<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><DIV>I attended this event last evening. It was well-attended, well over 100, perhaps close to 150. The young Israeli woman who spoke was difficult to hear, but very articulate. During the "question" period, she was joined by an equally articulate Palestinian student. Nevertheless, the 15 or 20 pro-Israel students were allowed to dominate the "question" period with their Hasbara statements, and the speakers were forced into addressing mostly the nature of Palestinian violence. To the young woman's credit, she repeatedly emphasized the nature of Israel as a terror state. </DIV>
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<DIV>After the event, Sara Lazare of Students for Justice in Palestine revealed that she had received threats prior to the event. She did not elaborate on this. I would hope that the nature and possible sources of these threats would be made public, and addressed by the administration (LOL).</DIV>
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<DIV>It needs to be said that students who defend Israel in the manner of these "questioners" truly operate at no higher moral level than "good Germans" in the 1930s. Yes, they're brainwashed--that's the point. But the nature of the "question" period didn't allow for this point to be clearly made. It should be--these students are shamefully ignorant and racist. The students who attended in order to try to learn something were in a sense short-changed, because the historical context just wasn't made clear enough by the speakers, although that's not a criticism of them.</DIV>
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<DIV>Sara Lazare was previously an undergraduate on this campus, and while gone did some fine work with the Iraq war resistance movement. She's now in grad school in Middle East studies. She's an important person for the antiwar movement to have on this campus.</DIV>
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<DIV>I personally think that SJP and the local pro-Palestinian movement, such as it is, needs to move beyond being "reactive," either in the case of events like Daniel Pipes, or even in terms of events that provide an opportunity for Zionist students to badger visitors like the woman last evening. There's just no point any longer. If there is broader support for the Palestinians and against US support for Israel, then it's time to have proactive, regular public displays of that view, especially in ways that challenge the cowardice of Jewish institutions on campus and in the community.</DIV>
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<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Karen Medina <kmedina67@gmail.com><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> peace@lists.chambana.net<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Fri, October 22, 2010 5:29:15 AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> [Peace] Nov. 1 / Anarchists Against the Wall (Israeli who refused compulsory military service)<BR></FONT><BR>Students for Justice in Palestine proudly present:<BR>Israeli organization Anarchists Against the Wall: Israel's Apartheid<BR>Wall and the Fight to Stop It<BR><BR>AATW has been at the forefront of the Israeli Solidarity movement<BR>which has joined the Palestinian popular resistance to the wall.<BR>Sahar Verdi, Israeli member of AATW who also refused compulsory<BR>military service in the IDF, will give a presentation about her<BR>experiences as a part of the popular resistance.<BR><BR>Monday, November 1st @7pm<BR>Noyes Lab 217 (take the
SW stairwell up to the second floor, the room<BR>is just there,<BR>on the left)<BR>505 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, Illinois<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Peace mailing list<BR><A href="mailto:Peace@lists.chambana.net" ymailto="mailto:Peace@lists.chambana.net">Peace@lists.chambana.net</A><BR><A href="http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace" target=_blank>http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace</A><BR></DIV></DIV></div><br>
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