THE KAFFIYAH IS SULLIED YET AGAIN: Our old friend Charlotte Kates, aka Little Red Kaffiyah Hood, is back in the news, as Rutgers Law School's resident fanatical Israel-basher has had a letter to the editor published in that noted bastion of reactionary anti-Zionism, The New Republic.
Ms. Kates apparently had a problem with TNR having used a quote, from a satirical flier that circulated last year, that Kates' organization consists of "activists for the destruction of Israel," who planned a "Hatefest" in October of 2003 and are "'opposed to the existence of the apartheid colonial settler state of Israel, as it is based on the racist ideology of Zionism and is an expression of colonialism and imperialism."
That's fair enough- except for the part on the front page of the organization's website, which states that, uh, "We are opposed to the existence of the apartheid colonial settler state of Israel, as it is based on the racist ideology of Zionism and is an expression of colonialism and imperialism, and we stand for the total liberation of all of historic Palestine." (Emphasis mine) She also, of course, leaves out the part about how the "hatefest" was downsized and ultimately kicked off campus when the rest of the national pro-Palestinian movement that you've heard so much about (yes, the rest of it) pulled out of the conference because they thought Kates was too extreme.
In his rebuttal, the author of the original article, Omer Bartov, gives Kates the flogging she deserves. After pointing out that Kates proudly calls for the obliteration of Israel, he says "New Jersey Solidarity therefore advocates the destruction of Israel and condones--indeed calls for--the mass murder of innocents. If Kates is proud of such goals and actions, so be it." Amen to that.