JERROLD SOBEL: APARTHEID WEEK…A MODERN BLOOD LIBEL

Posted By on March 19th, 2013

On January 21, 2002, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. throughout the civil rights movement wrote an op-ed. for the San Francisco Chronicle entitled: “I Have a dream” For Peace in the Middle East.
Quoting the thoughts of his longtime ally and friend, Lewis, a Democrat representing the the 5th Congressional District of Georgia had this to say: Dr. King “understood the meaning of discrimination and oppression. He sought ways to achieve liberation and peace, and he thus understood that a special relationship exists between African Americans and American Jews.”….”During his lifetime King witnessed the birth of Israel and the continuing struggle to build a nation. He consistently reiterated his stand on the Israel — Arab conflict, stating: “Israel’s right to exist as a state in security is incontestable. It was no accident that King emphasized “security” in his statements on the Middle East.”
Last week on the approach to the yearly canard, “Israeli Apartheid Week” (IAW). Lewis related a back and forth between Dr. King and a student during an appearance at Harvard University just prior to his death. Asked in a hostile manner for his opinion on Zionism, Dr. King responded, “When people criticize Zionists they mean Jews, you are talking Anti-Semitism.” Nothing could be more succinct and germane to the libel being perpetuated on the campuses of our once great universities today; Harvard being a prime example.
In an effort to publicize their vilification of Israel during libelous apartheid week, a vehemently anti-Israeli organization within Harvard known as the Palestine Security Committee employed a tactic becoming all too common throughout the U.S. They posted mock eviction notices on the doors of students claiming their dorms would soon be demolished.
Some inevitably will argue this is just an expression of their Second Amendment rights. In reality, it’s nothing of the sort. As stated by Robert Trestan, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Acting New England Regional Director: “This tactic is designed to silence and intimidate pro-Israel advocates at Harvard and campuses around the country,” He continues: “Free expression has a place on campus; however targeting the dorms of Harvard students lends itself to creating tension, isolating students and fomenting hostility.”
Intimidating pro-Israel advocates on campuses around the country is indeed the operative phrase here. Far from a sophomoric stunt, this is part of a nation wide movement on campus which seeks to denigrate Israel while stifling academic discourse. From Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Brooklyn College, Northeastern University and far too many other universities throughout the United States, prevaricate hatred of Israel and Jews in general is being spewed. Most disturbing, on many campuses this calumny is more than tacitly supported by the Administration. Possibly the most egregious of all is taking place in Boca Raton Florida at Florida Atlantic University (FAU).

 

Dead babies, apartheid walls, once again, mock eviction notices placed on student dorms and calls for Israel’s destruction; all part of a troubling pattern of extreme activism perpetuated by the aforementioned anti-Semitic, nationwide organization Palestine Security Committee, also known as, Student Justice For Palestine (SJP).

FAU is a university with an anti-Semitism problem, and an irresponsible administration helping to make things worse. In January 2011 FAU’s SJP, along with other chapters from universities around the state participated in an organizing conference sponsored by the American Muslims for Palestine organization (AMP). The objective of the meeting was to have SJP become more effective in its efforts by having experienced anti-Israel activists provide training, and to help regional chapters coordinate with each other and share their resources. AMP is a well-funded, professional organization with ties to Islamic radicals and supporters of terrorism against Israel. It specializes in targeting vital parts of the educational system; primarily libraries, high-schools, university curricula, and student organizations. Flown in to lead the conference was one of the leaders of the now infamous Irvine 11, who were convicted of systematically harassing Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren to the point that he was unable to deliver a lecture at the University of California. So much for the free interchange of ideas.

Rather than heed the warnings and evidence it received, Florida Atlantic University’s administration applied no scrutiny to SJP as it increased its radical activities on campus. A steady stream of anti-Semites and anti-Israel firebrands have been reaching into campus with the goal of radicalizing the students. As a result, the activities and messaging of SJP have steadily become more aggressive. FAU’s indifference to anti-Semitism appears directly attributable to Dr. Charles Brown, the University’s Senior Vice President for Student Affairs. Prior to his joining FAU in 2006, Dr. Brown served in similar positions at Wayne State University in Detroit and the University of South Florida in Tampa, two of the most notoriously venomous anti-Israel universities in the country. His time at USF in particular immediately followed the indictment of Professor Sami Al-Arian, who later plead guilty to serving as the American head of the Islamic Jihad Terror organization. Al-Arian and his cronies at USF, including his research associate and now current FAU professor Bassem Al-Halabi, had cultivated a culture of anti-Semitic student radicalism that continued to be tolerated throughout Brown’s tenure there.

By the Spring of 2012 FAU’s SJP chapter was fully out of control. Mock eviction notices were posted on the door of hundreds of on-campus residences. SJP brazenly misappropriated the seal of Palm Beach County, which was a violation of law. The Palm Beach County Attorney’s office immediately sent a cease and desist order. The fake eviction notice also included a seal and authorization stamp from FAU’s student housing authority, which were in fact issued by the University. In response to this, Dr. Charles Brown, the school’s senior vice president for student affairs, initially misled reporters by claiming that the university had not authorized the fliers. This statement was later retracted when SJP revealed that not only had it been approved, but an FAU employee actually escorted hundreds of notices on dorm rooms and elevators. If this doesn’t cross the line of academic freedom into the realm of Administrative complicity, what does?

To answer my own question: On Feb. 6, the Tom Trento TV/radio crew attempted to sit in on a public meeting at FAU, where Greta Berlin, a noted Jew/Israeli hater, was to speak. The crew was denied entry into this advertised, public, taxpayer-supported event and threatened with arrest by a Boca police officer, who claimed he was taking his orders from “the building manager.” Enough said about constitutional rights when up against a complicit school Administration and ignorant civil service employees.

To push back against the Administration’s anti-Israel/anti-Semitic bent and the actions they are culpable of, a writing campaign of protest has begun to FAU’s President MJ Saunders: president@fau.edu. Protests and letters may not stop this egregious behavior at FAU but withholding charitable donations may raise some eyebrows at the school.

Jerrold L. Sobel

4003 Upolo Lane

Naples Fl., 34119

I’m President of the ZOA, Southwest Florida chapter and a published writer on the Middle East conflict and Jewish concerns.

 

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