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An interesting point about that American Humanist Association disavowal of Richard Dawkins for his supposed transphobia: if Dawkins is no longer worthy of his Humanist of the Year Award, what about Alice Walker? She was their Humanist of the Year in 1997, one year after Dawkins. But her antisemitism is by now notorious. For one, she's an admirer of David Icke – and he ain't no humanist, for sure. More of a lizardist. 

Blatant antisemitism gets a pass, but transphobia – even a hint of transphobia, questioning the dogma that people can change genders when they feel like it – is beyond redemption.

It's almost as though Jews don't count.

Update: a letter to the AHA from Steven Pinker and Rebecca Goldstein.

Here we go again. On Monday I featured a MEMRI TV clip where the Saudi and Palestinian ambassadors to China disgraced themselves by defending the Chinese oppression – aka genocide – of the Uighurs in Xinjiang. This latest clip is actually from a week earlier (March 11) and this time features the Syrian, Iranian, and Armenian ambassadors to China jumping through similar hoops as they fall over themselves in their support for China:

The MEMRI summary (yes it's in English but subtitles would've been helpful):

Syrian, Iranian, and Armenian Ambassadors to China condemned Western accusations of genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Province of China on a show aired on Phoenix TV (China) on March 11, 2021. Syrian Ambassador to China Imad Moustapha said that the Western accusations reflect the mentality of the Western powers and their “false sense of superiority.” Iranian Ambassador to China Mohammad Keshavarz-Zadeh said that Western countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia had committed crimes of genocide against the local aboriginal populations, and they want to deflect attention from these crimes by accusing China of genocide in Xinjiang. Ambassador Moustapha agreed to this and added that the Western powers are targeting China because it constitutes an alternative successful model to capitalist powers. He added that these Western powers criticize human rights violations in Xinjiang while they themselves are violating human rights and practicing genocide in Syria. Armenian Ambassador to China Sergey Manassarian said that the policy of sanctions has never been successful.

Western powers "practicing genocide in Syria"? The bare-faced shamelessness of it…

How much pressure was applied, one wonders? Whatever, it's a despicable display – especially from the two Muslim countries, fawning over those responsible for the genocide of their co-religionists. As I've said before: so much for the Ummah.

Joanna Williams on the latest from trans-friendly Police Scotland:

Allowing male rape suspects to declare that they are women makes clear the disastrous consequences of self-identification. It allows men to rewrite history in the most egregious way imaginable. Describing a suspected male rapist as female fundamentally alters the nature of the crime. It trivialises and invalidates the experiences of the victim. A woman may have been violently penetrated by a penis, but if her rapist identifies as female then she must accept that she was attacked by a woman. Today we are repeatedly told to believe the victim – just not if she says her attacker was male.

Police Scotland are placing the feelings of male rapists above those of female victims. Yet to raise questions about this is to be labelled a bigot: it is the female victims who find they are in the wrong. This is state-sanctioned, police-enforced misogyny made possible because of the ideological grip of transgenderism.

Certainly Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP, just like the Greens here, seem transfixed by the shiny progressive clothes of trans activism without caring to look at the misogyny underneath – never mind the sheer offensive absurdity of the whole trans-women-are-women claim.

Transgender ideology harms women. Yet anyone who questions it – be they a teenage girl who finds she no longer has a place on her sports team or a woman rape victim – is branded a bigot. Sadly, from schools to the police, the very institutions that should be defending the rights of girls and women to participate in society as equals have either swallowed whole the braindead mantra that ‘trans women are women’ or are so fearful of being accused of bigotry that they now sacrifice women to salve their sense of moral superiority. This is a shameful act of cowardice at best, misogyny at worst.

rticleContent” style=”padding-left: 40px”>In the message the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un extended warm congratulations and greetings to the president, friendly government and people of Syria on behalf of the DPRK government and people on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the independence of Syria.

Since the independence of the country, the Syrian people have carried on the strenuous struggle to repel all kinds of aggression and interference by the imperialists and the forces following them, firmly defend the sovereignty and dignity of the country and build a new prosperous society, the message said.

The Korean people always extend invariable support and solidarity to the Syrian people for their just cause to achieve independence, justice, peace and development, the message noted.

In the belief that the historic friendly and cooperative relations between the DPRK and Syria would grow stronger in conformity with the noble intention of the preceding leaders and the desire of the peoples of the two countries, it sincerely wished the Syrian president good health and bigger success in his responsible work.

Spring colour:

A Board has concluded that Richard Dawkins is no longer deserving of being honored by the AHA, and has voted to withdraw, effective immediately, the 1996 Humanist of the Year award.

Oh dear. 

I must have missed the bit where he attacks Black identity as "one that can be assumed when convenient". Of course that's precisely his point: that it can't be assumed when convenient – so why then can gender identities be assumed when convenient?

Ah well. Question the gender identity dogma at your peril. It's blasphemy.

style=”font-size: 11pt”>Now, embarrassingly for Moon, the US has joined the criticism:

U.S. Republican Representative Chris Smith, the co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, in a Congressional hearing on April 15 described the South Korean government's ban on sending propaganda leaflets — or "bible and BTS balloons" — as a "retreat… from its longstanding commitment to human rights," and said he is "extremely" alarmed by it.

