Stick It To The Right----Buy Rashid Khalidi's Book Here
Ezra Klein and some other progressive blockers are suggesting that we all stick it to the rightwing haters by buying Rashid Khalidi's book, "The Iron Cage," about the occupation.
I just did, and I have two copies already. According to Klein, it's already climbed to #1 on Amazon in the categories of books about Israel, Palestine and the World. It's 137 overall. Getting it to the #1 nonfiction book on Amazon is a nice way to tell the right that their efforts to demonize writers they don't like will backfire. Especially when the issue against the author is his ethnicity.
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You're as dumb as you look. Why not instead send that money to the government as a paydown of our national debt?
November 1, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're as dumb as you look, too. Don't you know that MJ gets paid by page views?
He probably paid for the book with the money that you put in his pockets.
November 1, 2008 7:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
If this person is as wonderful as you represent, why not call for the release of the LA Times tape? Or are you just talking out of both sides of your mouth as usual?
November 1, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why don't *you* call for the release of the tape, cooter?
Because the MSM stopped listening to crazy wingnut conspiracy theories, I'd guess.
Too bad nobody cares. Heh.
November 1, 2008 7:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dave,
I have this theory about soldiers in the Forces of Wingnuttery like shooter and MCB, I call it the "German/Sherman Syndrome".
During WWll when our Sherman tanks went up against a German Tiger, it was no contest. The Sherman's gun was too small, 75mm, and the Tiger's armor too thick, so the Sherman shell would just bounce off the Tiger, BOING!. In effect, the Tiger was impervious.
The're like that Tiger tank, impervious.
Impervious to fact, impervious to truth, impervious to reality.
They wallow in a world they created from hours and hours of listening to Limbaugh/Hannity types, and hanging out in right wing chat rooms where, lying, exaggeration, conspiracy theory, dissembling and rumor mongering rule. No lie, no exaggeration is too outlandish to disbelieve.
Bill Clinton? Yeah, he bombed Pearl Harbor and framed the Japanese!
Barak Obama pushed the iceberg in front of the Titanic! GET THE WORD OUT!
If the Republican party told them the world was flat they would quickly nail their feet to the floor in fear of sliding off.
Yep, impervious, that's them. The military should make bullet proof vests out of people like that and send them to Iraq.
November 2, 2008 8:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
I could not give a rat's patoot about Khalidi's ethnicity. I do care about the fact that he's been an apologist for, and a supporter and enabler of, the PLO and other terrorists. When you suggest that it's his ethnicity rather than his views and actions that are at issue, it's YOU who's being the idiotic bigot.
November 1, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
The PLO? You mean the organization Israel not only negotiates with but lobbied for to get $100 milion from the US this year (with AIPAC's support). That PLO?
Sorry, bub. The PLO is recognized by Israel, the US and the whole world.
November 1, 2008 6:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
MJ, didn't the PLO that Beldar is thinking of, cease to exist when Arafat decided that "liberating" the Palestinians would best be accomplished politically rather than through terrorism?
November 2, 2008 9:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Beldar,
Khalidi was not, as the schlock rightwing press charges, a spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization. He was an adviser at the Madrid peace talks, but would that not have been, like, a good thing?
I suggest you expand your reading habits to include things other than right wing sources.
November 2, 2008 8:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
I have no comment on the overall quality of the book, but it certainly looks as though that the lunatic fringe -that has become more lunatic as it heads further to the fringe- is foaming at the mouth at the mere mention of it. It can be assumed therefore that there is at least some solid common sense in the book.
November 1, 2008 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just ordered my copy.
Thanks MJ.
November 1, 2008 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks!
November 1, 2008 9:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Another one bought! Great idea, and thanks for the suggestion and pointer!!
To the idiotic trolls in this comment thread - open your minds, and educate yourselves, and learn not to be such grievously wounded, bitter, polarized, closed-minded haters. It is only hurting your cause and the people you (I charitably presume - you might certainly just be anti-palestinian, not for-someone) are trying to protect.
November 1, 2008 8:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
MJ, great suggestion. However, the Khalidi hysteria that was just whipped up by the right was directed towards their base. Haven't you figured it out yet -- they do not read.
November 1, 2008 9:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the great idea, MJ. I order my hardbound copy today. Keep up the good work!
November 1, 2008 9:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
you know what's gonna be fun? when Obama is elected and he turns out to really BE the Palestinian sympathizer some of us worry he is.
and self-hating Jews like MJ will suddenly realize that when the Islamists talk about ridding the world of Jews, they're talking about HIM too.
I came on this site tonite because I am deeply worried about an article I read on cnn.com about possibilities for an Obama cabinet. the names include the vile Samantha Power, among others.
so I came on to ask you reliably liberal folks if you could reassure me that Obama was not really going to pick anti-Semites like her, so I could reassure myself that voting for him was not going to be a mistake.
I think MJ just answered my question.
