Prepared for the Israel on Campus Coalition and the Conference of Presidents
of
Major American Jewish Organizations
by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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March 24, 2003 |
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Inside this issue -
News and Comment:
Israeli Public Told to Carry Gas Masks
The IDF Home Front Command has instructed the public to open their protective kits, practice putting on their gas masks, and carry them at all times. However, sources from the General Staff, Military Intelligence, Air Force, and the uppermost echelons of the Defense Ministry all agreed that, "Nothing will happen here."
(Ha'aretz)
Pentagon Says No Scuds Found So Far In Western Iraq, Israel May Lower Level Of Alert
(Ha'aretz)
Sheltered No More, A Generation Wakes Up
by Lisa Keys
For the (in)famously apathetic generations of baby-boom offspring, the tragic trifecta of the intifada, the September 11 terrorist attacks and, most recently, the conflict with Iraq has spawned a new wave of political activism and interest not seen since the Vietnam War era. Involvement spans the political spectrum. Nationwide, according to a study, political interest peaked in 1972, when just over 50% of students polled said that keeping up to date with political affairs was "very important or essential." That number has since dropped to 25%. Jewish college freshmen have consistently been more politically active than their non-Jewish peers (more than 60% in 1972 agreed with the statement above), yet interest among young Jews has taken a similar dive: In 1999, just over 40% considered political involvement to be crucial. Since then, however, renewed interest appears to be the norm, and for many young Jews, the embattled state of Israel is a crucial rallying point. (The Forward)
The New Anti-Semitism by Melanie Phillips
Anti-Zionism is now being used to cloak a terrifying nexus between genocidal Arab and Islamist hatred of the Jews and deep-seated European prejudices. Anti-Semitism is protean, mutating over the centuries into new forms. Now it has changed again, into a shape which requires a new way of thinking and a new vocabulary. The new anti-Semitism does not discriminate against Jews as individuals on account of their race. Instead, it is centred on Israel, and the denial to the Jewish people alone of the right of self-determination. (The Spectator - UK)
Issues on Campus:
Guide to Anti-War and Pro-War Campus Groups
(Washington Post)
Voices from the Campus:
Columbia: Academy Award-Winner Slams Columbia's Middle East Studies Department
John Corigliano a composer who won an Oscar for his score to the film The Red Violin, briefly silenced the crowd at an alumni gala with his muted but nonetheless unexpected criticism of Columbia's Middle Eastern Studies program. Corigliano said that what made Columbia unique when he was a student was the openness of the faculty to ideas with which they did not agree. "I didn't know it at the time, but I felt encouraged to go on and be a composer because I wasn't discouraged by the kind of fundamentalist 'there is only one way' kind of composing," Corigliano said. "I say this because throughout this country there has been an enormous, enormous amount of publicity about the various departments of Middle Eastern Studies, and about the fact that the anti-Israeli policy in these [departments] is enormous. And one can say that of the department of Middle Eastern languages and cultures at Columbia, that that's true here." Corigliano warned that, whatever professors' personal beliefs, they must accept all views in their classrooms. (Columbia Spectator)
Princeton: A Jewish Iraqi Professor Sees Grave Danger after Mideast War
Politics professor Ezra Suleiman was born in Iraq in 1941. Now a top American scholar of European politics, Suleiman
describes Iraq, home to countless generations of his Jewish family, as prone to violence but possibly suited to democracy. He thinks war is inevitable, but that the Bush administration's goal of toppling Saddam Hussein's regime quickly and setting up a stable democracy is overly optimistic. "It ignores the impact of history, the impact of religion, the impact of ethnic conflict," he said in an interview. "I don't think there is something in Arabic culture that is antithetical to democracy. There may be obstacles, but so there were in many countries." Suleiman thinks Iraqis will be happy to see Saddam gone. "But then what?" he asks. "That is my big question." He fears America, occupying a Muslim country, will be a lightening rod for terrorists, making U.S. sites in Iraq and elsewhere prime targets. (Daily Princetonian)
Maryland: Cartoon Incites Protest
More than 60 students rallied against The Diamondback newspaper and staged a sit-in protest in front of the newspaper's office, demanding a public apology for a controversial editorial cartoon about the death of pro-Palestinian activist Rachel Corrie. The group, which included members of the Peace Forum and the Muslim Student Association, protested the March 18 editorial cartoon by Daniel J. Friedman that labeled Corrie as having "stupidity" for "sitting in front of a bulldozer to protect a gang of terrorists." "Neither this cartoon, or any other editorial cartoon, is representative of the opinions of myself, the editorial board or The Diamondback staff," Editor Jay Parsons told the crowd. "As a newspaper, we are the beneficiaries and the guardians of the First Amendment - the very same First Amendment that guarantees all of you the right to stand here today." (The Diamondback) Click to see cartoon.
