Well, it’s a really nice idea, and sure there’s a gaping void of ignorance and confusion to be filled, but there are more books published in Spain (pop. 48 million) every year than in the entire Muslim world (pop. 2 billion), where the top two best sellers in the Muslim world are the Koran and Mein Kampf. I’m not saying it’s not worth trying, just that it seems like a very tall order. Plus which, people who have been marrying their cousins for hundreds of years don’t tend to be big readers.
Thank you, Michal, for responding with more grace than that comment deserved.
I’d like to add this. Harry, why would you even write it? It wasn’t candid or constructive. It's the same prejudice dressed in stats, that the BDS bigots would use. It insults not only the people Michal seek to reach, but also the work and the principle behind this. Do you think that dismissing entire cultures as illiterate or, worse, inbred, can be called analysis? (And re the latter, why do you think we need BRCA testing??)
Harry, that cynicism masked as realism can be very disarming and discouraging. I've seen it before. In other replies to my articles too. And, trust me, having that kind of feelings isn't healthy for anyone, starting with yourself. It makes you bitter. It doesn't make us win anything.
I appreciate the efforts of both of you, and like your writing. Seriously. However, it's a very steep hill you are trying to climb, especially in the face of Qatari-funded academia and mainstream media spreading lies and hatred. I'm not dismissing entire cultures as inbred, though consanguineal marriage is a major health problem among Muslim societies - ask a doctor. Nor as illiterate - those book stats are facts. Also, this initiative of yours has been ongoing for 7 years now, and, I gotta tell you, I haven't noticed any improvement in the burgeoning anti-Semitism I see everywhere, the vast bulk of it promulgated and spread by the very folks your efforts don't seem to be reaching. I wish you well and hope your efforts bear fruit, but you aren't going to change the death cult. Sorry if you thought my comments were bitter, but recent events have me waxing rather splenetic these days, and speaking as someone who remembers having a swastika daubed in red paint on our house when I was a kid (in Canada, by the way), I'm awfully tired of this shit and I'm not inclined to put up with it anymore. It's only the radical Muslims who want to kill us and cut off our heads, we're told, we need to reach out to the moderate Muslims, who don't want to kill us and cut our heads off. Yeah, right - they want the radical Muslims to do it. As the late Kinky Friedman put it, "They ain't a-makin' Jews like Jesus anymore, we don't turn the other cheek, the way we done before."
PS- Dutch, Icelandic, Quebecois and Norwegian women also need BRCA testing.
Harry, I don’t need convincing. I know what we’re up against. I know what Qatar funds, what it poisons. And I get the bitterness. Honestly, I do.
But that bitterness shouldn't make us blind to someone else’s work. Especially not this.
What Michal’s NGO does isn’t loud. It’s not supposed to be. It’s for the curious teenager scrolling in secret. For the woman who’s stuck and needs something to crack open the silence. For the man who loves the books he’s never been able to read.
It’s not about publishing empires. It’s about downloads. Quiet things. Small shifts. Movement no one sees until it’s already happened.
You don’t have to believe in it. But it doesn’t deserve to be mocked.
It’s not your way of fighting, maybe. But it’s someone’s way out.
A beautiful reply Michal.
A great initiative. I will try and make it known here in the U.S.
Thanks for sharing Emerald. You have set an example for everyone.
Well, it’s a really nice idea, and sure there’s a gaping void of ignorance and confusion to be filled, but there are more books published in Spain (pop. 48 million) every year than in the entire Muslim world (pop. 2 billion), where the top two best sellers in the Muslim world are the Koran and Mein Kampf. I’m not saying it’s not worth trying, just that it seems like a very tall order. Plus which, people who have been marrying their cousins for hundreds of years don’t tend to be big readers.
Thank you, Michal, for responding with more grace than that comment deserved.
I’d like to add this. Harry, why would you even write it? It wasn’t candid or constructive. It's the same prejudice dressed in stats, that the BDS bigots would use. It insults not only the people Michal seek to reach, but also the work and the principle behind this. Do you think that dismissing entire cultures as illiterate or, worse, inbred, can be called analysis? (And re the latter, why do you think we need BRCA testing??)
Harry, that cynicism masked as realism can be very disarming and discouraging. I've seen it before. In other replies to my articles too. And, trust me, having that kind of feelings isn't healthy for anyone, starting with yourself. It makes you bitter. It doesn't make us win anything.
I appreciate the efforts of both of you, and like your writing. Seriously. However, it's a very steep hill you are trying to climb, especially in the face of Qatari-funded academia and mainstream media spreading lies and hatred. I'm not dismissing entire cultures as inbred, though consanguineal marriage is a major health problem among Muslim societies - ask a doctor. Nor as illiterate - those book stats are facts. Also, this initiative of yours has been ongoing for 7 years now, and, I gotta tell you, I haven't noticed any improvement in the burgeoning anti-Semitism I see everywhere, the vast bulk of it promulgated and spread by the very folks your efforts don't seem to be reaching. I wish you well and hope your efforts bear fruit, but you aren't going to change the death cult. Sorry if you thought my comments were bitter, but recent events have me waxing rather splenetic these days, and speaking as someone who remembers having a swastika daubed in red paint on our house when I was a kid (in Canada, by the way), I'm awfully tired of this shit and I'm not inclined to put up with it anymore. It's only the radical Muslims who want to kill us and cut off our heads, we're told, we need to reach out to the moderate Muslims, who don't want to kill us and cut our heads off. Yeah, right - they want the radical Muslims to do it. As the late Kinky Friedman put it, "They ain't a-makin' Jews like Jesus anymore, we don't turn the other cheek, the way we done before."
PS- Dutch, Icelandic, Quebecois and Norwegian women also need BRCA testing.
Harry, I don’t need convincing. I know what we’re up against. I know what Qatar funds, what it poisons. And I get the bitterness. Honestly, I do.
But that bitterness shouldn't make us blind to someone else’s work. Especially not this.
What Michal’s NGO does isn’t loud. It’s not supposed to be. It’s for the curious teenager scrolling in secret. For the woman who’s stuck and needs something to crack open the silence. For the man who loves the books he’s never been able to read.
It’s not about publishing empires. It’s about downloads. Quiet things. Small shifts. Movement no one sees until it’s already happened.
You don’t have to believe in it. But it doesn’t deserve to be mocked.
It’s not your way of fighting, maybe. But it’s someone’s way out.