Followed By the Teenage FBI

Jeez, looks like we've been scolded, gang. It turns out that there's nothing funny at all about someone who thinks Hamas has been training Wellesley students to go to the bathroom in a disruptive fashion. No, it's all very serious. As Phyllis Chesler explains to us heartless bastards, this sort of thing could easily lead to... infanticide and genital mutilation.

Once more I feel compelled to inform you that I am not making any of this up.

"Mean Girl" Behavior is No Joke

A number of Comments which I have not posted are filled with withering scorn about the choreographed “mean girl” behavior which was adopted as a group strategy to intimidate or demoralize Nonie Darwish at Wellesley.

She means the Comments in her comments section, specifically the comments she hasn't written herself. Clear enough, I suppose. But she's just getting started. Hang on, kids.

I explain the phenomenon in my 2002 book “Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman.”

Let me say that a) it may be partially hard-wired since some female primates display deadly and heartbreaking aggression towards and competition with other female primates. This includes killing a rival’s infant and indenturing her services on behalf of one’s own infant; b) while male-male aggression is so much more dramatic and homicidal than is whatever females do to each other, this does not mean that female “indirect” aggression is without serious and life-long consequence.

Research, including my own, has shown that female-female slander, gossip, ostracism, and competition all play a significant role in bullying and in socializing western girls into conformity, as well as in global phenomenon such as female honor killings, dowry burnings, acid-attacks, and female genital mutilation practices, etc. “Indirect” female aggression often has serious and life-long psychological consequences for girls and women.

Wow. Wellesley is a much more dangerous place than I'd thought.

Think about it.

OK. (Thinking) All right, I've thought about it, and I think this is pretty much just yelling "Fire" in a crowded theater to, um, distract the audience's attention from the fact that you're getting made fun of for writing a ridiculous blog post.

But, if you’re a man, (and haven’t been socialized as a girl), or if you haven’t studied the research, and don’t have a wife, sister, or daughters of your own, you might not “get it.”

I am a man. (Checks) Yep. And I do have a wife, a sister, and a daughter... hmm... I guess I am missing the social conditioning that would make me see how it's not absurd and paranoid that Darwish deduces Hamas training and foresees the burial of the West beneath the "avalanche" of radical Islam because of some really very mildly disruptive behavior at a lecture.

In my opinion, a lecturer does not deserve to be challenged in a hostile way. A lecturer deserves respectful attentiveness. The university is not the Jerry Springer show. Students and outsiders who attend a lecture with the intent to disrupt it have no place in the academic world. Such behavior characterizes bullies, goon-squads, Nazi and fascist “brownshirts.”

The Nazis were not known for coordinating trips to the bathroom in order to disrupt speeches by people they didn't like. And as a lecturer myself, I do agree that lecturers deserve respectful silence. But come on, this whole "Islamofascist Week" nonsense was deliberately designed to be provocative. If you want to bait your audience you lose bitching rights when your audience reacts as you were clearly hoping they would. Lecturers should expect certain forms of behavior. Perpetrators of political stunts should expect other forms of behavior and shouldn't whine when they get it -- or shouldn't wildly exaggerate mild forms of disruption by calling it Nazism. Or, at least, when they do do this, nobody has any moral duty to not laugh at them.

Anyway, it appears that the Darwish got what she was looking for, but not from the Muslims, curiously enough. Oh well, can't have everything.

But wait! There's more! Want to see something really creepy?

This is the next post down on Chesler's blog from the one I was just quoting. She begins like this:

I am working on my remarks for tomorrow night at Columbia University as part of Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week on the American campus.

I will speak in solidarity with Muslim and ex-Muslim dissidents in the Islamic world and in the West. I am especially mindful today of the student activists in Iran who were tortured and who have now just been given prison sentences. Iranian Muslim and perhaps ex-Muslim students are protesting this.

Incredibly, in America, some campus “activists” are not protesting these harsh sentences but are, instead, protesting our right to hassle-free “free speech” on campus if we dare expose such obvious facts about Islam.

