A university should be a place for exchanging ideas and discussing sensitive topics. When 30 students staged a protest during Israeli Consul General Akiva Tor’s lecture at UC Davis School of Law last Tuesday evening, the intellectual integrity of that classroom was reduced to symbols of hate and hopelessness. The students would not engage in a conversation. They taped their mouths shut and walked out of the classroom as the Consul General begged them to stay and ask questions. But the students had already choreographed their protest. They knew how the evening would unfold before it began.
The topic of Tuesday’s discussion was “Israel Today: Challenges and Opportunities.” In publicizing this event, I did not mention Palestine, terrorism, rocket fire, recent murders or the heightened standard that is often applied when evaluating military action by Israel. The Consul General came to UC Davis to discuss the current climate in the Middle East, and how it affects Israel. The substance of his discussion, though, was irrelevant to the students’ reactions. Akiva Tor’s nation of affiliation was enough to spark protest and hate.
This type of knee-jerk reaction to Israel is anti-intellectual and counter productive to fostering coexistence on campus and in the Middle East. The Israel-Palestine discussion is being driven into a desperate hole of hopelessness by extremists and their liberal sheep, including young Jewish adults who are afraid of being framed as anti-liberal by talking about Israel – despite its remarkable track record in civil rights, clean tech, innovation and (yes) military tactics. Many of my Jewish classmates who do support a Jewish state did not want the Jewish Law Students Association to host an event about Israel, because they did not want to “deal” with the very reaction that was elicited by Akiva Tor. But by avoiding the Israel conversation, misconceptions remain unchallenged, and we passively legitimize illegitimate beliefs.
Academic institutions are our best hope for an open dialogue between parties with conflicting interests. Thus, blind subscription to any ideology should be heavily discouraged on a university campus. Our responsibility as students is to explore the nuances of important political issues. It is dangerous when individuals and communities develop deep disdain for a country based on buzzwords from ideologues – apartheid, colonial, imperial, military occupation. I call on students to think critically and do their homework before adopting anything and everything under the liberal label. If you’ve done your homework and are still confident in your blanket disdain toward Israel, then bring those ideas to the classroom and let’s have a discussion. My objective in organizing last Tuesday’s event was to spark a dialogue as part of a slow shift from hopelessness to coexistence of ideas – at least at UC Davis. However, I must ask the students who taped their mouths shut and walked out on a discussion with Consul General Tor – what is your objective?
You seek to shift a civil exchange of ideas to a symbolic exchange of emotions, as symbols and emotions are harder to deconstruct than logically, factually sound dialogue. Is it insecurity in your beliefs? Intellectual laziness? Or perhaps you really are that angry and hopeless, and by refusing to engage with Israel’s Consul General, you are urging the local and international community to also disengage with Israel, regardless of its actions. There is nothing Akiva Tor could have said that would have resonated. There is nothing he could have done that you would have seen. You came to our discussion not to talk, but to tape your mouth shut and complain that you aren’t heard.
This is disturbing.
I call on my colleagues to exercise their ideas and exercise them responsibly – for they are powerful and we are privileged in having the key to this power.
UFo,
You and your brothers and sisters keep calling me an Islamophobe and I keep telling you I appreciate it. When someone accuses me of being like Winston Churchill, Richard Dawkins, John Quincy Adams and brothers like that I cannot express me appreciation enough.
http://www.topix.com/forum/religion/islam/T9VLFM30K16SAHC66
“Oh and the Palestinian cause is the cause to claim the rights that have been denied to the Palestinian people for decades. Rights like that to a secure life, or self-determination…”
Well thanks for defining this for me. It’s very helpful.
This is, of course, exactly what Palestinians have in Israel, but nowhere else in the Middle East. In Israel they live secure lives. They can choose what profession they go into, can go to college and get advance degrees if that is their inclination. They can, and do, build successful businesses, they elect candidates to the Parliament and many of those candidates are openly against the state of Israel.
In sharp contrast to this Palestinians are not afforded citizenship in any other Middle Eastern country except Jordan.
UFO, I think you’re badly confused. I think you and your brothers need to start organizing events against Syria, and Lebanon and Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq for they are the countries who have turned the Palestinian’s lives into a living hell (except for those Palestinians who are lucky enough to enjoy life in free and prosperous Israel).
Oh and the Palestinian cause is the cause to claim the rights that have been denied to the Palestinian people for decades. Rights like that to a secure life, or self-determination…again…that same stuff you probably don’t think they deserve because you “know” how evil Islam is.
Arafat…from the way you have presented your information, I can only say: what in the world are you talking about!?
Your pretend logic is nothing more than acrobatic. I am not even sure if it is worth my time to address your points since a majority of them unravel after about a minute of investigation.
I will say that your points all seem to be motivated by a sentiment of Islamophobia.
-Your statements about the actions of Muslims historically reflects your selective understanding of history.
-Your statements about the Qur’an make it clear that you have probably never made a real effort to read from it.
