The Demons of David Horowitz

During the week of October 21, far-right wing operative and former communist agitator David Horowitz deployed his allies to college campuses America to spout crude anti-Muslim invective. He called this event "Islamofascism Awareness Week." Among Horowitz's stable of campus speakers were noted Islam experts Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity.

"Islamofascism Awareness Week" was, from the beginning, little more than a marathon fashion show for the paranoid style. But it was not until Horowitz muscled his way onto the campus of his alma mater, Columbia University, on October 26 that his event attained the commanding heights of reactionary hysteria.

Pacing the stage like a drunken circus clown impersonating some bygone demagogue, and standing beneath a massive image of a woman being shot in the head, Horowitz launched into a long, frenetic rant about his own persecution at the hands of a shadowy liberal conspiracy.

Though Horowitz devoted portions of his tirade to attacks on the Muslim Students Association, which he sought to paint as a front for virtually every Islamist group that strikes fear in the heart of his culturally deprived conservative peanut gallery, he seemed more comfortable lashing out at his perceived oppressors -- liberal professors, leftists, and the Democratic party -- than he did at any so-called "Islamofascists."

When I asked Horowitz about his weird comparison of his own father to 9/11 mastermind Mohammed Atta in his book, "The End of Time," his hysteria peaked. My question provoked him to link Jerry Falwell, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and "Jerry Springer and all his guests" together in a plot to bring social justice to the world "at the point of a gun."

Listening to Horowitz was like being trapped in a subway car with a raving derelict for an hour and a half. But unlike in the subway, where the transit police usually arrive to remove the derelict, the police came to Columbia to protect Horowitz from the non-existent security threat he had invoked in fundraising appeals for days leading up to his speech.

Horowitz's performance had to be seen to be believed. Luckily, despite being forbidden to film by the president of the Columbia College Republicans, my co-producer, Thomas Shomaker, and I managed to smuggle a camera into Horowitz's speech and record it all.

Take a look at our latest video, "The Demons of David Horowitz":

Comments

[avergejoe]

Thanks Max,

for shedding some light on the psychotic underpinnings of the neozioncons.

We have much more to fear from their Orwellian tactics of thought control than from any so called 'islamofascist'.

After all, it is not the 'islamofascists' who are sucking the resources out of the country to force us down the path of endless war.

[Taan]

Like many of his co-rightists, Mr. Horowitz seems to be suffering from terminal dyspepsia, along with all the little Foxes. An argument by definition, encompasses two sides of an equation. To deny the other side is to admit there is no argument.

[Archie1955]

No one forced anyone else to listen to the gentleman so why argue about it?

[BoBoBolinski]

The day David released that issue of Ramparts magazine with John Lennon on the cover I recognized the true visionary he is. Now that David has exposed Islamofascism to the world, its time for America to wake up and libs to return home to truth and justice.

[Asim]

Max,a very articulate piece.
Horror-witz is no more than a radical zionist on a campaign to terrorize American Muslims especially to distract US public opinion-without success-from the outrageous atrocities of the militaristic racist apartheid Jewish theocracy against the dispossessed Palestinian people for the past sixty years.

Horror-witz casually changes colors from a communist to a so called neo conservative-a man for all seasons-yet his true loyalty is to no one other than the apartheid theocracy in Palestine-not unlike Joe Lieberman who suddenly and conveniently shed his democratic liberal garb to rally for the war on Iraq because he wants America to fight israel's war-and he is now agitating for another on Iran, so israel can maintains monopoly over nuclear weapons for ever while it devours Palestinian lands and torments them.

The likes of Horror-witz, Pipes and AIPAC PACK are a disgrace to the Jewish people and to America.

Horror-witz and the readers on this forum would be well informed if the would visit the scholarly and informative web at WWW.PLANDS­.ORG to see the tragedy of the Palestinian people who once lived peacefully in all of historic Arab Palestine and now live on less than 8% of the land in a big concentration camp called West Bank and

[BobOnThis]

When is Christofacism Awareness Month?

