MY SAY: #ANTI-SEMITISM DOES NOT MATTER AT PRINCETON
What sheer hypocrisy at Princeton. Woodrow Wilson bad…but boycott and divest from Israel is just dandy. And the Center for African American Studies says nothing about the Jihads in Africa against innocent civilians…..rsk
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/04/cornel_west_urges_princeton_university_to_divest_f.html
PRINCETON — Princeton University has a moral obligation to divest from Israel and its systematic injustices, activist Cornel West told an audience on campus Wednesday, comparing the current divestment movement on campus to the anti-apartheid movement in the 1970s.
“The Israeli occupation of my Palestinian brothers and sisters is a crime against humanity,” West said. “They are killing hundreds daily — but where are the voices?”
West, professor emeritus in the Center for African American Studies at Princeton, spoke alongside a panel of other divestment activists including Max Blumenthal, Larry Hamm, Molly Greene and Robert Tignor.
The Princeton Divests Student Coalition, made up of Princeton students and faculty who seek to bring divestment referendum before undergraduate students, organized the event in McCosh Hall.
“There will be no security for our Jewish and brothers and sisters — who have a right to security after 2,000 years of vicious hatred — as there can be no security predicated on violence,” West said.
West made it clear that his feelings toward divestment had nothing to do with bias or prejudice against a people or religion.
“We must never allow one ounce, one element of anti-Jewish hatred or anti-Jewish prejudice to be a part of this movement,” West said. “This has nothing to do whatsoever, ought have nothing to do whatsoever of hatred against our precious Jewish brothers and sisters.”
Max Blumenthal, author and journalist specializing in issues of human and civil rights in Israel and Palestinian territories, also addressed concerns regarding anti-Semitic accusations.
“You are going to be called an anti-Semite for doing this,” Blumenthal said. “But how is it anti-Jewish to divest from weapons companies? How is it anti-Jewish to campaign for peace?”
Blumenthal’s warnings were confirmed when an audience member interrupted the discussion, accusing him of spreading Nazi, anti-Israel ideology. Another audience member interjected: “Do you believe in Israel?”
Blumenthal responded that the only solution to Israel’s problems was the promotion of democracy in what he described as an apartheid-like state.
The Israeli occupation of my Palestinian brothers and sisters is a crime against humanity.
“If you oppose democracy, then what does that say about the Jewish state and what does that say about your own values?” Blumenthal asked.
Reflecting on his experiences leading campus divestment in the 1970s, Larry Hamm, the student leader of the Princeton anti-apartheid movement in 1978, emphasized Princeton’s role in establishing a precedent for other institutions.
“Because it was Princeton, it drew national attention. When 210 of us occupied Nassau Hall, the press was there — the New York Times, the Washington Post, TV channels — and I didn’t even realize because I was inside,” Hamm said.
Molly Greene, professor of Near Eastern history and founder of the Princeton faculty divestment initiative on Palestine, stated that divestment campaigns on campus are specifically directed at the university.
“We decided last fall to start a tenured faculty petition for a very limited, targeted request — nothing about boycotting Israel — to call on Princeton University to divest from all companies that profit from the West Bank,” Greene said.
Citing other reasons for divestment, Robert Tignor, professor of modern and contemporary history, said Israel is currently in violation of U.N. resolution 242, which states that territories acquired through war are illegitimate.
“I think there is a consensus, that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is illegal. There is not a single country in the world that recognizes the Israeli occupation. To me, that spells consensus,” Tignor said.
West emphasized the need for understanding between Israelis and Palestinians, citing the story of Jewish theologian Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel weeping at the news that a Jewish terrorist group had killed innocent Muslim civilians.
West quoted Heschel: “As human beings and as Jews, if we are callous and indifferent to this treatment of human beings, then the creation of a Jewish state is problematic.”
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