Israeli Orientalism. I never had disdain for Israeli Orientalism or for Israeli scholarship on the Arab world until I exhaustively read them when I came to the US in 1983. They always seem out of date (and out of place). You have, for example, Y. Porath reading Palestinian public opinion based on his reading of reports by Zionist operatives. Many still quote Al-Hawadith magazine is a source on Arab public opinion, not knowing that the magazine has not been read since at least 1977. I just saw on Al-Jazeera that the house of Ayatullah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah has just been hit by Israeli terrorist fighter jets. I am sure that this is due to the ignorance of Israeli Orientalists who advise the Israeli military. They must still think that Fadlallah is close to Hizbullah. They don't know that Fadlallah has changed in the 1990s, and even moved away from the theory of Wilayat Al-Faqih, and has had bitter disagreements with Hizbullah. But then again: Israeli Orientalists can oder Shawirma from Arab shops in East Jerusalem. That qualifies them to advise the Israeli military on Arab affairs.