“Free speech” on campus is only hassle-free for those who view the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Bush Presidency as the only High Crimes that count. Anyone who does not demonize western imperialism, colonialism, racism, and capitalism requires a bodyguard on campus. As does anyone who dares mention Islamic imperialism, colonialism, racism, misogyny and capitalism on campus.

As Orwell knew: Not all pigs are equal.

"Islamic capitalism"...? But never mind that. Here's the title of her post:

Did the Muslim Chaplain at Wellesley Commit These Questionable Acts, or Are These Accusations Baseless? Calling All Sleuths…

And when she says "calling all sleuths," you know what's coming, if you have any familiarity at all with wingnuts.

Please read the following Comment that we have published at my blogsite. I have not had the time today to research this down to the ground but surely, someone should. I am not saying that the Comment is true, only that it deserves some investigation.

The Commentator is referring to my blog of yesterday about the hostile “mean girl” reception that Nonie Darwish received at Wellesley. At issue is whether Nancy Khalil, who is listed as the Muslim Chaplain at Wellesley, actually did any of these things or not.

I will give Nancy Khalil space to rebut these charges here if she so chooses.

THE COMMENT POSTED reads as follows:

“If this can happen at Wellesley then the intimidation level at other schools may be outside the scale.

How is that possible?

Here are some research questions for students. They should find the answers and many of their concerns will be proven legitimate.

Q1. How did Nancy Khalil (The Muslim Chaplain? An impersonator of Nancy Khalil?) project herself into Wellesley? Trace her whole history, the agitation about the former Muslim Student Adviser, etc.

Q2. Why is it that the name of the Muslim Student Association was changed?

Q3. Is the role of an adviser to be that of a link to outside organizations (that do not reveal their denomination) and to coerce students to join retreats (weekend jaunts, away from campus, with holy men who also do not reveal their denomination? (Do the parents know, this is happening? Wellesley may be in for a big lawsuit…)

Q4. How many times (has) Nancy Khalil take(n) Wellesley students to the Islamic Society of Boston in Cambridge to be lectured to by Mr. Basyouny Nehela during the overnight Tarbiya sessions? Does Wellesley have a complete biography of Mr. B. Nehela or at least his “denomination”? (Then parents can intelligently discuss the MSA scene at Wellesley with students.)

Q5. Has Nancy Khalil revealed to Wellesley Administration the money flow through her hands to the Wellesley students? Where she gets it? Why it is given as “scholarships” to certain students and secretly? Is it not against the honor code to keep financial help secret and against the financial aid office rules to keep financial awards hidden?

Would Wellesley allow an adviser to continue who has built a secret financial kingdom unknown to the Scholarship Committees? (It exists. Have her deposed under oath and the truth will come out.)”

"I have not had the time today to research this down to the ground but surely, someone should. I am not saying that the Comment is true, only that it deserves some investigation." That's precious. As Orwell also pointed out, the very worst of the pigs like to pretend they're human beings.

Her commenters are, predictably, even viler. UPDATE: That is one of the crazier comments sections I've ever seen, by the way. No, really. WOW. Makes even Althouse's comments look tame.

Comments

[mikey]

Yep. It's pretty interesting to watch. The assault on the constitution started small, just cheney and addington in secret, but now that it's out in the open, everybody thinks they get to take a shot.
So the racists now get to shout that hatred is protected speech. And the free pass that these mouthbreathing thugs get to hate muslims and mexicans in this current spittle-flecked political environment is nothing short of sickening.

Yep. Brown is the new black...

mikey

[¡El Gato Negro!]

I was wondering what blogical-thought was up to these days.

(not really)

[Tyro]

when they do do this, nobody has any moral duty to not laugh at them.

In fact, I'd argue that we all have a moral duty to laugh at them.

[K. Ron Silkwood]

Why does Phyllis Chesler hate other women? Particularly women who need to pee?

