By Daniel Pipes

Palestinian Anarchy, Post-Arafat Since chaos in the Palestinian Authority areas became acute in February 2004, I have been following it in a weblog entry titled "The Growing Palestinian Anarchy." But the out-of-control funeral for Yasir Arafat on Nov. 12 and then today the shooting up of his pretend-successor, Mahmoud Abbas, suggest that a new era has begun. I mark that with the start of a new blog. Here are some details, provided by Charles A. Radin of the Boston Globe:

Armed men from the radical Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades shot up a mourning tent for the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza City last night, killing two people, injuring at least 10, and sending thousands of mourners fleeing in panic. Mahmoud Abbas, the leading candidate to succeed Arafat, and Mohammed Dahlan, the man many hope will be able to calm the potentially violent power struggle now brewing among Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, both were inside the tent at the time.

A Palestinian at the scene, near a seaside presidential compound, said Abbas, who is general secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization and currently the most powerful man in Palestinian politics, was pushed to the ground and covered by security guards until he and Dahlan, a powerful local commander who was often at odds with Arafat, could be evacuated safely. A few hours earlier, Abbas had been nominated by the central committee of the PLO's dominant Fatah movement to succeed Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority. Elections were scheduled for Jan. 9.

With an estimated 100 armed men from the Brigades, Fatah, and various Palestinian security agencies involved in the clash, the toll could have been much higher.

Abbas told reporters in his local office, where he was taken after the incident, that "it was not an assassination attempt. Emotions were high. There was random gunfire and pushing in the crowd. . . . The shooting was not political, it was not personal; it was not against anybody."

But the boiling emotions, which seemed to reflect only grief at Arafat's passing when they got out of hand at the leader's funeral on Friday, last night seemed aimed at Abbas, even if the attackers did not try to kill him.

Witnesses said heavily armed, masked members of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who are changing the name of their organization to Al Yasser Brigades in memory of Arafat, paraded to the mourning tent around 3 yesterday afternoon. … They chanted: "Abu Mazen [Abbas] does not represent us. . . . Neither Dahlan, nor Abu Mazen represents us."

The marchers were led by a masked man who identified himself only by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed, and who told the crowd at the tent that the militants "will not allow anyone to surrender the rights of refugees or Jerusalem." … The marchers dispersed, but another group—members of the Brigades and of Fatah—showed up while Abbas was shaking hands with mourners outside the entrance to the tent. Some of them shouted "No to Abbas," and began firing their weapons in the air. Guards took Abbas into the tent. …

Al Aqsa Brigades units in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip rejected Abbas's nomination as Fatah's candidate to succeed Arafat. "We have only one representative," said a member of the Brigades, who refused to give his name. "He is Marwan Barghouthi. We asked the minister of justice and he said that Barghouthi can legally be a candidate even if he is in jail." The Fatah central committee, which nominated Abbas, "does not represent us. It has no backing from the street and from the Fatah base," he said. "Barghouthi has the backing of everybody except the central committee."

The shooting incident in Gaza was an ominous sign for senior officials who have formed an interim leadership to manage Palestinian affairs until the election is held. They have been trying hard to maintain calm and arrange a smooth transition to the post-Arafat era, but the chaos at Arafat's funeral and again last night showed just how shaky the peace is.

Comment: I have been predicting since Arafat took ill that his death will deepen the anarchy that has been brewing the past year. This remains a distinctly minority position but events such as the one described here may begin changing minds. (November 14, 2004)

Nov. 15, 2004 update: Arutz Sheva reports that two other clashes have taken place:

[On Nov. 11,] rival factions in PA-controlled Jericho were involved in street battles, with an unspecified number of persons taken to the hospital. Today, the PA city of Kalkilye was the scene of gun battles between rival terrorist groups. Preliminary reports indicated that a number of people were wounded in the clashes.

