Malala, Pakistan, and Israel

[Sally]

I thought this was an interesting article. You have to read quite a bit of the article to arrive at where he starts mentioning Israel.


Malala, Pakistan, and Israel
by Denis MacEoin
The Algemeiner
November 24, 2013

Malala, Pakistan, and Israel :: Middle East Forum

A few days ago, I was sitting at home undergoing a multicultural musical experience. I was, in fact, listening to a number of Qawwali songs from Pakistan. For many years, singers like Aziz Mian and the Sabri Brothers (all now deceased) have been favourites of mine. Qawwali will never take the place of the Portuguese fado I have known and loved for so long, or the traditional Irish music I have known all my life. But it is a vibrant and energetic form of singing and musicianship that carries in its heart the Sufi poetry of the region, of northern India, parts of Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Look for it on YouTube, it will surprise you.

Although this is religious poetry from the Sufi tradition, it plays a wider part in society. One excellent performance by Aziz Mian has an audience made up of upper-class Pakistanis, including young women, some of them extremely beautiful (go here). That in itself shows the complications of Pakistani society.

Sufism is a spiritual tradition that has always stood in contrast to the worldly concerns of the rich and powerful. In Qawwali concerts like this, two realities are mixed. Not only that, but men and women are sitting together, another contradiction and an affront to the religious authorities who like to tell other Pakistanis how to live their lives. There are Westerners in this audience, and even if the men and women dress in traditional clothes, there are no veils. It's hard to believe an assembly like this would shut the door on non-Muslims who wanted to watch and listen to a great figure of Pakistani culture.

To read the article in its entirety, go to:

Malala, Pakistan, and Israel | Jewish & Israel News Algemeiner.com

 

[Alfalfa]

Now I've seen it all. The author is equating israel with Malala Youssefzai...HAHAHA.

But then I went to the "About Us" of OP.

Algemeiner

The fastest growing Jewish newspaper in America, the NEW Algemeiner serves as a valiant media voice addressing the most compelling issues of our time, with vision, integrity and moral clarity.

The NEW Algemeiner is a pioneering newspaper, setting trends while offering stimulating content, breaking news, and insightful analysis into events of our times. This bold approach includes investigative reporting, thought-provoking features and long-felt opinions, presenting unconventional and unique voices on politics and the social and cultural life of the American and international Jewish community.

Put it in perspective.

 

[Sally]

Now I've seen it all. The author is equating israel with Malala Youssefzai...HAHAHA.

But then I went to the "About Us" of OP.

Algemeiner

The fastest growing Jewish newspaper in America, the NEW Algemeiner serves as a valiant media voice addressing the most compelling issues of our time, with vision, integrity and moral clarity.

The NEW Algemeiner is a pioneering newspaper, setting trends while offering stimulating content, breaking news, and insightful analysis into events of our times. This bold approach includes investigative reporting, thought-provoking features and long-felt opinions, presenting unconventional and unique voices on politics and the social and cultural life of the American and international Jewish community.

Put it in perspective.

Gee, Alfalfa, it appears that the author is of Scottish roots. I guess we shouldn't expect you to figure that out since the elevator doesn't go to the top with you. One thing for sure. Alfalfa is never going to be a brain like those coming up with all those medical and technological innovations in Israel, but of course he will be willing to use them should he ever need them.

 

[SAYIT]

Now I've seen it all. The author is equating israel with Malala Youssefzai...HAHAHA.

But then I went to the "About Us" of OP.

Algemeiner

The fastest growing Jewish newspaper in America, the NEW Algemeiner serves as a valiant media voice addressing the most compelling issues of our time, with vision, integrity and moral clarity.

The NEW Algemeiner is a pioneering newspaper, setting trends while offering stimulating content, breaking news, and insightful analysis into events of our times. This bold approach includes investigative reporting, thought-provoking features and long-felt opinions, presenting unconventional and unique voices on politics and the social and cultural life of the American and international Jewish community.

Put it in perspective.

Good idea!
About the author:
Denis M. MacEoin has been editor of Middle East Quarterly since June 2009. A former lecturer in Islamic studies, his academic specialisations are Shi‘ism, Shaykhism, Bábism, and the Bahá'í Faith, on all of which he has written extensively

Born: 1949, Belfast, United Kingdom
Education: Trinity College, Dublin, University of Dublin, University of Edinburgh, King's College, Cambridge

Denial, for the Islamist, is infinitely larger than any little creek in Egypt.

 

[Alfalfa]

Now I've seen it all. The author is equating israel with Malala Youssefzai...HAHAHA.

But then I went to the "About Us" of OP.


Put it in perspective.

Gee, Alfalfa, it appears that the author is of Scottish roots. I guess we shouldn't expect you to figure that out since the elevator doesn't go to the top with you. One thing for sure. Alfalfa is never going to be a brain like those coming up with all those medical and technological innovations in Israel, but of course he will be willing to use them should he ever need them.

When an article about Scotland appears in Algemeiner, you let me know.

 

[Sally]

Now I've seen it all. The author is equating israel with Malala Youssefzai...HAHAHA.

