Spring Break
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: A weak and one sided straw-man case against zionism fails to do the controversy justice
Letters to the Editor | 3/4/08
Posted online at 1:50 AM EST on 3/4/08
To the Editor:
In their Op-Ed "When it comes to Israel, we need to be open-minded," (Feb. 12 issue)", Aaron Taylor and former Justice editor in chief Rachel Marder pen a piece that is dangerously one-sided in its criticism of the Jewish state. It features misinformation and the lack of crucial counterarguments as it presents a straw-man case against the Zionist enterprise.
In their opening paragraph, the writers list four pro-Israel clubs as evidence of the supposed bias toward Israel on campus. They describe these as "an array of Zionist clubs … [that] frequently offer events." Yet two of these are the same club (Students United for Israel has replaced Zionists for Historical Veracity), one of them (Brandeis Religious Zionist League) has been defunct for over two years and the last (the Brandeis-Israel Political Action Committee) prides itself on pursuing advocacy, not holding events. This flawed list indicates a lack of intimate knowledge regarding the Zionist movement on campus that may help explain the unreasoning criticism that follows.
The article focuses on an event called "Lighting Gaza," hosted by Prof. Gordon "Gordie" Fellman (SOC), who has a history of provocative anti-Israel diatribes, including on an anti-Zionist Brandeis listserv (concerned@lists.brandeis.edu). In the writers' own words, "Students … could have benefited tremendously from hearing this alternative narrative expressing the horrors of daily life for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation."
Yet an unbiased observer would recognize that "the horrors of Palestinian daily life" are considerably less horrific than those in most Arab lands. Palestinians are among the more educated and affluent of Arab citizenries.
Also, the item utterly neglects to mention the acts of terrorism and the murder of Israeli civilians, often including the elderly and children, that has necessitated Israeli precautions such as the security fence and military roadblocks.
In their Op-Ed "When it comes to Israel, we need to be open-minded," (Feb. 12 issue)", Aaron Taylor and former Justice editor in chief Rachel Marder pen a piece that is dangerously one-sided in its criticism of the Jewish state. It features misinformation and the lack of crucial counterarguments as it presents a straw-man case against the Zionist enterprise.
In their opening paragraph, the writers list four pro-Israel clubs as evidence of the supposed bias toward Israel on campus. They describe these as "an array of Zionist clubs … [that] frequently offer events." Yet two of these are the same club (Students United for Israel has replaced Zionists for Historical Veracity), one of them (Brandeis Religious Zionist League) has been defunct for over two years and the last (the Brandeis-Israel Political Action Committee) prides itself on pursuing advocacy, not holding events. This flawed list indicates a lack of intimate knowledge regarding the Zionist movement on campus that may help explain the unreasoning criticism that follows.
The article focuses on an event called "Lighting Gaza," hosted by Prof. Gordon "Gordie" Fellman (SOC), who has a history of provocative anti-Israel diatribes, including on an anti-Zionist Brandeis listserv (concerned@lists.brandeis.edu). In the writers' own words, "Students … could have benefited tremendously from hearing this alternative narrative expressing the horrors of daily life for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation."
Yet an unbiased observer would recognize that "the horrors of Palestinian daily life" are considerably less horrific than those in most Arab lands. Palestinians are among the more educated and affluent of Arab citizenries.
Also, the item utterly neglects to mention the acts of terrorism and the murder of Israeli civilians, often including the elderly and children, that has necessitated Israeli precautions such as the security fence and military roadblocks.
Be the first to comment on this story