Arutz Sheva sees these three incidents as possibly "the first signs that previously sporadic battles are set to take a much more violent." Permalink

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U.S. Pressure for a Palestinian State I wrote an article earlier this week reminding readers that George W. Bush has ideas about a Palestinian state that could – assuming the Palestinians have a post-Arafat leadership quickly enough – lead to "the most severe crisis ever in U.S.-Israel relations."

Well, the process has already started, judging by the joint press conference Bush had today with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain. After briefly discussing Afghanistan and Iraq (note the predominant role of the Middle East), Bush said this:

Prime Minister Blair and I also share a vision of a free, peaceful, a democratic broader Middle East. That vision must include a just and peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict based on two democratic states—Israel and Palestine—living side-by-side in peace and security.

Our sympathies are with the Palestinian people as they begin a period of mourning. Yet the months ahead offer a new opportunity to make progress toward a lasting peace. Soon Palestinians will choose a new President. This is the first step in creating lasting democratic political institutions through which a free Palestinian people will elect local and national leaders.

We're committed to the success of these elections, and we stand ready to help. We look forward to working with a Palestinian leadership that is committed to fighting terror and committed to the cause of democratic reform. We'll mobilize the international community to help revive the Palestinian economy, to build up Palestinian security institutions to fight terror, to help the Palestinian government fight corruption, and to reform the Palestinian political system and build democratic institutions.

We'll also work with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to complete the disengagement plan from Gaza and part of the West Bank. These steps, if successful, will lay the foundation for progress in implementing the road map, and then lead to final status negotiations.

We seek a democratic, independent and viable state for the Palestinian people. We are committed to the security of Israel as a Jewish state. These objectives—two states living side-by-side in peace and security—can be reached by only one path: the path of democracy, reform, and the rule of law.

Bush went even further in the question-and-answer period:

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. With Yasser Arafat's death, what specific steps can Israel take to revive peace negotiations? And do you believe that Israel should implement a freeze on West Bank settlement expansion?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I believe that the responsibility for peace is going to rest with the Palestinian people's desire to build a democracy and Israel's willingness to help them build a democracy. I know we have a responsibility as free nations to set forth a strategy that will help the Palestinian people head toward democracy. I don't think there will ever be lasting peace until there is a free, truly democratic society in the Palestinian territories that becomes a state. And therefore, the responsibility rests with both the Palestinian people and the leadership which emerges, with the Israelis to help that democracy grow, and with the free world to put the strategy in place that will help the democracy grow.

PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: James.

Q Mr. President, can you say today that it is your firm intention that by the end of your second term in office, it is your goal that there should be two states—Israel and Palestine—living side-by-side?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think it is fair to say that I believe we've got a great chance to establish a Palestinian state, and I intend to use the next four years to spend the capital of the United States on such a state. I believe it is in the interest of the world that a truly free state develop. I know it is in the interests of the Palestinian people that they can live in a society where they can express their opinion freely, a society where they can educate their children without hate, a society in which they can realize their dreams if they happen to be an entrepreneur. I know it's in Israel's interest that a free state evolve on her border. There's no other way to have a lasting peace, in my judgment, unless we all work to help develop the institutions necessary for a state to emerge: civil society, based upon justice, free speech, free elections, the right for people to express themselves freely. The first step of that is going to be the election of a new president, and my fervent hope is that the president embraces the notion of a democratic state.

I hate to put artificial time frames on things; unfortunately I've got one on my existence as President. It's not artificial, it's actually real. And I'd like to see it done in four years. I think it is possible. I think it is possible.

There is more on this same topic in the press conference, but this suffices to show how determined the president is to see a Palestinian state emerge on his watch. Also, he is saying (along the lines of his June 2002 speech and the policy in Iraq) that if the Palestinians develop a democratic system, they will for sure live in harmony side-by-side with Israel. To which I say that if the Palestinians still retain their intent to destroy Israel, democracy cannot take place. Instead, the goal of U.S. policy should be to get the Palestinians to give up on this foul goal. (November 12, 2004) Permalink

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Scenes from Three Funerals: Arafat, Khomeini, Nasser The burying of Yasir Arafat today in Ramallah was a sight to behold. Here is an early description from the Associated Press:

Police fired wildly into the air to keep back the surging crowd at the West Bank compound known as the Muqata, where Arafat spent his last years as a virtual prisoner. … Officials tried for 25 minutes to open the helicopter door to remove the coffin onto a jeep that had plowed through the crowd to clear a path. As the coffin was carried toward the gravesite, police jumped on top of it, waved their arms and flashed the victory sign. People chanted, "With our blood and our soul we will redeem you Yasser Arafat!" Stretchers carried away two people who were trampled in the melee.