But then I went to the "About Us" of OP.



Put it in perspective.

Gee, Alfalfa, it appears that the author is of Scottish roots. I guess we shouldn't expect you to figure that out since the elevator doesn't go to the top with you. One thing for sure. Alfalfa is never going to be a brain like those coming up with all those medical and technological innovations in Israel, but of course he will be willing to use them should he ever need them.

When an article about Scotland appears in Algemeiner, you let me know.

I thought he had Scottish roots, but it seems like Sayit looked him up and he was born in Ireland. Do you have to be Jewish to write something which appears in a Jewish paper? How many times did you wear that dunce cap in school?

Alfalfa is not sharp enough to realize that even Muslims write for Jewish publications. You can find the blog of a Pakistani Muslim on JewishJournal.com. Look for it. His latest is about the concert held each year in honor of Daniel Pearl. You have heard of Daniel Pearl, haven't you?

 

[Sally]

Now I've seen it all. The author is equating israel with Malala Youssefzai...HAHAHA.

But then I went to the "About Us" of OP.


Put it in perspective.

Good idea!
About the author:
Denis M. MacEoin has been editor of Middle East Quarterly since June 2009. A former lecturer in Islamic studies, his academic specialisations are Shi‘ism, Shaykhism, Bábism, and the Bahá'í Faith, on all of which he has written extensively

Born: 1949, Belfast, United Kingdom
Education: Trinity College, Dublin, University of Dublin, University of Edinburgh, King's College, Cambridge

Denial, for the Islamist, is infinitely larger than any little creek in Egypt.

Sayit, talking to Alfalfa, is like talking to a donkey. Apparently he can't believe that people who are not Jewish will write for Jewish publications.

 

[SAYIT]

Now I've seen it all. The author is equating israel with Malala Youssefzai...HAHAHA.

But then I went to the "About Us" of OP.

Put it in perspective.

Gee, Alfalfa, it appears that the author is of Scottish roots. I guess we shouldn't expect you to figure that out since the elevator doesn't go to the top with you. One thing for sure. Alfalfa is never going to be a brain like those coming up with all those medical and technological innovations in Israel, but of course he will be willing to use them should he ever need them.

When an article about Scotland appears in Algemeiner, you let me know.

Gee, what possible reason could Dr MacEoin have had for publishing such an honest, courageous piece on a subject he is eminently, even uniquely qualified to be heard and believed?

To the Islamist it can't possibly be that Islamic culture is as the good doctor states.

 

[SAYIT]

Now I've seen it all. The author is equating israel with Malala Youssefzai...HAHAHA.

But then I went to the "About Us" of OP.
Put it in perspective.

Good idea!
About the author:
Denis M. MacEoin has been editor of Middle East Quarterly since June 2009. A former lecturer in Islamic studies, his academic specialisations are Shi‘ism, Shaykhism, Bábism, and the Bahá'í Faith, on all of which he has written extensively

Born: 1949, Belfast, United Kingdom
Education: Trinity College, Dublin, University of Dublin, University of Edinburgh, King's College, Cambridge

Denial, for the Islamist, is infinitely larger than any little creek in Egypt.

Sayit, talking to Alfalfa, is like talking to a donkey. Apparently he can't believe that people who are not Jewish will write for Jewish publications.

The article wasn't about Israel or Jews but rather used the academic prowess of Greece, Spain and Israel to highlight the utter dearth of progress or creativity in virtually any of the world's Islamic countries for centuries. Winston Churchill wrote the following in The River War over a century ago:

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Bes ides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the faith: all know how to die but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."

The River War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Roudy]

Now I've seen it all. The author is equating israel with Malala Youssefzai...HAHAHA.

But then I went to the "About Us" of OP.


Put it in perspective.

Gee, Alfalfa, it appears that the author is of Scottish roots. I guess we shouldn't expect you to figure that out since the elevator doesn't go to the top with you. One thing for sure. Alfalfa is never going to be a brain like those coming up with all those medical and technological innovations in Israel, but of course he will be willing to use them should he ever need them.

If an article is not from a Neo Nazi or Islamist website, the Alfalfa smoker doesn't consider it legitimate.

 

[Roudy]

One of my favorite quotes posted by Sayit:

Winston Churchill wrote the following in The River War over a century ago:

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Bes ides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the faith: all know how to die but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."

 

[mskafka]

Interesting article. Quarter tones aren't really my thing, as I have a difficult time wrapping my head around them. He is certainly qualified, and he is certainly complex.

"Before moving to Dublin, he had become a member of the Baha'i religion, something he remained for another ten years."
"In 1992, HarperCollins published a volume of his journalism under his pen-name Daniel Easterman..."
"He has also published eight novels as Jonathan Aycliffe."

I would wager that this man has done more in his career, than teach and write. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

Sufi (Islam Mysticism ) and Kabbalah (Jewish Mysticism) and Christian Mysticism have always shared similarities.


