[conspire] NYLXS Press Release on the OLPC Project

[Edward Cherlin]

Rick, I apologize in advance. If you know of a more appropriate venue
for this sort of meshugas, I would be happy to continue with Ruben
there.

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 5:06 AM, Ruben Safir <ruben at mrbrklyn.com> wrote:
> >
>  >   For example, while Americans may understand "jihad" to mean "holy
>  >   war," it is in fact a broader Islamic concept of the struggle to do
>  >   good, says the guidance prepared for diplomats and other officials
>  >   tasked with explaining the war on terror to the public.
>  >
>  > (Among other things, that word and others were, of course, not "banned".)
>  >
>
>  This might be a good example of how language shapes culture and reflects
>  culutre.  The word "Jihad" is not an equivilant of say the word "Mitzot"
>  neither of which have equivilants in English.
>
>  Slice it and dice it as you wish but the word Jihad never has the innocuous
>  meaning such as you described.

Hokh mir nit kayne chainig. As the Chinese philosopher might have
said, "Armed struggle is not struggle."

You get to decide, do you? Muhammad Yunus's jihad against poverty is
some sort of cover for an anti-Semitic conspiracy? Gandhi's
non-violent jihad against the British? Here is Gandhi's prescription
for achieving peace within yourself: Find a Muslim orphan of the
communal violence, and then adopt this child to bring up as your own.
Only be sure to raise the child as a Muslim.

> Furthermore, it can not be cleaved from
>  its overt violent usages.  In fact, the way the word is used both for
>  daily and inocent  purposes and for violent and fanatical purposes
>  is more than problematic, its a contributing factor in violent propaganda
>  in the Arab world.

So tell me something, Reuven. Both Judaism and Islam claim to be
religions of peace. A fair number on each side claim that theirs is
the One True religion of peace, and the other side are lying,
murderous fascist/terrorist bastards (worse than that, actually, but
it will do for purposes of this discussion), and so are their
prophets. Does 'As-salaam alaykhum' in Arabic mean the same thing as
'Shalom aleikhem' in Hebrew or not? How about 'Pax vobiscum'?

Also, my impression is that some Israelis regard the Palestinians as
the Philistines, since it is the same word. What do you think?

Here is something that I think about frequently:

Amos 2:6 (Jewish Publication Society Tanakh), after denouncing Gaza,
Damascus, and Lebanon, among others (plus ça change,...):

Thus saith the LORD: For three transgressions of Israel, yea, for
four, I will not reverse it: because they sell the righteous for
silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes;

Except that today they sell a whole people for the illusion of security.

"Those who would give up a little liberty for a little security will
deserve neither and lose both."--Benjamin Franklin

The same applies to those who would deny others liberty.
-- 
Edward Cherlin
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