Mahmoud Abbas, the new head of the PLO, and Omar Suleiman, Egypt's director of intelligence, tried to emerge from the helicopter, but were kept back by the huge, chaotic crowd. … The red, white, green and black flag was ripped off the casket as it was carried through the crowd. The failure of police to control the pandemonium augured poorly for Palestinian hopes to maintain calm and order in the wake of Arafat's death.

But by the standards of the modern Middle East, this was small beer. The funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini was much larger and more chaotic. Here is a description I wrote soon after its occurrence in June 1989:

The death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini on June 4 was mourned by millions of his followers with an extravagance that surprised even the Iranian authorities. Time and again, funeral plans were disrupted by gigantic mobs unwilling to give way either to schedules or politicians. The scene in Tehran was one of unrelieved chaos. In the traditional Shi`i manner, men pounded their chests and flagellated themselves with chains. Some sacrificed sheep and some shouted, "We wish we were dead, so not to see our beloved imam dead." Others ran 25 miles to the cemetery. The grave dug for Khomeini's body was occupied by mourners who refused to leave. The authorities appealed to citizens to stay away from Khomeini's house and from the cemetery, but to no avail.

Fire trucks sprayed water on mourners in an effort to keep them from fainting in the intensity of the June heat and the press of humanity. According to official sources, 10,879 people were injured and received on-the-spot medical attention, 438 were taken to hospitals, and eight died in the crush to view Khomeini's body. In the cemetery, mourners climbed on buses the better to catch a glimpse of the body, and in one case the roof of a bus collapsed, injuring those sitting inside. `Ali Khamene'i, the president of the republic, could not even reach the special stand set up for dignitaries. The special stand for state officials and foreign dignitaries almost collapsed under pressure of the crowd.

The height of frenzy occurred at the gravesite itself. Bringing the body by land vehicle was out of the question, so it arrived by helicopter. The first time the helicopter landed, the crowd swarmed in and grabbed pieces of the shroud, causing the corpse actually to fall to the ground. After fifteen frantic minutes, the coffin was put back on the helicopter, which then bore the body away. In an attempt to thin out the crowd, it was announced that the funeral had been postponed by a day. The trick worked, as many went home. Then, six hours after the first attempt, a second effort at a helicopter landing was made. This time more guards were around and the body was placed in a metal casket. Still, it was not easy. As the Iranian news agency described it: "The grave was only ten meters away but the pushing and shoving of thousands made it seem like kilometers. It took ten terrible minutes to be able to put the casket down near the grave." Once the body had finally been buried, concrete blocks were placed on top of it.

Gamal Abdel Nasser's funeral on October 1, 1970 was not frenzied but memorable in a different way. Saïd K. Aburish in Nasser: The Last Arab, A Biography (New York: St. Martin's, 2004) introduces it with a quote from Sheriff Hatata, Nasser's political prisoner for four years: "Nasser's greatest achievement was his funeral. The world will never again see five million people crying together." Aburish goes on:

If people remember where they were when Kennedy was shot, then Sheriff Hatata's statement … holds true, as does the subsidiary fact that the world is unlikely to see anything like it again. … Five million mourners followed his cortege, and, like participants in an Irish wake, they told his life story in improvised, memorable chants. … Covering the story for CBS from Cairo, the greatest American broadcaster of the time, Walter Cronkite, was infected by the sense of the occasion, and for a moment he faltered. King Hussein of Jordan sobbed like a baby. Muammar Qaddafi of Libya fainted twice. Arafat shed silent tears while his trembling lips prayed.