Hawaii: Anti-Semitic Cartoons Protested
More than 50 students, faculty and community members attended a
meeting to discuss whether the Ka Leo O Hawaii newspaper crossed the fine line between freedom of speech and discriminatory content when it published a cartoon depicting Hitler that has been called anti-Semitic. Johanna Afshani, a law school student, said the cartoons only promote hate on college campuses and noted instances of anti-Semitism at other college campuses, on the mainland and abroad. "I cannot believe a college newspaper would allow such offensive and racist views to be circulated," she said. "Over the last several weeks, I have pondered and pondered these cartoons and I have failed to find any purpose aside from hurting and blatantly offending various minority groups." (Ka Leo O Hawaii)
Israeli Students in the U.S.:
DePaul: Israeli Soldiers Probe Army Ethics
Five former soldiers who served in the Israeli Defense Force "hesder" program (where they spend time serving in the Army and learning in yeshiva) discussed basic moral issues confronting soldiers of the IDF, in a program sponsored by Hillel and Israel DePaul Friends. "We didn't come today to bring a solution for the problems in Israel," said Raviv. "Many brains have tried to solve the problems - it's very complicated." The panelists pointed out that the media are often some of the worse offenders when it comes to conveying what is going on in the Middle East, because rarely do they portray both, or either side, in an accurate manner. The men used a unique format in which they posed an ethical dilemma, either from a personal experience or through a relayed story, then opened the floor to discussion about what attendees would do in that situation. The five were in Chicago for the year as part of a program called "Kollel Torah Mitzion," where they work at a local Jewish day school with high school students. (DePaulia)
Cal's Tamir Distracted at NCAA Tournament?
California's 6-11 center Amit Tamir is a former sergeant in the Israeli army. The 23-year-old sophomore served three years in the military. Asked about the war with Iraq, he said, "whatever happens over there is for the politicians. I'm a basketball player. I don't want to comment on that. I can't control it." Tamir struggled in the Golden Bears' first-round 76-74 win over North Carolina State, shooting 3-of-16 for eight points to go with only two rebounds, well below his averages of 15.7 and 6.5. (AP/Miami Herald)
Students in Israel:
Parents Fear for Daughter Studying in Israel
Lindy Kramer isn't about to let the fear of an Iraqi attack ruin her college year abroad in Israel. Lindy, a junior at Brandeis University, has attended Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus in Jerusalem since October. Monday, she went to a Purim festival in Tel Aviv. Thursday, she went to the movies - packing a gas mask, as Israeli citizens have been instructed to do. But back in Cleveland, her parents, can't help worrying about that country being targeted in retaliation for American strikes on Iraq. After teaching Lindy and her three siblings about the importance of Israel and their Jewish religion, her father said it would be hypocritical to tell her it's too dangerous there for her to stay. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
Observations:
Antisemitism vs. Anti-Israelism by William E. Hudson
- While one can make a distinction between criticism of Israel and prejudice against the Jewish state, the distinction between anti-Israeli prejudice and anti-Semitism has become more difficult to identify because of an unfortunate fog that has settled over many Jews.
- Successfully combating anti-Semitism involves a necessarily strict recognition of anti-Israelism as distinct from anti-Semitism and a reasoned yet critical perspective of the Jewish state.
- Anti-Israelism is a myopic, stubbornly biased perspective that unfairly criticizes Israel simply on the basis that it is Israel. This is arguably the most common form of liberal blindness in the Middle East - not based on any specific hatred of the Jews, anti-Israelism is an unbalanced way of looking at the problem for ideological or political reasons unconnected to the larger problem of historic anti-Semitism.
- It would be fair to argue that anti-Israelism has at its roots an unacknowledged kernel of anti-Semitism, but it would be iniquitous to charge anti-Israelists with a prescribed hatred of the Jews; their problem is one more common to liberal ideologues - namely, a hypocritical and relativistic way of looking at the world distinct from observed truth and fact. Anti-Semitism compounds this irrational myopia with engrained hatred; it is a far deeper problem with broader and more serious consequences.
- The radical left would do well to cease its senseless confusion between anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism, and work especially diligently at rooting out anti-Semites, who have little place in the contemporary world. (Stanford Review)
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Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish
Campus Life, in cooperation with a network of national organizations committed
to promoting Israel education and advocacy on campus.
To contact the Israel on Campus Coalition: info@israeloncampuscoalition.org
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