By Phyllis Chesler

Oh joy! For someone who's been (proudly) demonized for decades for my work on honor based violence, honor killing, (femicide), and Israel--I just received a great deal of love and confirmation for my work. On Friday, I did a podcast interview with Yasmine Mohammed, the author of "Unveiled: How the West Empowers Radical Islam." Yasmine is also a human rights activists and connects free thinkers and dissidents from all over the world, especially from Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries. Assisted by Iranian Sara Ghorbani, Yasmine's podcast, consists of interviews with anti-Islamist, pro-Israel Muslims, ex-Muslims, dissidents, as well as Jews, Christians, etc. Here, ideas and principles matter more than skin color, ethnicity, or religion. Check out her site. Our interview was recorded and will be available soon. Yasmine is a wonderful interviewer and a beautiful woman, both inside and out.

But other things are happpening over here too. I'm reading three books almost at once: Diana Mara Henry's book titled "I am Andre: German Jew, French Resistance Fighter, British Spy." (2024). It is an amazing, almost unbelievable and well researched story--even more unbelievable is the fact that Mel Yoken, the French professor who interviewed Andre at length, (the interview is quoted in the book), is the very man who once invited me to lecture in New Bedford, Mass. Coincidence? Luck? He is still alive and we are now again in touch.

I have also begun to read Freema Gottlieb's glorious book titled "The Lamp of God: A Jewish Book of Light." (1989). Suffice it to say, this work could only have been written by a serious Torah scholar and a Kabbalist. I am floored by the fact that I "get" it. It is a work of radiant light. Finally, there is Michael Edwardes's book titled "Bound to Exile: The Victorians in India." (1969). It is a bloody tale indeed and I am not quite sure what draws me to the period of the British Raj and to India as well. I have watched every documentary, every Bollywood spectacular, each India-based crime thriller I could find.

Finally, there is this. The deadly fires blazing so fiercely in southern California are being used to score political points. The climate change True Believers write that it is all due to global warming--today the New York Times, in their lead story, attributes the California Inferno to "global warming." However, scientists remain very divided about this. Thanks to my friend, William Meyers, the photographer and photography reviewer at the Wall Street Journal, "Dr. Richard Lindzen, the MIT climatologist, now emeritus, insists that there is no climate crisis. Others of equal status, such as Dr. Judith Curry, Dr. Roy Spencer, several Nobel Prize winners in physics, etc. " Myers referred me to a film: "Climate: The Movie" which interview these and other scientists.

Republicans, Conservatives, as well as those California citizens who have now lost everything blame it on politically correct Democratic decision-making; incomprehensible incompetence; and to California's ruling elite's loyalty to environmentalists. Thus, the powers that be, refused to clear the underbrush--doing so might have delayed or limited the fires; their commitment to funding DEI programs, and electing DEI politicians who did not make some very hard choices, even compromises on this issue. You decide who's right and what the safest path ahead might be.

I know that we cannot trust a word the Times tells us about Israel--but can we trust what they write about global warming? Not so sure. In another article today, they spend two pages of the opinion section, making the argument in favor of more, not less, immigration to America. One of their first claims is that Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 142 immigrants to the United States." And so, I wondered how many of these 142 prize winners were or are Muslim immigrants to the USA?

Ha! According to online sources, only 15 Muslims have ever been awardees. Three--only three! were Muslim immigrants in America. (Chemists Egyptian-American Ahmed Zwail, Turkish-American Aziz Sancar, and Tunisian-French-American Moungi Bawendi). Also, Pakistani, Mohammed Abdus Salam, shared the Nobel in Physics with Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg. None of the remaining twelve were immigrants to America.

For example, Peace Prize winners were as follows: Anwar al-Sadat, may have been a Muslim, but he remained in and led Egypt; Yasser Arafat was an Arab terrorist whose prize cheapened the Nobel forever after; Shirin Ebadi, is an Iranian, Mohammed El Baradei was an Egyptian diplomat; Muhammed Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist; Tawakel Karman, is from Yemen. Malala Yousefzai is from Pakistan and went to the UK for life-saving surgery. Like Ebadi, Narges Mohammadi, is an Iranian human rights activist.

Three Muslims won Nobels in Literature: Egyptian Naguib Mahfouz, Turk, Orhan Pamuk, and Tanzanian Abdulrazak Gurnah. None of these great literary talents ever immigrated to America.

So, what am I saying? That the NYT does incompetent or propaganda-driven research? That they are pretending that Muslims have made mighty contributions to American and world knowledge--because America allowed them to come here? Are they confusing these honorable Nobel scientists and novelists with the Jihadists and other Islamists who've illegally invaded our shores? Is the NYT daring to claim credit for the acheivements of Muslims in other countries such as Egypt and Iran?

Please allow me to remind the NYT that Jews constitute only 0.2% of the world's population but have won over 20% of Nobel Prizes. Not all of these Jews were or are immigrants in America. Ah, if only FDR and his Jew hating advisors had allowed Jews to immigrate instead of to go up in smoke--that number might have doubled or even tripled--and to America's advantage.

And what have you been doing lately?