tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189771755810568334.post3169053124134205734..comments2023-07-05T07:02:42.427-07:00Comments on Ex Africa: Ooooh, Camel meat!machiventahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16378483358951869794noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189771755810568334.post-3955987791995505952007-11-12T09:27:00.000-08:002007-11-12T09:27:00.000-08:00Mac, I enjoyed reading this. You might like it too...Mac, I enjoyed reading this. You might like it too:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://talismangate.blogspot.com/2007/11/asmea-vs-mesa.html" REL="nofollow">Bernard Lewis</A> and Fouad Ajami have finally taken a long-overdue leap: they have formed the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) in an effort to break the ‘intellectual’ monopoly of the Middle East Studies Association of North Africa (MESA). <BR/><BR/>This is the tale of a band of revolutionaries who have escaped to a sanctuary where they shall be free to preach a new faith. Using an Islam-inspired parable, this is similar to the story of the early Muslims who broke away from the stranglehold of Quraysh tribe and its inflexible observances to the old pagan gods.<BR/><BR/>Lewis and Ajami are preaching a new way of looking at the Middle East, while MESA perpetuates all that is generic and insipid about how America understands that region—it’s tainted by Saudi financing to boot, just like Quraysh was beholden to the revenues that its deities brought to Mecca! But America and the world cannot afford to lounge around in the blissful lethargy of intellectual shallowness now that the jihadists of the Middle East—many of them Saudis or fueled with Saudi money—have declared their war and delivered their bomb-laden calling cards.<BR/><BR/>Naturally, the MESAists are up in arms against Lewis and Ajami, whom they accuse of heresy and witchcraft, having cast a spell on George Bush’s mind. The MESAists have shunned both Lewis and Ajami for decades but now find themselves threatened as this new faith gathers more force and its ranks are swelled by new believers. The MESA-allied blog-mob has broken out in agitation and denunciation!<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://talismangate.blogspot.com/2007/11/asmea-vs-mesa.html" REL="nofollow">continued</A>Muhannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13398084977566355395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189771755810568334.post-48787622053243699952007-10-21T16:37:00.000-07:002007-10-21T16:37:00.000-07:00Great post, Mac. I've never had camel meat. I wo...Great post, Mac. I've never had camel meat. I wonder why it tastes so bad. and I love watermelon too! <BR/><BR/>I like that new background pic.Iraqi Mojohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14348791832474839472noreply@blogger.com