Anti-Semitic
Feelings Abound at Progressive College
To
the Editors:
I
am appalled at the extreme level of ignorance, one-sidedness and
counterproductive anti-Semitic sentiment that has been permeating
this self-proclaimed liberal and progressive
college campus for the past few months. The recently advertised
Locked In: A Week of Education About Palestine is perhaps
the most blatant evidence of such sentiments. We are all intelligent
people. We should be working for peace and not against it. We should
be instigating productive dialogues in an unbiased setting to come
up with reasonable conclusions and solutions to this horrible age-old
war that is going on in the Middle East. But no. Instead we are
perpetuating the hatred and the estrangement of the supporters of
both sides of this conflict.
Want a clear example of what Im talking about? Take a good
look at the flyers advertising the week of education
that are posted all over this campus. There you will find a photograph
of Palestinian victims reaching their hands out between
the bars of an Israeli prison. How ignorant and biased can one be?
Yes. Let us all pay attention solely to the Israeli aggression
as of late. Let us ignore the fact that Palestinians have been tormenting
the state of Israel for years with bombings, shootings, and murders
of not only innocent Israeli citizens, but tourists and students
as well. Yet do we see posters denouncing the Palestinian aggression
against Israel all over college campuses nationwide? No. Because
that would be completely against any end of peace-making or compromise.
After the years of horror that Palestinians have bestowed upon Israel
(and Im completely ignoring any deeper issue of who is to
blame for the origins of this conflict, because, as most reasonable
people can deduce, the issue has escalated far beyond whose land
is whose), after the numerous peacemaking attempts that have been
abolished due to the refusal of Palestinian authorities to do anything
to stop the terrorist attacks, after all this, Israel finally takes
action and there is an outcry against the Israeli aggression.
Somehow, it is acceptable for America to have their War On
Terrorism, but apparently, Israel has no such right. What
of the years of Palestinian aggression? What of the thousands of
Jews murdered by Palestinian suicide bombers? Why is no one paying
any attention to the facts of the situation, and how can anyone
victimize Palestinians with a straight face?
Instead of holding events and forums that slant the facts and further
entrench the hatred and dissension, instead of having groups entitled
Stop US Aid to Israel Now (SUSTAIN which, FYI,
is an incorrect acronym) rallying against the US funding of
Israeli terror, we need to stop pointing fingers and get to
the solutions (because apparently, the U.S. is the only government
allowed to fight terrorism). We need to stop disguising anti-Semitic
propaganda as voices for peace, and we need to get together,
supporters of both Israel and Palestinians, and begin the peace-making
process here. Until we can break through the ignorance, the blaming
and the hatred, we cannot dare call Oberlin College a progressive
institution. Please people, think about what youre doing.
Natasha
Uspensky
College first-year
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