Campus Hate

I find the following article by Lyon Symons to be pretty poor and think many areas need clarifying.

Anti-semitism is obviously a serious issue and I find it hard to believe the MP who says ‘for the first time, antisemitism has been taken seriously’ I mean really?  This is the first time?  I would be deeply shocked if it was its seems very unlikely.  Racism of all kinds is taken very seriously on campus.

Now that asside I think theres another important issue at play and thats criticism of Israel being associated with anti-semitism.  On my university course this year theres an American girl and in some respects I feel sorry for her.  You see, she associates criticism of the US Government with anti-Americanism.  In Europe we find this concept hard to understand as unlike the US where critics of the Government are often considered unAmerican we have no such thing as an unScottish Scotsman.  Its normally clearly understood that people can love their country and hate its Government.  Anyway this girl took every criticism of the States personally, but being strong dealt with it and tried to get on with things (hard for her as every professor and student was critical of Bush and constantly making jokes).  I’m pretty sure she felt like a ‘pariah’ and thats why I felt sorry for her – no one was out to upset her, no one was being critical of her, she just took it that way.  One solution of course is that everyone near her never utters a bad word about George Bush or US global hegemony.  But what if I get offended by people talking badly about Tony Blair and his war in Iraq too?  Then no one can mention him badly in front of me either?  Then were is freedom of speech and democracy?

I think something similar is happening with criticism of Israel – some people are taking it personally when really its just legitimate criticism of a Government like any other.  Does that mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater?

What we should be concerned with is anti-semitism where it exists and not where supporters of Israel feel like pariahs.  Theres every reason for a supporter of illegal military occuaption (whether British, American or Israeli), Apartheid, illegal settlement, colonialism and aggression to feel like a pariah.  Whereas theres no reason for Jewish people to feel like pariahs.  However if they associate the two thats something they need to deal with.  Likewise if a critic associates Israeli Government crimes with Jewishness thats also something that needs to be resolved.

For more on the UK Government’s Parliamentary All-Party Inquiry into Antisemitism read Norman Finkelsteins Kill Arabs, Cry Anti-semitism.

Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks has called on university vice-chancellors to take greater action to defend Jewish students who are made to feel like “pariahs” on campuses around the UK.

He told the JC this week that vice-chancellors “must defend freedom of speech on all sides and all arguments. It must never be students of this or that faith who feel vulnerable or at risk or like pariahs on a university campus.

Guardi-yawn Reports Boycott Antisemitic

Anthea Lipsett has written a terrible article in the Guardian linking the UCU boycott with antisemitism.  You may wonder why I’ve written Guardi-yawn; well its because I’ve been following the Israel-Palestine conflict for many years now and I’m getting bored of EVERY critic of Israel being called an antisemite.  The shine has most certainly worn off.  Where is the evidence of this antisemitism?  Theres none but being a critic of Israel – which is all the evidence that seems to be required.  We have to forget that there are legitimate reasons to criticise Israel such as its illegal military occupation of the Palestinian Territories and Apartheid conditions.  This is a dangerous abuse of the term antisemitism as we all know what happened to the boy who cried wolf.  As for the All-Party Inquiry into Antisemitism I suggest reading Norman Finkelsteins Kill Arabs Cry Antisemitism.  In it he says:

Although claiming that, in the struggle against anti-Semitism, “none of those who gave evidence wished to see the right free speech eroded,” and “only in extreme circumstances would we advocate legal intervention,” the report recommends that university authorities “take an active interest in combating acts, speeches, literature and events that cause anxiety or alarm among their Jewish students”.

If not enough is being done I wonder what this means?  People are still speaking freely about Israeli crimes?  I hope so.

Antisemitism in universities remains a major concern and the government needs to do more work to address it, an all party group of MPs has warned.

A progress report (pdf) one year after the government’s response to the All-Party Inquiry into Antisemitism suggests the Department for Innovation, Universities and Science has failed to do enough to tackle antisemitism on campus.

“Although we can point to significant progress against many of the Inquiry’s 35 recommendations there are still areas which remain of concern and require further work, this includes… antisemitism on university campuses,” the report says.

It is up to individual universities to make sure campuses are free from harassment and discrimination, the report states. But the group says it will consider setting up a sub-group on antisemitism in relation to higher education in discussion with higher education sector bodies and Jewish community bodies.