Published by Rivka Bukowsky January 31st, 2007
in Main.
Having taken Hillel to task, Stanford physics graduate student Jeremy England takes on Norman Finkelstein in the Daily. He reports on his experience attending Finkelstein’s lecture:
Last Thursday evening, I went to a cult meeting. I did so not out of ideological curiosity (as I had already thoroughly studied this particular cult’s teachings, and discussed their finer points with some of its most fervent devotees), but rather in order to take a few notes so that I could relay my impressions here, in this article. My interest in reporting on the cult is personal, as many of its members would like to see one of my favorite countries — a country where I have both dear friends and close family — wiped off the map.
England continues using the cult imagery, calling Noam Chomsky and Edward Said its gods, and the Coalition for Justice in the Middle East and Students Confronting Apartheid in Israel its acolytes.
He then address the question of anti-Semitism:
Today, the Jews have a state: one that Norman thinks was founded through “morally indefensible” crimes against humanity that it continues to perpetrate in the present day. When all is said and done, I personally am not interested in whether or not we call such a preposterous denunciation an anti-Semitic one. What matters to me is that everything Norman Finkelstein says has that same common thread worming through it: he lives in a fantasy world where Israeli soldiers “indiscriminately fire into crowd[s]” in the service of an “Apartheid” Jewish State whose very existence is a crime, and the anger that this fantasy inspires leads him and his head-nodding disciples in CJME, SCAI, and elsewhere to champion the cause of people who long ago demonstrated that they want nothing more than to blow up actual Jewish children on real buses.
Though few of us study history, we live in a world laden by the weight of it. Anti-Semitism and Nazism are nasty words today because their historical conclusion was an orgy of mass-murder so tremendous as to be almost incomprehensible. Yet, we must remember that, once upon a time, a great many in the Enlightened European elite proudly called themselves anti-Semites. During the same period, across the Atlantic Ocean, Nazi thinkers were welcomed to teach their theories at America’s top universities in what was surely a sad and ignoble chapter in the history of American academia. With that chapter written, and its lessons apparent, it grieves me very much that organizations at Stanford like SCAI and CJME are so intent on writing another one that is equally shameful.
Published by Rivka Bukowsky January 31st, 2007
in Main.
Construction is about to begin on the University of Illinois Hillel’s brand new $8.6 million building. There’s a brief piece on it in The Daily Illini.
Joel Schwitzer is the Executive Director of the Hillel Foundation at the University and says that the old building wasn’t functioning the way it should for today’s students.
“It felt very much when you went in like a synagog. You walk in and you’ve got the sanctuary on the left and the social hall on your right, administrative offices here and there, and for many students it felt like the synagog they grew up in, which in 1950 was a great thing to be. In 2007, not so wonderful.”
The new building will feature a large student lounge, an upper-level barbecue deck, wireless internet access, dairy and meat kosher kitchens, a coffee bar, and much more space for programs than before.
Published by Daniel Smajovits January 30th, 2007
in Concordia University.
Jews, whores, and mothers will be on the agenda when Dr. Ruth Panofsky of Ryerson University comes to speak on Thursday, February 15th at 4:30. Her lecture to Concordia University students is titled, “This was her punishment: Jew, Whore, Mother in the Fiction of Adele Wiseman and Lillian Nattel.”
According to the announcement from the Concordia Institue for Canadian Jewish Studies:
Miriam Waddington’s 1942 poem “The Bond” characterizes a “Jewish whore” as “twice outcast”, “twice isolate”. As “Jewess” and as whore, the woman who forms the locus of Waddington’s poem is positioned at the margins of Canadian society. Ostracized for being a Jew - she experiences anti-Semitism on Toronto’s Jarvis Street where she works during the 1940s - she is condemned to further isolation for her crime of prostitution and suffers alienation. In fact, as historian of medicine Lara Marks confirms, the Jewish prostitute faced “a triple oppression - as a woman, as a Jew and as a member of the Jewish working-class” - and she “symbolized the tenuous position and vulnerability of Jewish women as a whole”. A rare enough figure in Canadian literature, the Jewish prostitute reappears in the fiction of Adele Wiseman and Lilian Nattel, with an important difference: she is also a mother. Through a study of two novels, Wiseman’s Crackpot (1974) and Nattel’s The Singing Fire (2004), this talk considers the punishing cost to Jewish prostitutes who dare to become mothers.
The lecture will take place in the EV Building, 001-605.
Published by David Buchwald January 30th, 2007
in University of Judaism.
