Times)

Related post:

• "The News and Palin, Kennedy, Iraq, Lebanon, Hamas: They Just Don't Get It"
  (January 9, 2009)
• "Hamas, Palestine, Israel, and How to Seem Sophisticated"
  (January 3, 2009)

News and views:

• "Protester Calls for Jews to 'Go Back to the Oven' at Anti-Israel Demonstration"
  FOXNews (January 8, 2009)
• "Who're the real Nazis?"
  Los Angeles Times (January 6, 2009)

Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.

Sarah Palin's a Nazi: I Saw it on Television

I know: it's just a cartoon.

Sunday night's "Family Guy" episode included a scene where Brian (a talking dog, and arguably the only sane character on the show, apart from Lois) is in Poland while the the Nazis are invading.

He looks at a Nazi uniform and sees a McCain Palin campaign button.


(From FOXNews, used without permission)

You'll have to look for the video on FOX. YouTube postings of an excerpt from last night's show aren't there any more. "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by FOX" is what YouTube says.

Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Crazy

I sometimes feel that there should be signs like that around poling places this election. With a 'radical Muslim' and a 'Nazi' on the ticket, it's been raining nuts under the tree of liberty ("Monkey Pirates, Jews, and Zionists? Get a Grip!" (October 14, 2008)).

For the Americans who read this blog

However you vote this election, I hope you think about your choice. There's nothing wrong with feelings: I have them all the time. But they're lousy for making decisions. Decisions more important than, say, 'I'll read Garfield instead of Zits,' that is. (I read both, by the way.)

There's plenty of facts and stated positions to make an informed decision in the presidential election. One candidate threatens to continue the policies which are marginalizing Al Qaeda in Iraq, the other wants to "spread the wealth around," and both assure the electorate that they have the best interests of America at heart.

There's more to each candidate, and the party positions, of course.

But please, vote because of something that exists in the real world: not because somebody said Barack Obama is a radical Muslin, or that McCain is a Nazi.

In the news:

• "Family Guy: McCain-Palin Ticket Appeals to Nazis?"
  Eonline (October 20, 2008)
• "Did 'Family Guy' Go Too Far With Nazi 'McCain' Pin?"
  FOXNews (October 20, 2008)

---

Updated (October 20, 2008)

In a way, I'm relieved to see that, so far, nobody seems to have realized that YouTube's acknowledgment of intellectual property rights could be packaged as part of the vast right wing conspiracy's attempt to cover up The Truth.

"Self-Satisfied Ignorance?" Eucharist, Quran, and Atheist Book Trashed

The University of Minnesota, Morris' associate professor Paul Myers does a quite good job of clarifying his views in a blog post of July 24, 2008. In reference to the pages from the Quran and a book by atheist Richard Dawkins, associate professor Myers wrote, "They are just paper. Nothing must be held sacred."

My reaction to the way he demonstrated that opinion is in two posts:

• "Quran, Eucharist, Atheist Book Nailed by Equal-Opportunity Desecrator"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (August 4, 2008)
• "Sacrilege Down the Road: A Very Serious Post"
  Through One Dad's Eye (August 4, 2008)

To say that I'm upset about this display of disrespect for the beliefs of others is a great understatement.

I'm also disturbed that so little attention has been paid to associate professor Myers' treatment of the Quran (Qur'an, in this Latinization). I don't understand just what the Quran means to a follower of Islam, but have gotten the impression that it is regarded as more than "just paper." (Paul Myers explained that "... I didn't want to single out just the cracker, so I nailed it to a few ripped-out pages from the Qur'an and The God Delusion. They are just paper....")

Repeating a request from yesterday's post, I would appreciate it if a Muslim would explain (briefly, if possible) what significance the Quran has to Muslims, whether or not associate professor Myers' acts are acceptable: and why.

Academic Freedom and Our Tax Dollars at Work

Associate Professor Myers' blog is not connected with the University of Minnesota, Morris. In fact, the U. of M., Morris, removed a link to his blog from their website.

