Now what's wrong with a little humour?

We kill, torture and assassinate people everyday, so why get so uptight on a joke. Its just words.

Bullets kill; words only clarify.

Shouldn't he be under fire for telling a Taliban joke?

There's nothing wrong with that joke. That knucklehead Foxman is only upset that he didn't tell it first - or maybe he did, and that's why he's upset. This is just the same old game - get the goy who once criticized Israel.

A Jew is riding from Minsk to Pinsk by train. At one stop a Russian commisar gets on, and during the first part of the journey utters repeated epitaths against the Jews and how they are a horrible people. Later though, the Commisar wonders aloud why the Jews think they are so smart. Upon hearing this, the old man replies that it is because Jews eat herring and that if the Commisar eats herring as well, that he too, could become as smart as the Jews.
.
The Commisar nods appreciatively and inquires where he can find some herring. The old man states that he happens to have a few extra for his lunch and offers to sell them to the Commisar for 12 rubles a piece.
.
The exchange is made and the Commisar has his herring for lunch. During a stop at one of the stations, the Commisar gets off the train and enters the market. Upon returning he questions the old man about his prices. The Commisar explains that he found that herring was selling in the market for only six rubles a piece and wondered why he should have purchased the old man's herring for 12 rubles. To which the old man replies, see, you're getting smarter already.
.
Personally, I liked Jones joke,

Hot Shot's Part Deux

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Topper Harley: You're joking.
.
Ramada Rodham Hayman: I'm not.
.
Topper Harley: You've got to be.
.
Ramada Rodham Hayman: If I was joking I would say: "A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, 'Why the long face?'"

I think Jim Jones has better stuff to do than find excuses for a joke that had no purpose besides make people laugh. Calm Down Abe

Man! This racism is killin me inside!

That was one funny joke , I'm going to steal it and tell people I made it up.

We tell these jokes all the time in Israel.

People can argue whether the joke is funny or not. The joke is not worthy of an further attention.

The joke does not require leaders of major Jewish organisations to weigh in and it certainly doesn't require an apology.

Jewish leaders need to choose their battles much more carefully. This affair can only lead to a bad taste and more accusations of hypersensitivity of Jewish people who are just crying wolf.

Antisemitism is clearly on the rise and a extremely serious issue. It is increasingly common currency in the media, in which the most shrill voices find prestigious publications more than happy to publish any clap trap about Jews under the pretence of 'legitimate criticism of Israel'.

A quick perusal of Foreign Policy immediately shows the degree to which coarse antisemitism is now being dressed up and published as legitimate commentary. Immediately jumping to mind is Mr. Walt who in long list of antisemitic diatribes recently questioned the loyalty of American civil servants who are Jewish. He himself of course didn't render a judgement, he just makes the accusation and says others should investigate and make appropriate decisions. Or Nadim N. Rouhana's scurrilous diatribe, A State for All Its Citizens denouncing Israel for it's Jewish character.

Please note the article meets the EU criteria of a working definition of Antisemitism.
and I quote the relevant section

"Examples of the ways in which antisemitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel taking into account the overall context could include:

i) Denying the Jewish people their right to self ­determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

ii) Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation."

I can only imagine the deserved ridicule FP would face had they published an article by an Arab, who also feel alienated as recent riots demonstrated, decrying French Democracy because France defines itself as a French or the "French Republic".

Hah! If someone really wanted to complicate things more they'd ask how the Taliban feels about that joke. Political correctness, gotta love it..

A few weeks ago, our PBS station ran a musical called "Imagine This". It's about Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust putting on a play about Masada:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagine_This

The reason I mention this is because I believe this play has one of the characters make the exact same joke early in the performance, but with a Nazi dying of thirst rather than a Taliban. But other than than, I think everything else was the same: Nazi dying of thirst in desert can't get water from Jewish necktie salesman, is sent off into the desert to his brother's restaurant, later comes back because he can't get in without a necktie.

Did anyone else see this? I believe it ran nationally on PBS a couple weeks ago. I think Jones (or his speechwriter) must have saw this when it was on TV here in the US.

and funny stories, but provides an underlying cultural subtext to the issues of the day.
.
The issue is that there is a closer link between a teller of jokes and other 'entertainment' or public actions. The audiance is more participative during a performance, unlike say opera, a public speech by a politician, or a weekly sermon.
.
To that end, cultural and ethnic background matters. Audiances are aware of the teller's background and their style of humor. People going in to listen to Bill Cosby, would be somewhat put off if there was a switch and had to listen to an hour of Lisa Lamponelli. Likewise, there are those who find Jeff Dunham funny and those who are highly offended by his particular sense of humor. So too apparently can one take laugh or take issue with Jon Stewart's and Stephen Colbert's TV show.
.
So what to make of Jim Jones' joke. In the supermarket of Middle East "think tanks", WINEP seems to fall under the grouping of moderate professional analysis to supporter of Israel. Since a joke is usually told to empathize the teller with the audiance, it seems unlikley that this is going to be told from the vantage of "greedy unscrupulus Jewish merchant fleecing a poor innocent Goy", but more along the lines of my earlier comment of solidarity aganist extremism and hate.
.
Of course as well, the idea that this has become fodder for a bevy of articles and punditry also points out the use of the Arab Israeli conflict as a jobs program for a bunch of talking heads and academics who are still probably scratching their heads and asking themselves "from this he makes a living?"

It's interesting, that when a culture or ethnic group matures, it can tell jokes at it's own expense. What this says about most Jews (pace Abe Foxman) and most Muslims should be obvious....