Telling anecdotes from a trip to Israel

Jay Nordlinger of the National Review talks to a professor at Hebrew University and gets a few insights. On the State Department:

He is whimsical on the subject of expertise. He knew a once-famous Japanologist at Berkeley. This fellow was scheduled to give a lecture on Dec. 8, 1941, titled "Why Japan Won't Make War Against the U.S." (or something like that). He did not show up that Monday morning. Asking why, his audience was told, "He has joined the State Department as an adviser."

On WMD's in Iraq:

Professor Israeli has no patience with the notion that Bush et al. blundered on WMDs. Of course Saddam had WMDs. There is plenty of circumstantial evidence — and circumstantial evidence ought to suffice. If you find a corpse, but not a gun — because the gun has been thrown into the river — you don't have to bury your head in shame. Those weapons of mass destruction have been hidden, transferred, destroyed, whatever. "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."

On Muslim immigrants in Spain:

Moving to Spain — yes, Spain: Israeli was recently in Málaga, where he encountered two Moroccans (who had immigrated to the country). They asked him to join them for tea, because he was a fellow Moroccan, in a way. Israeli inquired about life in Spain: "Are you used to it yet?" They replied, "What? No! We don't have to get used to them; they have to get used to us. It's our country!"

On the much-vaunted Muslim tolerance for non-Muslims:

I ask whether Israeli has any affection for the Moroccans, with whom he lived during his first 14 years. The answer is surprising (to me) and surprisingly blunt: "No. They beat me up, they humiliated me constantly — I couldn't stand it. I left, and I left alone — my parents stayed behind."