Comment: The Middle East, I have said many a time, is a sick place politically. Nothing so exactly encapsulates its diseased qualities than these massive outpourings of grief for extremist murderers who grabbed power. (November 12, 2004) Permalink

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A Muslim Uprising in Holland? There have been larger Islamist attacks in the West – such as the two assaults on New York's World Trade Center and the Madrid train station bombings – but nothing has resembled the civil-war quality of the 15-hour standoff in The Hague, Holland, yesterday. Here is an account of what happened by Sebastian Rotella of the Los Angeles Times.

The confrontation in the Dutch city erupted about 2:45 a.m. when anti-terror police raided an apartment house in search of three extremists in a crackdown on Islamic networks that was launched after the slaying last week of filmmaker Theo van Gogh.

The suspects inside responded by hurling at least one hand grenade that wounded four police officers, two seriously, and barricading themselves in the apartment. They shouted at police: "We will decapitate you!" The two were among more than 100 suspected militants who had been monitored for some time by police in the Netherlands. One of the suspects was a Dutch convert to Islam who had been detained last year and released, according to a law enforcement official. …

As the standoff dragged on, hundreds of well-armed police flooded the working-class neighborhood, evacuating a street and deploying armored vehicles. The airspace over the city was temporarily closed. As dusk fell, special-weapons units stormed the building and captured the two suspects after firing shots that wounded the convert in the shoulder. But a careful search continued Wednesday night because police believed another suspect might be inside and were wary of booby traps. Another suspect related to the investigation was arrested in the city of Utrecht. Four suspects also were arrested in Amsterdam and one in Amersfoort.

Comment: The consequences of long ignoring the problem of radical Islam and its violent proclivities are now becoming clear, so clear that even those Dutch who would prefer not to see it are beginning to do so. The same process will inexorably follow in other countries. (November 11, 2004)

Nov. 12, 2004 update: One day later, one more major operation, the Associated Press reports, this time involving more than 200 police against the Kurdish extremist group, PKK, now renamed KONGRA-GEL, netting 38 persons.

Most of the arrests came in a sweep of an alleged paramilitary training camp near Boxtel. Police seized night vision goggles, packages of clothing intended to be sent abroad, instruction materials, passports and identity cards, prosecutors said.

"More than 20 people were being trained for armed conflict ... including terrorist attacks" a statement by prosecutors said. "Trainees were taught special war tactics." There were also indications that "a number of the trainees were destined for Armenia," it said. Other detainees allegedly arranged money transfers, passports and passed along information to PKK members in Turkey and Armenia, prosecutors said. The detainees, whose names were not released, included 33 men and five women.

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In Lieu of an Obituary for Yasir Arafat (1) President Bush made an appropriately reserved statement on the Palestinian's passing this evening:

The death of Yasser Arafat is a significant moment in Palestinian history. We express our condolences to the Palestinian people. For the Palestinian people, we hope that the future will bring peace and the fulfillment of their aspirations for an independent, democratic Palestine that is at peace with its neighbors. During the period of transition that is ahead, we urge all in the region and throughout the world to join in helping make progress toward these goals and toward the ultimate goal of peace.

It is important that the U.S. government now not send anyone to the Arafat funeral.

(2) To understand Arafat's legacy, there is no better to place to start than the listings of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel since 1965 – or well before the Israelis took control of the West Bank and Gaza. Here is a listing of the some of the more prominent atrocities during Arafat's first decade of terrorism, first as the head of Fatah and then the PLO:

