My dissertation is now defended and deposited, and all forms have been filled out and fees paid. I will say that for the first time, I understand how some people can insist on always using their Ph.D. title, as it feels like an accomplishment and it's rather cool to hear and know it's actually true. This will presumably pass in a week or two.

I'm also guaranteed employment for next year. I should be able to say more early next week.

Labels: Miscellaneous

 
I can't find its Arabic equivalent, but the al-Jazeera story attributing to Israeli government sources the information that Olmert may temporarily suspend himself is here. It doesn't seem any different that some of the anonymous speculation found in the Israeli media itself, except for the claim that the allegations against Olmert were originally pushed by right-wing allies from his days as mayor now dismayed over the peace process. The Associated Press, has more information about Morris Talansky:

"Talansky, a former trustee of Yeshiva University who has made charitable donations to a variety of Jewish charities, is CEO of Global Resources Group, a financial investment firm that he operates out of his multimillion-dollar Long Island mansion.

"Talansky is also the U.S. contact for the New Jerusalem Foundation, an organization founded by Olmert while he was Jerusalem's mayor. It took some heat in 1999 when it raised $4.5 million before it registered as a nonprofit organization and opened its books to the public.

"Its stated goal is to support educational, cultural, social welfare and beautification projects throughout Jerusalem."

Labels: Israel

 
Over the past few days, Israel has suddenly become awash with rumors that the end may be near for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. At issue are allegations that he accepted bribes from American businessman Morris Talansky during his days as Jerusalem mayor. Israel is under a tight gag order that even Reuters is forced to follow, so we rely on the New York Post to explain this development that could end what remains of the Annapolis peace process. Of course, it's not actually clear to me why this might force Olmert out when nothing else has.

Olmert's coalition is actually at least temporarily down to 64 after three MK's left the Pensioners to form a new Social Justice party linked to Russian billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak. However, they are interested in joining the coalition. Gaydamak has previously been rumored to have his sights on becoming Jerusalem's mayor himself, and even toyed with making a supermarket chain he acquired kosher to appeal to the city's religious voters.

(Crossposted to American Footprints.)

Labels: Israel

 
Arabist links to a New York Times article with this ridiculous, if predictable, conclusion:

"Clearly, this is a debate of importance not only to Muslims but to non-Muslims as well, and for a Westerner listening in, the best way to understand it may be to translate it into the language of European history. Irshad Manji sees herself as moving Islam into the 16th century; Ayaan Hirsi Ali wants to move it into the 18th. It’s as if Luther and Voltaire were living at the same time."

Comparisons like this are horrid even as a teaching tool. That cultures can't be compared with each other in this way has been known since Franz Boas.

Has "The West" developed its Confucius yet, by any chance?

Labels: Islam

 
One reason blogging is slow is that I leave Israel May 10 and defend my dissertation May 12. While my work has been defensible for some time, I still feel compelled to keep at it, not only because it's less work I'll have to do later, but because I know a few people in the field are actually interested in reading my dissertation, and I want to make sure it's as useful as possible.

It was thus with personal interest that I followed this link to David Sirota's comments on pre-publication anxiety. The marketplace isn't a factor, but as the one who probably knows the most about the subject, I see the flaws in my own work, and expect others will find flaws from their own perspectives. Because I've put so much work into it, telling myself that it's a dissertation and not a book seems like a cop-out.

Labels: Miscellaneous

 
If any prospective employers are reading this, know that if hired, I promise not to sue my students for disagreeing with me.

Labels: Academics

 
It's not often that I agree with someone from the National Religious Party. In fact, I think this may be the first time I've even come close. However, Yehuda Ben Meir's views on the stance toward Israel's hametz law are interesting.

This means, of course, that I am agreeing with someone from the National Religious Party in a matter where he disagrees with his faction. I guess that's consistent.

Labels: Israel

 
The Jerusalem Post reports on public eating habits in Jerusalem during Passover. This makes an interesting case to explore the tension between community- and individual-based views of religion. Both are, to some degree, found in every religion. I was raised with a Protestantism that focused entirely on my own behavior and relationship with God as an individual. At the same time, some elements of the religious right interpret the idea that "God will judge the nations" to mean that God will judge them as nations based on their community values, and so try to force everyone to adhere to what they believe is the correct moral code, sometimes blaming disasters on people's failure to follow it.

One aspect of this tension within Judaism is that God's covenant is with the Jews as a people. The people interviewed in the Post article fascinate me:

"'I don't care what other people do, I do what I believe in, and I have no problem with restaurants that serve bread during Pessah,' said Shulamit Terez, who was sitting in Café Hillel, whose menu is kosher. 'I myself don't think it's appropriate to sell or eat hametz publicly during Pessah because it offends other people.'

"Terez's husband, Avraham, said that people should do what they wanted, but indoors...

"'I'm happy that hametz is not seen on the streets, because this is part of our commandment. But I won't prevent anyone from eating hametz on Pessah if it's very important to him,' Rivka Kaye from the settlement of Elkana said."

Note the "our commandment." What's important is that the public space of the community shows they are following God's will, even if individuals aren't. This is also why some people would potentially be offended at others' consumption of wheat, and thus disregard of God. This is completely different from:

"'Not all people are the same, and those who want to eat bread should be able to do it during Pessah, too. This is the idea behind the freedom of choice and the freedom of religion,' Leata Jelinek, from Canada, said."