The chancellor of the U. of M., Morris, has termed associate professor Myers' statements and actions "reprehensible." ("I believe that behaviors that discriminate against or harass individuals or groups on the basis of their religious beliefs are reprehensible," as quoted in yesterday's post.)

The chancellor also wrote that the university's policy on academic freedom and responsibility "affirms the freedom of a faculty member to speak or write as a public citizen without institutional discipline or restraint, and the responsibility to make clear that he or she is not speaking for the institution in matters of public interest."

So, associate professor Paul Myers is off the hook. Academic freedom, at least in Minnesota, means that he can insult two world religions, and the 'stupid' people who follow them, and desecrate what about a billion people believe to be sacred.

And, along with other Minnesotans, I get to have part of my tax money used to keep associate professor Myers employed.

I do have sympathy for the chancellor of the U. of M., Morris. As she's defending his right to insult and abuse my faith, he's informing the world that she's overseeing "a third-rate university." It can't be easy, being an administrator with someone like that on the staff. Particularly when the rules don't require the staff member to exercise the sort of mature responsibility that most of us must.

Fresh Eyes, a Questioning Mind, and Nailing the Quran

I thought that these excerpts, from two different blogs on scienceblogs.com, would shed light on associate professor Myers' bit of performance art.

• "24 hours of silence"
  Greg Laden's Blog (July 24, 2008)
  • "This blog will now engage in twenty four hours of silence as a show of respect for the all those who have suffered at the hands religious zealots around the world and throughout history.
  • "I say this out of inspiration from a post written on Pharyngula by biologist PZ Myers. PZ makes the link between medieval anti-Semitic church law and the original idea that the Eucharist is holy. You must read his post, the best written and most meaningful thing on the internet this day...."
  • [following an enlargement of part of associate professor Myers' photo] "...Jesus' Tits, Margaret! If that ain't a picture of Jesus himself them I'm a monkey's nephew. And I AM a monkey's nephew!!!!
  • "It is almost like the rusty nail is pointing right at the Image Of Christ! I can see the thorns in his forehead and everything. Won't Richard Dawkins be surprised!!!!
  • "Well, clearly, the 24 hours of silence is off... "
• "The Great Desecration"
  Pharyngula (July 24, 2008)
  • "It is finished.
  • ""I wonder how many of our Catholic friends have heard of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215? This is the event where many of their important dogmas were codified, including the ideas of Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, that the Eucharist was the sacrament that only properly ordained priests of the Catholic church could give, and that the Jews were a pariah people, who could hold no public office, had to pay a special Jew tax for their right to exist, and were required to wear special clothing to distinguish them from Christians. The yellow badge marking the Juden was not an invention of the Nazis, but a decree by faithful Catholics in the Middle Ages. That's an interesting juxtaposition, that a symbol of Christian exceptionalism was formalized at the same time that they formally decreed the Jews to be inferior, and a target of hatred.
  • "That combination was useful, too. Declare something cheap, disposable, and common to be imbued with magic by the words of a priest, and the trivial becomes a powerful token to inflame the mob — why, all you have to do is declare a bit of bread to be the most powerful and desirable object in the world, and even if it isn't, you can pretend that the evil other is scheming to deprive the faithful of it. Now you could invent stories of Jews and witches taking the communion host to torture, to make Jesus suffer even more, and good Catholics would of course rise in horror to defend their salvation. None of the stories were true, of course — Jews and infidels see no power at all in those little crackers, and the idea that they were obsessing over obtaining a non-sacred, powerless, pointless relic is ludicrous — but heck, it's a cheap excuse to make accusations illustrated by cheesy woodcuts of hook-nosed Jews hammering nails into communion wafers and lurid tales of blood-spurting crackers and hosts that pulsed like and beating heart, and thereby providing a pretext to encourage massacres....."
  • "...OK, time for the anticlimax. I know some of you have proposed intricate plans for how to do horrible things to these crackers, but I repeat…it's just a cracker. I wasn't going to make any major investment of time, money, or effort in treating these dabs of unpleasantness as they deserve, because all they deserve is casual disposal. However, inspired by an old woodcut of Jews stabbing the host, I thought of a simple, quick thing to do: I pierced it with a rusty nail (I hope Jesus's tetanus shots are up to date). And then I simply threw it in the trash, followed by the classic, decorative items of trash cans everywhere, old coffeegrounds and a banana peel. My apologies to those who hoped for more, but the worst I can do is show my unconcerned contempt.
    
