{"id":580,"date":"2014-09-28T09:42:42","date_gmt":"2014-09-28T13:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nymysteries.com\/?p=580"},"modified":"2014-09-28T12:21:53","modified_gmt":"2014-09-28T16:21:53","slug":"new-york-city-blog-sept-22-sept-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nymysteries.com\/?p=580","title":{"rendered":"New York City Blog Sept. 22 – Sept. 28"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Monday, September 22, \u00a0President Mahmood Abbas of the Palestinian Authority spoke at Cooper Union. Have you ever been in the Cooper Union\u2019s Great Hall? If so, you\u2019ll remember how the columns abstract a full view of the stage so you and the rest of the audience bob and weave to see what\u2019s going on. You\u2019ll also remember that every speaker mentions that Abraham Lincoln spoke from that very podium. Mahmoud Abbas did this many times. His accent was so thick that Abraham had a wonderful Arabic ring to it and, at first, I didn\u2019t know who he was talking about. It was an autumnal occasion: an elderly (79) politician who stayed the course even if he wasn\u2019t particularly effective. The audience of about 700 consisted of mostly white, asian and arab millennials. There were several keffiyehs, the checkered headscarf worn by Palestinians and their supporters. Lots of yamakas. Groups of orthodox Jews and us. We were under the umbrella of Churches for Middle East Peace. You brought your sense of expectation with you. With a few exceptions (The current lot of the Palestinians is similar to that of the African Americans in 1950s USA), Abbas\u2019s speech was boiler plate and aimed at a New York collegiate audience. And why not? It\u2019s their generation that\u2019s going to clean up the mess my generation and the preceding one created.It was a respectful group, lots of applause for Palestinian rights. Lots of standing ovations. Those who didn\u2019t agree stayed seated and didn\u2019t applaud. About eight years ago I attended a panel discussion between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli speakers. The late Tony Judt and John Meirsheimer were on the former side. Dennis Ross was on the latter side. The debate was sparked and fueled by the publication of Meirsheimer\u2019s and Steven Walt\u2019s The Israel Lobby. A woman with the unfortunate but unforgettable last name of Slaughter was the moderator. Cooper Union was packed. The air was electric. The forbidden topic: Israeli influence on the U. S. was being addressed. Quite an evening.<\/p>\n

\"Mahmood
Mahmood Abbas at Cooper Union<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Later this week I attended a birthday party in a Soho loft that combines elegance and cosiness. An extremely talented singer and guitar player, aged nine, accompanied by her musician father played for the birthday girl.<\/p>\n

\"Birthday
Birthday girl being serenaded by the Twinings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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