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Comments about "Photo controversy sparks protest"
<< Back to Photo controversy sparks protest
51 Comments on this article:
Oh no! If Old Union's administrators don't reconsider, how will my student group run its photo exhibit entitled "Life Under Palestinian Suicide Bombings"!
Bring the photos back! After all, isn't that what belongs in our relaxing student union--media that inflames and divides our campus?
Before you make rash generalizations, please view the exhibit photos for yourself (link sent out in an e-flyer):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25736662@N07/
I thought the whole issue is the the photos themselves weren't controversial, but the text and the "bait and switch" in regards to the title and text. So, where's the link to the text? Seems like someone is trying to over-simplify a complicated issue here...
For some reason, the Judeo-Fascists don't like Buddhist Falon Gong swastikas either. The don't like form feeds; they don't like carriage returns.
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Reality is a bitch, but then again, Voodoo-Bush-Judeo physics is probably holding up all the buildings in New York City right now waiting for the King of the Soloman Jews to take down an many as he fucking pleases.
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the group's name is "Students Confronting Apartheid by Israel," not "in Israel". They're talking about the occupied territories, not Israel proper.
Interesting how Israeli photographers won't go around displaying the disfigured Jewish children that still have Palestinian nails in their brains or Sderot kids missing limbs from Palestinian supported bombing of Jewish civilians.
Kudos to the administration!! SCAI employs the"big lie" technique in their message and apparently also lied to the administration regarding their so called "exhibit". It has been my observation in life that once a person starts to lie, they usually cannot stop. SCAI cannot be believed and they cannot be trusted. This is generally the case with regard to anti-semites. Another lie will be when they protest that they are not anti-semites, which is what they will probably do in the posts below.
Now, how about an exhibit on the way Christians and Jews are treated in Arab, Moslem countries? And these Christians and Jews are not terrorists nor do they support terrorists--they just want to practice their religion. Most Jews have fled the Arab countries and Christians in many Arab, Moslem countries are discriminated against and often murdered. A recent "60 Minutes" report discussed what is happening to Christians in Iraq--the priest that they interviewed on the program was recently murdered. Saudi Arabia will not even allow a church to be built. Egypt recently would not allow a church to be expanded. Such is frequently the life in the Moslem, Arab world for non-believing infidels. Want to hear the truth? Visit www.whatthewestneedstoknow.com
Another website: www.americancongressfortruth.com/, founded by Brigitte Gabrielle, author of "Because they Hate", which discusses what happened to the Christians in Lebanon when the PLO, Hezbollah and other pro-palestinian groups came in.
Why don't we hear more about the fate of Christians in Moslem, Arab countries? Why are the crimes against them ignored?
Stanford is private property. The administration has exercised proper oversight. Stanford is not obligated to allow any exhibit on its private property.
While there is no doubt that Palestinians are suffering - these photos fail to point any blame where it really belongs - on the Arabs who started the wars, lost the wars, and rejected peace.
The Palestinian Arabs who left their homes became refugees at the mercy of their Arab brethren. The Arab League (22 Arab Muslim countries) passed 3 resolutions in 1949. The first prohibited Arab governments from giving citizenship to the Palestinian Arab refugees. The second established an economic boycott of Israel and any country or company that dealt with Israel. The third mandated Arab governments to facilitate the expulsion of one million Jewish inhabitants of Arab countries.
Israel settled the Jews expelled from Muslim countries during these same years while the Arabs refused to settle theirs still refuse to this day.
Speaking on pure free speech ground, this is appalling. I'd have the same reaction if the speech was entirely the opposite (a la SIA).
"“[Old Union] was one of the only places I thought we had free speech,” Gelender said. “We can’t afford this additional suppression.”
The ludicrousness of SCAI's claims aside, what makes them think they can do whatever they want to common university property. White Plaza is already a free speech area where they can do what ever they want. Old Union is not that type of place. Additionally, they used slimy bait and switch techniques in what they said would be in their display. They should go cry some more.
