Richard Landes
Encyclopedia
Richard Allen Landes is an American historian
and author, specializing in Millennialism
. He currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Boston University
. Landes was the director of the now quiescent Center for Millennial Studies
.
He has published several books on Millenialism. The latest, Heaven on Earth: The Varieties of the Millennial Experience, will be published by Oxford University Press in December 2010.
, and a vigorous critic of what he considers anti-Israel propaganda in professedly objective news reports, and from supposedly impartial neutral bodies.
In particular, he denounces the "mainstream" press for uncritically repeating stories from Palestinian sources about civilian casualties from Israeli actions, even when these stories may be exaggerated, distorted, or false. Though he has never denied that Palestinian civilians have been killed and injured in Israeli operations, he has cited evidence that these casualties have been overstated for propaganda purposes.
He has coined the term "Pallywood
" for the practice of filming staged funerals, casualties, and other evidence against Israel for the benefit of European and American news organizations.
He maintains two personal Web sites: "The Augean Stables" and "The Second Draft". "The Augean Stables" is a blog
on anti-Israel media problems and related issues. (The title refers to the Fifth Labor of Hercules: clearing the immense manure piles in the stables of King Augeas
.)
"The Second Draft" is exclusively devoted to anti-Israel propaganda in the news, with essays, articles, and archived video. Landes has been particularly concerned with the alleged shooting of Muhammad al-Durrah
by Israeli troops, and the inflammatory reporting of the incident by French
television.
Landes has also helped establish Understanding the Goldstone report, a multi-authored Website devoted to exposing and refuting alleged inaccuracies in the Goldstone report
on Israel's operations in the Gaza Strip
.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and author, specializing in Millennialism
Millennialism
Millennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
. He currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. Landes was the director of the now quiescent Center for Millennial Studies
Center for Millennial Studies
The Center for Millennial Studies is a scholarly institute at Boston University devoted to studying millennial, millenarian, and apocalyptic movements, groups, and individuals throughout history and on the contemporary scene....
.
Academic work
He was trained as a medievalist and wrote his first book on a series of forgeries that had fooled historians for centuries, even after a scholar in the 1920s had shown decisively that the texts were fiction. In addition to working on the medieval "Peace of God" movement (980s-1030s) and the relations between elites and commoners in 11th century France, he focuses on millennial and apocalyptic movements. In addition to courses on medieval history, he offers courses in "Communications Revolutions from Language to Cyberspace", "Europe and the Millennium," and "Honor-Shame Cultures, Middle Ages, Modern World."He has published several books on Millenialism. The latest, Heaven on Earth: The Varieties of the Millennial Experience, will be published by Oxford University Press in December 2010.
Israel and "Pallywood"
Landes is a strong supporter of the state of IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and a vigorous critic of what he considers anti-Israel propaganda in professedly objective news reports, and from supposedly impartial neutral bodies.
In particular, he denounces the "mainstream" press for uncritically repeating stories from Palestinian sources about civilian casualties from Israeli actions, even when these stories may be exaggerated, distorted, or false. Though he has never denied that Palestinian civilians have been killed and injured in Israeli operations, he has cited evidence that these casualties have been overstated for propaganda purposes.
He has coined the term "Pallywood
Pallywood
Pallywood, a portmanteau of "Palestinian" and "Hollywood", is a coinage that has been used by some pro-Israeli media watchdog advocates, among others, to describe alleged "media manipulation, distortion and outright fraud by the Palestinians and other Arabs .....
" for the practice of filming staged funerals, casualties, and other evidence against Israel for the benefit of European and American news organizations.
He maintains two personal Web sites: "The Augean Stables" and "The Second Draft". "The Augean Stables" is a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
on anti-Israel media problems and related issues. (The title refers to the Fifth Labor of Hercules: clearing the immense manure piles in the stables of King Augeas
Augeas
In Greek mythology, Augeas , whose name means "bright", was king of Elis and father of Epicaste. Some say that Augeas was one of the Argonauts....
.)
"The Second Draft" is exclusively devoted to anti-Israel propaganda in the news, with essays, articles, and archived video. Landes has been particularly concerned with the alleged shooting of Muhammad al-Durrah
Muhammad al-Durrah
The Muhammad al-Durrah incident took place in the Gaza Strip on September 30, 2000, on the second day of the Second Intifada, amid widespread rioting throughout the Palestinian territories...
by Israeli troops, and the inflammatory reporting of the incident by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
television.
Landes has also helped establish Understanding the Goldstone report, a multi-authored Website devoted to exposing and refuting alleged inaccuracies in the Goldstone report
United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict
The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, known as the Goldstone Report, was a team established in April 2009 by the United Nations Human Rights Council during the Gaza War as an independent international fact-finding mission to investigate alleged violations of international...
on Israel's operations in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
.
Articles
- “Jews as Contested Ground in Post-Modern Conspiracy Theory", Jewish Political Studies Review, Vol. 19, Nos. 3-4 (2007), 9-34.
- “Edward Said and the Culture of Honor and Shame: Orientalism and Our Misperceptions of the Arab-Israeli Conflict” in Special issue of Israel Affairs, 13:4 (2007), 84-58, and in
- "Goldstone's Gaza Report, Part I: A Failure of Intelligence", Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA), January 2010.
- "Goldstone's Gaza Report, Part II: A Miscarriage of Human Rights," Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA), January 2010.