As a cartoon figure, Dirk always dominates the last page of NU, The Nordic Art Review. One of Olav Westphalen's best Dirk strips is the one that follows the 9/11 - in his word - 'occasion' (NU vol.... Show moreAs a cartoon figure, Dirk always dominates the last page of NU, The Nordic Art Review. One of Olav Westphalen's best Dirk strips is the one that follows the 9/11 - in his word - 'occasion' (NU vol. 111, no. 6/01). The first drawing starts by showing Dirk as an angry artist. The second shows him together with an art critic in a gallery where Dirk is telling the critic that we cannot go back to business as usual. In the third, Dirk underlines that artists have to rise to this historical occasion. In the forth drawing Dirk emphasizes that artists' work should be part of a mighty struggle for a truly democratic and peaceful world. The critic then comes to his senses and asks: 'How do you reflect all that in this new piece of yours?' While looking at a sculpture entitled Perseverance Dirk answers: 'Well it is a mould of the permanent dent I put into my couch while watching the CNN for two months.' The result is a positive cast of Dirk's ass. Show less
Shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy published a short book (137 pages) by Martin Kramer entitled... Show moreShortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy published a short book (137 pages) by Martin Kramer entitled Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies in America. Kramer is the editor of the Middle East Quarterly, a journal founded by Daniel Pipes and others who feel that the discipline of Middle Eastern Studies, as practised in the United States, has become too pro-Arab and too 'dovish'. Kramer, a former director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, shares Pipes's views, though he has generally been less strident in expressing them. Ivory Towers on Sand is primarily a critique of scholars dealing with issues related to American foreign policy in the Middle East. Kramer is not especially troubled by current trends in the study of Sufi poetry. Show less
While the reasons for the political and social reality of tension between religion, human rights and secularism are to be appreciated, an argument can be made for focusing on the interdependence of... Show moreWhile the reasons for the political and social reality of tension between religion, human rights and secularism are to be appreciated, an argument can be made for focusing on the interdependence of these three paradigms in the Islamic context, rather than making a choice between them. Each of the three paradigms needs the other two for fulfilling its own rationale, and sustaining its relevance and validity for its own constituency. The difficulties facing this proposition can be overcome through an internal transformation within each paradigm. This process should be deliberately promoted in order to achieve political stability and development as well as individual freedom and social justice. Show less