Put aside the political issue for a second. 1) You have no right to free speech on someone else's property. If you think you do, you're delusional. Check out the Supreme Court case "Lloyd v. Tanner." 2) SCAI claims that Old Union is being hypocritical by allowing a previous exhibit but not allowing theirs, saying that Old Union had reneged on their promise of no "controversial political exhibits" for someone other than them. However, the previous exhibit was by no means controversial. It demonstrated acts of intolerance on Stanford's campus--"KKK" and other phrasing plastered across various buildings. The display aimed to confront these acts. Only a few, small minded bigots would take exception to the exhibit. However, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a divisive world issue, that is the definition of controversial. SCAI has no ground to stand on. This protest was a farce.
ok. um, if you want to dismiss free speech as not an issue on the private campus of Stanford, fine. but the university should still allow students and student groups to do whatever we want to do. if students want to host a pro-Israel rally advocating the extermination of all Palestinians then they should be able to. if communists want to hold a pro-communist rally, they should be able to. we have academic freedom. the motto of this university, part of its emblem, is "Die Luft der Freiheit weht", or translated from german, "the wind of freedom blows." so i am guessing scai or sia or peta should be able to do whatever they want to do if the wind of freedom truly blows here. scai's exhibit is not very inflammatory in nature and should have been allowed to stay where it was, regardless of the captions taken from human rights organizations or the title taken from the sponsoring group's name. it is convenient for students who oppose scai's mission to say that the old union staff did the right thing in removing the exhibit, but come on, be fair people. Die Luft der Freiheit weht.
Michelle says, "White Plaza is already a free speech area where they can do what ever they want. Old Union is not that type of place."
Maybe Michelle missed the letter to the editor by a Stanford employee who took down flyers in White Plaza.
Just check out the physical appearance of Stanford these days. Looks like nothing so much as a movie set. That movie set look (see April 16 DAILY) was to have been extended to Escondido Village, where a DONOR wanted trees cut down, and his (not her--this has to be John Arrillaga), plan was "fast-tracked."
You want to talk? At Stanford?
Have money.
Meanwhile forget free speech - your talk is supposed to be like your school's look.
The administration is using high-handed tactics to quash the growing anti-apartheid movement that targets racist legislation both within Israel and in the occupied territories. The reality of apartheid is clearly spelled out in Uri Davis' excellent book "Apartheid Israel" -- this is an analysis that comes from South Africans, Israelis and Palestinians and is gaining increasing traction.
Hasbara/Hillel counter-claims about Israel being a 'democracy' with Arabs in the Knesset, etc. are spurious at best. They only apply superficially to the 15% of Palestinians that do happen to have Israeli citizenship, but still face legislated discrimination in the realms of property ownership and citizenship/residency rights.
The 85% of Palestinians - both refugees and those under military occupation - are the ones who suffer the most as a result of Israeli apartheid. This is due to the racist Law of Return and the systematic denial of fundamental human rights to the populations in Gaza and the West Bank.
As for Sderot, some facts:
7000 rockets in 7 years, vs. 30,000 shells fired by Israel.
20 Israelis killed / nearly 2000 Palestinians killed in Gaza.
30,000 people / 1.5 million people facing full strangulation of their economy
Suffering on both sides is wrong, but if we're going to be 'equitable' we need to look at the reality and causes of this conflict: the racist structures imposed that served to partition Palestine - leading to the ethnic cleansing of over 800,000 Palestinians....
Old Timer, no SCAI flyers were taken down from White Plaza. In fact, they refuse to have their controversial display in a place other than Old Union. They are a bunch of pigs who think Old Union is an appropriate place to advocate their propaganda. That is not what old union is for. They are unreasonable, and am glad the university had the balls to tell them so.
Just another example of opinions clashing. I agree, Stanford is private property...However due to the nature of the university I can't see that letting someone put up pictures and protest is hurting anyone. At least it's a cheap protest. If it would have happened in the city the local police would have milked the event for as many hours of overtime as they could, then they would have complained about it. I think it's funny that anyone would stop a protest on this issue sighting that it's inflamatory. Bringing Rumsfeld to the campus and honoring his retarded accomplishments is inflamatory but no onw pulled those posters down. I think there is a strong republican undertone to this otherwise liberal university. I say republican because withholding information and suppressing dissent are tactics used primarily by that party.