November 1, 2008 10:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
How can you *NOT* have any sympathy for the Palestinians???? They are people. They are human beings who have been atrociously abused. There are over a million Palestinians in the middle east. What are you??? Inhuman???? How can you dehumanize them like that?? ANTI-PALISTINIAN!!!
AND YES, THAT IS EVERY BIT AS BAD A WORD AS ANTI-SEMITE!!!!
November 1, 2008 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's see... people living in grinding poverty because of astronomical unemployment due to being walled off and having to pass through dozens of checkpoints to get to their jobs. Innocent civilians being killed by missiles intended to take one or two militants.
Why would anyone sympathise with that? (yes, that is sarcasm)
November 2, 2008 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Samantha Power "vile" and an "anti-semite"? The first is obviously just your opinion (unless you know Ms. Power personally), but the second charge might warrant a just little, y'know: evidence to back it up?
November 2, 2008 10:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
if MJ were a "self-hating jew" that would still be better than the self-hating human that you reveal yourself to be.
you've gotten your answer from us "libruls", maybe you should crawl back under that safe little rock you call a mind.
November 3, 2008 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
I sympathize that the Palestinians should have a state. and as soon as they stop vowing to destroy Israel, maybe they will. in the meantime, screw'em.
November 1, 2008 11:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
gretz, i doubt you would say that to a palestinian refugee's face, so i am happy to see you saying that in the comfort of your warm home office.
November 2, 2008 1:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
gretz, i doubt you would say that to a palestinian refugee's face, so i am happy to see you saying that in the comfort of your warm home office.
MJ, i plan on buying this along with barack obama's biography...as soon as my stafford loan refund comes in lol.
November 2, 2008 2:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh? I bet there are MORE Israelis who want the Palestinians dead than there are Palestinians who want Israel gone....
Have you ASKED or READ ABOUT or done ANYTHING to find out what the Palestinians want???
November 2, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interestingly enough, MJ, in a civil suit brought in the US brought by relatives of Israeli victims of the Palestinian suicide bombing campaign of recent years, in which the PLO-FATAH-controlled Palestinian Authority is being sued, their attorney, Ramsay Clark, claimed they are exempt from responsibility because the suicide bombings are legitimate acts of war in which the belligerent who carries them out is not responsible for civil damages. Now, MJ, you just said the PLO is a wonderful, peaceful organization who have saintly spokesmen like Rashid Khalidi, that even the (foolish) Israeli gov't is recruiting people to give them moemey. Then, please explain to me, MJ, why, if the PLO signed the Olso "peace agreement" with Israel, they now claim they are in a state of war and belligerency with Israel?
Just because some mealy-mouthed Palestinian claims he currently wants the "2 state solution", does that mean he wants peace. They claimed the recently deceased Palestinian peot Mahmud Darwish was a "moderate" because he also supported the "2-state solution", yet his poems talked about how the Jews were going to be expelled, just like the Crusaders. Are you really so naive MJ, that you believe these propagandists?
November 2, 2008 3:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
YBD / Gretz - don't expect a substantive answer from MJ. This is where he starts to say - but McCain called him a neo-Nazi! He won't answer your question, but just bring up other points.
I still people on here who are buying Khalidi's book are all nuts to give money to this guy - there's a lot better places for your "charitable" contributions to go. Like maybe paying down the national debt
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/resources/faq/faq_publicdebt.htm#DebtFinance
November 2, 2008 7:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
MiddleClassBill,
maybe McCain should ahve donated this money to the national Debt instead of Khaladi;
During the 1990s, while he served as chairman of the International Republican Institute (IRI), McCain distributed several grants to the Palestinian research center co-founded by Khalidi, including one worth half a million dollars.
A 1998 tax filing for the McCain-led group shows a $448,873 grant to Khalidi's Center for Palestine Research and Studies for work in the West Bank. (See grant number 5180, "West Bank: CPRS" on page 14 of this PDF.)
The relationship extends back as far as 1993, when John McCain joined IRI as chairman in January. Foreign Affairs noted in September of that year that IRI had helped fund several extensive studies in Palestine run by Khalidi's group, including over 30 public opinion polls and a study of "sociopolitical attitudes."
Of course, there's seemingly nothing objectionable with McCain's organization helping a Palestinian group conduct research in the West Bank or Gaza. But it does suggest that McCain could have some of his own explaining to do as he tries to make hay out of Khalidi's ties to Obama.
November 2, 2008 8:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't have all the information on khalidi, but seriously, put yourself into his shoes. what if an incredibly powerful foreign entity has been occupying the US homeland for decades. is there anything you wouldnt do to protect your family and regain political sovereignty? we americans like to sit in our lofty office chairs doling out moral ultimatums as if we were the authority on such matters. frankly, i have never lost a family member, a house, my land, a limb, my sovereignty, my property, my pride, or my free will, and neither have any of my ancestors. so john, grez, ybd, and anyone who dehumanizes the palestinian people, i leave you with the question - what gives you the right?
