Those “Drowned Out” Zionists

Posted on by under activism, cancel culture, Fatwas, Neutrality and Complicity, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine

Joshua Leifer’s “Conflictedly Connected” Liberal Zionist Center

The well-regarded left Zionist writer Joshua Leifer has a much fawned-over piece in Ha’aretz that’s been adopted in some quarters as the expression of profound wisdom. In it he argues that there’s a “conflictedly connected” Zionist quasi-left “majority” that’s been “drowned out” by the extremist voices of the “ultra-hawkish right” and the “anti-Zionist left.” If only this “conflictedly connected” majority could be liberated from the shackles placed on it by these twin extremists, the Golden Mean would prevail, and virtue would flourish on the topic of Israel and Palestine. Continue reading →

Questions for Princeton Council (1)

Posted on by under activism, Fatwas

Public Comments and “Disruptions”
My name is Irfan Khawaja. I’m a resident of Princeton. I have a question for the Council, to which I request a forthright answer.

There’s a video now in the public domain which shows Councilwoman Fraga at the New Jersey League of Municipalities conference in Atlantic City, disclosing that this Council made a decision to move public comments to the end of the meeting in order to forestall disruptions. 

This is what she said, verbatim.  Continue reading →

The Immigrant Trust Tour: Three Wins

Posted on by under activism, migrant defense

A quick update from the Immigrant Trust Tour: we’ve just had three Immigrant Trust Act (ITA) resolutions passed here in New Jersey in the last few weeks. The first was at the Somerset County Board of County Commissioners in Somerville (Nov. 12, unanimous), the second, at the Mercer County Board of County Commissioners in Trenton (Nov. 24, unanimous), and the third passed tonight at Clifton City Council (Dec. 2, 4-3). Mercer County was friendly and receptive, but Clifton was a tough battle–contentious and occasionally hostile. I wasn’t privy to goings-on at Somerset. In any case, three wins. Continue reading →

Out in the Cold

Posted on by under slices of life

It’s a good day, just really cold. I go to the gym. I get my hair cut. I go to the public library, and get some books to read. On my way out, I stop by an exhibit displayed with great pride in the lobby: the municipality is tearing down the lo-fi flyer kiosks in town and replacing them with hi-tech versions, at an estimated cost of $80,000. Stupid, I think. Expensive, vain, and pointless–but typical.

It’s dark now, and even colder than it was when I left the house–somewhere in the 30s. I’m annoyed at the prospect of having to bike home in the cold, but it’s festive in the square, and for a minute or two, even I manage to feel a bit of holiday cheer, Scrooge that I am. Continue reading →

If You Want Blood

Posted on by under Fatwas, Memorials and Obituaries, migrant defense, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine

Do yourself a favor. Go back and re-read the Declaration of Independence, but do it this way: skip the beginning and the end, and read the bill of particulars in the middle. It’s too long to quote here. You really just have to read it for yourself. Once you do, you’ll see that details aside, we’re living in the very world that the Declaration describes, excoriates, and uses as the basis of its declaration of war. Virtually everything in it is something that our present government is doing to us. Like the people of British North America ca. 1776, we are a people under military occupation. Continue reading →

Viewpoint Diversity: A Convo with the Dean

Posted on by under Uncategorized

You’re an academic. Your Dean walks in. 

“We need viewpoint diversity,” she says. 

“OK,” you say. She’s your boss. She’s obviously just read some bullshit in CHE about viewpoint diversity, and feels the need to start Deaning. Deaning demands faculty uptake, so you’d better answer. “So what do we do?”

It’s a kosher question. As it stands, her claim has no action-guiding implications. We could need viewpoint diversity, but we might already have it. Or we might have too much of it. Or we might need more. “We need it” doesn’t resolve any of that. 

“Well, we need more,” she says. It’s a non-sequitur, but you let it go. “Pretending that stupid shit isn’t stupid” is your career-long coping strategy. It’s worked so far.
Continue reading →

Institutional Neutrality Meets Viewpoint Diversity

Posted on by under Neutrality and Complicity

“Viewpoint diversity” is the view that institutions of higher education ought to cultivate a wide range of perspectives on campus to ensure that inquiry on campus proceeds in an open and lively way. It may sound to some like a truism, but it’s meant as more than a truism. If taken in the latter way, it is by definition and intention a controversial doctrine. Continue reading →

The Immigrant Trust Tour: Tensions in Clifton

Posted on by under activism, migrant defense, Neutrality and Complicity

Readers of this blog may remember my earlier posts on the campaign for an Immigrant Trust Act (ITA) resolution in Clifton, New Jersey (Nov 5 and Nov 18). As mentioned in the latter post, I attended the November 5 meeting, but had to miss the November 12 one due to a scheduling issue. This is a guest post by my friend Jeff Hoey of Clifton, describing the November 12 meeting. Here is a link to the (tendentious, editorializing) Clifton Times piece Jeff mentions. Continue reading →

Zionism as Incest

Posted on by under Palestine

“Do not perform the practices of the land of Egypt in which you dwelled, and do not perform the practice of the land of Canaan to which I bring you, and do not follow their traditions.” –Leviticus 18:3

Many people will by now have seen Sarah Hurwitz’s jeremiad at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, complaining about Israel’s having lost the narrative war on social media. Hurwitz is a former Obama speechwriter, and the epitome of Democratic centrism. Her comments are notable, not for any great insight they contain or wisdom they impart, but for demonstrating just how illogical and uninformed you can be while conveying the reverse impression for decades, and while making a fabulous career for yourself in American life. They’re also an object lesson in the double standards of Zionist ideology, and what happens when a double standard collapses, as it must, into incoherent hysteria. Continue reading →

An Immigrant Trust Resolution for West Orange

Posted on by under activism, migrant defense

Model Resolution Being Sought for West Orange
I was pleased to hear from Mayor Susan McCartney that West Orange is seeking a model ITA resolution to present to the West Orange Council for a vote.

Right now, only one member of the Council, Joyce Rudin, has explicitly expressed support for a resolution. My hope is to get some West Orange residents to join me in making the case to the Council, whether in person or by email. Please contact me by email if interested: khawajaenator at gmail. Or feel free to take the initiative on your own.

Continue reading →