An interesting article. I've read most of Edward Said, including his "Orientalism" and agree with the conclusion about its deleterious effects..... Still, many many on the left remain in awe...
The rest here.
A tweet by Richard Dawkins: "All the world's Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though."
Norman Geras, The Unrepentant Jacobin, defends Dawkins against charges of racism:
Both parts of that tweet are demonstrably true. And yet it was the object of the usual derision and hostility from those who appear to hold that any criticism of 'minority' cultures is racist and prejudiced by definition, irrespective of its accuracy. Especially when said criticism is expressed by a 'privileged' white Western male, who---it is alleged---harbours a racist agenda to embarrass and humiliate the Muslim world.
The rest here.