Jan. 1, 1965: Fatah's first terror attack in Israel. (Other Palestinian armed groups had carried out many other terror attacks before this, however.)
July 5, 1965: Fatah plant explosives at Mitzpe Massua, near Beit Guvrin; and on the railroad tracks to Jerusalem near Kafr Battir.
1965-67: A wave of Fatah bomb attacks target Israeli villages, water pipes, railroads. Homes are destroyed and Israelis are killed.
Feb. 21, 1970: SwissAir flight 330, bound for Tel Aviv, is bombed by the PLO group PFLP in mid-flight, killing 47.
May 21, 1970 PLO Shooting a Bazooka to the School bus of Moshav Avivim 10 kids plus 2 adult died, 24 wounded.
Sept. 6, 1970: TWA, Pan Am, and BOAC airplanes are hijacked by the PLO.
September 1970: The PLO attack Jordanian targets, then flee to Lebanon.
Sept. 5, 1972: 11 Israeli athletes killed at the Munich Olympics by the PLO.
March 1, 1973: Palestinian terrorists take over Saudi embassy in Khartoum and murder the United States' ambassador to Sudan, Cleo Noel and others.
April 11, 1974: 18 residents of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel are killed in their apartment building by the PLO who infiltrated from Lebanon.
May 15, 1974: A school in Ma'alot is attacked by Palestinian terrorists who infiltrated from Lebanon. 26 Israelis, including many children, were killed.
(3) Arafat's hideous but successful life – who else has ridden the murder of children and holiday celebrants to a Nobel Peace Prize and a personal fortune – is worthy of a full-length documentary. For the moment, HonestReporting.com's one-minute version, "Arafat's Dark Legacy," is a good start. (November 10, 2004) Permalink

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U.S. Islamist Groups Gain from the War on Terror Domestic American Islamist organizations have seen a surge in funding as a ironic result of the shutting-down of Islamist "charities" which send money to the global jihad, notes Teresa Watanabe of the Los Angeles Times. Since 9/11, Washington has designated 27 international Islamic groups as supporters of terrorism, including 5 within the United States. Not being able to fund these groups anymore, American Muslims have instead directed more money toward purely domestic organizations. Watanabe documents how at least two domestic Islamist groups have surged: the budget of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' southern California office has grown from $300,000 in 2000 to $1.1 million in 2003, with its staff growing from two to eight; and the Islamic Society of North America has enjoyed a 50 perc ent growth of income since 9/11.

Comment: This unintended consequence quite perfectly captures the dilemma of the "war on terror," namely that it is as much a domestic as a foreign threat, and that Western societies find themselves ill-prepared for the former. (November 6, 2004) Permalink

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Yasir Arafat Shuffles Off His Mortal Coil I have frequently written over the decades about Yasir Arafat and the Palestinians; now, at the moment of his demise, I offer a few titles that might prove useful should anyone want to assess his career.

I have reviewed several biographies about him. See my scathing evaluation of Alan Hart's hagiography, then my comments on Janet Wallach and John Wallach's overly-impressed bio, on Andrew Gowers and Tony Walker's serious effort, Danny Rubinstein's thoughtful interpretation, and on Saïd K. Aburish's wacky study.

More broadly, in 1988, I already wrote about the "Dim prospects for Palestinian state." For an insight into how the Palestinian movement echoes the Zionist one, see "Mirror Image: How the PLO Mimics Zionism." For a first-hand contrast between Arafat and the-then Israeli prime minister, see "Arafat and Netanyahu."

Bringing things up to date, "Arafat's Suicide Factory" provides an insight into the chairman's methods and "Anti-Israel Terror Backfires" shows how Arafat's adoption of the terrorist tool has failed to achieve the intended results. For what those foul results actually are, see "Palestinian Descent into Chaos." (November 4, 2004) Permalink

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My Moment on Al-Jazeera Perhaps the high point of my appearances on Al-Jazeera took place today, the U.S. election day, when I appeared as one of two panelists on Al-Ittijah al-Mu‘akis ("Opposite Viewpoint"), Al-Jazeera's lead debate program. The Egyptian Islamist and anti-American, Ashraf al-Bayoumi, and I discussed "The American Elections." The topic quickly broadened into a general analysis of the state of democracy in the United States, which he found distinctly lacking and I held was robust and healthy.

