[Peace-discuss] A more serious response

[Regina Cassidy]

David:

The ad hominum nature of the professor's attack was disturbing and telling.

Are you positive that the whispering audience members were "fanatical Jewish students?"  If not, it may present an opportunity for someone to further attack you as  presumptive and anti-Jewish.

Gina

>>> David Green <davegreen48 at yahoo.com> 02/21/04 4:01 PM >>>
Editor, Daily Illini:

	The history of state-sponsored propaganda shows
clearly that for those who wield overwhelming power,
the truth is a threat; for the victimized and
oppressed, the truth is an indispensable but
insufficient condition of liberation. Even at a
world-class university, we find the truth about the
Middle East conflict―among many others―distorted by
those who use words as bullets and see their own
speech as a means to suppress others' speech. So we
see a university professor engage in a puerile ad
hominem attack (DI, 2/19), and a student declare that
what is difficult to understand should not be
researched at all--and that those who make an effort
must be judged as "liars" (DI, 2/20).

     We also see a small but emboldened group of
fanatical Jewish students using whispered comments,
mocking laughter, interruptions, ridicule, and verbal
intimidation at the Illinois Humanities Center (2/18)
in order to disrupt the presentation of a Jew of
conscience with a well-informed alternative
perspective. This behavior is clearly intended to
subvert any respectful discourse that might entertain
the notion of Israeli/American responsibility.

	The history of the Israel-Palestine conflict is a
matter of historical and scholarly record. Anyone
serious about understanding it can read ten books,
five, three, or even one. Anyone can objectively check
references, follow sources, think critically, and make
warranted conclusions. It is only the blizzard of
Zionist propaganda that makes this task seem daunting.
Jewish authors like Avi Shlaim, Baruch Kimmerling,
Norman Finkelstein, and Noam Chomsky rely completely
on the documentary record for their critiques of
mainstream scholarship and media. Anyone can read
their analyses, compare them to mainstream views, and
reach warranted conclusions. Early in this process, it
becomes clear to most why Zionist propagandists make
such efforts to discourage this sort of behavior―even
at world-class universities.

David Green


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