Thoughtful “Postcard from Iran”
Posted by KamangirJul 3
Antony Loewenstein is the author of the book “My Israel Question“, which I am impatiently looking forward to receiving it from Amazon. He recently visited Iran and talked to fellow Iranian bloggers. That experience is reported in a piece for the Guardian Unlimited, an excerpt of which is also published in his blog. After I translated his post in my Persian blog, I received this comment from a fellow Iranian blogger, “This was fantastic. A really fantastic viewpoint. I did enjoy it.” The commenter had quoted this sentence as what he had enjoyed that much,
…the vast majority [of Iranians] I have met are opposed to the authoritarian rule of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his recent attempts to crackdown on all forms of opposition. That said, their view of Washington and its intentions are uniformly negative. [emphasis from the commenter]
I’ve read the book, and as an Israeli I found it to be incredibly biased towards a single predefined viewpoint, which the author sought to prove time and time again by interviewing people who thought exactly like him. I’m not surprised that those on the left-most extreme part of our political spectrum supported this book.
I didn’t find anything amazing in it, nor anything new. Just the same old rubbish I’ve seen written by post-modernist, post-state, post-whatever-comes-to-mind self-proclaimed intellectuals here.
Not only did I find this book to be rubbish, Kamangir, but I found in it a veritable treasure trove of careful fact-twisting and quote-wrangling to suit the author’s agenda.
Kamangir: Well, let’s talk after I read the book. Thanks for sharing your impression. :)
I have not read the book, only the article and I got the same impression: Anthony Loewenstein starts with a clear picture in mind and seeks to enhance it. “post-modernist intellectual” fits the bill.
By the way: I am also Israeli.
Kamangir: Tell me more, what does “post-modernist intellectual” really mean?
A post-modernist intellectual is in essense an anarchist with a degree. Ivory towers come to mind as well.
And I’ll be around, man, should you wish to discuss the book. Emails would be the best medium for me, or this blog.
Kamangir: Thanks! I’ll get the book in a few weeks. It’ll be good if we can talk then.
Not a problem. I may even manage to get my hands on the book again in the interim. Last I saw it was over half a year ago, when one of my crazier friends lent it to me with a warm recommendation.
I didn’t take a single book from him since. I learned my lesson, me.
For the moment, you may be interested in a couple of blog entries that I managed to find again (fortunately, I remembered the blog name).
http://rwdb.blogspot.com/2006/08/my-my-israel-question-question.html
http://rwdb.blogspot.com/2006/08/trust-betrayed.html
Looking through the site today, the blogger has had a great deal more to say about Loewenstein since I last browsed the blog.
Two more links, one continues a previous post I mentioned, and another is an letter by Ronald Green. The book uses the Green family (relatives of the author) as an example of insanely evil Israeli right-wingers who don’t wish him harm just because he’s family.
That’s the impression our dear author tried to give, anyway.
http://rwdb.blogspot.com/2006/08/my-my-israel-question-question-number.html
http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=1430
The letter is titled “Intellectual Dishonesty”.