Brandeis Center Blog

and getting your head cut off. Read an adulatory account of the self-martyrdom at the hands of the Islamic State of Peter “Abdul-Rahman” Kassig: http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2014/10/12/becoming-abdul-rahman-peter-kassigs-family-inspired-journey-syria/17054647/

There are critics who claim that Arabs have never contributed anything much to intellectual progress, arguing that–despite a few astronomers and mathematicians–the achievements of the so-called “Islamic Renaissance” of the Middle Ages was generally the handiwork of a handful of Jews and Coptic and Nestorian Christians who often published using Arabic names. Yesterday with an […]

Breitbart News asked Dean of the National Cathedral, Gary Hall, whether it was appropriate to host Muslim prayers on the 100th anniversary of the last Caliph’s call for Jihad against nonbelievers, which resulted in the slaughter of innocent Christians. Hall responded, “I did not know that it was that anniversary. But knowing it now, it […]

That’s the contemptible Andrew Sullivan’s characterization of the implications of a Hillary presidency for U.S.-Israeli relations. See Aaron David Miller, “Would Hillary Be Good for the Holy Land,” “Foreign Policy,” at http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/11/10/would_hillary_be_good_for_the_holy_land_obama_israel_bibi

From Breitbart.com: “Even as he defiantly moves to unilaterally grant legal status to millions of people inside the U.S. illegally, President Obama’s State Department is making sure that such special favors are not meant for everyone. “The State Department’s unexplained refusal to extend a valid P1 visa currently held by an Israeli basketball player has […]

Lee Smith in the “Tablet”: The reason that the White House wants Iran to have a bomb is that it’s the quickest route to what it really wants—which is a larger regional accommodation with Tehran. . . . Another way to understand the upcoming new era in U.S.-Iran relations is as the age of Renfield. […]

The only “human rights concern” at stake in the 2014 Congressional elections was whether or not the Obama Administration would continue to enjoy U.S. Senate cover for its betrayal of Israel’s right-to-exist to soon-to-be-nuclear Iran. Fortunately, this fig leaf has been unceremoniously stripped away by a disgruntled American electorate. Now, the Obama Administration stands naked, […]

“Jew” both as a noun and a verb (i.e., “to Jew”) has been an epithet at least since Chaucer introduced anti-Semitism into English literature. Believe it or not, there are roughly 100 like-minded slurs—probably even more than those aimed at Africans and African Americans. Here is just a partial list of nouns—some well-known, some not: […]

In Maine, far from the ham-handed clutches of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, nurse Kaci Hickox is flaunting a government-ordered 21-day quarantine for exposure to Ebola. Bangor is also where, Mr. Ed—the star of that well-beloved sitcom from the 1960s, oldest living horse, and an equine whose pedigree can be traced back to the talking […]

A three-month-old baby run down and murdered in Jerusalem by a Hamasnik who also injured eight others at a light rail station. In the evening, Palestinian rioters showed solidarity—with the baby killer. The U.S. State Department response: both sides should “remain calm.” Our State Department makes Pontius Pilate seem, morally, like a stand-up guy. Hollywood […]

In an arguable judgment, Mark Twain said of Wagnerian opera that it must “be better than it sounds.” Michael Walsh’s scabrous, repulsive defense of “The Death of Klinghoffer,” being staged by the Met, elevates moral relativism into the Sermon on the Mount while at the same time denouncing critics of caricaturish anti-Semitism for the “dehumanization” […]

According to a new YouGov poll, among Americans, 18-29, 31 percent believe Islam is more more likely to encourage violence than other religions, 9 percent consider Islam less likely. The comparable percentages for Americans, 65 or over, are 65 percent and 1 percent. Apparently the Millennials have fully digested PC pablum served up by politicians, […]

Responding to reports that members of Dutch motorcycle gangs are going to Iraq to join the Peshmerga and fight ISIS/ISIL, public prosecutor spokesman Wim de Bruin has announced that “joining a foreign armed force was previously punishable, now it’s no longer forbidden. . . . You just can’t join a fight against the Netherlands.” Head […]

For a masterful, though I fear too optimistic, review essay about studies of migration, immigration, and rights debates, see Roger Waldinger, “Moving Right Along,” in the “American Interest,” at http://www.the-american-interest.com/articles/2014/10/12/moving-right-along/

According to recent polls, belief in extraterrestrials varies by religion–or the lack of it: • 55 percent of Atheists • 44 percent of Muslims • 37 percent of Jews • 36 percent of Hindus • 32 percent of Christians Of course, atheists also tend to believe in the rationality and perfectibility of homo sapiens–a supreme […]