"Relations between the Islamic schools of*tasawwuf*and the Jewish mystical movement of*Kabbalah*have been discussed in numerous works, mainly by Jewish rather than Muslim commentators. The two phenomena were linked from early in the history of Islam as well as in the process of development of mainstream Jewish theology and*Kabbalah. The historian of Judaism Paul B. Fenton, whose work is occasionally flawed and whose attitude toward Islam has proven ambivalent – like that of various Jewish scholars – nonetheless points out that the association of Sufism and Jewish mysticism attained such a high level that the 13th*century Muslim Sufi Hasan Ibn Hud of Damascus led a group of Jewish students in studying the Judeo-Arabic classic by al-Hakim Musa ibn Maimun al-Qurtubi or Maimonides (1135-1204),*Dalalat al-Ha'inn*(Moreh Nevuhim*orGuide for the Perplexed)."

The Last Jewish Sufi: The Life and Writings of Ariel Bension [1880-1932] On the 75th Anniversary of His Book "The Zohar in Moslem and Christian Spain" And of His Death :: Center for Islamic Pluralism

 

[mskafka]

Sherri, I think that I know a bit about the trio of Abrahamic religions, and you prove me wrong. Very interesting.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

You do not clearly see a strong movement called Christian Mysticism written of as enduring in our present time. You can find writings on the Christian Mystics, from the past.

However, I submit a true belief in the words of Christ embraces Mysticism. The concept of dying to self and living for Christ is Mystical. The concept of the Holy Spirit living in a human heart is Mystical. The belief in the existence of spiritual struggles is Mystical. The belief a Christian has eternal life with Christ is Mystical. All of these states of existence are Mystical Experiences. We do not need a separate movement of Christian Mysticism, it is embraced in the words and teachings of Christ, in particular The Gospel Of John. I think about the concept of The Trinity, that is another illustration of Mysticism, and wow does that shed new light on seeking to understand the words written in John 3:16.

Mysticism is a seeking to understand God and it exists within Islam and Judaism and Christianity. And we all fall short, but it is a path, a transformation, a process.

 

[mskafka]

Wow, I've just now started reading the Gnostic Gospels. You're way ahead of me. If any of these Gospels are truth, it has really begun to fill in the blanks. I used to have a Bible with the Apocrypha, but lost it somewhere. And chemistry understanding has also begun to....I guess answer that ever-present question: Why are we here?

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

The Gnostic writings, people sought to bury them , but I find this discussion from this article below interesting. And I have not really studied them, just read about them. As much as I think I might learn from reading more about them, I expect to learn much from an Aramaic Translation of the Bible.

“I don’t expect that these books will be added to the New Testament,” she told me when we talked. “But the existence of the gnostic works forces you to address where they fit into Christian experience and tradition. They put the canon in its place, so to speak, which is a very specific historical place and time, when standardization made sense as a way to create an organized, ‘catholic’ church. Today, many people are wearing the boundaries of their particular church tradition more lightly, so the central place of the creed and the canon becomes less important for them. They, and I, find the experiential quality of the gnostic works compelling.”She also feels it is quite likely that a more contemplative, meditative aspect to the tradition may have been sidelined in the headlong rush to create a mainstream faith. "

"The monks who worked with the gnostic works were most likely deeply contemplative. “I have visited Cistercian monks,” she told me, “who are very much taken with some of the gnostic works, because they find a spiritual depth there that reclaims some of their tradition. Having spent several years in contemplative prayer themselves, they instantly recognize the experiences being described.”

Http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1353

 

[dreolin]

Interesting article. Quarter tones aren't really my thing, as I have a difficult time wrapping my head around them. He is certainly qualified, and he is certainly complex.

"Before moving to Dublin, he had become a member of the Baha'i religion, something he remained for another ten years."
"In 1992, HarperCollins published a volume of his journalism under his pen-name Daniel Easterman..."
"He has also published eight novels as Jonathan Aycliffe."

I would wager that this man has done more in his career, than teach and write. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It would not at all be inaccurate to say that he is extraordinarily and fanatically anti-Islam, which certainly has some bearing on his pro-Israel stance.

Missing in all the accolades given to him in this thread is the nfairly substantial allegations of forgery of documents and receipts used in writing The Hijacking of British Islam which had his publisher scrambling to disassociate themselves from his book and impending lawsuits.

I just think people have to look at the big picture and consider all the angles. Every single thing he writes is anti-Islam and usually people that extreme lack credibility. He is a hater. I would find The Protocols of the Elders of Zion equally as creditable as anything he writes.

 

[dreolin]

Wow, I've just now started reading the Gnostic Gospels. You're way ahead of me. If any of these Gospels are truth, it has really begun to fill in the blanks. I used to have a Bible with the Apocrypha, but lost it somewhere. And chemistry understanding has also begun to....I guess answer that ever-present question: Why are we here?

And also said Fergus to the Druid...

I don't burden myself with unanswerable questions.

I can't even figure out walruses.

 

[Alfalfa]

One of my favorite quotes posted by Sayit:

Winston Churchill wrote the following in The River War over a century ago:

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Bes ides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the faith: all know how to die but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."

Ahhh, so this IS an islam bashing thread....