Here we have the Western post-Enlightenment mindset where religion is a matter for individuals. Trying to regulate the community according to religious values smacks of theocracy. Finally, there's this guy:

"'We keep kashrut on a certain level,' said Boris, a father of two who was having ice cream with his children at McDonald's. 'We don't eat hametz during Pessah, and we don't eat pork. It's important for us to maintain the Jewish tradition because tradition is the past. Without the past, we have no future,' Boris added."

He speaks only about tradition, which means he probably doesn't believe there's any relevant divine commandment behind it. This is, in effect, taking the community-centered attitude and emptying it of religious context. Even if he agrees it is a matter of personal choice, his particular choice is entirely based off the community marker.

Anyone, of course, can find hametz on the Arab side of town, though predictably they don't seem to be hiking over there. I haven't seen bread in grocery stores, presumably because it's perishable and they didn't stock any not knowing how the legal situation would go down.

Labels: Israel, Judaism

 
This is exactly where I am right now:

"For everyone else, April is the month where nature springs back to life, love is in the air, pleasant days and good feelings.

"I feel like in the academic calendar, April is the equivalent of winter. The year is dying, disappointments abound, there is frantic work to harvest whatever is left of this year’s efforts. I can’t remember an April since I began work as a professor where I felt relaxed and in control, except years when I was on leave. I always stumble into May out of energy, horribly behind in everything. I think I see the same in at least some of my students and many of my colleagues."

I enjoyed last April, as I was set for another year of fellowship in my future. That may be a unique experience since I began my formal education.

Labels: Miscellaneous

 
My home internet connection has really been staggeringly bad lately.

Labels: Miscellaneous

 
Ynet reports on new developments in Middle East peacemaking:

"According to Palestinian sources, the two sides are to reach a general agreement on principles by the end of the year that would not include reference to the questions of Jerusalem or the Palestinian refugees.

"The agreement would be a temporary one – valid for five years – during which the PA would be granted some municipal sovereignty in the capital and would be allowed to provide various services to the Palestinian residents of the city.

"Ynet has learned that this new outline has been presented to Israel and the Palestinians by US mediators, and that the two sides have been discussing it in recent weeks. While both sides are reluctant to accept the proposal, a source involved in the talks said that American pressure may force them to do so...

"The final stage negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the issue of Jerusalem will be postponed by five years, according to a new proposal discussed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia, a Palestinian source told Ynet.

"The proposal, submitted by the US, states that a settlement of the refugee problem would also be delayed by a few years."

I flipped the order of the two excerpts because I thought it was flowed better. I can see how Olmert's government is reluctant to sign off on this as presented, as for some reason Israelis are convinced the Oslo years were a great boon for the Palestinians in which they themselves got nothing. It's not clear what Olmert can point to here that would make them accept letting the Palestinian Authority operate in Jerusalem. The issue of settlements is also not addressed in these leaks. "Declaration of principles" has a rather hollow ring to it in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and it's not at all clear what purpose this serves except to please the lame-duck Bush administration and possibly bolster Olmert's and Abbas's political standing. Of course, since those are the party leaders in each country most committed to peace, that isn't nothing.

Regular readers won't be surprised, though, to learn I think this might be the best we can expect. The largest obstacle to peace right now, frankly, is the Qassam fire from Gaza. (And yes, I know Palestinians are just as bothered by IDF operations as Israelis are by the situation in Sderot, but the power imbalance is such that I simply don't see that mattering much.) Resolving that will mean either dealing with Hamas or an improvement in Israel's defensive technology that is still a few years away.

(Crossposted to American Footprints)

Labels: Israel, Palestine

 
Joshua Landis's has a fascinating piece by Robert Tuttle on the final decades of Syria's Jewish community.

Labels: History, Judaism, Syria

 
RFE-RL profiles a seemingling low-key movement promoting Karakalpakstan's independence from Uzbekistan.

Labels: Uzbekistan

 
When I was in Cairo this past fall, I stopped by the tomb of Imam Shafi'i, a critical figure in the development of Sunni Islam. The gate entrance to the Ayyubid-period mosque and mausoleum is pictured below.



You can read about him here. In brief, he developed the system of using prophetic hadith interpreted by analysis and human reason to establish a system of Islamic law. Today the other schools of Sunni Islamic law all work within this framework to a greater or lesser degree. The mosque and mausoleum is part of a vast area of mausoleums south of the Citadel, and attracts many poor people seeking alms, as well as many who sit within the complex reading Qur'an and hadith. As with most Muslim religious figures, the actual grave is within a green glass and metal structure, but there was obviously some way to deposit money and written notes within.

Labels: Egypt, Islam, Photos

 
Egypt is showing signs of unrest over rising bread prices:

"Egypt's largest state-owned textile factory has called for a strike on Sunday over low wages and rising prices.

"Meanwhile, anti-government activists have also been calling for nationwide action, at a time of growing anger over worsening economic conditions...

"The powerful opposition Muslim Brotherhood has also pledged its support for the worker’s strike.

"The Egyptian authorities have been accused of using disproportionate force against protesters in recent years."

Labels: Egypt