By most accounts, American Sniper depicts its Arab Iraqi subjects in a simplistic and shallow fashion. No one has accused director Clint Eastwood of portraying the Arab characters of the film in a manner that is nuanced or layered. And I don’t mean to be too elementary, but that is really all that matters. When […]
Month: January 2015
Why is Netanyahu crashing Congress?
The prime minister of Israel is coming to visit us. He’s not coming to meet with President Obama. He’s not coming to see Secretary of State Kerry. He’s not coming to give a lecture at a university or at a conference on international affairs. And he’s not coming to speak to some pro-Israel American organization. […]
Where do I apply for “terrorism expert”?
Terrorism. Islamic terrorism. Islamism. Jihadism. ISIS. Al-Qaeda. AQAP. Muhammad. Or just Islam. It is the top story in the news. In order to fully inform us, CNN, Fox News and the like feed us a long line of “terrorism experts.” Sometimes they even present three or four of them at once, creating an “expert roundtable.” […]
I refuse to condemn
I refuse to condemn. I refuse to condemn ISIS. I refuse to condemn Paris. I refuse to condemn 9/11. I refuse to condemn, not because I don’t condemn, but because you so badly want me to. I refuse to condemn something that you don’t condemn because it’s so damn obvious that you condemn it. I […]