19 thoughts on “Abu Toameh, Jerusalem Post’s ‘House Palestinian,’ Calls for Israel to Talk to Hamas – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. Abu Toameh is coming to speak on my campus this Wednesday courtesy of several hasbara groups. The more I read about this guy, the less I like. Unfortunately, I can’t attend the event to take him to task over this and others.

    The event is about how the PA silences media critics and forces them to push only Abu Mazen’s line. This baffles me, because doesn’t criticizing Fatah’s corruption give more leverage to Hamas? Yes, I would rather Fatah stop being corrupt that stop others pointing out that they are, but we’re talking purely on propagandic terms here. I am reminded of when Arafat shut off some long-standing Palestinian newspapers due to some virulent anti-Israel rhetoric. You would think this is what the hasbara crowd would like, but apparently that’s not enough.
    The only reason I see for them to broach a subject like this is to simply demonize the Palestinians. See how THEY are so anti-freedom and anti-democratic (even though it might serve our interests), and see how WE are so free and self-critical and whatnot. Look on us, look on them, mi yoter dome lakhem?

    And yes, Richard, I would rather have two dictatorships at peace with one another than continue this bloody conflict between “democracies”. It’s awfully anti-Jeffersonian of me to say this, but I REALLY mean it when I say both countries need STRONG leadership to end the cycle.

  2. Interesting piece. Shame you had to ruin it by calling Toameh Uncle Mahmoud. By all means disagree with the guy. Using a racial epithet is pretty below the belt though, and not very different from people calling hard-left critics of Israel ‘self-haters’ or John Pilger calling Obama ‘Uncle Tom’.

  3. Perhaps you should have googled Khaled abu Toameh and read at least some of the many, many articles he has written and published extensively stating the very things you said he is ashamed to have the world know. This is and has always been his theme – that Fatah is and has always been completely corrupt and has not delivered to the Arab Palestinian people anything of value, despite the billions of dollars in aid and other assistance given to Fatah (first to Arafat, now to Abbas) over the years.

    Incidentally – do you read and/or speak Arabic? Do you live in Israel and cover the disputed territories? Do you have dozens of sources all over the Middle East? If not, you might reconsider presenting yourself as an expert and instead seek enlightenment; perhaps you should begin by following abu Toameh’s articles.

    1. Lord preserve us fr. partisans who attempt to “educate” us about what we already know. I do know how to read the J.Post & have read Toameh there as often as I care to. As for “englightenment,” I don’t need to seek it. Englightenment fr. the likes of you & Toameh amounts to a permanent solar eclipse.

  4. Looks to me like Israel is readying itself to engage Hamas a bit more straightforwardly (not through third parties, that is.) I think there has been sentiment for that among former Israeli security establishment people for some time, like this letter from mid-last year. Wouldn’t be too surprised if Toameh remarks are a kind of a trial balloon, readying the ground…

  5. Richard-
    Although this is not related to this thread, I thought it would be interesting to post this link to an article in the New York Times. I do this because there have been discussions in the past here at Tikkun Olam regarding the question of whether Islam inherently teaches disdain for Jews, Judaism and other non-Muslims or not. It is important to note when reading this that Saudi Arabia is a major, if not THE major financier of mosque building around the world in addition to sending Islamic teachers to other countries including the United States. Read this:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/world/middleeast/03saudi.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast

  6. You disagree with a man who grew up in Jerusalem and the West Bank prior to and after the PLO were brought in and who is an Arab Palestinian…. and yet you are so arrogant and self absorbed that you feel fully confident to refer to him as a House Palestinian, a racist term from the South….

    I’ve seen him speak and even the hated David Horowitz, and neither ever referred to Gideon Levy as the House Jew…. lol!!
    but you in Seattle grant yourself full license to refer to him as such….. good work guy!

    1. you feel fully confident to refer to him as a House Palestinian, a racist term from the South

      Referring to someone as a House Palestinian is not a racist term especially if he is serving the uses of the Israeli right. Apparently, you don’t know much about racist terms. As I’ve already written here to another commenter–kike, wop, n(^^#4 are all racist terms. The phrase I used isn’t. It would actually behoove you to read a comment thread before you publish a comment for precisely this reason.

      And exactly what and how much do you know about anti-Black racism?

      neither ever referred to Gideon Levy as the House Jew

      I assure you he’s been called far worse by the Israeli right. Just read his Talkback sections in Haaretz.

      1. So let me see if I get it.
        You agree that the Fatah is corrupt.
        On the other hand, irrespective of the social network the Hamas put in place the truth is that it is a racist, fundamentalist organization whose goal (read their Charter, which spells it out) is to ‘liberate’ all Palestine, kill all the Jews and establish a fundamentalist state a la Taliban governed by the Sharia.

        I cannot understand how a ‘liberal’ like Richard, who claims to be ‘progressive’ can buy that.

  7. The term was originally coined (I think) by Malcolm X. I think it’s racist in the sense that it makes a priori assumptions about how black people should think (or whoever the term is applied to). By all means disagree with Toameh. When you start calling him a House Palestinian, though, you seem to be implying that there are certain views which a Palestinian just shouldn’t hold.

    1. Oh he’s entitled to hold the views & I’m entitled to find them repellant & note that.

      I find it laughable that you would take it upon yrself to define a term coined by one of America’s great fighters for racial justice & term it racist. Chutzpah runs deep I see.

  8. I didn’t think that it was that controversial to describe some of Malcolm X’s ideas as partly racist. This doesn’t negate, of course, his greatness.

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