And why not let them protest? Is Israel not screwing the Palestinians out of land and resources just as the palestinians suicide bomb Israel? They are both to blame for conflicts that plague the world with fear. Yet we only recognize Israel's side of things because this country, (Much to my dismay), is a government interwoven with fundmentalist Christian values. So I guess the question is not: why didn't the SCAI get to protest freely? it's: Why protest that subject here on campus. If you have the time to go out and gather for something like that, you have to cost someone some money. That's the whole Idea of protesting...Getting the word out and making the localities pay for the clean-up and security.
Sepideh, please read. Check out April 11. Did I say anything about SCAI flyers? No, I did not. All I said was that attempts at self-expression by students in White Plaza came to a sticky end. I don't even know what was on the flyers that were removed. That was not the point at all.
Can someone from SCAI post the captions to the pictures? My initial response to this issue was that while I don't support SCAI's mission or politics, the pictures seemed fairly inoffensive. "Living under Israeli apartheid," however, is a pretty controversial exhibit title, and it makes me wonder why SCAI has not been exactly eager to let us know what the captions said. If I put up an exhibit called "living with Arab terrorists," I'm pretty sure someone would complain.
Of course, that's not to say that this exhibit should be "banned" or that I should be banned from creating an exhibit that unfairly portrays Arabs. But Stanford has no obligation to endorse either controversial exhibit by putting it up in Old Union.
Cdizzle, you obviously don't understand the situation. No one stops SCAI from protesting. In fact, this article is about a protest they held yesterday! The issue is over them putting up a long standing (several weeks) display in the Old Union, instead of other places such as White Plaza. Do you think anybody should be able to use that building, or other campus buildings such as class rooms and libraries, and display anything they want? I don't. It's not an issue of free speech, its an issue of what belongs where.
Psssst, stompie, how can the laws be so racist when Palestinians are allowed to IMMIGRATE to Israel, and not just immigrate, but run for and HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE? Real racist there.
While I agree that suffering on both sides is bad, whenever that argument comes up I'm constantly reminded of the saying that, "If Palestinians laid down their guns, there would be peace. If Israelis laid down their guns, there would be no more Israel."
SCAI isn't saying that Israel is apartheid, but rather that its territories are. It's actually an important difference.
I agree with "Interested" here-- I want to know whether the captions were as inflammatory as the title before I make a judgment.
In any case, it seems like there was an unfortunate lack of communication here. I hope some compromise can be reached.
I fail to see the free speech issue here. The pictures were displayed and caused the intended reaction. And now SCIA has been able to recast an anti-Israeli protest into a protest against the Stanford administration. If I were a member of SCIA I'd be delighted. SCIA is getting press and they get to march in defiant protest. What more could they hope to have gotten from the exhibit? It sounds like their voices are being heard to me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25736662@N07/
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This is the controversy at Stanford. Does Mommy and Daddy Stanford put filters on your Internet trips to Disneyland as well?
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The Israeli Apartheid Wall:
This barrier was deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice (the highest legal body in the world, whose statute all UN members are parties to). Israel ignored the Court’s decision and continues to construct the wall today. It is three times as tall, and twice as thick as the Berlin wall.
This barrier separates students from their schools and universities, workers from their jobs, farmers from their land, patients from their doctors, and families. It annexes large areas of land, and also steals Palestinian water resources. Many people have died attempting to cross it.
Go to scai.stanford.edu to learn more, and sign a petition that urges the Board of Trustees to Divest from companies that are building it.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Nessan
Israeli Checkpoint
An Israeli Soldier checks the ID’s of hundreds of Palestinians who are trying to reach their homes, schools or universities at the other side of the checkpoint. These ID’s are color coordinated. If you are Israeli then your ID is blue and you are not stopped at the checkpoint. Nonetheless, the government of Israel has also constructed bypass roads for Jewish Israelis only. If you are a Palestinian, regardless of your religion, age or gender you cannot use these roads. At many checkpoints soldiers abuse Palestinians. For example, at a checkpoint near the town of BeirZeit an Israeli soldier forced a nun to take off her religious garb and kiss a stranger she did not know. At the same checkpoint, people were stripped naked and forced to stand in the rain while other strangers walked through the checkpoint.
