A reader reminds me that, although the DU posts are indeed the product of a far left fringe – and equally repugnant posts can be founf on far right sites – the mentality is not completely alien to contemporary left-wing politics. Here’s Salon’s executive editor, Gary Kamiya, in April of this year:
I have a confession: I have at times, as the war has unfolded, secretly wished for things to go wrong. Wished for the Iraqis to be more nationalistic, to resist longer. Wished for the Arab world to rise up in rage. Wished for all the things we feared would happen. I’m not alone: A number of serious, intelligent, morally sensitive people who oppose the war have told me they have had identical feelings.
Serious, intelligent – but not morally serious, I’m afraid.
AL-JAZEERAAAHHI recently gave the impression that a particularly deranged piece of anti-Semitism published on a website called “Al-Jazeerah” was related to Al-Jazeera, the Baathist/Islamist/Loony broadcasting service. I was wrong, as a reader reminds me:
Regarding your post titled “Anti-Semitism Watch I,” the site where this appeared, “Al Jazeerah.info,” is, in fact, not associated with the Al Jazeerah network, but is run by a man named Hassan El Najjar, who is an associate professor of sociology at Dalton State College in Georgia. I’ve run into Mr. El Najjar’s site before, but from the looks of things, he is getting a bit more sophisticated in his deception. However, he at least now notes at the bottom of his page that he is not associated with “Saudi or Qatari websites with similar names;” this wasn’t the case some months ago (Jeez, even the guy’s disclaimer’s are somewhat disingenuous). In addition, please note that he has evidently also acquired the web address “Amazonepress.com.”
Thanks for the correction.
The Dish 