Lawrence Swaim
http://www.muzzlewatch.com/?p=188
#13
# Lawrence Swaim, Executive Director, Interfaith Freedom Foundation Says:
May 31st, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Cecilie,
How about mud wrestling on Harvard Yard?
Boys only. Sorry, Cecilie.
Seriously, I’m afraid Trivers went over the line in his WSJ letter. In my world, offering to pay someone a personal visit is considered threatening, although I certainly heard worse when I was in union politics. But Dersh was probably within his rights to call the cops. We all need to take a giant step backwards where this kind of talk is concerned.
There was no reason to cancel the speaking engagement, however.
This might be a good time to congratulate you for the tone you’ve established at Muzzlewatch. Objectivity bordering on actual civility! What a novel and exciting idea…and you’ve developed that objective reportorial stances in dealing with the explosive twin issues of Israel/Palestine and the US Israel Lobby, no less. That’s a real accomplishment.
I feel sorry for all those angry guys out there in the blogosphere, but you’re on to something, Cecilie–it’s such a pleasure to come in out of all that self-righteousness and histrionics to read a considered opinion or a summary about something as complicated as the Middle East.
Incidentally, look for my feature article in the Muslim newspaper InFocus, about MEMRI, in the June issue just coming out. Researching it I found out something rather intriguing about MEMRI’s approach to copyright law…but you’ll just have to read the article to find out what it is.
Anyway, thanks for a wonderful blog and a wonderful organization. Jewish Voice for Peace embodies the best of the democratic left with the prophetic voice of the Abrahamic tradition. Keep on keepin’ on, and keep on speaking truth to power!
In your case, you always seem to do it with civility. What a treat!
Lawrence Swaim
Interfaith Freedom Foundation
P.O. Box 133
Fremont CA 94537
510-745-8178
Also this:
http://www.jihadchat.com/index.php?act=Print&client=printer&f=6&t=1832
Posted by: jack Apr 10 2007, 06:40 PM
AN INTERFAITH VIEW: DRIVING ISLAMOPHOBIA - TOP
Lawrence Swaim, InFocus, 4/10/07
http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/10954/135/
“In the 1950s, ultra-conservatives torpedoed their critics by calling them Communist. Today the same tactic is used against Muslim organizations by calling them apologists for terrorism. And like the 1950s, the intent of the ultra-conservatives today is to distract the public from their own undemocratic maledictions. As the French say, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
It was a déjà vu all over again, too, when Republicans in the House of Representatives asked Nancy Pelosi to deny the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR) a capital conference room for a seminar. If religious McCarthyism is the intent of House Republicans, so is their ultimate political intent. They want to peel off Jewish voters from the Democratic base, moving them to the right by an appeal to Islamophobia. That was precisely the strategy behind Karl Rove’s gambit of putting Daniel Pipes on the Board of Directors at the Institute of Peace. This latest move also aims to expose the Democratic leadership as unprincipled flip-floppers by hassling Nancy Pelosi until she caves in to their demands. The Republicans want more votes and money from the pro-Israel lobby, while driving the Dems crazy by threatening their base.
So how does one react to terror-baiting? Go on the offensive. The more you try to explain that you’re not a terrorist, the more the Islamophobes will control the discussion. Single out your most vulnerable attackers by name and sue them for defamation. Then show how they and their friends are undermining religious liberty in America, and how their political posturing is based on religious bigotry. Show how they support authoritarian government, torture and the Iraq war. Root your arguments in religious and political pluralism, the American constitution, and the American way of life. Show how religious McCarthyism helps the terrorists and besmirches America’s good name in the Muslim and Arabic-speaking worlds. Insist that it endangers the lives of our young people in uniform. Fight back with everything in your legal and rhetorical arsenal.
Secondly, we need to find better ways of confronting the underlying problem that drives Islamophobia in America. It’s all about Israel, folks, and the way Jews and Muslims get defined by various contending parties to that issue. More than anything we need a frank and open national debate about Israel/Palestine and the future of American foreign policy, but we’ll never get there until we confront the pro-Israel lobby head-on. “