    (from PZ Myers, Pharyngula (July 24, 2008), used w/o permission)
  • "By the way, I didn't want to single out just the cracker, so I nailed it to a few ripped-out pages from the Qur'an and The God Delusion. They are just paper. Nothing must be held sacred. Question everything. God is not great, Jesus is not your lord, you are not disciples of any charismatic prophet. You are all human beings who must make your way through your life by thinking and learning, and you have the job of advancing humanity's knowledge by winnowing out the errors of past generations and finding deeper understanding of reality. You will not find wisdom in rituals and sacraments and dogma, which build only self-satisfied ignorance, but you can find truth by looking at your world with fresh eyes and a questioning mind."

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.

Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.

Holocaust Remembrance Day: May 1, 2008

Six torches are burning in Israel: one for each of the 1,000,000 Jews killed by the national socialist party in Germany during WWII.

Never Forget Lessons From the Past

"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert lashed out at Holocaust deniers during a ceremony to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem on Wednesday saying, 'The voices of those who deny the Holocaust are also being heard. To them, the haters, the deniers, and all the conspirators of evil and to all of those who allow them to function within their realms, we say today: This shall never happen again.' "

" 'Sixty-three years have passed since the Satanic factories of death of the Nazis and their collaborators seized to operate, yet with the passing of time, the dimensions of the Holocaust still remain beyond comprehension, unfathomably shocking, unacceptably chilling,' Olmert told the service at Yad Vashem.

" 'Who would have believed that 63 years later, hatred of Jews and Israelis would rear its ugly head in so many different places around the globe, provocatively and venomously, inciting hatred?" he asked."

" 'If the countries of the world had dealt with the Nazi threat in a timely, sober way, they could have prevented [Nazi leader] Hitler from degrading them and murdering tens of thousands of people," Peres said. He added that had Hitler acquired nuclear capabilities, the world would have been destroyed then.

" 'It is possible that we were too late in erecting the state. And we paid a heavy price,' he said, adding: 'It's forbidden to be late in history.' " [emphasis mine]

The Holocaust Remembrance Day observances came with criticism of American policy.

"Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi on Wednesday echoed Peres' sentiment regarding the importance of stopping global military threats.

"During an address former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp on the second day of an official visit to Poland, Ashkenazi spoke of the U.S. decision not to bomb the camp during World War II despite knowing of the horrors taking place there.

" 'And today, they don't know what is happening in Iran?' the IDF chief posed."

The War on Terror is not World War II. Osama bin Laden is not Adolph Hitler. The Ayatollahs of Iran are not the leaders of the Empire of Greater Imperial Japan. ¹

But I think that parallels can be drawn.

Then		Now
Pro-"Aryan" Germany allied with a very non-"Aryan" Japan		Pro-"Islam" Iran seems to be making arrangements with non-Islamic Russia
Germany systematically exterminated 'inferior' people - including Jews		"Death to the Jews! Death to the great Satan America!" has been popularized by Islamic enthusiasts in Iran and elsewhere.

One-to-one match? Certainly not. I think the parallels are worth considering, though. I also think it would be well to think about what is at stake, if Americans and others decide to wait and see what the likes of Al Qaeda and the Taliban do next. Or, hope that these dedicated terrorists will become good and tolerant neighbors.

• "Israel solemnizes for Holocaust Remembrance Day"
  Xinhua, China - China View (April 30, 2008)
• "Holocaust Remembrance Day / Olmert: The voices of Holocaust deniers are being heard"
  HAARET.com (May 1, 2008)
• "On Holocaust Memorial Day, Israeli President Urges World to Control Iran"
  FoxNews (April 30, 2008)

(It's late in the day, April 30, 2008, as I'm writing this.)

