In a message dated 1/28/2008 6:38:33 AM Eastern Standard Time, amir.aharoni@gmail.com writes:
agree about the PR value - but do we still have to delete the article and give up our integrity after just one feeble letter?
No, but the article should be fixed because as it is now, it is a hatchet job, plain and simple. In other words, it is just a list of contentious statements that he made, and how he pissed off a lot of people. In that sense he is a lot like Pat Robertson. On the other hand, the article is full of weasel words: some quoted; some inserted by the authors; and even some bad science for the reader (Amnon argues for a young Earth by pointing to coal in Antarctica as evidence that coal cannot come from ancient forests because there are no forests in Antarctica. The article then argues that according to "plate tectonics," Antarctica was once located on the Equator.).
Let me be clear. I think personally that Amnon Yitzhak is a very scary fundamentalist. On the other hand, he is also a great example of the sense of alienation among Yemenite and other Mizrahi Jews in Israel, who feel left out of the official historical narrative. Perhaps the article might place him in the context of "yaldei Teiman," Zohar Argov and the rise of alternative musics (see _http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8715(199922)112%3A445%3C450%3AIMMSDT%3... (http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8715(199922)112:445<450:IMMSDT>2.0.CO;2-V) by my good friend Amy Horowitz), the rise of Shas (see _http://books.google.com/books?id=Cw2MG5eYdxYC&pg=PA159&lpg=PA159&... has+israel&source=web&ots=_O8SC4Qy8O&sig=ber1vqySz9X7vaqc-mF4a45vS_4_ (http://books.google.com/books?id=Cw2MG5eYdxYC&pg=PA159&lpg=PA159&... el&source=web&ots=_O8SC4Qy8O&sig=ber1vqySz9X7vaqc-mF4a45vS_4) for instance) and its rejection by mainstream society (take Deri and Katzav as examples). Placed in that context, Yitzhak is just another extreme voice of a disenfranchised group. Understanding him in that context would make for a fascinating article. Right now, the article is more like a gossip rag.
Danny
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