November 2, 2008 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's policy towards the Israel/Arab conflict is no different than Obama's or any other President's...they all have the same policy. It is to press Israel to withdraw to the pre-1967 borders, set up a Palestinian state and get it to live in peace with Israel. Since the Palestinians will never agree to these terms, the President, whoever it is, then has to engage in conflict management. Thus, assuming Obama wins as expected, then after 4 or 8 years of his Presidency, there still will not be a Palestinian state, since the Palestinians and their brother Arabs don't want one. And we can still expect to hear MJ and his fellow "progressives" whining that it is Israel's fault, and that there is somewhere, somehow, a magic formula that will bring it out of thin air.
November 2, 2008 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I should point out that McCain's two top foreign policy advisors, although not "progressives" view Israel in the same negative light that does MJ, so he shouldn't get too depressed should McCain win, at least in the Israel-bashing department.
November 2, 2008 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
poor YBD, everyone's against israel! why has god forsaken us?
November 3, 2008 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oops, I forgot to mention the names of McCains two advisors....Henry Kissinger and James Baker.
November 2, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
JohnW - thanks for changing the subject. You're a real value add. I never said McCain was correct in what he did. But spending money to buy this guy's book to tell the right that they are "wrong" is just dumb. That's my point. It's got nothing to do with what McCain said about him.
People aren't just making stuff up on Khalidi now because of the presidential race. Khalidi has been a very controversial topic for the last few years. Back in 2005 NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein kicked Khalidi out of the teacher development workshops because of statements he had made.
November 2, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
if you want dumb, just re-read your posts.
November 3, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
So tell me, Rosenberg, when will you propose "sticking it to" those who advocate annihilating the Jewish people?
For the inattentive amongst us, the correct answer is: "Rosenberg will never advocate 'sticking it to' those who advocate annihilating the Jewish people."
After all, why "stick it to" those with whom you are so strongly emotionally aligned?
November 2, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey,Dipstick: Produce a single shred of proof that Khalidi ever advocated annihilating the Jewish people. Maybe if you lived in the real world, instead of spending your days listening to the Words and Wisdom of Avigdor Lieberman, you might actually post some facts...about some topic....maybe once.
November 2, 2008 7:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why don't you read one of your copies and tell us if it is WORTH reading first? Buying it to prove it's worth would put the book in league with Dionetics, or worse yet Battlfield Earth, and put Khalidi on par with L. Ron Hubbard. Let the book prove its own worth and the Republicans continue to prove their growing irrelevance.
www.thetruthburns.wordpress.com
November 2, 2008 7:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't see why I should sympathize with any organization who would include in their platform the destruction of the State of Israel. is there any other sovereign nation in the world that has received a death sentence like the one in Hamas' charter?
the truth is, the Palestinians, like the old line goes, never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Israel has tried to compromise, but compromise is not what they want. Israel has given back land--including land it won fair and square in the '67 wars they didn't even start...but land is not what they want. or at least, not that land. not ANY "bits" of land. they want it all.
and the land they want belongs to a sovereign nation that is, for better or worse, in the world and is not going anywhere. the Palestinians and their allies on the lib-left are going to have to realize that. as soon as they do, and denounce the murders of innocent civilians at the hands of their suicide bombers, then we're TRULY have a chance for peace.
btw, MJ: you've inspired me with the whole "buy a book to stick it to'em" thing. after reading your column last nite, I bought "They Must Be Stopped," by Bridget Gabriel.
November 3, 2008 1:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Why does Rosenberg love Khalidi?
Khalidi supports murdering Jewish civilians:
http://sandbox.blog-city.com/khalidi_of_the_plo.htm#update4
November 3, 2008 10:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Iron Cage is an excellent book. Buy it and read it. Rashid Khalidi is an American. He can and I'm sure will vote for Obama in this election, like most of non-trolls here. He was born in Brooklyn of Palestinian parents. His views may differ from yours, but he is a very good man. A mensch.
I am a nice Jewish Zionist who virtually never thinks much of the opinions expressed above by MJ and I don't in this case either.
Don't buy the book via that link right now. If you take a quick look at the source code you'll see it appears that some percentage of your actual money goes to something called talpoimem-20 Until MJ tells us who exactly talpoimem-20 is, I suggest you buy the book directly from the bookseller of your choice. I'd not be happy to find out talpoimem-20 is MJ's Amazon Associates account. I don't think it is, but I'd like MJ or someone at TPM to tell us.
One of the worst problems in the West Bank and Gaza is the crushing poverty. The national states who make huge pledges of cash aid, rarely follow through to any degree. You can help by finding a reputable Palestinian charity and donating cash. Try Google. Monthly PayPal subscriptions are easy. I can afford it and to me one of the most important if not most important precepts of Judaism is to make a mitzva every day, to help someone or some group needing help. And no matter what your circumstance, you must perform a mitzva every day. If you're broke, donate labor, or something else.
One final note: I grew up in a heavily Jewish neighborhood. My grandfather had small dress making shop (that eventually put me through college). The area now has a large Palestinian population and the shop is now owned by a Palestinian. We've become friends and when I'm in the area I always visit.
November 3, 2008 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink