Tag Archives: Israel

Sean Kent Opts For Narrative Over Integrity

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This doesn’t apply to everyone I encounter on this topic of course, but whenever I notice someone is really putting their back into anti-Israel rhetoric or has ‘BDS’ in their Twitter bio, I find it useful to subject them to a quick purity test.

Searching some key words against their output can often reveal everything you need to know about their motivations. Useful terms include: ‘9/11’, ‘false flag’, ‘holocaust’, ‘protocols’ and ‘inside job’ – for reasons which should be obvious, but in case they are not I’ll explain.

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Raza Nadim: ‘Israel Is 100% Worse Than Isis’.

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Raza Nadim is a spokesperson for The Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC), which is essentially a soft Islamist group based in the UK. You may remember Raza’s fellow MPAC cohort Asghar Bukhari and the case of the missing shoe. Those sneaky Jews. You may also remember Raza’s inability to condemn stoning people to death. Here is his latest pearl of wisdom:

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You don’t have to deny all the ills of the Israeli government to recognise that Nadim is offering his opinion from another planet (and orifice) here. And 100%? What does that even mean? Is that less or equal to 9/11 times 100?

“Why waste your time with these clueless Islamists?” I hear you ask. Well, because Raza is afforded prominent media platforms, including appearances on the BBC. This is a man wheeled out to represent ‘the Muslim voice’. This raises some uncomfortable questions. Are TV executives shunning progressive Muslim voices in favour of reactionaries in the service of controversy (and ratings)? Or are they simply presented with a lack of progressive Muslim voices to choose from? Or worse of all: could this kind of thing actually be the mainstream Muslim opinion? 

Stephen Knight is host of The #GSPodcast. You can listen to The Godless Spellchecker Podcast here, and support it by becoming a patron here.

Tortured For Being An Atheist. I Interview Waleed Al-Husseini

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Waleed Al-Husseini is a Palestinian ex-Muslim. He fell afoul of the Palestinian authorities after blogging critically about Islam in 2010. For this ‘crime’, he was jailed and tortured. He managed to flee to France where he currently resides. He details these experiences in his French language book: ‘Blasphémateur’.

I initially recorded a conversation between us which I hoped to release on The Godless Spellchecker Podcast. Due to a combination of poor audio and a language barrier, I felt it would better serve Waleed’s story to arrange a written interview instead.

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Tweet First, Think Never–The ‘New Journalism’. Hit Reply To Outrage

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Digital media has changed the face of how we share ‘news’ , achieving a seemingly limitless reach. Now anyone can slap ‘Journalist’ or ‘Social Commentator’ in their Twitter bio and away they go. It may even earn you an invite to the telly studio as a talking head if you build a significant following.

Perhaps your special interest is the plight of the Palestinians, and that’s the drum you want to bang wherever you can. More power to you. I would have one simple piece of advice however: choose who you empower on this topic very carefully. Take this Tweet from some guy for instance:

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Ep#70 – Dave Rubin – The Regressive Left

Another fantastic guest on this week’s #GSPodcast. Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) from The Rubin Report joins me to discuss a whole host of topics including: Stand-up comedy, the state of American news media, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Israeli/Palestine conflict and the regressive left. Dave will also be talking about his relationship with Cenk Uygur and why Cenk has been a “genuinely bad actor” in the discussion on ‘new atheism’. I also ask to what degree being gay informs his politics and worldview.

Also available on iTunes and Stitcher.

Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/gspellchecker

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Ep#29 – Sam Harris – Waking Up

Sam Harris drops in on The #GSPodcast to tell us all about his new book ‘Waking Up’.  He’ll be explaining just what spirituality without religion means.  I also pick that wonderful mind of his on ISIS, Israel, Meditation, Barack Obama, The Political left, Deepak Chopra and much, much more.  Follow Sam on Twitter: @SamHarrisOrg

Also available on iTunes and Stitcher.

Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/gspellchecker

Direct Mp3 Download

Relevant Links
Buy ‘Waking Up’ from Amazon & Kindle
Waking Up and Lectures
Sam Harris’s Piece on Israel: ‘Why don’t I criticise Israel?’
Sam Harris Vs Andrew Sullivan on Gaza
Debate with Maajid Nawaz & Zeba Khan VS Douglas Murray & Aayan Hirsi Ali (YouTube)
Read the first chapter of ‘Waking Up’ for free.

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