Angsting within and about the Western Left links
About the new anti-Semitism: In the current outbreak, the rise of virulent anti-Semitism throughout the Muslim world co-occurs with the failure of secular nationalism and third world ideologies, particularly Arab nationalism, the economic and political stagnation of much of the Arab world, and the associated rise of Islamist movements. In western Europe it emerges in a time of acute political disorientation due to the end of the Cold War and the apparent failure of both the Marxist and the non-Marxist left to provide effective alternatives to the rampantly market driven model of neo-liberalism, which has come to dominate the policies of all mainstream political parties.
More on the travails of the Western Left: A headline on The Guardian website, "David Aaronovitch and Nick Cohen are enough to make a good man anti-Semitic", was challenged by an enraged reader who protested against the inherent bigotry and demanded the headline be rewritten as, "David Aaronovitch and Nick Cohen are enough to make a good man, or woman, anti-Semitic."
And also: If you still doubt me, think back to the arguments you heard at every liberal dinner party you’ve been to in the past four years and ask yourself if concern for Iraqi democrats ever featured in the conversation.
Done it?
I’m right, aren’t I?
A case of old patterns re-emerging: Learned progressive journals will lend their letters sections to debate just how bad a liar Tony Blair actually is, while running articles seeking to absolve the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, from entirely justified accusations of antiSemitism.
… In Tanenhaus’s new introduction he observes that, “substitute ‘Islamo-fascist’ for ‘Communist’ and it is distressingly clear how little has changed”. Cohen shows that Tanenhaus is right, but only in the most ironic sense.
It is worse if you think the socialist project is alive and well: In this sense, the crime of the left is actually greater than Cohen realizes. It's guilty of squandering a fantastically rich set of intellectual resources.
More on the travails of the Western Left: A headline on The Guardian website, "David Aaronovitch and Nick Cohen are enough to make a good man anti-Semitic", was challenged by an enraged reader who protested against the inherent bigotry and demanded the headline be rewritten as, "David Aaronovitch and Nick Cohen are enough to make a good man, or woman, anti-Semitic."
And also: If you still doubt me, think back to the arguments you heard at every liberal dinner party you’ve been to in the past four years and ask yourself if concern for Iraqi democrats ever featured in the conversation.
Done it?
I’m right, aren’t I?
A case of old patterns re-emerging: Learned progressive journals will lend their letters sections to debate just how bad a liar Tony Blair actually is, while running articles seeking to absolve the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, from entirely justified accusations of antiSemitism.
… In Tanenhaus’s new introduction he observes that, “substitute ‘Islamo-fascist’ for ‘Communist’ and it is distressingly clear how little has changed”. Cohen shows that Tanenhaus is right, but only in the most ironic sense.
It is worse if you think the socialist project is alive and well: In this sense, the crime of the left is actually greater than Cohen realizes. It's guilty of squandering a fantastically rich set of intellectual resources.