---

¹ Yes, I know. That's English. Sort of. As far as I can tell, that's Dai Nippon Teikoku, phonetically, in Romanji. Or, in English, Great Imperial Japan, or officially the Empire of Greater Japan or maybe Greater Japanese Empire. But, more people know the outfit as Imperial Japan or the Japanese Empire. I could post the name in too character systems used in Japan, but you might not have the right font to handle them.

Jews Flee Iran, Fearing Persecution: Sound Familiar?

"Comparisons are odious,"¹ but I'll risk making this one.

"40 Iranian Jews Make Exodus from Iran, Arrive in Israel to Escape Dangers" (December 25, 2007) tells how, and why, these Jews left Iran.

One of the covert emigrants "told all his friends where he was going, and they wanted to come along. 'I was scared in Iran as a Jew,' he said. 'I would never be able to wear a skullcap in the streets there.' Others said they felt safe in Iran, discounting warnings that Jews could become targets."

Seeing that headline was "like deja vu all over again" for me. In April of 1933, Chancellor Hitler and his colleagues defined what they meant by "non-Aryan," and what they intended to do about people who weren't part of the herrenvolk.

About three quarters of a century ago, intellectuals and Jews started leaving Germany, before the Nazi regime made life unpleasant and brief.

Today, some Jews are leaving Iran for about the same reason.

There are obvious differences between 1933 and 2007.

For starters, the leaders of Iran aren't Aryan. Actually, they are, but not the way the Nazis used the term.

On the other hand, then and now, nominally-democratic regimes with clearly-defined philosophies are removing people, and ideas, that their leaders don't like.

I'm seriously concerned.

---

¹ Samuel Johnson (1709-1784). The quote, in context, is

"Asked by a Scot what Johnson thought of Scotland: 'That it is a very vile country, to be sure, Sir' 'Well, Sir! (replies the Scot, somewhat mortified), God made it.' Johnson: 'Certainly he did; but we must always remember that he made it for Scotchmen, and comparisons are odious, Mr. S------; but God made hell.' "
(Quotes on Scotland, The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page)

Johnson's witticism has been paraphrased to refer to Texas, as well as other places and topics.

"Islamo-Fascism Week" - Neo-Nazis! Commie Haters! Islamophobes! Racists!

Posters popped up at George Washington University (Washington, D.C.)

They made interesting reading.:

• "Hate Muslims? So do we."
• "typical Muslim" has features such as
  • "lasers from eyes"
  • "venom from mouth"
  • "suicide vest"
  • "hidden AK-47"
  • "peg-leg for smuggling children and heroin"
• "to find out more, come to Islamo-Fascism Week"

That's an excerpt, you get the picture. The posters had, presumably, been put up by Young America's Foundation, a conservative group, that is promoting the event.

"Hate Muslims? So do we" - What's Going On?

When I read excerpts from those posters, I thought that one of the genuinely wack nativist "conservative" groups was advertising their biases. Happily, I kept reading.

Islamo-Fascism Week is a series of discussions of which is being promoted by the conservative group, Young America's Foundation. Islamo-Fascism week is planned for dozens of campuses, including George Washington U. "Organizers — who are planning events at dozens of campuses — say that they are just trying to make students aware of the threats posed by radical Islam to the United States." ("Are You Ready for 'Islamo-Fascism Week'?," Inside Higher Ed (October 9, 2007))

At first glance, I thought that Young America's Foundation were tring to be funny, and failing miserably. George Washington U. officials ripped the posters down - an understandable move - and enraged students with more traditional views.

Hats off to Inside Higher Ed. Their article included a link to a Web page about Islamo-Fascism Week by the event's sponsor, Terrorism Awareness Project (TAP).

