It's Jerusalem They Want (Chicago edition)

American universities are institutions of higher education and the New York Times is the "paper of record." Yeah, if you've managed to continue to live in 1976.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are being hurtled into the paradox of a 21st century 1938, watching wild-eyed as integrity and decency drop away and prominent institutions that we all took for granted fall over one another in a race to bow to Islam.

Surrender to medieval repression is the new "progress."

The curator at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is making a small but noteworthy contribution to global Jihad, that of (authoritatively) substituting political propaganda for history. Thankfully - for those of us who care about such things - Diana Muir catches it, and the History News Network allows her to expose it. (They must not be very progressive.)

The problem with substituting political propaganda for history is that it alters our perceptions of the world, and our perceptions affect the actions we take. Schoolchildren throughout the Muslim world are taught history exactly as it appears on the wall of the Megiddo room in the Oriental Institute. Jesus was a man, not the messiah as his followers believe. The Jews are a religious group, not an historic Levantine nation, (and therefore have no claim to sovereignty.) Mohammed visited Jerusalem, (which makes it Muslim land).

Read it all - Muslim Propaganda at the University of Chicago - but there is no time to weep.

OMG, I just went to the website of the Oriental Institute Museum to look for a pretty picture with which to illustrate this latest of bad news, and was surprised/NOT to find this at the top of the page:

An exhibit of 19th and early 20th century clothing from Palestine will be shown at the Oriental Institute Museum from November 11, 2006 to March 25, 2007. The exhibit entitled "Embroidering Identities: A Century of Palestinian Clothing" is a joint project of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and the Palestinian Heritage Center in Bethlehem/West Bank-Palestine. The exhibit opens in November 2006 in celebration of Arab Heritage month.

The exhibit explores the issue of personal and regional identity and how it was expressed through clothing. It also shows the beauty, technical achievement, and tremendous diversity of the garments. In the days before globalization and the homogenization of culture though television and cinema, clothing was an important cultural marker that expressed not only geographic origin but also status. Until recent years, each region of Palestine had its own style of clothing for women characterized by distinctive patterns of embroidery, appliqés, sleeve design, and accessories. Although men's clothing did not express as strong a regional identity, it too showed considerable diversity.

Clothing was an important part of the culture — significance that is now largely lost....

Oh yeah? Having been an anthropologist in one of my former lives (NYC, late 1980s) I would argue to refute that last bit. I would argue that although printing has replaced embroidery, clothing remains a very significant marker in modern bloodthirsty poorpalestinian culture.

Sadly, my colleagues at the Oriental Institute Museum ignore the significant cultural innovation inherent in the rejection of handwork (embroidery) as "an essential everyday" task for poorpalestinian ladies. The photograph above documents how these ladies have managed to resolutely maintain cultural markers of both geographic origin (i.e. Arabia) and status ("proud and honored to be a terrorist for the sake of Allah"), while at the same time embracing printing as a time-saving device. This innovation has enabled them to take advantage of opportunities once open only to men.

The commander of the first women's HAMAS unit (en foto) explains how domestic priorities of poorpalestinian ladies have evolved over time without sacrificing clothing as an important part of the culture:

".... We raise our children and perform our domestic duties, the duty of encouraging devotion to religion, as well as the other everyday duties, and the epitome of them is jihad for the sake of Allah. Jihad is a duty that every Muslim is required to fulfill if he can. Our joining the military organization is one of the essential everyday tasks."

Reference: Al Risala via MEMRI -- at BtB September 2005.

Comments

[soccerdad]

Last year we went to the American Museum of Natural History in DC and there was an exhibit on the contributions of Africa to civilization. There was a display that actually hailed the Almohads as benevolent rulers. The social sciences have a capacity to be molded for whatever purpose their keepers choose. 20 or so years ago I had a date with a graduate student at Columbia. She was in urban planning. At some get together they were asked about their future plans and she said that she planned to move to Israel. At which it was assumed "Oh you'll be going to the Palestinian enclave." Or something like that. I didn't know that you could politicize urban planning. But I guess you can.