politics for the 99%

Published on Intrepid Report, by Dave Alpert, Feb 19, 2015.

I was born a Jew and grew up in The Bronx in New York City. At the age of 13, I was Bar Mitzvad. As I grew older, I became more and more disenchanted with religion as an institution. I became aware of the historical role religion played in the life and destiny of man, a history which demonstrates wars, deaths, and destruction all in the name of God.

My disenchantment began during my Bar Mitzvah lessons when the Rabbi made comments about not trusting or befriending non-Jews. Two of my closest friends were not Jewish and I resented my spiritual leader giving such advice … //

… I respect the right of people to seek their own answers to the nature of life and death provided they do not impose their beliefs and rituals on me or any other who does not believe.

At this moment, Muslims have been targeted, and have experienced oppression, suspicion, and hate from the Judeo-Christian communities. When any group is alienated from the human community, I feel I must speak out.

On February 11, Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha, three Muslim students living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, were summarily executed by 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks, who reportedly “turned himself in to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office in Pittsboro following the shooting.” All three victims were shot in the head. After searching through public records and Hicks’ Facebook page, it was quickly recognizable that he is feverishly anti-religious, racist, as well as militantly nationalistic.

Hicks, who is a self-proclaimed atheist has also claimed an appreciation of Sam Harris, Bill Maher, and Richard Dawkins, who Roqayah Chamseddine, a Sydney based Lebanese-American journalist and commentator, has named the Islamophobic trifecta.

Bill Maher, the “progressive” Tv comedian? Yes, my friends, Bill Maher … who has been outspoken in his ridicule and denunciation of Muslims, feeding fuel to the fire of fear and hatred.

Maher says there is something different about Islam, noting that “there is no other religion that is asking for the death” of people who dare to criticize it. “[M]ost Muslims, at least half of them, I think, around the world think it is okay to kill somebody if they insult the prophet. And that is a big problem.”

Maher expressed support for the Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006 when Israel bombed cities and farmland not occupied by the Lebanese military. He also made an obnoxious comment when he stated that the people of Gaza deserved to be “nuked.” So we see from these comments by Maher, that violence is not limited to what the white man contends is in Muslim scripture. As an aside, Israel’s behavior toward the Palestinians and its support from many Jewish communities throughout the world demonstrates that there are many non-Muslims who are prepared and able to commit murder in the name of their God.

He is far from my idea of a progressive and I don’t find him funny, I find him dangerous because he is admired by so many. His reactionary views go beyond that of Islam. In the midst of the most recent Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, Bill Maher likened Hamas to a “crazy woman trying to kill you . . . You can only hold her wrist for so long before you have to slap her.” Does anyone find his sexism and insult to women funny? Does anyone feel that Maher’s comments have no effect on the perception of the general public regarding Islam? … //

… (full text).

Links:

The Next Syriza? on ZNet (first on Democracy Now), by Pablo Iglesias and Amy Goodman, Feb 19, 2015;

NATO member Turkey to buy $3.4 billion worth of incompatible Chinese antimissiles, on Russia Today RT, Feb 19, 2015;

Obama tells Muslims: don’t let Isis hijack your religion and identity, on The Guardian, by , Feb 19, 2015;

Where are the “Progressive” Democrats on Loretta Lynch’s HSBC Money Laundering Wrist Slap? on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, Feb 18, 2015;

Mathew D. Rose: Greece – It’s a Revolution, Stupid, on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, Feb 18, 2015 (inkl video, 4.28 min - remember this: How Chase Ruined Lives of People Who Paid Off Their Mortgages, on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, Aug 26, 2011);

1,200 Indigenous Women in Canada Murdered or Gone Missing Since 1980s, Text and video published on Dissident Voice, , by The Real News Network TRNN, February 18, 2015 (also on YouTube). Indigenous women are five times more likely to be murdered, and most attacks are from outside their communities, says Audrey Huntley of the No More Silence campaign in Canada;

A maverick currency scheme from the 1930s could save the Greek economy, on The Guardian, by George Monbiot, Feb 17, 2015;

When New Atheism meets Islam, on al-Araby/english, by Vijay Prashad, Feb 17, 2015: Islam is just a convenient scapegoat for those who refuse to see that it is aggressive and rampant capitalism that is eroding Western societies, not Muslims …;

Move over Galileo! Saudi cleric says Earth doesn’t revolve around sun, on Russia Today RT, Feb 17, 2015;

12 Best Fat Burning Foods, on NewsZoom, Feb 2015;