[Peace] Boston Globe - Divestment petition is not anti-Semitic

[maria isabel silva]

> >>Source: Boston Globe,10/04/2002
> >>
> >>Divestment petition is not anti-Semitic
> >>
> >>By Faculty Members at Harvard University and the
> >>Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 10/4/2002
> >>
> >>This article was written by a group of faculty members
> >>at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute
> >>of Technology:
> >>John Assad, assistant professor of neurobiology,
> >>Harvard; Danny Fox, professor of linguistics, MIT;
> >>Nancy Kanwisher, professor of brain and cognitive
> >>sciences, MIT; Ken Nakayama, Edgar Pierce Professor of
> >>Psychology, Harvard; Mary C. Potter, professor of
> >>brain and cognitive sciences, MIT; and Elizabeth
> >>Spelke, professor of psychology, Harvard.
> >>
> >>
> >>THE HEART-BREAKING conflict between Israelis and
> >>Palestinians raises understandable concerns over the
> >>rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Arab sentiment, the
> >>future of the state of Israel and of the Palestinian
> >>people, and the prospects for peace and human rights
> >>throughout the world.
> >>
> >>The best hope for addressing these concerns would
> >>come, we believe, from the establishment of a secure,
> >>democratic, economically viable Palestinian state on
> >>the West Bank and Gaza alongside the state of Israel
> >>and from a renewed commitment by all countries to
> >>international conventions on human rights. That is why
> >>we have signed a petition asking our government and
> >>our universities to make future aid to and investment
> >>in Israel subject to four conditions.
> >>
> >>To receive our aid, Israel must return to its
> >>internationally recognized, pre-1967 borders, vacate
> >>all settlements in the occupied territories, renounce
> >>its policies of deportation, targeted assassination,
> >>and collective punishment of its perceived enemies,
> >>and compensate Palestinian refugees.
> >>
> >>The conditions specified in the Harvard-MIT divestment
> >>petition accord with UN Security Council resolutions
> >>and the Fourth Geneva Convention, are uncontroversial
> >>in most of the world, and have considerable support in
> >>Israel itself. Nevertheless, the petition has raised a
> >>firestorm of criticism. It has been denounced as a
> >>one-sided attempt to harm Israel by undermining its
> >>security, and it has been characterized as
> >>anti-Semitic by Harvard University's president,
> >>Lawrence Summers, and his defenders.
> >>
> >>These claims are false, and they divert attention from
> >>the central question of how to bring peace and
> >>security to all people in the Middle East.
> >>The divestment petition calls for unilateral actions
> >>by Israel to address a dangerous imbalance in the
> >>Middle East. Tragedies, errors, and wrongs have
> >>occurred on both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli
> >>conflict, but the conflict is not symmetric. Israel is
> >>an independent nation, Palestine is not. Palestinians
> >>live under Israeli occupation, not the reverse.
> >>Palestinians are killed by the Israeli military acting
> >>under orders from the government; Israelis are killed
> >>by individuals with no sovereign government to
> >>represent or restrain them.
> >>
> >>Under these conditions, ''even-handed'' calls that
> >>make an end to the occupation contingent on an end to
> >>Palestinian acts of violence give individual
> >>extremists the power to veto any peace accord. For
> >>Americans, the Middle East conflict is asymmetric in a
> >>second way. Israel is the largest recipient of US
> >>foreign aid while Palestinians receive little from our
> >>government or businesses. The Israeli Army uses
> >>US-supplied arms and helicopters to demolish
> >>Palestinian homes and lives. If our government were
> >>arming suicide bombers, it would be appropriate for us
> >>to call for an end to US aid for both sides of the
> >>conflict. This, however, is not the case.
> >>Our petition does not seek to undermine Israel's
> >>security. On the contrary, we believe that continued
> >>occupation of Palestinian territories poses the
> >>greatest threat to the security of Israelis,
> >>Palestinians, and Americans. By destroying Palestinian
> >>lives and livelihoods, confiscating their lands, and
> >>preventing access to such basic necessities as medical
> >>care and education, Israeli government actions give
> >>Palestinians little reason to believe in the
> >>possibility of peace.
> >>
> >>Every aggressive act committed by Prime Minister Ariel
> >>Sharon's army is therefore a gift to those who favor
> >>terrorist actions in Israel and the United States and
> >>to those who would foment anti-Semitism throughout the
> >>world. The best protection for Israel would come from
> >>a renewed commitment to international law and human
> >>rights and from the creation of a state that will
> >>provide Palestinians with the same security and
> >>prosperity that Israelis rightly desire for
> >>themselves. No one will be safe in the Middle East
> >>until everyone is.
> >>Finally, why do we target Israel when wrongs are
> >>committed by governments everywhere? Are we holding
> >>Israel to a higher standard?
> >>This suggestion is triply wrong. First, any political
> >>action must be focused if it is to be effective, but
> >>one action does not preclude other actions focused on
> >>other problems. Indeed, many signers of this petition
> >>have been involved in a variety of efforts to end
> >>human rights abuses around the world. Second, the
> >>target of the petition is not the state of Israel but
> >>its policy of occupation. Third, Israel is held to no
> >>standard at all when any criticism of its government's
> >>policies is branded anti-Semitic. The silent
> >>acquiescence of the United States in Sharon's actions
> >>benefits only the minority of extremists on both sides
> >>who are bent on mutual destruction.
> >>
> >>In the name of peace, we call for an end to the
> >>occupation and for an open discussion of these issues,
> >>both within our university communities and beyond.
> >>
> >>This story ran on page A19 of the Boston Globe on
> >>10/4/2002.
> >>
> >>=A9 Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
> >>
> >>__________________________________________________
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> >>http://sbc.yahoo.com
> >>
> >
> >



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