[reformislam]

Muslims Against Sharia congratulate David Horowitz FREEDOM CENTER and Mike Adams, Tammy Bruce, Phyllis Chesler, Ann Coulter, Nonie Darwish, Greg Davis, Stephen Gale, David Horowitz, Joe Kaufman, Michael Ledeen, Michael Medved, Alan Nathan, Cyrus Nowrasteh, Daphne Patai, Daniel Pipes, Dennis Prager, Luana Saghieh, Rick Santorum, Jonathan Schanzer, Christina Sommers, Robert Spencer, Brian Sussman, Ed Turzanski, Ibn Warraq and other speakers on the success of the Islamofascism Awareness Week.

Islamofascism (or Islamism) is the main threat facing modern civilization and ignorance about this threat is astounding. We hope that this event becomes regular and reaches every campus.

A great many Westerners do not see the clear distinction between Islam and Islamism (Islamofascism). They need to understand that the difference between Islam and Islamism (Islamofascism) is the same as the difference between Christianity and Christian Identity Movement (White Supremacy Movement).

Original post

[Hattie]

Horowitz does bring Joe McCarthy to mind, or maybe an unfunny Irwin Corey.
I've been studying him a long time. More of his rantings and those of his sycophants can be found on his online magazine, Front Page.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
Actually, I feel sorry for him. I'm old enough to understand how people fall apart and how tragic it is.

[Cuban Peril]

"The SUPPOSED threat of Islamofascism"? Um...O.K..

[Wilson33]

Why can't you liberals just let the man speak without being harassed? You believe in freedom of speech, but you try and stifle it at every turn when it does not fit your world view. Its pathetic and hypocritical.

Once again, the left protects our enemies speech, but crushes our citizens speech.

[Kundera]

Max, there were many like you in 30's 40's Germany.

Never Again.

[lawguy]

Hmmmm, either there was a mistake, or my post was censored.

I was trying to make the point that it's a little disingenuous to point out (correctly) that Horowitz mistakenly used a fictional depiction of a woman being prepared for stoning, without mentioning that it would not be difficult to find a real picture of precisely that sort of scene. That happens very often in the Middle East. If you must, you can check You tube for proof -- although it is extremely disturbing.

[TheLar]

I loved it. Another great vid, Max! Great job sneaking in the camera too - that should set him off. What a loon!

I really enjoyed Horowitz' comparison with "Jerry Springer's guests." You could almost see the cartoon thought balloon above the audience: "WHAT?!"

Why is Columbia bothering to make time for this nutjob? Allowing free speech doesn't mean you need to provide a free platform for every idiot, does it? Oh well, I guess I shouldn't complain. It was great entertainment.

I really laugh at his and Coulter's style: it's very label-based: they're communists, they're fascists, etc. Without ever defining anything. Very lazy thinking.

Larry Nocella
http://www.LarryNocella.com/

[betz55]

Can you imagine the reaction if his tirade was anti-jewish invective? if it was JewishFacism or Israeli-Aparthied policies he was ranting about? We would never hear the end of it and no doubt AIPAC amd ADL would get involved and call everyone high and low a racist and anti-semite, accusations now becoming mundane, since it's used to stifle any debate for anyone questioning Israeli policy. Combining the word "Islam" with a European term like "fascism" is profoundly offensive; a subtext of anti-Muslim bigotry and racism. Because of its support for or acquiescence to Israel's creeping erasure of the Palestinian nation and for Israel's attack on Lebanon in 2006, and because of Washington's own brutal war in Iraq, the United States is poorly positioned to win hearts and minds in the Muslim world. It would also help if people like Horowitz stopped insulting Muslims by calling their religion "fascist." Don't forget the Israeli's are fanatically racist against the Palestinians, but we never hear about that now do we? At least not hear in the US where the media is muzzled by AIPAC and ADL. Horowitz should be ashamed of himself, he is an embarrassement.

[horseface]

Please don't compare people suffering from mental illnes (derelicts on subway, etc.) with people who CULTIVATE hatred and insanity in order to push their agendas. (Horowitz, Coulter, Hannity, etc.) Never underestimate clever demagogs who hide beneath faux craziness.