An All-American Muslim Story posted by Yoshie

Here's an All-American Muslim story. A group of Christians yell "Merry Christmas" to everyone on subway. In return, two young Jewish couples wish them a "Happy Chanukah." The Christians, enraged by the existence of religious diversity, attack the Jews:

One of the young men, who at one point displayed a tattoo of Jesus, shouted "Happy Chanukah?! That's when the Jews killed Jesus," said [attack victim Walter] Adler, who also heard shouts of "dirty Jews," "you f---ing Jews" and other slurs. (Doug Chandler, "Victims of Subway Assault Push for Hate-Crime Charges," Jewish Week, 12 December 2007)

(The Christian thugs are not only bigoted but also chronologically challenged.)

Only a young Muslim immigrant intervenes to protect the Jews from the Christians -- no one else on the train does. The Christians beat up the Muslim guy, though his intervention allows one of the Jewish victims to pull the emergency brake and call the police.

The Muslim hero, however, is unable to "go to the doctor because he's too busy working two waiter jobs and doesn't have the money for medical care" (Melissa Grace, "Muslim Hero Breaks Up Train Beating," New York Daily News, 12 December 2007) -- that's what makes this not just any old Muslim story but an All-American Muslim story.

Labels: angels in america, feel the hate, islam

Kushner posted by Richard Seymour

Charlie Rose is a dickhead, Kushner is a terribly soft liberal, yet this is worth watching:



Kushner's politics are no longer marxist these days, but he is sufficiently irritating that his co-written script for Spielberg's film, Munich, annoyed the neocons. He pretended, understand, that the Palestinians were somehow human. His Kabul/Homebody wound up the bomb-Afghanistan crowd because, well, it pretended that the people of Afghanistan were something other than cave creatures. Oh sure, he's with the 'vote Dem or lose dem' wing if American politics, but he is far from unique on that front. If you haven't seen 'Angels in America', do so. The political riffs are the least of it: it is the musical samples, the wit, the handling of damaged, desiring human beings, the meeting between Roy Cohn and his spiritual nemesis, that will engage you. Here is some of Angels in America to start you off:

Labels: angels in america, palestine, tony kushner, US imperialism