Al-Jazeera has posted the transcript (which I reposted on my website); the Middle East Media and Research Institute (or MEMRI) then excerpted the most colorful exchange of that debate, which it posted both as a video clip and as a translated excerpt:

MEF's Daniel Pipes and Former Egyptian Ashraf Al-Bayoumi Discuss the Nature of American Democracy

Ashraf Al-Bayoumi: In the sixties, there was a popular movement against the war in Vietnam and democracy had better days than today. McCarthy and McCarthyism have led democracy to bad times. Today, the situation is worse than McCarthyism. American democracy is at its worst. The American administration is leading society toward fascism and Goebbels-like media. Is [the US] a democratic country?

Interviewer: What is it then? What kind of country is it, not a democracy?

Ashraf Al-Bayoumi: A country far from democracy, which is marching towards fascism. If this situation continues, America will become another Politburo, another Nazi rule, and Goebbels-like media. What is this Fox company?! Who owns the American media? Who finances them?

Daniel Pipes: The focus on the Muslims in the US is an important and difficult issue, and I'd be glad to discuss it with you, but there is no doubt that the US is not threatened by the Hindis, the Buddhists, or the Jews, but by the Muslims. Not by all the Muslims. The problem is that radical terrorists are Muslim and we must deal with this.

Mr. Ashraf knows nothing about the US. He may have lived here 40 or 50 years, but he knows nothing about this country, and this is typical of immigrants who come with a preconceptions, but avoid dealing with the country itself.

I truly wish Mr. Bayoumi, as an American citizen who has sworn allegiance to this country and as someone who has profited enormously from this country, to look into his soul and understand how much this country did for him personally, when he was fleeing Abd Al-Nasser. Shame on you, shame on you, Mr. Bayoumi, for coming here and saying such things after profiting from this country.

Comments: (1) After this exchange at the very start of the program, I did some fast internet searching on Ashraf al-Bayoumi and learned that he fled Egypt during the Gamal Abdel Nasser period, that he got his education in the United States, and that he filled a prestigious academic position in the United States. With this information in hand, I then went after him a second time, saying how disgraceful it was that he sought refuge in the United States and then abused our hospitality so badly by going back to Egypt and becoming a leading hate-America voice. I am told by someone who saw the show that Al-Bayoumi was visibly not enjoying this exchange.

(2) Although I am upset by Al-Jazeera's often irresponsible news coverage, I have to credit it for giving voice to alternate points of view, specifically mine (I have been appearing on the channel sporadically since 1998). I am grateful to it for giving me the chance to reach its audience, live and at some length. (November 2, 2004) Permalink

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Finally – the Voice of Moderate, Anti-Islamist Muslims Is Heard On Oct. 24, 2004 a petition was posted at both METransparent.com and Elaph.com titled "From Liberal Arabs to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and the chairman and members of the Security Council." Written primarily by the Tunisian intellectual Lafif Lakhdar, the petition calls for an international treaty banning the use of religion for incitement to violence. In a stunning, unprecedented, and very hopeful sign, reports the Saudi newspaper Arab News today, over 2,500 Muslim intellectuals from 23 countries (but mostly from Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf states, Iraq, Jordan and the Palestinian Auth ority) have signed this petition. The organizers hope shortly to have tens of thousands of signatories.

The addressee and the goal are both unlikely, but the sentiments are critical. Shakir Al-Nablusi, a Jordanian academic and one of the signatories, notes that "There are individuals in the Muslim world who pose as clerics and issue death sentences against those they disagree with. These individuals give Islam a bad name and foster hatred among civilizations." The petition names names:

The signatories describe those who use religion for inciting violence as "the sheikhs of death". Among those mentioned by name is Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian preacher working in Qatar. The signatories accuse him of "providing a religious cover for terrorism." Last year Qaradawi raised a storm when he issued a fatwa allowing the killing of Israeli pregnant women and their unborn babies on the ground that the babies could grow up to join the Israeli Army. Last September, Qaradawi in a fatwa in response to a question from the Egyptian Union of Journalists said killing "all Americans, civilian or military" in Iraq was allowed.