Go to scai.stanford.edu to learn more, and sign a petition that urges the Board of Trustees to Divest from companies that perpetuate Israel’s violations.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Nessan
The Israeli Apartheid Wall
A woman stands in her back door looking at the wall which isolates her home from her family and the rest of her village. This barrier was deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice (the highest legal body in the world, whose statute all UN members are parties to). Israel ignored the Court’s decision and continues to construct the wall today.
This barrier separates students from their schools and universities, workers from their jobs, farmers from their land, patients from their doctors, and families. It annexes large areas of land, and also steals Palestinian water resources. Many people have died attempting to cross it.
Go to scai.stanford.edu to learn more, and sign a petition that urges the Board of Trustees to Divest from companies that perpetuate Israel’s violations.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Nessan 2005
Poverty and Unemployment in Palestine
In this photo a family makes bread over a fire in morning sunlight. Israel’s violations of human rights and international law have led to a whopping 54% unemployment rate. More than 70% of the Palestinian population lives under the poverty line. Israel controls every facet of Palestinian life in the occupied territories. It controls the amount of water that enters, electricity, borders and transportation. Yet, Palestinians cannot vote in Israeli elections. Nelson Mandela once said “Israel Practices a unique form of colonialism.” Sadly, this form of Apartheid has been going on for more than 40 years.
Go to scai.stanford.edu to learn more, and sign a petition that urges the Board of Trustees to Divest from companies that perpetuate Israel’s violations.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Nessan 2005
Poverty and Unemployment in Palestine
In this photo a family makes bread over a fire in morning sunlight. Israel’s violations of human rights and international law have led to a whopping 54% unemployment rate. More than 70% of the Palestinian population lives under the poverty line. Israel controls every facet of Palestinian life in the occupied territories. It controls the amount of water that enters, electricity, borders and transportation. Yet, Palestinians cannot vote in Israeli elections. Nelson Mandela once said “Israel Practices a unique form of colonialism.” Sadly, this form of Apartheid has been going on for more than 40 years.
Go to scai.stanford.edu to learn more, and sign a petition that urges the Board of Trustees to Divest from companies that are building it.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Nessan 2005
Family facing expulsion and Military violence.
World food program sacks provide shelter for this family facing expulsion and military violence. In the last four years the Israeli military has murdered more than 900 children. More than 340 Palestinian minors are held illegally in Israeli prisons, and have not even been given a court date. Palestinian children have suffered the most under Israeli oppression. Doctors without borders has found that 95% of Palestinian children in Gaza suffer from Post traumatic Stress disorder. It has also found that 81% of Palestinian Children in the Gaza strip have either been directly injured by Israeli fire, or have seen a friend or family member being hurt by Israeli attacks.
Go to scai.stanford.edu to learn more, and sign a petition that urges the Board of Trustees to Divest from companies that are building it.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Nessan 2005
The Israeli Apartheid Wall
A woman waits at a gate in the Apartheid Wall to return home from here agricultural land. This barrier was deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice (the highest legal body in the world, whose statute all UN members are parties to). Israel ignored the Court’s decision and continues to construct the wall today. It is three times as tall, and twice as thick as the Berlin wall.
This barrier separates students from their schools and universities, workers from their jobs, farmers from their land, patients from their doctors, and families. It annexes large areas of land, and also steals Palestinian water resources. Many people have died attempting to cross it.
Moreover, Israel has uprooted more than one million Olive trees, the main source of income for Palestinian farmers.
Go to scai.stanford.edu to learn more, and sign a petition that urges the Board of Trustees to Divest from companies that perpetuate Israel’s violations.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Nessan 2003
The Israeli Apartheid Wall
A man sits on his land to prevent construction of the illegal annexation wall. This barrier was deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice (the highest legal body in the world, whose statute all UN members are parties to). Israel ignored the Court’s decision and continues to construct the wall today. It is three times as tall, and twice as thick as the Berlin wall.
This barrier separates students from their schools and universities, workers from their jobs, farmers from their land, patients from their doctors, and families. It annexes large areas of land, and also steals Palestinian water resources. Many people have dies attempting to cross it. More than 309 Palestinians have died while attempting nonviolent resistance against Israeli confiscation raids.