More remarkable, Inside Higher Ed posted a long quote from the TAP page:

"The purpose of this protest is as simple as it is crucial: to confront the two Big Lies of the political left: that George Bush created the war on terror and that Global Warming is a greater danger to Americans than the terrorist threat. Nothing could be more politically incorrect than to point this out. But nothing could be more important for American students to hear. In the face of the greatest danger Americans have ever confronted, the academic left has mobilized to create sympathy for the enemy and to fight anyone who rallies Americans to defend themselves. According to the academic left, anyone who links Islamic radicalism to the war on terror is an 'Islamophobe.' According to the academic left, the Islamo-fascists hate us not because we are tolerant and free, but because we are 'oppressors.' "

I'm going to repeat two points from that quote.

According to the academic left:

• Anyone who links Islamic radicalism to the war on terror is an 'Islamophobe.'
• The Islamo-fascists hate us not because we are tolerant and free, but because we are 'oppressors.'

I spent quite a bit of the sixties near a college, and the seventies and eighties on campus: those attitudes and beliefs are very familiar to me.

Back to the Posters

According to the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at George Washington University, the posters "were incorrectly attributed to a conservative student organization called Young America's Foundation (YAF), and the GW chapter of YAF denied any involvement with the posters. Seven GW students later confessed to having put up the posters to create awareness about the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week (IFAW) that YAF will be hosting at the end of this month."

The MSA has their own event, scheduled during the same week: "We would like everyone to know that the MSA values the first amendment right to freedom of speech a does not look to prevent the occurrence of Islamo-fascism Awareness Week (IFAW). Moreover, the MSA in cooperation with GW PeaceFORUM, Islamic Alliance for Justice and the Arab Student Association campus will be hosting an educational outreach program , “Peace…not Prejudice”(PnP), that hopes to advance campus dialogue and provide a platform for constructive academic discourse. Peace…not Prejudice is a nationwide program guided by MSA National and is being hosted at 50 other college campuses during the week of IFAW."

Hats off to the MSA at George Washington University. Instead of claiming that Islamo-Fascism Week is an attack on them, they're setting up their own discussions. These could be "constructive."

Red Scare, Neo-Nazis, Racists, and All That

I'm not so impressed by remarks like "Islamo-fascism Awareness Week polarizes the campus community and keeps stereotypes alive. ...The most glaring indication that the program has a sinister motive is in the name itself. By branding the week as 'Islamo-Fascism,' it immediately sets up a charged atmosphere targeting a group of people based on race and religion. It also immediately simplifies very complex issues into the current stereotypes of terrorism perpetuated by media and pundits.

"These events are reminiscent of the Red Scare Era, when fear of Communism swept across the nation." (The Daily Californian (October 16, 2007))

So, if you don't agree that conservative concerns about Islamic terrorism are legitimate, you're a McCarthyite? To be fair, The Daily Californian doesn't quite say that.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said that "the main speaker for an upcoming series of "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" lectures at university campuses nationwide recently offered a keynote address at a European gathering that included representatives of racist or "neo-Nazi" political parties." (PR Newswire (October 21, 2007)

That "European gathering" seems to be the 'Counterjihad Brussels 2007' conference in Belgium, attended by those with links to far-right parties such as Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang (Belgium) and Ted Ekeroth of Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden). Both parties have been accused of either having a racist platform, a neo-Nazi past or having links to neo-Nazis and other racists.

I emphasized "have been accused of." Let's remember that it's an accusation. Just an accusation. I could accuse Nancy Pelosi of being a space alien, or an agent provocateur in the pay of North Korea, but that wouldn't mean that such (lunatic) accusations are true. Lets remember: Accusation isn't proof.

Debate Not Wanted

On the other hand, accusation can be very effective at stopping debate. Provided that the accusations involve emotionally charged words and phrases, and that the accusers what I'll call momentum: a history of people reacting in predictable ways.

"Nazi," "racist," "Red Scare:" these are emotionally-charged words. "Islamophibic" or "Islamophobe" promise to become equally effective; provided that they are repeated often enough over the next several years.

After all, nobody wants to be 'phobic' - that isn't 'mature.'

I see much of the outcry against "Islamo-Fascism Week" as an effort to suppress discussion on college and university campuses. My experience has been that there is a well-defined set of acceptable beliefs in American higher education, and that opposing views are most certainly not welcome.

