As chairperson of one of the sponsoring organizations of “Activism 102,” I’m outraged by the false characterizations of our conference by Professor Vera Schwarcz and the student group Kol Israel. They hurl slurs like “vicious defamation,” “hate,” and “anti-Semitism” without mentioning a single true fact. The conference to Schwarcz echoes “violence” of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. I suppose learning how to write a press release is just a short step away from parading professors with dunce caps.
A Jewish Israeli-American opened the event, and the main talk, which was open to the public, was given by Adam Shaprio, who leads an organization that is dedicated to non-violence even though it has had members murdered by the Israeli army. I’m an American Jew, too, as are some members of the Wesleyan Students for a Free Palestine, not that it should matter.
In Israel we have a ethnic supremacy state which has destroyed 10,000 Palestinian homes since the ’67 occupation. It administers collective punishment and torture routinely. It puts millions of people under siege conditions and humiliates them whenever they attempt to cross checkpoints in their own land. And to call attention to this is “hate” and “defamation”. Give me a break.
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