I was out for most of the day today, and the accumulation of email during my absence is astounding. I’m still trying to catch up. I’ve been working on a big project which I had hoped to post tonight, but it looks like it will be delayed.
Use this comment thread to leave interesting tidbits of news, or argue amongst yourselves. Please observe basic civility, however — pretend Miss Manners is watching. Or maybe Big Brother.
I love this blog because it is a haven for free speech, except for when said speech is critical of Jews/Zionists (see previous post).
This interview with the Chief Rabbi of the nearly-vanished Yemenite Jewish community in today’s Jerusalem Post:
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=202434
This interview follows the set pattern of severely oppressed individuals granted a smattering of free speech. While the rabbi gives continual thanks to the Yemeni president, it is clear that the Jews of Yemen are on the brink of extinction. Notice that their main Jewish connection is the Satmar hassidim–probably this is because Satmar anti-Zionism gives them a certain legitimacy with the Yemeni regime. The rabbi also reveals that Yemenite Jews no longer have a synagogue or means of livelihood, a situation reminiscent of refuseniks in the FSU.
Considering the history of the Jews of Yemen and their rich cultural heritage, this is a pathetic end for one of the most distinctive Jewish communities in the world.
Here is a brief video which gives a glimpse into Jewish Yemeni culture: http://vimeo.com/9690999
Best,
Chanah Shapira
Sweden Israel and the Jews
http://swedenisrael.blogspot.com/
I also want to add that I’m very grateful for this site, which allows me to express myself freely and educates me also.
I have always felt no shame in favoring a Western perspective on myself, the world, and other peoples. I have been grateful every day of my life that I was born in the West, educated in Western schools to a Western tradition.
I learned contempt for anger and unrestrained emotion, and learned to have faith in reason, both as the solver of problems and the uniter of humanity.
White Westerners have truly become the Native Americans of the Post Post-Modern Era.
For a good six years I was a regular — some might say intense or obsessive — reader of Jihad Watch. It was the first thing I did in the morning with my first cup of coffee, for at least an hour if not two; and often time permitting throughout the day I’d revisit it to check up on threads still hot with interesting discussions, on- or off-topic, as well as its main page of continually breaking stories about the horrible things Muslims were churning out, or the dismaying things our Dhimmis were saying or doing in order to try to deny those horrible things.
During those years, I periodically visited other sites for this overarching subject of the problem of Islam — Diana West, Lawrence Auster, Gates of Vienna, and others — but mostly only fitfully.
One reason I tended to steer clear of Gates of Vienna was a slow connection I had which took forever to load its richly laden page. Now that, and my marriage, so to speak, with Jihad Watch, has changed, and I have discovered as a late bloomer how substantial this blog is — particularly with its world, and European, coverage (earning its recent award in that category). In light of that, I also appreciate one particular facet that distinguishes it from Jihad Watch: its attention to certain individuals (cough! Filip Dewinter) and groups (cough! Vlaams Belang) who have long been functional pariahs at the aforementioned site due to its director’s gingerly timidity.
As for the degree of respect of free speech at Gates of Vienna, it seems to me, so far, from my limited experience, to be about slightly above average (likely better than Jihad Watch). I’ve always been puzzled and amused (when not irritated), however, by blogs and forums that delete posts or ban people at all. I don’t see the point of restricting any speech, unless it is 1,000-word pure spam or multiple posts beyond a reasonable number, or the like. But we all know that’s not the kind of thing that usually gets censored/deleted/banned on forums and blogs. It’s usually some kind of content, deemed verboten. If anything should be verboten, so saith my two cents, it should be such restrictions of free speech by blog and forum owners.
I mean, if readers aren’t mature enough to ignore what’s nonsense, vulgar, or flakey and if they don’t have a mouse or a down arrow to use for scrolling (along with an unremarkably useful eye to guide their navigation downward), then maybe they shouldn’t be on the Internet at all.
The Hesperado