This is just a suggestion, but: If you read or hear about those neo-Nazi, Commie-hating racist islamophobes at "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week," take a deep breath and think before forming an opinion.

Related posts, on censorship, propaganda, and freedom of speech.
Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.

'Hitler Was Right,' and Other Wisdom from Iran

"Chairman of the Assembly of Experts:" Now that's an impressive title. You'd expect remarkable insights and wisdom to come from someone like that.

And, you'd be right.

Former president of Iran Hashemi Rafsanjani is Chairman of the Assembly of Experts these days. Last Friday, in a religious message, Rafsanjani said that former German chancellor Hitler had the right idea about the Jews in Europe.

Rafsanjani said that Jews made trouble for European governments because they "had a lot of property" and "controlled an empire of propaganda." According to the former Iranian president, the Nazis saved Europe from the 'evil of Zionism.'

I said "remarkable insights," not "true." And you have to admit that 'Hitler was right' is a pretty remarkable statement.

Now that Russian president Putin is patching up relations with Iran, I'm pretty sure that we'll soon hear about how wise it would be to talk with Iran's government. Maybe so, but I hope that our leaders will bear in mind what the people who run Iran believe.

For those so inclined, there's a video: "Hashemi Rafsanjani, chairman of the Iranian Assembly of Experts: Hitler Wanted to Expel Jews from Europe Because They Were a Pain in the Neck".

Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred

Professor Ward Churchill: Victim of Neocons, or Plagiarist?

Ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill is out of a job, at least for now.

Professor Ward Churchill achieved national fame in September of 2001, when he wrote an essay titled "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" in which he compared "technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire" working in the World Trade Center as "little Eichmanns," a professorial quote taken from a Wikipedia article.

In 2003, Professor Churchill wrote a prize-winning book entitled "On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: reflections on the consequences of U.S. imperial arrogance and criminality" (ISBN 1-902593-79-0). (Again, thanks to Wikipedia for bringing this information together.)

A Denver Post headline in today's paper announces another milestone in professor Churchill's career: "CU regents vote to fire Churchill" (also published online in the Post's "movies" folder).

The Post gave a number of views on the firing. The paper quotes Emma Perez, associate professor of ethnic studies: "I'm disappointed because the University of Colorado and the regents have succombed (!) to the political agenda of the neo-conservatives."

It's true that U of C, Boulder, was encouraged to take a closer-than-usual look at Professor Churchill and his work after he wrote that essay, comparing some of the 9/11 victims to Nazi leaders.

The free-speech aspect of the colorful ethnic studies professor was dealt with early. An Associated Press article, repeated on the FOXNews.com pages, said, "Churchill's essay mentioning Sept. 11 victims and Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann prompted a chorus of demands for his firing, but university officials concluded it was protected speech under the First Amendment." (Emphasis is mine.)

Professor Ward Churchill was, and is, perfectly within his rights to call the people whose bones are still being picked out of New York City's hair Nazis. The freedom to say outrageous things is guaranteed by the Constitution.

I doubt, however, that we'll be hearing much about the way the university went to bat for his right to call terrorism victims Nazis.

According to the Denver Post, David Lane, Churchill's lawyer, said:

"...'I told them (the regents) we are at a crossroads, and that they will do irreparable damage to academic free speech if they fire him.

"The world will perceive that he was fired for his free speech.'..."
(Denver Post)

That's likely enough. The actual reasons for his firing were much more prosaic, and don't reflect well on the politically correct parts of the academic world.

Even today, academic professionals are expected to tell the truth, and not claim credit for what someone else did. Professor Ward Churchill had earned a reputation for telling scholarly whoppers, and plagiarizing the works of others.

All in a good cause, I'm sure.

Buried much deeper in the Denver Post article were a few paragraphs that discussed the academic reasons for Churchill's firing.

(Warning: some of what follows violates what "everybody knows" on at least some college campuses.)