In the same hearing his co-chair, Democratic Representative James McGovern expressed hope that the National Assembly will "fix the bill" and provide the "redress" which democratic process allows. Both U.S. political parties believe the South Korean ban to be an infringement of freedom of expression and human rights. Witness after witness testified that the South Korean government is suppressing criticism of the North Korean regime in its harebrained pursuit of cross-border rapprochement.

That is a spectacular embarrassment for the government, but the Unification Ministry vowed to uphold the leaflet ban. One supposedly progressive academic who is thought to be Moon's mentor accused the U.S. of "meddling" in South Korea's internal affairs, and some die-hard supporters of the president gathered in Seoul to stage an anti-U.S. protest….

But Smith said the South Korean government's infringements have been described as "democratic decay" and urged it to "resume its commitment to civil and political rights in particular, and human rights in general. It must do so, not only for the sake of Korea both South and North, but also for the entire world." The U.S. Congress accusing South Korea of violating human rights and suppressing democracy and the South accusing the U.S. of meddling is reminiscent of the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s. That it should be replayed now, with a government that has set itself up as a shining beacon of democracy, is a disgrace.

Pressure on Moon might well be a more productive use of US energies than engaging in more absurd high-level summits with Kim Jong-un.

From the Jewish News (via):

A complaint has been lodged to the BBC after actor David Tennant read out a comment on a popular comedy show, saying Israel “ignores the Arab population” when it comes to vaccinations.

The actor read out the remarks on ‘Have I Got a Bit More News For You’ on Friday 9 April, as Israel’s embassy insists the country offers a jab to all its citizens, and has even run campaigns to encourage vaccination take-up for minorities.

During the clip, Tennant said: “According to the current roadmap, Britons will only be able to travel to countries with ‘a similarly high level of vaccination rate’.”

Displaying a list of the most vaccinated countries, which has Israel at the top on 61 percent and Britain second on 46 percent, he said: “As you can see Israel have populated 61 percent of their population which is pretty much everyone there if you ignore the Arab population, which they do. So they’re done.”

Criticising the segment, an Israeli Embassy in London spokesperson said: “Israel offered vaccines to all of its citizens above the age of 16, regardless of their religion, ethnicity or social status. Arab citizens in Israel have been offered vaccines and special campaigns in Arabic have targeted these communities in order to prevent misinformation and address any concerns that they may have in order to increase uptake.”

The BBC dismissed the complaint, however:

A BBC spokesperson said: “The comments were satirical and in keeping with audience expectations of this well-established topical entertainment show.”

The audience expectations include a diet of lame smugly progressive jokes on HIGNFY, and in particular they love the occasional lame anti-Israel jibe. So hey, why not give it to them? What's the problem? OK so it's all lies, but these are Jews, remember. They ask for it, the Jews. They run a superb vaccination campaign, so of course they deserve a kicking.

hina) on March 19, 2021. Saudi Ambassador to China Turki Mohammed Al-Madhi said that governments use human rights issues to pressure third world countries. He explained that he believes in the principle of non-interference, and these are internal matters and added that China knows how to deal with its internal affairs. Palestinian Ambassador to China Fariz Mehdawi concurred and said that he does not want to be lectured about human rights from those who “colonized us.” He also said that these countries have double standards because they do not criticize human rights violations in Gaza. Ambassador Mehdawi added that Western democracies do not necessary fit all countries, for instance, in Africa their priority is to fight starvation, not to form a democracy. Ambassador Al-Madhi agreed and said that democracy has destroyed many countries in the Arab region, as was the case with the Arab Spring. Both ambassadors said that they were impressed by technological and infrastructure investments in the Xinjiang region, as well as the upkeep of mosques.

To be added to the Muslim book of shame on the Uighur genocide.

we want to make it clear that we do not tolerate comments like hers in this dorm. Our theme… is intended to make this space safe and fun for you this quarter.”

The supposed transphobia isn't enough: she's now anti-semitic and racist as well. And no doubt disablist, homophobic, and ageist too. Probably not so great with the personal hygiene either, come to mention it. And see those warts? Yep, she's a witch.

Right now, we are living through a moral panic. This panic goes by many names (wokeness, cancel culture, identity politics, etc) and it is corroding major institutions, including journalism, government, and academia. When otherwise thoughtful and well-intentioned people — in this case liberals concerned about racism, broadly speaking — get caught up in the panic, evidence and process become secondary considerations, and narratives take over.

Rowling’s witty heroine Hermione Granger once observed that "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Our moral panic has produced an environment where the fear of a word like “racism” has disproportionately increased fear of the thing itself. Let me explain:

The goal of increasing societal awareness of racism where it exists is both laudable and desirable. But we are no longer in a stage of increased awareness — or even hyper-awareness — of racism. We are now witnessing the mass hallucination of racism. The obsessive search to uncover bigotry in everything and everyone has led people to see bigotry where none exists.