Bye, Bye Briscoe

I learned this evening that Jerry Orbach, who plays my favorite TV cop Lennie Briscoe, died yesterday of prostate cancer. Orbach's tough, understated character was appealing for his crusty exterior overlaying his fundamental decency. Surprisingly to one who knows him only from Law and Order, Orbach was for most of his career a successful Broadway song and dance man. MSNBC has an extended profile.

Lisbon, 1er novembre 1755

Voltaire was deeply shocked, and his fundemental belief in nature's goodness was deeply shaken, by the earthquake in Lisbon in 1755, a disaster similar in kind, if not extent, to the devastation that has swept South Asia in the wake of the tsunami. In Candide, a parody of Leibniz's philosophy that we live in the best of all possible worlds and the work for which Voltaire is perhaps best remembered today, the Lisbon earthquake is one in a series of disasters that shake Candide's faith in the optimistic philosophy of his mentor, Dr. Pangloss:

Quand ils furent revenus un peu à eux, ils marchèrent vers Lisbonne; il leur restait quelque argent, avec lequel ils espéraient se sauver de la faim après avoir échappé à la tempête.

A peine ont-ils mis le pied dans la ville en pleurant la mort de leur bienfaiteur, qu'ils sentent la terre trembler sous leurs pas(1); la mer s'élève en bouillonnant dans le port, et brise les vaisseaux qui sont à l'ancre. Des tourbillons de flammes et de cendres couvrent les rues et les places publiques; les maisons s'écroulent, les toits sont renversés sur les fondements, et les fondements se dispersent; trente mille habitants de tout âge et de tout sexe sont écrasés sous des ruines, Le matelot disait en sifflant et en jurant: ‹‹ Il y aura quelque chose à gagner ici. — Quelle peut être la raison suffisante de ce phénomène? disait Pangloss. — Voici le dernier jour du monde!›› s'écriait Candide. Le matelot court incontinent au milieu des débris, affronte la mort pour trouver de l'argent, en trouve, s'en empare, s'enivre, et, ayant cuvé son vin, achète les faveurs de la première fille de bonne volonté qu'il rencontre sur les ruines des maisons détruites et au milieu des mourants et des morts. Pangloss le tirait cependant par la manche. ‹‹ Mon ami, lui disait-il, cela n'est pas bien, vous manquez à la raison universelle, vous prenez mal votre temps. — Tête et sang! répondit l'autre, je suis matelot et né à Batavia; j'ai marché quatre fois sur le crucifix dans quatre voyages au Japon; tu as bien trouvé ton homme avec ta raison universelle! ››

Voltaire, Candide, Ch. 5

When they had come to themselves a little, they made their way to Lisbon; they still had some money, with which they hoped to ease their hunger after having escaped the storm.

Hardly had they set foot in the town bewailing the death of their benefactor, when they felt the earth shake under their feet, the sea rose boiling about the port smashing the ships at anchor. Whirlwinds of flame and ash descended upon the streets and public places, roofs were overturned upon their foundations, and the foundations disintegrated, thirty thousand people of all age and sex were wiped out beneath the ruins, The sailor whistled and swore, "There is something to be gained here." — "What reason is sufficient to explain this phenomenon?" said Pangloss. "It's the last day of the world!" cried Candide. The sailor chased recklessly through the debris, risking death in order to find some money, found some, seized it, got drunk, bought the favors of the first willing young woman that he found among the ruined houses amidst the dying and the dead. Pangloss plucked him by the sleeve, "My friend," he said, "this is not good. You are not adhering to the universal law, you are not spending your time well." "By my head and blood!" replied the other, "I am a sailor born in Batavia, I trod on the crucifix four times in four voyages to Japan; you have really found your man with your universal law."

At such moments, one is simply thankful for not being swept up in the universal catastrophe.

Milestone

Today (yesterday) was a milestone: Rachel took her first steps. The best part was how ecstatic she was at finding she could walk.

A Respectful Hearing

Randa Jarrar at MoorishGirl notes that Professor Joseph Massad of Columbia University, having been accused of anti-Semitism, has written an essay in Al Ahram on what anti-Semitism means as it is applied to both Jews and Arabs.

I am hesitant to wade into the debate over the Palestinian issue (about which I do not know very much, though I hope to know more). Professor Massad is right that there is a great deal of prejudice against Arabs and Muslims in Europe and North America. Where we part company, I think, is where he implies that it is possible to oppose the existence of Israel and not be anti-Jewish, and where he argues that Arab antipathy to Jews is "political" and not "racist." I doubt that he would see European or American hatred of Arabs in the wake of the oil crises and 9/11 as "political" and not "racist." I also think that it is too reductive to argue that Israel is simply the colonial and imperial creation of Eastern European Jews, or that the only reason proffered to justify Israel's existence is the Holocaust. I hope that someday there is a compromise solution that provides the Palestinians with a country and a decent life, but I am not sure that Professor Massad is interested in a compromise.

Nevertheless, while I believe that Professor Massad's ideas are fair game for criticism, I do not believe that he should be silenced or his job threatened. Free speech is only meaningful when it protects speech with which we disagree. Too often in this country, the Palestinian voice has been drowned out. If the Palestinians and their advocates are not heard, there will never be peace.

Anti-Semitism

I disagree with Professor Joseph Massad's argument that is possible to be anti-Israel or anti-Zionist but not anti-Jewish. In his article for Al Ahram, Professor Massad argues that the "real" victims of "anti-Semitism" today are Arabs and Muslims and not Jews. The crude assumption underlying his nuanced description of the various meanings of the word "anti-Semitism" is that the the Israeli/Palestinian conflict can be reduced to a simplistic dichotomy between colonizing Eastern European Jews and indigenous Arab victims. As a result, Arab hatred of Jews and Israel is merely "political" and not "racist."