Go to scai.stanford.edu to learn more, and sign a petition that urges the Board of Trustees to Divest from companies that perpetuate Israel’s violations.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Nessan 2005
The Israeli Apartheid Wall
A woman prays to God asking him to save her land from Israeli annexation forces. Part of her land was being confiscated for the Apartheid wall. More than 70% of Palestinian land has been illegally occupied by Israel since 1948. This barrier was deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice (the highest legal body in the world, whose statute all UN members are parties to). Israel ignored the Court’s decision and continues to construct the wall today. It is three times as tall, and twice as thick as the Berlin wall.
This barrier separates students from their schools and universities, workers from their jobs, farmers from their land, patients from their doctors, and families. It annexes large areas of land, and also steals Palestinian water resources. Many people have died attempting to cross it. More than 309 Palestinians have died while attempting nonviolent resistance against Israeli confiscation raids.
Go to scai.stanford.edu to learn more, and sign a petition that urges the Board of Trustees to Divest from companies that perpetuate Israel’s violations.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Nessan 2005
The Israeli Apartheid Wall:
This barrier was deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice (the highest legal body in the world, whose statute all UN members are parties to). Israel ignored the Court’s decision and continues to construct the wall today. It is three times as tall, and twice as thick as the Berlin wall.
This barrier separates students from their schools and universities, workers from their jobs, farmers from their land, patients from their doctors, and families. It annexes large areas of land, and also steals Palestinian water resources. Many people have died attempting to cross it.
Go to scai.stanford.edu to learn more, and sign a petition that urges the Board of Trustees to Divest from companies that are building it.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Nessan
All the Information above has been provided by:
Lisa Nessan: Photographer
Amnesty international
Human rights Watch
The Red Cross
B’tselem: Israeli human Rights organization
where are the captions? those pictures seem relatively unoffensive and perfectly fine to display in Old Union. it must have been the captions (and of course, the title of the exhibit) that offended some people. unfortunately the captions do not accompany the photos on the Flickr site, so we cannot see if they were offensive or not.
This stuff is political hackery and filibustering. Good riddance.
Ah, now I see why it was controversial. It's that last line of signing a petition to divest. (And pulling a lot of details out of context.)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3533969,00.html
Jews celebrate Passover at Damascus' only synagogue
Of 100 Jews left in Syria, only a handful mark holiday in al-Feranj synagogue in capital. 'I'm happy in Syria where I perform my Jewish rituals like Muslims and Christians do,' local congregation member says
Associated Press
Published: 04.21.08, 07:54 / Israel Jewish Scene
A handful of Syrian Jews celebrated the start of the Jewish Passover holiday Sunday with prayers at Damascus' only synagogue, saying they feel free to openly practice their religion just as Muslims and Christians do.
"There are only about 100 Jews left in Syria, after the late President Hafez Assad permitted Jews to leave the country in 1992," said Albert Qameo, a Jewish community leader in Syria.
Over the past 16 years, some 3,700 Jews have left Syria for Israel and the United States.
The remaining Syrian Jews live in the capital, Damascus, the northern city of Aleppo and in the northeastern city of Qamishli.
"Here I was born, studied and worked. Here is our history, and we have our holy sites that we have to look after," Qameo said.
Free to practice religious beliefs (Photo: AP)
Qameo, 59, led Sunday's prayers, which were attended by only seven Jews at al-Feranj Synagogue in the old Jewish quarter in central Damascus.
Jews who worship in the Syrian capital do so without a rabbi, after their chief rabbi left Syria for the US in 1994.
"I'm happy in Syria where I perform my Jewish rituals like Muslims and Christians do," Qameo said, speaking in Arabic. "Marking Passover here in this synagogue is a proof that Jews in Syria are living peacefully and in security."
Another worshipper at Sunday's prayers, Joseph Hamdani, said he lives peacefully in Syria and maintains good relations with his Muslim and Christian neighbors.
"I don't feel like I'm being treated differently," said Hamdani, 41, who also speaks Arabic.
What the hell does that have to do with these absurd captions?
Get with the program, chief.
Just looking at the captions that were posted for a few days, can anybody really doubt that they are controversial (if not downright wrong)? I agree that where the border fence goes into the Palestinian territories it should be re-routed, for the sake of a final peace agreement, but the fence itself is not illegal. I really don't care one bit if Palestinians are inconvenienced if it means that terrorists, who use Israel's free society to attack it, can no longer murder Israelis. That is Israel's primary concern. Whether or not farmers or students suffer from that is secondary. It should be taken into account, but security must come first. That is where the Palestinians have gone wrong; they put ideology before their own best interests. They are still trying to destroy Israel, and in doing so they bring disaster upon themselves.
