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Satori Tea Company brings whimsical high fare with classLetter to the Editor: Israeli/ Palestinian conflict presentation was biased
by Spartan Daily staff Oct 2, 2011 4:27 pmDuring the last week of September, the Palestinian Authority tried to declare independence by going to the United Nations, without negotiating a peace agreement with Israel. They hope the world will tell Israel to do more for peace. But Israel has done all that it can while Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, refuses to even acknowledge the existence of Israel.
Israel not only wants peace, but cares for the lives of its neighbors. Israeli nonprofits have saved lives around the world, such as Save a Child’s Heart Foundation, which has provided life-saving cardiac surgeries for more than 2,600 children from impoverished countries – hundreds of them from the Palestinian Authority.
I hope that Professor Karim will try to understand the real issues at hand because I am afraid that if she doesn't, students at this university may never be able to learn the truth of this complicated issue.
Dear Eric,
Thank you for your terrific letter!
Susan
Eric,
Your letter is great. And hits the core issue right on. Israel wants peace.
Having attended this event, I can personally attest to the fact that the presentation was not only biased, but the Professor had very limited knowledge of the topic. She failed to provide basic context of the conflict, and did not answer questions from audience members who did not share her views. Very sad.
Thank you for standing up for the truth.
Guy
Great article!
Eric I wish you could expose this to Professor Karim and personally give her a copy because she sure wasn't willing to take any questions that challenged her biased views after her seminar!!!!!!!!!!!
I went to Prof. Karim's presentation and it was extremely biased. The fact is that both sides are struggling for peace, the Palestinians AND the Israeli people. Karim only spent about 3 weeks in the west bank and claimed that she is an expert on the topic. She is not, She did not spend one day on the Israeli border where she could listen to stories and hardships from the Israeli perspective. She constantly claimed that Israel is the main cause for most of the problems in the west bank and is the greater aggressor. I think she needs to check up on the facts and really research whats going on, on BOTH sides.
Eric- This is awesome! You are totally right and I hope Prof. Karim gets to read this.
Thank you Eric for exposing the SJSU community to other views and facts that the presenter didn't take the time or care to do.
Great article!
I read the original article posted by the Spartan Daily too (here :http://spartandaily.com/42291/palestine) and I wish I had seen the speaker, so I could see for myself to what degree her presentation was biased.
Going off the spartan daily article, your letter, and the comments on both, it sounds like the professor was using examples of things done by the Israeli government that she viewed as wrong or unfair. They may be true, but it's so easy to find wrong in any government – look at any country closely and you can find bad or unfair things done by their government. And while it's important to know about the negative actions of a country's government, the problem arises when all people consider is the wrongs of a government, and take that to be evidence that all the citizens of that country are bad/evil/corrupt/[your negative adjective here].
Looking at the actions of citizens and nonprofit organizations of a country are a good way to gain some perspective and recognize the good things that people and organizations of a particular country can and are doing. Thanks for pointing out some of the good things that Israel's government and nonprofit organizations have done in the quest for peace.
If someone wants to understand the root cause of the conflict then here it is:
http://www.hudson-ny.org/1437/classic-islamic-vie…
Good job Eric, thank you for standing up to the established slant against Israel that is so prevalent on campuses today.
Right on the money. Eric speaks the truth and gets to the core of the issue in a very direct and straight forward way.
You are amazing. I am really proud of you!
Way to go Eric. All Israel wants is peace! Great article:)
amazing! thank you for this article!!!
Thank you so much for this articulate and much needed rebuttal. I would like to add a response to Prof. Karim's comment about houses be being dismantled. In Israel, as in the US, residents are required to get permits to do construction. If a project is undertaken without a permit, the builders will likely have to take it down, as Prof. Karim mentioned happening in Jerusalem. This is a reasonable rule that is applied to anyone building in Israel, whether the builders are Jewish, Muslim, Druze, or Christian. People wanting to build have to apply for a permit. This is by no means discrimination.
A new joint Israeli-Palestinian poll shows the Obama administration’s stance on Palestinian recognition at the United Nations is more extreme than that of a strong majority of Israeli citizens, with 69 percent of Israelis saying their government should accept U.N. recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
There's been talk of "Peace, peace" for years now, and that's about all it's been–talk. The Israelis have remained the same as always. Oh, they've talked of peace, and they've thrown the Palestinians a few crumbs here and there. The poor Palestinians have been hoping for change for years, but there's been very little change. They work for the Israelis for a pittance, for pitiful wages that keep them on the edge of poverty, while rich Israelis are building lush, expensive settlements on land which was seized from them. It's going to take a miracle and a miracle-worker to make the Israelis give up any significant or worthwhile part of Israel, especially Jerusalem, to the Palestinians.
Ted Rudow III, MA
Class of 1996
Great article, Eric. Everything you have said is completely true, and not only does Professor Karim not know the facts, but neither does Ted Rudow.