[NTodd]

A number of Comments which I have not posted are filled with withering scorn about the choreographed “mean girl” behavior which was adopted as a group strategy to intimidate or demoralize Nonie Darwish at Wellesley.

1) If it was truly choreographed, then it was a lovely example of nonviolent protest. And clearly worked.

2) I once peed on a man in Reno just to watch him cry. Then I charged him fiddy cent.

[GWPDA]

Seems to me that this Darwish woman is the one who has falsified her vita, claiming professorships (or at least some status) at UCLA and other campuses. I can think of no particular justification for paying any attention to her at all, about anything. There are lots and lots of fully qualified, real girl Middle East scholars around - "Nonnie" isn't one of them.
.

[flory]

"I have not had the time today to research this down to the ground but surely, someone should. I am not saying that the Comment is true, only that it deserves some investigation."

Has Phyllis Chesler revealed to Blogoshere Administration the money flow through her hands to the goatblowers? Where she gets it? Why it is given as “grants” to certain goatblowers and secretly? Is it not against the honor code to keep financial help secret and against the financial aid office rules to keep financial awards hidden?

[Spokane Moderate]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, flory. This goes all the way up to Kaus?

We are through the looking glass here people...

[haighterade]

Woah, okay, hold on for one goddamn minute. Sure this is some delectably unhinged wingnuttery, but does it really rise to the level of Do the Collapse? When I think of that album, I think of betrayal and treachery, not mere bullshit. Save the strong stuff for (say) Lieberman.

[Thers]

haighterade, a fair point, but I was referencing the Wish in One Hand EP version.

They were doing TFBI a long time live before DTC. Live, it rocked, and I actually had high hopes when I heard it was the DTC single...

[socratic_me]

After watching the video, I have to wonder if I am the only one who thinks it incredibly odd that given the high levels of BS and interruptions that did occur, Nonie and/or Phyllis chose to focus on the few actual Muslim girls who were there and were relatively innocuous? Somehow, I feel this reveals more about their skewed world view than anything else. I mean, I get annoyed about the crazy antics that occur at a lot of these meetings. What I can't figure is how, in the midst of all that, someone even notices when a few girls pee in rotation. WTF?

[haighterade]

That's fair enough; I retract my complaint. Like a handful of other tracks on DTC, I can see how it would have been a fine tune without all the zhoosh.

Now, onward: Anyone who does not demonize western imperialism, colonialism, racism, and capitalism requires a bodyguard on campus.

Oh, how needlessly she worries herself. Like all big trends on campus, racism and colonialism haven't gone out of style, they've just gone underground! On the other hand, it's true that our Econ department has to post snipers on the roof of its building to protect itself from marauding Marxists.

[feh]

I apologize to Thers, I know he has had his fill of me.

GWPDA, I am not certain of your point. If you examine her biography, in what way is she not qualified to speak on Arab/Israeli/Extremist Islam subjects?

Are you saying we should listen only to scholars and not to witnesses or participants or others?

I don't know what happened at Wellesley, perhaps it was just a non-violent protest. What happened at Berkeley was pretty despicable and sadly typical.

I think it's one thing for a Code Pink protester to wave her bloodied hands right in Condi's face and call her a war criminal. Condi and her buddies have systematically done away with free speech and literally placed it in free speech zones well away from the press.

But Darwish has no power. She's not a politician. She's only a speaker.

If you want to protest outside the hall fine. If you want to non-violently protest inside the hall, maybe.

But there's no reason not to let her speak. The remedy to ugly speech is more speech, not speech suppression.

All of you are conflating your issues about Chesler with issues about Darwish with your issues about Horowitz and the neocons. Horowitz is a fucktard. Chesler does seem to have a good reputation as a feminist and psychologist, and she has clearly had deep involvement in Muslim culture since 1960. Darwish seems to have been placed in time and space to be a good witness to listen to.

Today it was announced that the Don't Tase Me Bro police were "cleared" of wrong doing. Don't Tase Me Bro should never have been tased, but are you folks defending his behavior in delaying Kerry's Q&A by monopolizing the microphone as non-violent protest?