Professor Massad is without doubt right that Muslims and Arabs are widespread victims of prejudice in the largely Christian United States and Europe. However, Massad caricatures arguments for the legitimacy of the Israeli state when he implies that the Holocaust is the sole justification for a Jewish state in Israel, and he glosses over the fact that the conflict in the Middle East has been characterized by copious bloodshed on all sides. Moreover, Professor Massad's argument begs the question of exactly where he thinks the Jews should go (having fled Europe, where they were massacred, and the Arab world, where they were oppressed).

The sins of Western Europe and America do not excuse the anti-Jewish prejudice of the Arab world, most of whose Jewish residents have long since departed for Israel. Professor Massad ends up catering to the very prejudice he purports to debunk, and his facile distinctions based on who is a "Zionist" and who is a "Semite," are as unpersuasive as his argument that Arab prejudice against Jews is "political" and not "racist." (By that logic, Professor Massad would have to concede that prejudice against Arabs in the United States, based on concentration of oil resources and the attack of 9/11, is all "poltical" and not "racist," a concession that I hardly think he is ready to make. The gravamen of his argument is that Arabs, not Jews, are the real victims of prejudice today, and that is an argument that is only half true.

N.B. While I find much to dislike and disagree with in Professor Massad's views, I believe absolutely that he should be free to express them, and that neither his job nor his other rights should be in jeopardy as a result of his opinions. At the same time, those who oppose his views have every right to subject him and his views to vigorous, even harsh, criticism.

Northern Enlightenment

TheStar.com - Court endorses gay marriage bill

OTTAWA — The Liberals will move swiftly to legalize gay weddings across the country now that the top court has endorsed a draft bill that would revolutionize marriage.

Canada would join the vanguard of nations supporting same-sex unions if legislation to be introduced early in 2005 is passed.

Canada once again proves to be light years ahead of the United States on social issues, as it plans to legislate equality in the country's most important institution while preserving religious freedom for those with opposing viewpoints. (A significant qualification in the Supreme Court's ruling is that no religious leader can be forced to perform a marriage that he or she opposes on religious or moral grounds.)

No excuse

Haaretz reports that the shooting of Palestinian children in the occupied territories by the Israeli Defense Forces is "a routine matter, without commissions of inquiry and without public interest." The conscience of the world was shocked recently by the brutal tracking and cold-blooded shooting of 13-year-old Iman Al-Hamas by an Israeli officer as she tried to flee a restricted zone. Contrary to initial IDF reports, the radio traffic showed that the Army knew she posed no threat and was trying to flee when she was gunned down. This kind of cold-blooded and gratuitous killing is incompatible with civilized society or the standards to which the IDF aspires. (Andrew Sullivan pointed me to the original story about Iman Al-Hamas.) See also Iman Darweesh Al Hams, Wikipedia.

Reading Ulysses

After more than 15 years, I am reading Joyce's Ulysses for the second time. I have made it through a little more than the first hundred pages, and it is coming fairly easily so long as I do not try to force the pace. I have to pay close attention, or I lose track of the speaker or the subject. Joyce has a tremendous power of description; he can do with words what Picasso could do with a few lines on paper. The book is full of vivid sights, smells, and tastes. The associations between apparently disparate images and themes are dazzling. However, it is not an easy read.

My wife dislikes Joyce because she believes he is too self-aware of his own cleverness. More troubling is that she thinks I like him for the same reason.

O Canada!

Canada Invites Strippers and Gets Scrutiny (washingtonpost.com)

Nude dancers come here under one of several programs aimed at recruiting foreign workers with specialties sorely needed in Canada. Last year, the country imported more than 19,000 construction workers, almost 5,000 nannies and 1,560 university professors. In addition, 661 work permits were issued or renewed for foreign exotic dancers.

The program has set off a raging debate over whether exotic dancing exploits immigrant women or offers them opportunities they would not otherwise have. Club owners contend there is no link to prostitution. Although prostitution is mostly legal in Canada, soliciting prostitution is generally against the law, and clubs that pressured women into providing sexual services would be breaking the solicitation laws.

The one former exotic dancer I have known was a lawyer who advocated unionization and legal protection for dancers.

Get well

Scott Hamilton to Be Treated for Tumor (washingtonpost.com)

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 2 -- Former world champion figure skater Scott Hamilton will undergo high-tech radiation therapy for a noncancerous brain tumor, his publicist said Thursday.

As I was watching superannuated Olympic stars skate yesterday on "Ice Wars," I missed the voice of one my favorite skaters of all time, Scott Hamilton. Hamilton has been a frequent commenter on ice exhibitions. With his infectious sense of fun and modest self-effacement, despite being one of the greatest athletes ever to lace up skates, he has always been my particular favorite. It was with genuine sorrow that I learned that, despite having survived a bout with testicular cancer several years ago, Hamilton is now facing treatment for a benign brain tumor. Count me among the millions wishing him a speedy recovery.

Red State Values: Alabama Votes for Segregation, Then and Now

Alabama Vote Opens Old Racial Wounds (washingtonpost.com)

Alabama voters rejected a state constitutional amendment on November 2 that would have repealed provisions in the state constitution requiring separate schools for white and black children. Their reason? The amendment would also have repealed language that says the state does not guarantee a public education. Former Justice Roy Moore, who was removed from the state supreme court after trying to bring a giant granite sculpture of the ten commandments into the supreme court building earlier this year, led the fight against the amendment. Moore threw the fear into the population that "activist federal judges" might force the state to raise taxes to pay for public education. Since Alabama is apparently ranked 44th in per pupil expenditures by state, this might not be such a bad idea.