"Please don't print unless you print in full.
I could not recognize my book from the review by Stephen Schwartz. He begins his review with a sense of self-importance by falsely claiming that I branded him as an Orientalist. Not true. I never accused Schwartz of possessing the erudition, lucidity, language skills, or rigor of classical Orientalists. In fact, I called Schwartz in a very in-passing reference "a right-wing ideologue" which is what he is. He needs years of learning and language training to reach the level of classical Orientalists. He then cites something I said about Ibn Baz out of context and missing the irony in the passage, thereby reinforcing the British accusation that Americans have no sense of irony--at least we know that Schwartz does not have one. How can Schwartz miss this sentence about Ibn Baz in my book (p. 70): "He had a history of fanatical hostility to Jews and Christians--all Jews and Christians." Finally, he falsely claims that I am opposed to the end of the Saudi regime. Yet, I said this on p. 23: "The Saudi government "is a government that should be overthrown; a brutal dictatorship wed to an ideology of religious fanaticism should not be allowed to continue in this century." That he missed that, as well as missing ironies in the English language, says less about my book and more about a right-wing ideologue with no training in Middle East or Islamic studies. And it shows."
