And the Nobel Prize for Reflexive Useful Idiocy/Can Lit Zionhass Goes to...Alice Munro?

Go figure, the beloved Canadian author whose books are flying off the shelves in the wake of her Nobel lit prize win, marches in lockstep with the rest of her Canlit confreres. In a op-ed piece back in August, she--and they--were high-fived by the Toronto Star's in-house shill for the Islamic p.o.v. (h/t VR):

Dissidents in the Canadian Jewish community are mostly secular and liberal. Most oppose the occupation, particularly Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, or at least their continued expansion, as has happened under Benjamin Netanyahu.  

Or they object to specific Israeli policies. For example, several Jewish authors joined a recent petition by nearly 100 Canadian authors against the proposed “forced relocation” of between 20,000 and 70,000 Bedouin citizens of Israel from the Negev Desert and also a planned eviction of about 1,000 Palestinians from Hebron in the West Bank for a firing range.  

The Hebron plan is being opposed by leading Israeli writers, including David Grossman and Amos Oz. The Negev plan has been condemned by the European Parliament.

Holocaust survivor Gabor Maté of Vancouver signed the Canadian petition, along with Sheila Heti, Stan Persky, Edeet Ravel, Stuart Ross and Karen Shenfeld. They joined Margaret Atwood, Alberto Manguel, Yann Martel, Rohinton Mistry, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje, Nino Ricci, John Ralston Saul and Jane Urquhart, among others.  

The authors urge Stephen Harper to lean on Israel to axe both these “manifestly unjust plans.”

I'm sure that Alice Munro is a perfectly lovely woman. I'm also sure that she knows diddlysquat about Israel and the challenges it faces.

Later on in this tribute to useful idiots, some of whom are Jewish, all of whom are "progressive," Harpoon says this:

In May, the Toronto Board of Rabbis took the unusual step of condemning the Jewish Defense League of Canada for hosting American anti-Islamic blogger Pamela Geller.  

The board, which represents rabbis from all denominations, said it found both her views as well as the invitation extended to her to be “distasteful” and divisive. “There was no sense in inviting her here to speak before a Jewish audience.” 

JSpace Canada, a liberal group, lauded the board and added: “A majority of the Jewish community supports the position taken by the rabbis.”

As a rule of thumb, if Harpoon Siddiqui thinks you're on the right track re Israel and free expression, it's proof positive that, in the words of a singer with a Jewish-sounding name, like a river that don't know where it's flowin' you took a wrong turn and just kept goin'. Why, even a self-described Muslim moderate thinks the JSpacers got it wrong. Writing for the HuffPo, Tahir Gora disagrees with pretty much everything Geller and Spencer have to say, but nonetheless defends their right to say it. Moreover, he thinks Muslims putting up a unified front against free speech reflects badly on those of his faith who are moderate:

I may not agree with some of the stuff they were saying or the way they were delivering it but none of us should shun each others' point of view, especially when any particular point of view merits logical bases.  

Given the opposition to Pam Geller and Robert Spencer's lectures anywhere in the West by traditional Islamic organizations create a doubt about existence of moderate Islamic organizations.

You can say that again, pal. And isn't it funny how non-moderate Muslims and non-Muslim "progressives" find themselves on the same side of the free speech debate? Guess it's because both groups like to control things.

Reason enough to maintain those scare quotes around the "p" word, I'd say.