Through My Eyes Today

by Phyllis Chesler

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I sit here, reading and writing, as I do every day, all day. This is my life, and on a good day, I love being able to do so.

Today, the first thing that caught my eye was a short story by Cynthia Ozick in the current New Yorker. Titled, most improbably, “The Coast of New Zealand,” it is about… well, it is odd and perfect with some unexpected twists and turns, all cooly delivered by a Master writer.

Then, there is the matter of Afghanistan’s further and utter disintegration. Given that American and NATO forces are leaving and that the government cannot protect anyone from the Taliban, volatile tribal warlords are forming militias, arming themselves against the murderous Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS—all Sunni Muslims who routinely and genocidally slaughter the Shiites in this beautiful but cursed country. The Shiites are Hazaras and Khaled Hosseini wrote about their persecution in his celebrated novel The Kite Runner. Tajiks, Uzbecks, Hazaras, Pushtuns are all aiming for Armageddon, have all been living in a very hot war zone for forty years.

Let me not forget that Dyke March in Chicago. Shame, shame on them. As a lesbian friend of mine said: They are “dangerous jackasses.” In 2017, the Chicago Dyke March first harassed, then asked participants carrying Jewish pride flag to leave. Ironically, tragically, the March flew the Palestinian flag—an “area in which those who identify as LGBTQ are routinely harassed, beaten, and executed.” According to the Algemeiner, a half-naked woman is holding two flags, both on fire; one is an American flag, the other is an Israeli flag. Without going into further detail, let me suggest that this is Nazi-style decadence, hardly the avatars of a liberation movement.

Then, there is always, always the trans issue. A trangender woman (born male) has just qualified for the Olympics in weightlifting. Think that a transgender male (born female) could ever win a weightlifting competition against men?

Finally, an excellent review in the Wall Street Journal by John Bolton of an important book titled: “Iran’s Perilous Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons.” The authors, David Albright with Sarah Burkhard, had access to Israel’s Mossad files, obtained during “an unimaginably daring 2018 raid on Tehran.” Our own National Intelligence Services, President Obama, and now President Biden should read this book in order to understand the “perilous path” that We, the People have—and are still taking vis a vis Iran. Perhaps my readers should send copies of this book to the White House.