Sarah Schulman ‘Doesn’t Know’ About Hamas

[shira]

Whatever else you might say of Hamas, at least give the Palestinian Islamist group credit for its honesty. Take Hamas’s founding covenant, first issued in 1988 and unrevised since then. Article 7 declares: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them.” When it comes to domestic matters, Hamas is equally open about its goal of establishing a theocratic tyranny in Palestine: Just last week Hamas banned women from an annual Gaza marathon organized by the United Nations, leading to its cancellation by the U.N.

You’d be hard-pressed to find the same degree of honesty in the “boycott, divest and sanction” movement that paints Israel as an “apartheid” regime and an unabashed aggressor determined to lord over Palestinians. To achieve these aims, the activists and academics who make up the BDS movement must remove all moral complexity from the century-long conflict, including by portraying the Palestinian national cause as wholly benign—denying even the most obvious facts about the Palestinians.....

.....I couldn’t help but raise my hand. “So is Hamas part of the ‘they?’” I asked. Schulman answered: “Hamas—you know, every time I give one of these talks one guy asks about Hamas.” Then a flurry of protests: “I have never supported any political party! I don’t even support the Democratic Party!” But of course I didn’t ask Schulman if she supports Hamas. “What I meant is: Is Hamas engaged in ‘systems of supremacy?’ Does Hamas fit into your definition of ‘they,’ of people who are implicated in ‘systems of supremacy?’ ”....

...Here was the BDS movement in a nutshell. In a room filled with progressive activists, an American academic with unimpeachable progressive credentials claimed she didn’t know enough about Hamas to criticize its views on matters of gender and sexual orientation. She had heard somewhere that Hamas was “democratically elected”—apparently Schulman had missed the news about how, the last time Hamas seized power in Gaza, it was via defenestration—and that sufficed to render the group above judgment. Acknowledging the obvious about Hamas would have demoralized the BDS faithful gathered at the LGBT Center that night, and what sort of religious movement would want to do that?

cont'd...
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/127204/sarah-schulman-‘doesn’t-know’-about-hamas

[Jefferson23]

1. The author:

Sohrab Ahmari is an Iranian-American writer and a non-resident fellow at the neoconservative Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank named after the late U.S. senator whose hawkish views on foreign policy greatly influenced an emerging generation of neoconservatives during the Cold War. Ahmari’s articles and commentaries have been published in neoconservative outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Commentary, and the Weekly Standard, as well as a host of more mainstream outlets like Foreign Policy, Huffington Post, and the Boston Globe.[1] He is the co-editor of Arab Spring Dreams, a 2012 collection of essays by young dissidents in the Middle East.

Described by Media Matters writer MJ Rosenberg as “the neocons’ favorite Iranian,” Ahmari has been a vocal advocate of U.S.-imposed regime change in his native Iran, which he left as a teenager. Rosenberg likened Ahmari to Ahmed Chalabi, a formerly exiled Iraqi politician who curried favor with U.S. neoconservatives ahead of the Iraq War and lent an Iraqi name to the list of those supporting the U.S. invasion.[2]

Taking to the pages of the right-wing Commentary in March 2012, Ahmari suggested that tensions over Iran’s nuclear program could be used to promote a regime-change agenda. “The Iranian regime’s intransigence with respect to a number of hotly contested issues—above all, its nuclear-weapons program—is setting the stage for a military conflagration between Iran and the West,” he wrote. Noting that such a confrontation “could spell the fall of the clerical regime under the weight of far superior Western militaries,” Ahmari echoed Iraq-era neoconservative claims that U.S.-led regime change in one country would lead to democratization in others. “Regime collapse in Iran,” he wrote, “represents a historic chance for advancing democratic development there and, by extension, the wider Middle East and North Africa.”[3]

