'Jewish Orientalism' ?

The Nation has what could have been an interesting article on how Jews have historically been stuck between Eastern and Western identities. It begins, encouragingly enough, by critiquing Edward Said:

"Orientalism is rife with contradictions that over the years have become more and more difficult to ignore. It hops disconcertingly between Orientalism as an academic pursuit, as a mental attitude and as a system of colonial oppression..."

Then, more interestingly, it talks about Essad Bey (aka Lev Nussimbaum), a European Jewish writer from the early twentieth century who posed as a Muslim.

True to Nation form, though, the article concludes with some shaky claims about Zionist racism and assassination plots. Oh well.