THE OTHER DANIEL P.: This oughtta calm things down at Brandeis... According to Josh at Jawsblog, a campus pro-Israel group will in two weeks host a talk by the controversial Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes, on "Middle East Crises- A Review of the Bidding."
An e-mail posted to Josh's blog warns that "the amount of hatred at Brandeis is about to increase to a much higher degree." As opposed to increasing to a much lower degree? Jeez- is there something about being a student activist that makes people utterly unable to spell, capitalize correctly, or use complete and gramatically correct sentences? And yes, the amount of hatred may very well increase as a result of Pipes appearing- but it'll be directed at him, not from him.
Pipes is quite a ways to my right, and I don't agree with a lot of what he has to say about the Mideast and other issues. But when I've read him he's always been perfectly clear in his message that when it comes to terrorism coming from the Islamic world, "militant Islam is the problem; moderate Islam is the solution." And let's not forget, Pipes' speech is sponsored by a student club, and not by the university itself.
Those who disagree with him would be wise to attend the speech, listen to what he has to say, and then challenge him (I'd imagine there'll be a Q&A period). And next time there's a major terrorist attack carried out by Islamic terrorists in United States, Israel, Iraq, I look forward to these same activists reacting with just as much outrage as they are now to a mere speech.
MORE ON PASSNER: Meanwhile, the Boston Globe has another wrap-up story on the Passner/Justice scandal, as does the Jewish Telegraph Agency. Not much news in either, except for an explanation in the Globe from Passner's friend on where the anti-Baker quote came from, and a statement from the Brandeis flack to the JTA that Brandeis' Jewish population is "about 50%." While no real figures are kept, I always thought it was two-thirds.
The Globe and JTA pieces also deliver a split decision on whether the leader of the BBSO is a man named Justin Moore, or a woman named Justine.