Perhaps unwilling to let the nuclear issue slide as a potential wedge for regime change, Ahmari has opposed a potential western policy of “containing” a nuclear Iran, invoking alongside geopolitical concerns a common neoconservative talking point that Iran’s leaders are too irrational to be reasoned with and willing to sacrifice themselves in order to spite the West. “The Iranian regime is [a] complex entity,” he wrote in a March 2012 brief for the Jackson Society, “with multiple factions vying to shape its future. Yet the fact remains that one of these factions—the one currently ascendant in Iranian politics—is genuinely beholden to an apocalyptic, messianic worldview.” He concluded that “Tehran’s ideological extremism—combined with a credible nuclear deterrent—will likely leave Western powers and their Arab allies in an unenviable position: confronting Tehran and risking nuclear catastrophe or acquiescing to Iranian aggression.”[4]

Ahmari has been critical of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a U.S.-based Iranian-American advocacy group that opposes Iran’s clerical regime but favors diplomacy over sanctions and military confrontation. In a February 2012 opinion piece for Foreign Policy, Ahmari and coauthor Peter Kohanloo described NIAC as “decidedly ayatollah-friendly” and suggested that its opposition to U.S.-led regime change in Iran was out of step with the broader Iranian-American community.[5]

Rosenberg, however, noted that a Zogby poll referenced by Ahmari and Kohanloo showed that only 30 percent of the Iranian Americans surveyed listed “promoting regime change” as one of their top priorities for U.S. policy toward Iran. “NIAC opposes the Iranian regime and supported the 2009 protests against it. But it believes that the most effective, and probably only, way to successfully change Iranian behavior is through diplomacy, not sanctions and war threats,” he wrote. “This drives the Iranian neocons nuts.” Rosenberg added that another poll showed that only 3 percent of Iranian Americans favored U.S. military action against Iran.[6]

in full: http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/ahmari_sohrab

[King_David]

3. MJ Rosenberg ?

Now that's a credible source.



LOL

[Jefferson23]

5. Yes, he is.. many in AIPAC and other pro-israel groups see him as a turncoat.

The OP is written by a necon..that is undeniable from connection
to the Henry Jackson Society.

I guess you relate to those positions quite well...they don't advocate a " weak " foreign policy.

[King_David]

10. You guess wrong .And I don't think anyone

supporting a homophobic bigoted right wing regressives hateful people ,also known as Hamas,should be given 30 seconds of time .

[Jefferson23]

12. She has not done that. Your maligning of Rosenberg is telling too. n/t

[King_David]

15. She hates the Jewish State for being progressive

WRT LGBT rights by calling it
"pinkwashing ". What a small minded ignorant bigot Shulman turned out to be.

[Jefferson23]

20. She hates the Jewish State for being progressive?? Hardly a bigot, a foolish remark.

WHAT IS HOMONATIONALISM?

Homonationalism is a term coined by Professor Jasbir Puar of Rutgers University to describe a recent global phenomenon of great interest to scholars. Homonationalism occurs when sub-sectors of specific gay communities achieve legal parity with heterosexuals and then embrace racial and religious supremacy ideologies. The most obvious examples are in the Netherlands, Britain and Germany where white gays, most often males, increasingly join racist movements against immigrants and immigrations, especially from Muslim countries. However, Homonationalism is increasingly present in Nationalist ideologies across the globe, as secular right-wing forces increasingly leave anti-gay politics to organized religion.

These are significant changes in the positioning of white gays in relationship to supremacy ideologies and are necessary to study in order to have a realistic understanding of how vastly different conditions for LGBT people are globally, based on race, religion, gender and geography.

WHAT IS PINKWASHING?

Pinkwashing is a practice by which a government points to or exaggerates gay rights in order to present itself as progressive. Because LGBT people have been at the bottom of society for so long, many people mistakenly see some forms of “gay rights” (gay pride parades, gay people participating in military service, etc.) as an emblem of modernity. However because of Homonationalism and the shifting position of gay people this is no longer an accurate measure of social advancement. In some places where Homonationalism is active, gay people of the dominant racial or religious demographic may actually have far more secure social rights and political power than subordinate racial and religious communities, which of course themselves include LGBT people. This practice of obscuring or “whitewashing” racial or religious oppression with claims of “gay rights” is called PINKWASHING. Pinkwashing is of profound and engaged interest to scholars around the world who are interested in social justice and LGBT studies.

