Friday, October 03, 2008

COMMENT: Daniel Pipes' cartoonist claims HAMAS donated to Obama campaign ...


They say you can tell alot about someone by the company they keep.

Daniel Pipes' blog recently engaged the services of one cartoonist calling him/herself "Stogie". You can read about the arrangement between Stogie and Pipes' website CampusWatch here on Stogie's blog Saberpoint. You can also view the cartoon here.

Of greater interest, though, are Stoogie's claims about HAMAS. On the comments page of Stoogies' blog occurs this exchange between Stoogie and a reader named "gerry" ...

gerry [10.02.08 - 7:28pm]: So tell me, dude. Do you believe Obama is a secret Moslem?

Stogie [10.02.08 - 7:53pm]: Worse. He's a Democrat.

gerry [10.02.08 - 9:30 pm]: OK, but do you think he's a Muslim secretly trying to take over the White House for the Islam death-cult? I think Dr Pipes says he is.

Stogie [10.02.08 - 11:24 pm]: Gerry, I don't think Obama is a Muslim. He doesn't make his wife wear a chador and he doesn't go to a mosque. However, Hamas and a number of other terrorist groups have endorsed him and even contributed money to his campaign. Clearly, they think that the election of Barack Obama is good for Islamic terrorism.
This is a serious allegation from someone associated with Pipes and the Middle East Forum. The cartoonist/blogger is effectively accusing the Democratic Party of accepting donations from a banned terrorist organisation. Will Pipes, the Middle East Forum and/or CampusWatch be making any comment on the allegations made by their engaged cartoonist? Do we take it that they agree with Stogie's sentiments? Does Pipes believe Obama the candidate-of-choice of HAMAS?

UPDATE I: CampusWatch have now published the cartoon of the Stogie chap. In case you're wondering who the hell CampusWatch is, here are some of their staff. Their profile states that CW ...

... reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America, with an aim to improving them. The project mainly addresses five problems: analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students ...

The Middle East studies professorate is almost monolithically leftist due to a systematic exclusion of those with conservative or even moderately liberal views. The result is that Middle East studies lack intellectual diversity.
Among CW's goals are ...

Engage in an informed, serious, and constructive critique that will spur professors to make improvements. We look forward to the day when scholars of the Middle East provide studies on relevant topics, an honest appraisal of sensitive issues, a mainstream education of the young, a healthy debate in the classroom, and sensible policy guidance in a time of war.
Hence, CW is quite happy to post the works of a cartoonist whose blog includes this graphic ...


Obviously linking one's self to such objective critique of a Middle Eastern religion involves "an honest appraisal of sensitive issues" and "a mainstream education of the young". CW are clearly leading by example.

One wonders if CW believes that engaging and paying cartoonists who promote the burning of scriptures assists in overcoming "intolerance of alternative views". I mean, what is so intolerant about burning books? And what do CW donors think of the fact that their money is being used to pay cartoonists whose sensible views include:

... Hamas and Al-Queda and the Palestinians and the Iranian mullahs [are] in favor of Obama. They simply see him as the preferable candidate due to his perceived weaknesses. They think they can invade Israel and continue their jihad against the non-Islamic world with little or no intervention by Obama. He's the "peace" candidate. His father was a Muslim as was his grandfather, so they think he may have greater sympathy for their causes than McCain (and no doubt they are right).

A recent poll showed that close to 90% of Russians prefer Obama too; as they renew their aggression against neighboring countries like Georgia, they prefer a weak American president who will take no effective action to prevent their success.

Our enemies prefer Obama because they see him easier and more compliant with what they want to do in the world.
My advice to people like Professor John Esposito and others in the Middle East Studies sector is to ensure that the work of cartoonists such as Stogie are included in their teaching materials so that students can gain some insight into "alternative views". Follow the standard of objectivity and balance set by CampusWatch.

Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf

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7 comments:

perry said...

Why has America got a problem with the democratically elected Hamas Gov't ? Isn't the pursuit of demoracy the main game?

Anonymous said...

Perry,

When will well-meaning but clueless and naive people like you grasp, that a single election, howsoever 'fair' does not equal "democracy".

Hamas have a long history of killing their political opponents, including carbombings and tying them up and throwing them off the top of buildings to their death. That the Palestinians had a poll, does not mean they or Hamas are in the slightest way democratic, nor interested in democracy.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Sounds like HAMAS have a Guantanamo Bay facility of their own. Do they also provide extraordinary rendition services to another great democracy? Or am I just being clueless?

Anonymous said...

You are actually comparing Hamas to America?

Calling you clueless, would be gentle.

Anonymous said...

You are claiming the US doesn't kidnap and torture innocent people? Calling you a f#cking moron would be an insult to f#cking morons.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous poster at 3:39am, were you the playground champion at "I know you are but what am I"?

Do you realise that it's not particularly impressive as a debating technique for grown-ups?

Not that I expect the facts to be of any concern to you, but you found out about all the myriad "kidnapped" and "tortured" prisoners of America, who I expect you could count on one hand, through American journalists, their free press and their judicial system.

Compare that, say, to Gilead Shalit, an Israeli captured by Hamas, whose whereabouts are unknown, and who hasn't had access to the Red Cross, much less three square meals a day and a nice set of orange overalls.

Your argument is fatuous, but I expect most of yours are. Apologising for terrorists through some form of moral equivalence is a pretty good indicator of where you are coming from. I can safely bet however, you wouldn't be so cocky if you were living in Iran, China or Gaza.

Anonymous said...

Sanders, you chook-eating intellectural whore. You cry crocodile tears for one Israeli soldier but you couldn't give a flying f*ck about ordinary civilians dying in Afghanistan or Iraq. You don't care about innocent Lebanese or Palestinians dying. You racist bitch. Go back to Nazi Germany where you belong.