"...It soon became clear that Churchill's scholarship had been questioned for years by other professors. Thomas Brown of Lamar University in Texas had long challenged Churchill's assertion that early European settlers of North America had intentionally spread smallpox among Indians by handing out infected blankets.

"Eventually, other revelations about Churchill became public, including that his hiring bypassed most of CU's normal processes for awarding tenure and that he had no proof of his claimed American Indian ancestry, which was the foundation of his hiring.

"Ultimately, a CU faculty committee charged Churchill with inaccurately describing historical facts in some of his writings - including the smallpox case...."
(Denver Post)

(I'll get back to the "smallpox case" momentarily.)

The FOXNews.com article goes into rather more detail, but both the Denver Post and AP seem to agree on the basics.

Churchill was accused of plagiarism, falsification and other things that professors shouldn't do, by three faculty committees.

These "research allegations" go back to other learned writings made by Churchill. His "September 11" essay is involved only in that it raised such a stink that U of C, Boulder, was forced to take a serious look at the ethnic studies professor's work.

"The decision was really pretty basic," said university President Hank Brown in the AP article. President Brown added that the school had little choice but to fire Churchill to, in the words of the Associated Press, "protect the integrity of the university's research."

"The individual did not express regret, did not apologize, did not indicate a willingness to refrain from this type of falsification in the future," Brown said.

The falsification mentioned is a bit of academic mythology which I first encountered some time during the 1970s. At that time, "everybody knew" that American Indians were deliberately killed off by smallpox-infected blankets.

The AP article says, in part:

"...Brown had recommended in May that the regents fire Churchill after faculty committees accused him of misconduct in some of his academic writing. The allegations included misrepresenting the effects of federal laws on American Indians, fabricating evidence that the Army deliberately spread smallpox to Mandan Indians in 1837, and claiming the work of a Canadian environmental group as his own...."
(Associated Press)

All of that is rather boring, though. I expect that by the time I get this post finished, about 10:40 pm Central time in the States, tales of political oppression, neocon plots, and the total loss of freedom of speech will be the crisis du jur for many netizens.

In the news:

• "Regents vote to fire Churchill"
  Tom McGhee, Denver Post (July 24, 2007)
• "University of Colorado Board Votes to Fire Embattled Professor Ward Churchill"
  Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (July 24, 2007)

Another Islamic Voice in the Debate

This isn't helpful, in my opinion.

Congressman Keith Ellison, speaking to a gathering of atheists, said "You'll always find this Muslim standing up for your right to be atheists," according to an article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "Atheists applaud Ellison's views on Cheney, Libby, 9/11"

So far, so good. The freedom to believe, or not believe, what you want is an important part of the freedom we enjoy in the States.

Congressman Ellison also said something that I don't think is helpful in Islamic/non-Islamic relations.

A direct quote from the Star-Tribune article would, I think, be better than my paraphrase.

"On comparing Sept. 11 to the burning of the Reichstag building in Nazi Germany: 'It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it and it put the leader of that country [Hitler] in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted. The fact is that I'm not saying [Sept. 11] was a [U.S.] plan, or anything like that because, you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box -- dismiss you.' "
(Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

While Congressman Ellison did a fine job of implying that the U.S. blew up the Twin Towers without actually saying that this was the case, his meaning is quite clear.

I applaud Congressman Ellison's technical skill as a communicator, but believe that his remarks will, in the long run, not help the average non-Muslim see those of his faith in a positive light.

Keith Ellison posts:

• Keith Ellison, Iraqi Sheikhs, and Islam's Image (August 3, 2007)
• This Keith Ellison Story Might Take Off (July 27, 2007)
• Congressman Keith Ellison and Islam (July 22, 2007)
• Rep. Ellison's Misconstrued Reichstag Remarks (July 17, 2007)
• There's a New Loon in Minnesota (July 16, 2007)
• Another Islamic Voice in the Debate (July 16, 2007)

As the first Islamic member of the American Congress, Representative Ellison deserves some attention. There may be more K.E. posts, given his colorful past associations and current talent for getting in the news.

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.