As usual, Palestinians and their supporters take the much easier, but very dramatic and emotional road of blaming Israel for their troubles. How about taking some responsibility for Palestinian terror specifically targeting civilians in Israel? If you are so anxious to build your own Palestinian country start in Gaza!
But, wait, building is so much more difficult (and boring) compared to launching rockets at children of Israeli towns....
Please stop your lame propaganda. You always go into hysterics when someone challenges you on the facts.
So, if Palestinians are the so peaceful and really want a country, then:
1. Why do they dance and give out candies when Jewish kids are murdered?
2. Why do they glorify the death of their own kids when they murder Jews?
3. Why not build in Gaza (and not launch rockets for a change)?
4. Why not stop calling for murder of Jews on Palestinian TV kids (!!!) programs?
5. Why allow Palestinian terrorist gunmen hide behind the backs of Palestinian women and children? Real noble and brave...aren't they?
1. Why were Israeli children writing messages on Israeli shells bound for Lebanese civilian areas?
2. Why do Israeli settlers in Tel Rumeida stone and harass and murder the native Palestinians in the area?
3.Why not stop Israel from cutting off electricity and bombing Gaza?
4.Why not stop Israel from creating Jew/Israeli only roads and discriminating against non-Jews?
5.Why not you, A, stop making up things? Palestinian terrorist gunmen hide behind women and children? Um, no. Israel carpet bombs civilian areas and then says, "Oops. My bad." when innocent Palestinian civilians are killed.
Good riddance, I say. What a bunch of whiners. It's the way the system here works--if you want to set something up, you provide the proper documentation. If your setup isn't what was originally proposed... of course shit will hit the fan. They keep comparing it to the past exhibit when they can't even touch it (na na na na, na na).
1. Because they have been spending days in shelters as Hezbullah bombarded their town (hardly a military area) - and that was after terrorists kidnapped two Israeli soldiers from Israeli territory.
2. Not sure about this stoning, but I do know that two Israeli kids Koby Mandel and Yossi Ishran,13 and 14 years old were stoned TO DEATH by peaceful Palestinians on May 10, 2001. What kind of people can stone two children to death?!
3. Because Palestinian terrorists attacked a factory providing Gaza with electricity and killed two Israelis. Real good people.
4. When Palestinians stop firing at cars that Jews drive they can drive on those roads too.
5. Because lies that pro-Palestinian supporters spread are not ok. We've been quiet when Hitler spun his propaganda. Enough.
Now, let's see you answer my questions - tell us what you think about handing out candies when Jewish kids are shot.
a recent report about apartheid inside israel: http://hrw.org/reports/2008/iopt0308/
another good resource on apartheid walls within the boundaries of the israeli state:
http://www.stopthewall.org/downloads/pdf/48walls.pdf
as for palestinian 'immigration' into israel, that's a complete falsehood. israeli law bars palestinians from returning to the 430 villages destroyed in 1948 or the still existing towns and villages that were depopulated by zionist militias (illan pappe's work 'the ethnic cleansing of palestine' is worth reading).
over 800,000 Palestinians were denationalized shortly thereafter with the institution of israeli citizenship / nationality law that defined as a citizen only those inside israel's borders post armistice. the property of these refugees was seized and is being administered by a "Custodian of Absentee Property" and the Israeli Lands Administration (an apartheid institution that privileges Jewish development in these lands)...
this is similar to the 'grand apartheid' that denationalized black south africans in 87% of their country. for the record 85% of the palestinian population is completely excluded from the 'rights' that right-wing pro-ISrael neocons like to hold up as proof of 'democracy' in israel.
also there's a law on the books preventing palestinian citizens of israel from marrying anyone from the west bank / gaza, lebanon and syria. no such restriction apply to jewish citizens of the state of israel.
of course, there's also the official discrimination in education, health care, etc. with disproportionate budget allocations going to jewish communities and a bifurcated labour economy in which palestinian 'citizens' overwhelmingly are slotted into the lowest jobs.