DEMOGRAPHICS OF OUR CONFERENCE

The HOMONATIONALISM AND PINKWASING CONFERENCE promises to be one of the most diverse conferences in the history of LGBT studies, with broad participation across nationality, religion, race, gender and geography. Here are some examples of the diversity of experience that will be heard:

–189 speakers will be presenting at the conference


http://homonationalism.org/about-the-conference/

[King_David]

23. What a homophobic article

He believes Gays are different from everyone else .. Pewk

[Jefferson23]

25. Who is, he? n/t

[King_David]

26. Why not try go upstairs to our very owns DU LGBT group

And see how many of us agree with your "theories".

Ill be happy to join in and get the discussion going for you.

[Jefferson23]

28. You don't want to answer the question? You understand this is being studied, correct?

You speak for all gays? Interesting. Topics related to I/P can go to DU LGBT?

So, who is, he..that you're referring to?

[King_David]

29. The article has nothing to do with the hateful

right wing Gay and Women hating group called Hamas.

That's why you should post it in LGBT group .

[Jefferson23]

32. Oh yes it does, and you know it. The group allows I/P related issues there, I don't think so.

Although it could be ok in another group..politics, I'm not sure.

[King_David]

27. This article has what exactly to do with expressing

Repulsiveness for Hamas? A right wing bigoted homophobic women hating bunch of regressive fundamentalist people?

[Jefferson23]

30. It has everything to do with it..you're attacking her and accusing her

of ignoring human rights.

[King_David]

33. Yep she is,

But if I posted an article on The Cuisine of France... It would bear the same relevance to the article you posted.

You should try post it in LGBT

[Jefferson23]

40. So, again..who is, he? You referred to earlier..still no answer?

You know it's relevance is exactly on point...it's why she was being attacked, although
without merit.

[King_David]

2. "she didn’t know enough about Hamas to criticize its views on matters of gender ...

"she didn’t know enough about Hamas to criticize its views on matters of gender and sexual orientation"

What the f&$@ ?

She doesn't know enough about the most regressive,homophobic ,mysoginist ,hateful, bigoted regime around , but she's ready to boycot the Jewish State which is one of the most LGBT progressive states in the world ????

[shira]

6. She doesn't care. Just like all her BDS, anti-Israel comrades. n/t

[azurnoir]

7. Shulman was not asked about Hamas positions on LGBT or Womens rights

she was asked a different question
did you read the article?

[shira]

11. She couldn't care less about Palestinians and we all know it...

"But if people elect, democratically elect a religious government, that’s their government. That would be my answer.”

IOW, she won't criticize who the Palestinians chose to represent them democratically. Oh sure, she'll criticize the Israeli gov't but not Hamas.

She also doesn't appear to understand or care about those who didn't elect Hamas to victimize and oppress them, like gays, women, and christians.

Of course, she couldn't care less about the Hamas coup either.

=========

So she's either an idiot or deliberately apathetic when it comes to human/civil rights in Gaza.

Nothing for a progressive to be proud of & support...

[King_David]

13. Shulman doesn't seem to care

about LGBT rights as much as she wants to criticize the Jewish State for being the most progressive force and leader wrt LGBT rights .She despises the Jewish States leadership on the LGBT file and attempts to delegitimize it by calling it "pinkwashing".
What a nasty hateful person she is.

[azurnoir]

14. she was not asked n/t

[King_David]

16. You never read any of her

previous small minded bigoted articles?

