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Davis, California

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Guest Opinion: Response to David Horowitz ad

I must inform you that the advertisement in The Aggie on Thursday titled “The Palestinians’ Case Against Israel is Based on a Genocidal Lie” has two major flaws which make it very suspicious. First, it is written in a style of extreme propaganda. Second, its content is a denial of a human rights violation.

Propaganda oversimplifies an issue by only giving one perspective, and polarizes people into two groups – with the speaker, or “the enemy.” For example, when a line from the advertisement says, “There is one reason and one reason alone that there is no peace” such a statement leaves no room for discussion and suggests that all other opinions are invalid. In addition, the name-calling in the piece, such as “the Arab aggressors” gives the advertisement a racist spin that makes the rest of the advertisement suspect. By offering only a binary, us vs. them mentality the advertisement encourages readers to look at the issue from only a one-sided perspective. Personally, I am disturbed that such an obstruction to intellectual debate needs to be used.

As a student of human rights, I have learned that a group of people (whether you call them Palestinians or by some other name) was forcibly removed from their homes during the creation of the State of Israel. The term for forcibly removing an ethnic group from a geographic location is “ethnic cleansing.” I believe that this is a core issue that is trying to be debated, though the advertisement does not mention this except to say that Palestine does not exist.

In genocide class this week we studied denial, and on the very same day this advertisement ran, we learned about a type of denial called “reversal” which is, essentially, the defense of accusing a victim of being a perpetrator. This advertisement had many lines that made me think of reversal, including those claiming that the Palestinians’ case is “genocidal” and that they “honored the murderers” of “a calculated war on women and children.”

In denying any responsibility for the hardships faced by Palestinians or Arabs (groups not distinguished in the article), the advertisement accuses the Palestinians for injustices done to Israel. However, such accusations do not absolve Israel from responsibility. In addition, it blames Arabs for their own suffering: “It is true that the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza are suffering. But they are suffering because of 60 years of Arab aggression … ” Again refusing to take any responsibility for anything, this advertisement seems, to me, a prime suspect for denial of a human rights violation.

In the future, when publishing an advertisement in a college newspaper, I would encourage the David Horowitz Freedom Center to present its arguments in a way that doesn’t make use of propaganda, racism, accusations and a denial of any possible responsibility. And I encourage all newspaper readers to watch out for propaganda.

Thank you,

Rachel Pevsner

11 COMMENTS

  1. Um, I’m sorry. Morris agrees that it was ethnic cleansing. “When a Haaretz interviewer called the 1948 Palestinian exodus “ethnic cleansing,” Morris responded that “[t]here are circumstances in history that justify ethnic cleansing. I know that this term is completely negative in the discourse of the 21st century, but when the choice is between ethnic cleansing and genocide—the annihilation of your people—I prefer ethnic cleansing.””

    “Something like a cage has to be built for them. I know that sounds terrible. It is really cruel. But there is no choice. There is a wild animal there that has to be locked up in one way or another.”

    “…We are the greater victims in the course of history and we are also the greater potential victim. Even though we are oppressing the Palestinians, we are the weaker side here. We are a small minority in a large sea of hostile Arabs who want to eliminate us”

    — all Benny Morris.

    Find a new source if you want to make the claim that you are unbiased and the university is the indoctrinator.

    I won’t even say anything more about the comment you submitted, RCCA, because the quotes from the man you reference speak for themselves.

  2. It sure seems like Rachel has been given a slanted view of history in her classes. She states, “As a student of human rights, I have learned that a group of people (whether you call them Palestinians or by some other name) was forcibly removed from their homes during the creation of the State of Israel. The term for forcibly removing an ethnic group from a geographic location is ‘ethnic cleansing.’ ”

    Did she learn that many Arab Palestinians left to avoid the impending violence in ’48 as they had in the 30’s, that many left out of fear from the false rumors put out by Palestinian leaders that women had been raped? That the Arab leadership was so sure they would annihilate the Jews in 1948 that they wanted Arabs to leave temporarily to avoid the violence?

    There was no centralized program or design by Israel to get the Arabs to leave. See Benny Morris, “The Rejection,” New Republic, April 21-28, 2003, don’t just take Noam Chomsky’s interpretation of Morris as gospel. See also B. Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp.286-289. See also, “Ab Mazen Charges that the Arab States Are the Cause of the Palestinian Refugee Problem,” Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2003.

    As a former student at UCDavis I am disappointed by the obvious indoctrination taking place on that campus today and lack of critical thought.

  3. Rachel,

    I don’t mean to belittle you, nor to hurt your feelings. It’s just that my patience for the spoon-fed lies you and your fellow UC students are fed by your Jew-baiting liberal professors has gotten well past annoying.

    Whether you – or your uber-hip professors – want to admit it or not the following article is true, using REAL facts (not twisted ones), and is what should be taught in schools instead of the Arab propaganda currently in your textbooks.

    http://www.arabisraeliconflict.info/arab-israel-facts/fact-7-palestinian-suffering

    And,

    http://www.arabisraeliconflict.info/arab-israel-facts/fact-9-palestinian-refugees

  4. Rachel writes, “In genocide class this week we studied denial, and on the very same day this advertisement ran, we learned about a type of denial called “reversal” which is, essentially, the defense of accusing a victim of being a perpetrator.”

    Unreal. This is classice liberal arts Bullcrap.

    Rachel, what do you make of the following facts? Or are these nothing more than some clever Coptic Christian turning the tables on Muslims?

    http://www.raymondibrahim.com/8348/muslims-project-islam-worst-traits-onto-israel

  5. Rachel writes, “Personally, I am disturbed that such an obstruction to intellectual debate needs to be used.”

    Did it ever occur to you that Horowitz did this only after decades of the Palestinians doing this exact same thing but against Israelis?

    Maybe you should put some time into studying this issue from a perspective other than the liberal, reform school approach so as to help you understand that there ARE FACTS involved here that support Horowitz’s argument 100%.

    For instance, do you dispute anything written here:

    http://www.hudson-ny.org/1437/classic-islamic-view-of-jews

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