Front line: Upper West Side
After an extended period of catalepsy, be prepared for 3 weeks of occultation. At the end of the week I will be off on what my friends consider a well-deserved, and my enemies a welcome, vacation.

After writing a piece on the death of Edward Said, and comparing him to Fouad Ajami (a piece you can find here or here), I received mixed reviews to this comparison of two different, yet maybe not so different men.

My favorite was this billet doux from a Lebanese admirer:

I was outraged to read in your October 2 issue Michael Young's article on Edward Said and Fouad Ajami. How can anybody in his right mind draw a parallel between Edward Said, the champion of all Arabs, the man who stood for the cause of all Arabs, that of Palestine, and put himself and his family at great risk living and working in New York, the bedrock of Zionism in the world today, to Fouad Ajami, a man who exemplifies to most Arabs the traitor who has sold his soul and mind to Zionism and to everything that is anti-Arab. Shame on you Mr Young , you have truly offended all free minded Arabs.

Well gosh, I am sorry. I didn't realize that Said took such a risk living in New York amid all those zany Zionists. At least he wasn't in the World Trade Center when they flew a couple of airplanes into it.