[azurnoir]

17. I've read the NYT article n/t

[King_David]

18. Yep , that's the one nt

[azurnoir]

19. BTW did you know that Sarah Shulman is a Gay Jew?

In 1992, Schulman and five others co-founded the Lesbian Avengers, a direct action organization.[9] On her 1992 book tour for Empathy, Schulman visited gay bookstores in the South to start chapters. The organization's high points included sending groups of young organizers to Maine and Idaho to assist local fights against anti-gay ballot initiatives that were being funded by national right-wing organizations.[10] They also organized the first Dyke March, which is now an international tradition.[citation needed]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Schulman

[King_David]

36. So what? So am I ..

And so?

[azurnoir]

38. you have differing opinions

that's all there is a decided different factions here you claim she does not speak for Gay Jews, yet obviously she does as do you

[King_David]

41. Ok I must agree with you there.

[King_David]

4. Not in my name Sarah Schulman,

She does not speak for Gay Jews and I personally can't think of any that would agree with her warped view.

[azurnoir]

8. Tell us do you think that Hamas's Rightwing positions on LGBT and womens rights

justifies Israel's continued occupation?

[King_David]

9. I think Hamas policies WRT

LGBT are repulsive , regressive , backward and unless they are prepared to change them should never be allowed to rule or have the chance to run a bingo game.

The occupation is irrelevant to the fact that some people actually support these regressive hateful bigots.

[Jefferson23]

21. The occupation is irrelevant...the operative word. n/t

[King_David]

22. It's irrelevant to Hamas' hateful bigoted regressive

Murderous, homophobic ,disgusting , criminal ,actions... Yep

[Jefferson23]

24. Oh I got it the first time, and convenient too, to put this ahead of ending the occupation.

Looks to be an interesting conference.

The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies

The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies provides a platform for intellectual leadership in addressing issues that affect Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender individuals and other sexual and gender minorities. As the first university-based LGBT research center in the United States, CLAGS nurtures cutting-edge scholarship, organizes colloquia for examining and affirming LGBT lives, and fosters network-building among academics, artists, activists, policy makers, and community members. CLAGS stands committed to maintaining a broad program of public events, online projects, and fellowships that promote reflection on queer pasts, presents, and futures. CLAGS makes its home at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016.

CLAGS's efforts to promote an academy where homophobia, sexism, racism, and classism are studied and not enacted depend on the generosity of our members. The basic membership rate of $40 ($20 for students or individuals with limited income) includes advanced notification of all public events and a subscription to our biannual newsletter. Members also receive free admission to all CLAGS conferences.

Jan 24, 2013 | Homonationalism and Pinkwashing Update
We are happy to announce that the sold-out Homonationalism and Pinkwashing Conference will be livestreamed on April 10 and 11 at videostreaming.gc.cuny.edu. Please spread the word to friends and communities who may want to know. Also, please see the new, updated conference website at homonationalism.org and follow the conference Facebook page for more updates.
For more information about our events, go to the Events page.

http://web.gc.cuny.edu/CLAGS/index.php

[King_David]

31. What's it got to do with the hate of Hamas?

Did you mean to post it in the LGBT group?

[Jefferson23]

34. It is definitely crossed related..to suggest otherwise is more than disingenuous on your part.

Better luck next time...you opened this can of worms by declaring Schulman anti Israel.

on edit for clarity.

[King_David]

35. Especially for a gay person

to denigrate a LGBT progressive state by using the term "pinkwashing "

That's some bigotry... Yep.. But don't just rely on my word for it.. Go upstairs into our LGBT group and get some more opinions.

[Jefferson23]

37. I don't need your word for anything related to the gay community, the occupation, nor

who is or who is not a weakling...keep your advice.

The conference I posted for you is sold out and the CUNY membership for the study of homonationalism
and pinkwashing is not about bigotry...the audience participation is telling.

[King_David]

39. You should post it in our DU LGBT group

Cos it's irrelevant to our conversation here and then you can get opinions of other LGBT folk.

[Jefferson23]

42. Invite them here, this is about pinkwashing...and Hamas. If you like, please do. n/t