Advances in Israeli Orientalism

A reader in Sweden who does not want to be identified, sent me this (I cite with his/her permission): "you regularly highlight the achievements of 'israeli orientalists' on your blog. i'd like to call a recent addition to that proud tradition to your attention:
1. an editor of the Jerusalem Post who writes as an expert on arab politics thinks 'hashemites' are an ethnic group in jordan, and notes with concern that the hashemite population are a demographic minority compared to the palestinian majority. sixth paragraph here:
2. elsewhere in the jerusalem post, we find evidence that US orientalism is also going strong. for example, a former 'middle east expert' at the pentagon and administrator in the iraq occupation authority (ORHA), who claims to be fluent in arabic and has a phd in islamic studies, doesn't know that there is a word for 'secularism' in arabic (`almaniyya). also, as a hint of his political brilliance, he thinks that saddam quietly gave away his WMD stockpile to syria just before he was thrown out of power (sure sounds like saddam, ever the selfless altruist), and that assad is still loyally hiding them for some inscrutable reason (among 'the alawites', of course...). long and fascinating interview here: ...if this crackpot really sat in a pentagon strategy office, that explains a lot about US middle east policy."