[bitchphd]

I admit I have been known to roll my eyes during lectures.

[merlallen]

I sometimes roll my eyes at my wife. And go pee when she is bitching at me.

[NickM]

"I don't know what happened at Wellesley, perhaps it was just a non-violent protest."

It seems to have been a protest; no one has alleged that it was violent. What's your point?

[Jake T. Snake]

Rolling my eyes when I am peeing just results in urine spraying all over the place and since I have to clean the toilets, that just ain't happening.
As to lecturers being listened to with respectful silence, I consider it a minor miracle if I can get my students to stop text messaging during class and talking to each other during class about how wasted they were last weekend. For many undergraduates, that is where they live, so why be offended. I certainly don't interpret this behavior personally or as some sort of political movement. That's just weird, narcissistic and delusional.

[Captain Goto]

That's just weird, narcissistic and delusional.

or, shorter entire left blogosphere, re: everyone from Jonah Goldberg and Joe Klein on up the ladder.

[stickler]

I actually roll my eyes during my own lectures. It sometimes helps get the kids' attention. Mostly it's just a good workout for the ocular muscles.

[TomMil]

Jake,

That's the beauty of the Hamas training, they practice it over and over;

Step 1 - Roll eyes
Step 2 - pee

Warning - Never begin Step 2 until you are finished with Step 1. It takes dicipline, but the proper training gets results.

[LittlePig]

Warning - Never begin Step 2 until you are finished with Step 1. It takes dicipline, but the proper training gets results.

Well, that and a whole lot of fluids.

[Gary Ruppert]

The fact is that they did not stay to pee. Allah is merciful.

[Josh]

Feh, you oughtta read Chesler's New Anti-Semitism, in which she asserts, IIRC, that Arab Muslims don't work hard because theirs is a languid tropical culture. Or, if you can stomach his obnoxious tone, just glance at Norman Finkelstein's accurate quotes from that book in his Beyond Chutzpah. She's no expert on Islam.

And Jake, jeepers, what do you urinate with?

[et tu Phyllis?]

I posted this on her latest page,
http://pajamasmedia.com/xpress/phyllischesler/2007/10/30/my_book_the_saudi_lobby_still.php
since she is no longer accepting comments --even her personally culled comments-- on " "Mean Girl" Behavior is No Joke"

Do you think my post will make her cut? :D

***

Good luck on finding a publisher for your upcoming book "The Saudi Lobby"!
The book that really caught my eye advertised here on your site is "Women and Madness" by Phyllis Chester.
Now there's a subject which you appear to have much experience in; therefore you should have little trouble on finding a publisher for 'Saudi'!

However, could it possibly be that these "so-called heroic and anti-establishment leftists have almost always made far more money" on their book sales because they made more sense, were more truthful and more people agreed with them "than their conservative counterparts"?
Isn't that what your vaunted Free Market Economy teaches, that the better and more popular product naturally makes more money?
Please, enlighten us on this disconnect!

I must note: the photo you choose to prominently display of yourself on every page of your website is without question giving a decidedly "mean girl" look. (Your eyes are definitely starting on an upward roll! Is there a video of this photo session so we can research this?)

What is the meaning of this, Phyllis? Why do you choose to so widely promote that picture by having it placed so prominently on every page on your site?
Is it possible you are a double-agent for, as you say, 'Islamic capitalism'? Are you really a Nazi mole insidiously promoting infanticide and genital mutilation? (Female genital mutilation only, of course; as obviously a bris is a fine thing, ridged bands be damned!)

And what about your own pee breaks?
Could they be as nefarious and disruptive as those hostile Islamo-Fascist college girls-cum-terrorists who so frighteningly intimidated poor Nonie Darwish at --ugh-- Wellesley?

Could you have been indoctrinated and trained by Hamas?!

I have not had the time today to research this down to the ground but surely, someone should.

Oh, the horror...

The horror...