there's also a whole range of state-subsidies and programs that are only available to jewish citizens and not to arabs: including ones relating to religious, social, and housing issues. as well as palestinian over-representation in the prison population, etc.
of course, there's also a ton of discrimination within the jewish community as well, with 'darker' skinned and racialized jewish people facing similar forms of racism (though not legislated in the same way). this applies to the mizrahi / sephardi community as well as to the ethiopian jewish community... and i won't even talk about the use/abuse of migrant workers...
a very nice democracy indeed :P
To Stompie: There is a fundamental difference between South African apartheid and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The black Africans were a part of the state of South Africa. The Palestinians have never wanted to be part of Israel. So what is to stop Israel from building a wall along an ostensibly international border? If the Palestinians truly want a state they should start acting like it.
Of course the Palestinian Arabs were denied entry into Israel after the War of Independence; the Arabs had just attacked Israel with the intention of destroying it completely. Would you allow a hostile population back into your state? Especially as fragile a state as Israel was?
Yes, there is discrimination in Israel; name me one state that is free of it. I am not justifying it, merely pointing out that singling Israel out for opprobrium is not wise. In fact, it is an act of discrimination in of itself; why is it that only the Jewish state is criticized for actions that every other state in the world has made or continues to make today? I might add that Israeli Arabs, despite the discrimination against them, are still far better off than their brethren in Arab countries. Does your bleeding heart extend to their suffering as well, or only the ones in the Jewish state?
(cont.): I should also say that terrorists within the Palestinian Territories have consistently used Israel's free society to their advantage. People who have sought medical treatment in Israeli hospitals have turned out to be suicide bombers, and some terrorists married Arabs within Israel in order to infiltrate its borders before a law was set up to prevent this from occurring. Recently, people have decried Israel's cessation of fuel supplies to Gaza, which makes me wonder what other country in the world provides fuel and electricity to its enemy, and is then criticized it stops doing so? It is particularly odd, because Hamas has made a habit of attacking the crossing points on the Israel-Gaza border, making deliveries potentially deadly for Israelis. It saddens me that fools do not look at the reason Israel stops supplying Gaza, only at the fact that it does (while no other country, including Egypt, would).
"Concerned" is right. People seem to have a radical and utterly mistaken view of free speech these days. Read the first amendment - the government is not supposed to abridge speech. Stanford is not the government. The university generally allows constructive speech, but it is up to the university's discretion to take down offensive material in an exhibit on its property.
The concept of "university" itself implies that the study of the world—its sciences, its cultures, its history, its geography, its hero's, its monsters, its religions, etc.—should not be abridged or destroyed by political, religious, ideological fanatics who wish to advance their cause to the exclusion of the rights of other members of the world university at large.
¶
Stanford as a corporation has the right to deny the Nazi holocaust, the Dafur holocaust, the Palestinian holocaust, the Chinese holocaust. The Corporation can put their Nazi submarine commanders in charge of the Editorial Board at the Daily Stanford on full alert to keep out news of these holocausts from coming to public light and knowledge.
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That is your right as a corporation. But, for your Nazi propragnada crimes as a false religion university operating illegally in America, you have to pay Federal taxes on your income for the last 60 years as an Israel corporation operating fraudulently in America as a nonprofit organization.
e = mcⁿ
¶
Has the U.S. Department of Energy even bothered to test Einstein's famous theory of energy–mass relativity? What if n in the above equation was less than one? You would be surprised to learn that Einstein put 2 into the equation because it meant [BIG BANG EXPLOSION] in Yiddish. For every element in the universe, the variable "n" is different. Has the U.S. Department of Energy ever tested a liquid argon atomic weapon, a liquid neon atomic weapon?
¶
I didn't think so!
The Stanford Linear Accelerator will be closed for next few months for pro-Semitic propaganda repairs!
Who the hell is this idiot making comments above? Whoever you are, if you want to be taken seriously, references to the Holocaust or the Nazis is not the way to get intelligent people to listen to you. Half of your posts don't even make sense, and the other half are just offensive.
I'm fascinated by the argument that since the university owns the property on which students learn, they can control expression of opinions.