-You obviously know nothing about Muhammad the prophet since your comment about him wasn’t about him
-“Now Muslims tell us that all this land belongs to them”…Muslims don’t collectively own stuff…thats just stupid…and the lands your talking about are governed mostly by secular authoritarian regimes or by familial monarchies
-Your comments about N. Africa, Sudan, Kashmir etc. all lack understanding of the complicated histories
Most laughable in all of this is your constant reference back to the caliphate. Really you sound like a someone who is operating off of the basic premise that Islam and Muslims are evil. So they don’t deserve the same things you get because you are holy and good…right? Freedom from oppression, the right to self-determination, the liberty to live by the laws that they write and under the governments they elect are all privileges that you get and they don’t…right?
These are the logical conclusions of your points. I would not be surprised if you were proud of them and if that is really the case then I don’t think anyone should really care to change your mind until you care enough to change your ignorant assumptions.
There really is no point in discussing this article or ANYTHING for that matter when someone like Arafat is so reluctant to see any other view than their own. This isn’t a discussion, and it’s clearly because YOU refuse to see a different side. Post all the links you want, you’re the one who comes off ignorant because you think your argument is the only and correct argument. If you really wanted to talk, and not argue, why don’t you actually come to the MSA table one day and have an intellectual discussion. Unless you’re incapable of actually speaking to a Muslim face to face because of your media-based image of them. Instead of just writing, go have an actual discussion with the people who you claim own the world.
And justice4all is right, if you want to really talk about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, go sit in Maoz’s class. He’s Pro-Israel but his class is very non-biased. Unlike your arguments Arafat, his class shows both sides of the conflict and doesn’t point the finger at one group.
Not trying to attack you or anything, but you’re obviously very passionate about this topic. I’m just saying you should talk to the MSA table about Islam and see it from an actual person’s perspective, not just some scholar writing about it. I’m sure both sides of this argument have a lot to learn.
I love it!
Justice4all is telling us who is biased and who is not biased. That’s like relying on the House of Saud for an approved reading list.
it didnt to the protesters***
Again…if you are looking for an intellectual debate, Arafat is not the man to have one. For your own sanity and wise time managment, please avoid his comments. Its not that you wont have a intellectual response, its more he’ll just post a link….
The article is not about religion its about politics. Its about students rising up against a representative of an occupying land. If the methods seem ridiculous to you, it didnt to the so just get over it please
If you would like to know more about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, please sit in to the Arab Israeli conflict class taught by zeev moaz. While some points are highley biased, hes still a cool dude who knows his stuff….whatever opnion you wanna develop, do it in that class after researching on your own
Could someone explain this conundrum for me?
Why is it Muslims are free to violently conquer lands anywhere and everywhere without a word of protest from American Muslims, or any Muslims for that matter, but if Jews have a legally established homeland Muslims will never stop protesting against it? Why is this do you suppose? What explanation can be given other than as the Qur’an states repeatedly that Islam’s goal is to establish a worldwide caliphate in which all non-Muslims are subjugated.
For instance, Mohammed was born around 571 AD thousands and thousands of years after Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism exited. But within a few centuries of Mohammed’s birth Islam had violently conquered vast sections of Asia, all of North Africa and smaller sections of Southern Europe.
Now Muslims tell us that all this land belongs to them even though, for instance, in Afghanistan they killed every last Buddhist who once lived there. According to Muslim logic per Israel shouldn’t this land belong to the Buddhists?
Or in North Africa all the Berbers have been forcibly converted to Islam or have been killed and now we’re told all this vast landmass belongs to Islam. That’s interesting, if not completely hypocritical. And what about Southern Thailand. Did anyone know that in the last several years something like 5,000 Buddhists have been killed by Muslims because, or so we’re told, the land the Buddhists are on belongs to Islam. And Southern Russia? Muslims are relentlessly waging a slow reign of terror in Russia because, you guessed it, Russians are treating Muslims poorly and they should give up the Southern section of that country to Muslims.
Or, let’s take Sudan as another example. How many millions have been killed in Sudan? How many babies and children have starved in Sudan while Islamists steal the food from aid compounds? How many women have Muslims gang-raped in Sudan all because that land belongs to Muslims and only Muslims. All other people can go somewhere else to live, I guess.
And Kashmir? The same. Despite Hindus having lived there for 5,000 years – something like 4,000+ years before Mohammed was born – Muslims tell us Kashmir belongs to them. Amazing logic isn’t it?
And that brings us to Israel. Israel also belongs to Islam. Did you know that? It’s true. Even though it’s no bigger than a small pimple on the caliphate’s ass it is still their land and they will fight to the death to prove their point.
Doesn’t the logic here make a lot of sense. Isn’t it as clear as day? Of course it is. The world belongs to Islam and we’re mere players on their stage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtiKorMw9zg
UFO writes, “…or you are trying to defame the Palestinian cause.”
Why don’t you tell me what “the Palestinian cause” is?
If you listen to Hamas it is clearly to destroy Israel and to push all the Jews into the sea.
If you listened to Yasser Arafat it was ambiguous. On one day he would say the Palestinians were sincere peace partners of Israel, but the next day (and typically said in Arabic) he would say that Muslims most re-conquer Israel and push the Jews into the sea.
So enlighten me, what is “the palestinian cause”?