"We cannot let such dangerous nonsense to pass as Islam," Nablusi says. The petition also names the late Egyptian preacher Muhammad Al-Ghazzali who, in 1992, issued a fatwa for the murder of Farag Foda, an anti-clerical writer in Cairo. Within weeks of the fatwa, zealots murdered Foda in his home. Other "sheikhs of death" mentioned include the Yemeni Abdul-Majid Al-Zendani, and the Saudis Ali bin Khudhair Al-Khudhair and Safar Al-Hawali. The two Saudis have described the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States as "retaliations", and thus justified under Islamic law.

Comment: Are the moderate, anti-Islamist voices in the Muslim world beginning to organize? If so, I cannot think of more cheering news. (October 30, 2004)

Nov. 1, 2004 update: The Associated Press in its coverage adds the spicy not-so-minor detail that this petition calls for the extremist sheikhs to be hauled before an international court and tried on charges of encouraging terrorism. Not mincing words, the petition declares: "Fatwas issued by these sheikhs play a key role in releasing the sadism of terrorists and their desire for death beyond any moral bounds and feelings of guilt."

Comment: Are the moderate, anti-Islamist voices in the Muslim world beginning to organize? If so, I cannot think of more cheering news.

Nov. 3, 2004 update: An English-language translation, titled "Letter from Liberal Arabs & Muslims to the United Nations Security Council & the U.N. Secretary General Requesting the Establishment of an International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Terrorists" is now available at the Middle East Transparent website. Permalink

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Finding Moderate Muslims The good news is that my formulation that "militant Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution" is finding wider and wider acceptance. The bad news is the massive confusion over who is a moderate.

Illustrative of this problem is a silly piece by Carol Eisenberg of the Associated Press celebrating a supposedly moderate website, www.MuslimWakeUp.com. The first paragraph sets the tone:

They looked like any group of hip, young New Yorkers hanging at the Starlight Diner on West 34th Street. But this was no ordinary social hour. Crowded elbow to elbow around a long table strewn with coffee cups were 18 men and women, mostly in jeans and T-shirts. They were thoroughly Muslim and thoroughly Western. And they were brainstorming ideas to transform Islam in America.

The article goes on to indicate that this hip group includes some of the worst Islamist extremists in the United States will have important roles in the new organization that MuslimWakeUp.com is creating, the Progressive Muslim Union of North America. Names that stand out are those of Salem Al-Marayati of Muslim Public Affairs Council, his former colleague Sarah Eltantawi, and Hussein Ibish, previously at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. If these are the progressives, who are the regressives? (October 20, 2004) Permalink

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When the University Sponsors an Antisemite One of the premises of Campus Watch, the project to improve Middle East studies that I started in September 2002, is, as Jonathan Schanzer and I wrote a few months earlier, that "The radical notions espoused in the classrooms and in campus demonstrations have recently had dangerous consequences. These are especially visible with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict." Faculty statements and actions have been understood "as implicit permission to harass Jewish and pro-Israel students. The result: a wave of verbal and physical attacks."

A clear case of officially-sanctioned anti-Zionism veering into antisemitism took place on Oct. 7 at Northwestern University, when former congressman Paul Findley, a standing disgrace to the Republican party, gave a talk titled "The truth about our failed Middle East Policy." In the course of it, he stated that "Sept. 11 would have never occurred if any president in the last 35 years had had the courage and the wisdom to suspend all U.S. aid to Israel." He also claimed that "Jews, mainly Jews" had set in motion events that were "calamitous in the Middle East and later in America."

What makes this event notable is (1) that the university's Student Activities Finance Board allocated $10,952 to the Muslim Students Association to hold the talk (meaning that each student had contributed a small portion of Findley's costs) and (2) it was designated an "Essential Northwestern University" event, meaning that freshmen received credit for listening to Findley's wretched screed.

Comment: Let's hope that certain students don't take this kind of officially-sponsored talk as a license for aggressive action. (October 12, 2004)

Nov. 8, 2004 update: Mirabile dictu: The Daily Northwestern runs an editorial today about the Findley talk having been an officially sponsored event and states that "the university should be more vigilant in selecting which events will fulfill the diversity requirement." Permalink