By that logic, one could make an argument focusing on the purpose of the services offered by the university. If their service is to provide an education, the denial of free speech--including inflammatory speech--compromises their ability to teach about anything controversial. As educational consumers, students have the right to demand more freedom of expression because it allows them to learn more.
Further reasons would be:
1. The rightwing Zionists who were made uncomfortable by the images were free to organize their own display of photographs, conduct vigils, write position papers, etc.
They didn't.
2. American foreign policy is today focused precisely on the Middle East, and the big fight there is about Israel/Palestine. Could there be any more important debate in academia?
3. Freedom of speech always trumps property rights. (The exception would be if the speech is disruptive. The photos weren't.)
I'm glad students at Stanford are getting an education in the increasingly rightwing ways of the Israel Lobby. The "Lobby" never debates when they can censor, because they are starting to lose the debate. They believe they are helping Israel, but in reality they discredit the cause of Israel.
Surprising how many posters here believe Stanford as a private university is not obliged to protect free speech. The California state constitution says different. All universities in California, private or public, are obligated by law to observe all First Amendment protections.
Free Speech appears to be something all the Israel First posters don't seem to understand. They whine what if someone put up an exhibit concerning Jewish children injured by Palestinians! Well, go ahead! The answer to speech you don't agree with is more speech not censorship.
What the hell is Stanford teaching these days if the marketplace of ideas and open debate is not at the heart of university life?
"Whoever you are, if you want to be taken seriously, references to the Holocaust or the Nazis is not the way to get intelligent people to listen to you. Half of your posts don't even make sense, and the other half are just offensive."
Perfect response to the pure rubbish your spouting, Steve....
Apartheid. The Jews wouldn't stand for the word as applied to Israel when Jimmy Carter wrote about it, so why on earth should mere students think they will be able to use it without strong reaction and censorship from the organized Jewish community?
The Jewish People are convinced that Palestinians intend to exterminate them. Nothing tried to date will convince them otherwise. The Palestinian People are convinced that Jews intend to exterminate them. Nothing tried to date will convince them otherwise. What can be done to fix that problem? That is something college students probably ought to be thinking about.
Israel has 100's of what they call "human rights" organizations here in the USA that are nothing more than Israeli govt. fronts to kill free speech. Israel is the only country in the world here in the USA that is allowed to have dual-citizenship, not to mention hold high government posts. More than half of the Bush admin. holds Israeli citizenship. Can you imagine if half were Chinese? Mexican? North Korean?
Millions of dollars are spent every year for jews to ferret out any US news stories that reflect badly on Israel. CAMERA is one such organization. And who pays for it? We do with our tax dollars. Not to mention the 12 billion in cash we give them yearly and the 5 billion in arms, planes, and tanks. CAMERA received 13 million dollars last year for simply pointing out stories like this. Wikipedia is censored daily. Subjects such as the Armenian Holocaust are censored or removed within minutes.
On the other hand, Palestinian-Americans who have American citizenship are locked up for sending food and medical supplies for Palestinian children. Even after being proven innocent, they remain illegally locked up. Seek out the documentary on University of Florida professor Al-Arian, who was accussed of funding a "terrorist organization". What kind of terror attack can you do with childrens clothing and glucose I.V.'s?
Israel is the most hateful and racist country in the world. Being that they have complete control over the US media and universities, online independant media is the only source for the truth. Think about this before passing judgment. And go see movies such as "The US vs. Al-Arian and Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land. Google Eustace Mullins and read his articles.
And the argument that there should be a counteracting "Palestinian suicide bomber" photo display, there has been many. The problem is, there hasn't been a Palestinian suicide bomber in 2 years. Go to the site ifAmericansOnlyKnew.org for the facts and stats. go to www.honestmediatoday.com
A similar debate about the use of the term 'Israeli apartheid' has been taking place on a number of Canadian campuses.
A wicked satire on the debate, presented as a statement from 'Alumni for Responsible Speech' to the University of Toronto's 'Department of Acceptable Truths' appeared on April 1. It's at http://www.connexions.org/SafeLearning.htm
I am saddened by the ignorance expressed here. One example: "what other country in the world provides fuel and electricity to its enemy"? How do you prepare students for life under the rule of law when such hate speech seems normal and censorship is celebrated?
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