Widlanski on Israeli

Great researchers often find that their views upset certain establishments, and this is the case with Professor Israeli’s comments on the Muslim population in Australia.

Professor Israeli is unusual among many of today’s academics because he has both academic and practical experience with Islam in many milieus: from Morocco to China.

As someone who has discussed these subjects with Professor Israeli and heard him on numerous occasions, it is worth stressing that he has two other great attributes: courage and an ability to mix jokes in his lectures.

This time, however, Professor Israeli did not mix levity with his dire predictions, and that is understandable. The onset of Islamic aggression in many areas of the world is being ignored or excused—sometimes even by the very people most victimized by radical Muslims: Jews.

Rather than inanely repeating that “Islam is the religion of peace,” Professor Israeli has examined the ideological and operational record of Islamic movements and phenomena in different geographic and cultural contexts.

Rather than dismissing Professor Israeli’s comments, one must deal with his findings and ascertain whether they hold true in enough instances to be considered a serious political-cultural  analytical model.

When Jewish groups shun people like Professor Israeli or allow themselves to be enlisted in ad hominem attacks on his views,  they inhibit intellectual debate as well as doing themselves a disservice. It is doubtful whether most Muslim groups would so quickly distance themselves from calls for violence against non-Muslims.

The author is a research fellow at The Rothberg School, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem