Bernard Lewis and his admirers today celebrate his 95th birthday. I saw him in April in Princeton and he was in fine form. (In fact, Bari Weiss of the Wall Street Journal had interviewed him just the day before:
http://goo.gl/T9Wu9.) Lewis remains the best source on himself. At the link, an autobiographic reflection he published a few years ago. Happy B'day, Bernard!
Introduction to 'From Babel to Dragomans' by Bernard Lewisdocs.google.com
"I first set foot in the school as an undergraduate student in 1933. Already then I was not entirely a newcomer to Middle Eastern studies..."
Posted on 31 May 2011
with
The Harvard Crimson, in its 1986 (25-year) reunion issue, revisits the Nadav Safran affair (CIA money at its Middle East center). "An academic institution should not be funded by a secret service," says the current center director. But the issue now is whether academe should be funded by foreign despotic regimes and oil sheikhs. Harvard has millions in that money, but the Crimson doesn't ask the question.
Controversy Erupts Over Professors' Ties to the CIA | Harvard Crimsonwww.thecrimson.com
"25 years later, the ethical questions raised by the Safran controversy continue to define and shape the way Harvard approaches research sponsorship."
Posted on 30 May 2011
with
Lee Smith quotes me: "If Obama says the status quo is unsustainable," say I, "and won't do anything to sustain it, then Washington, like Iran, is an anti-status quo power. Others have to take it upon themselves to defend the status quo." And Lee adds: "That an Israeli leader makes the case for American exceptionalism better than Obama is a signal that Washington has forsaken its traditional role in the Mideast."
A Coming Arab Winter? by Lee Smith | Weekly Standardwww.weeklystandard.com
"Netanyahu was only the first to state the obvious in public, but other US allies, like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, convinced that the Americans are living in a fantasy world, are also starting to strike out on their own."
Posted on 29 May 2011
with
Rami Khouri claims Bibi blew it: "Analysts, columnists and ordinary Americans alike started asking if they should put up with a foreign leader lecturing the president in the White House, and wondering if their Congress represents American or Israeli interests in the Middle East." If Rami thinks so, he's truly ignorant of ordinary Americans. They vastly prefer Israel and Bibi to Abbas and Hamas. It’s that simple.
Netanyahu was powerful, and misguided by Rami Khouri | Daily Starwww.dailystar.com.lb
"Netanyahu the brash star performer in Washington, may be seen as a political jerk, in Israel and in the US."
Posted on 28 May 2011
with
As those with longer memories will recall, I was the senior Middle East advisor to the last Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign (
http://goo.gl/Cq1op). Now his associates say he's thinking of another run....
Rudy Giuliani leads new national poll | Politicowww.politico.com
"A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll shows the former New York City mayor atop the slow-forming Republican primary field."
Posted on 27 May 2011
with
"Netanyahu beat Obama like a red-headed stepchild; he played him like a fiddle; he pounded him like a big brass drum. The Prime Minister of Israel danced rings around his arrogant, professorial opponent. It was like watching the Harlem Globetrotters go up against the junior squad from Miss Porter's School; like watching Harvard play Texas A&M, like watching Bambi meet Godzilla—or Bill Clinton run against Bob Dole."
The Dreamer Goes Down For The Count by Walter Russell Mead | Via Meadiablogs.the-american-interest.com
"Bibi dropped the C-Bomb, demonstrating to the whole world that the Prime Minister of Israel has substantially more support in both the House and the Senate than the President of the United States."
Posted on 26 May 2011
with
Stanley Kurtz, author of "Radical-in-Chief," revisits Obama's Palestinian ties (and quotes me a few times in the process). His conclusion: "Decades of intimate alliances in a hard-Left world are a great deal harder to fake than a few years of speeches at AIPAC conferences. The real Obama is the first Obama, and depending on how the next presidential election turns out, we're going to meet him again in 2013."
Pro-Palestinian-in-Chief by Stanley Kurtz | National Review Onlinewww.nationalreview.com
"The continuing influence of Obama's pro-Palestinian sentiments is the best way to make sense of the president's recent tilt away from Israel."
Posted on 26 May 2011
with
Tunisia's Islamist guru Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi is making prophecies now that he's back in Tunis basking in the "Arab (read: Islamist) Spring." Quote: "I bring glad tidings that the Arab region will get rid of the germ of Israel. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader of the Hamas movement, once said that Israel would disappear before 2027. That date may be too far off; Israel may disappear before that." Moderate, right?
راشد الغنوشي زعيم حركة النهضة الإسلامية التونسية www.alarab.com.qa
أبشرك بأن المنطقة العربية ستتخلص من جرثومة إسرائيل، لقد قال الشيخ أحمد ياسين زعيم حركة «حماس» إن إسرائيل ستزول قبل عام 2027، وأقول إن هذا التاريخ قد يكون بعيدا، وربما تزول إسرائيل قبل ذلك
Posted on 26 May 2011
with
Ethan Bronner's NYT piece is headlined: "Israelis See Netanyahu Trip as Diplomatic Failure." But then we turn to Yossi Verter's item in Haaretz (
http://goo.gl/V5lLp), with this headline: "Haaretz poll: Netanyahu's popularity soaring following Washington trip." Specifically, "47% of the Israeli public believes the US trip was a success, while only 10% viewed it as a failure." It's NYT reportage that's a failure.
Israelis See Netanyahu Trip as Diplomatic Failure by Ethan Bronner | NYTwww.nytimes.com
"Netanyahu returned to a nearly unanimous assessment among Israelis that hopes were dashed that his visit might advance peace negotiations with the Palestinians."
Posted on 26 May 2011
with
Congrats to Bibi! You know you're doing it just right if you've caused media twerp Fareed Zakaria to put a voodoo curse of frustration on you. Bibi is "a man who will be bypassed by history," who "will be remembered only as a person before the person who made peace, a comma in history." So Zakaria sees into the future! The Prophet Zechariah returned! Well, who's to say that comma won't turn out to be... Obama?
Where Netanyahu fails himself and Israel by Fareed Zakaria | WaPowww.washingtonpost.com
"While Bibi might sound like Churchill, he acts like a local ward boss, far more interested in holding onto his post than using it to secure Israel's future."
Posted on 26 May 2011
with