Former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, made a special appearance at the University of Judaism on Friday, January 26, in which he was publicly interviewed by Rob Eshman, Editor and Chief of the Jewish Journal. The event took place in the Gindi Auditorium at 8:45pm, after Shabbat dinner. Barak was questioned about the Middle East conflict, US politics, and a variety of Jewish-related issues.
Only four UJ students were in attendance at this event. Saving some face for the school, members from the nearby community attended, so that the auditorium was still nearly filled.
Today, Professor Adam Zachary Newton lectured in Yeshiva College on “The Stain in the Plot: Philip Roth and The Black-Jewish Thing.” Newton, currently at the University of Texas, is being considered as the new chair of the English department. The current chair of the department is Professor Joan Haahr. Newton is a scholar of Jewish literature and has written a book on philosopher Emmanuel Levinas.
Last week, Professor Carl Rollyson spoke on the topic of ‘Writing Contemporary History: Biographies of Living Figures.’
Published by Rivka Bukowsky January 30th, 2007
in Main.
She’s fired M8 machine guns. She has a coat hanging in her mother’s closet for her future inauguration into public office. And she’s only a sophomore in college.
But Northwestern University student Taube Schwartz is obviously not your typical sophomore.
The Daily Northwestern’s Jen Wieczner profiles Schwartz, a theater major - which means she could theoretically star in her own Kiefer Sutherland-esque show…
You’ll have to take Taube Schwartz’s word for it when she says that dogs will run toward gunfire, jump through car windows and disarm terrorists. That’s because the training of the K9 unit of the Israel Defense Forces is not for the public’s eyes.
As the first and only NU student to complete a yearlong undergraduate fellowship on terrorism with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the Communication sophomore traveled to Israel to see the country’s army working up close and to Washington, D.C., to meet U.S. intelligence officials.
After applying for the program almost a year ago, Schwartz received a call early in spring. The call came so early in the morning, she was still sleeping when the phone rang. David Silverstein, the foundation’s vice president of campus education programs, fired questions at her while she struggled to wake up, as though she was being tested on how well she could think on her feet instead of focusing on her answers.
[…]
At the CIA, she met a female agent who “goes to the Pentagon and essentially kicks ass every day,” Schwartz said.
For a moment, she felt the allure of a spy lifestyle straight out of “The Bourne Identity.”
“As seductive as that is, I think I’m better suited for public office,” she said.
Schwartz isn’t the only one with that idea. For 11 years, a coat has hung in her father’s closet and never been worn. It’s too warm for Los Angeles and too expensive for any but the occasion for which Schwartz’s mother bought it: her daughter’s inauguration.
Schwartz adds that she doesn’t expect to ever become president. We’ll see.
Published by Rivka Bukowsky January 30th, 2007
in Main.
After an op-ed criticizing the Coalition for Justice in the Middle East, Stanford freshman and CJME treasurer Tim Gregory fires back a response in the Daily:
I have watched on in silence and horror for the last few weeks as my fellow activists and friends have been viciously and rudely attacked time and time again on campus and specifically in this publication. In almost all cases, I have seen them respond with respectful, academic discourse while the subsequent rebuttals are delivered with ever increasing vitriol. This kind of childish point-counter-point is responsible for the unpleasant atmosphere that has tainted campus communities which try to engage with these issues. It must end.
[…]
It is offensive to suggest that CJME’s members are anti-Semitic and absurd to ask that they defend themselves against this charge. Yesterday, Mishan Araujo (“Calling SCAI’s bluff”) asked that we come up with a different term to describe the nature of our Israel-focused events. A recurring theme of these events is discontentment with certain Israeli government policies. Would that suffice? When activists of all political and racial stripes criticize President Bush’s justification for the war in Iraq, or the American intelligence services’ use of torture, I would hope that enlightened students at prestigious universities could avoid vilifying them as anti-American.
[…]
If you identify strongly with Israel as a country and Israelis as a people, then I would suggest you concentrate your efforts on ending the occupation and establishing a two-state solution rather than verbally abusing those with whom you may disagree on one or two cosmetic issues.
Follow the link to see commenters’ responses, which include Gregory himself.
Published by Rivka Bukowsky January 30th, 2007
in Main.
Norman Finkelstein, who recently stirred up controversy at Stanford, speaks tonight at St. Louis University. The event is part of SLU Solidarity With Palestine’s “Palestine Awareness Week.”
Jewish groups aren’t protesting but will be paying close attention to the event, Mike Sherwin reports for the St. Louis Jewish Light.
Don Meissner, chair of the Anti-Defamation League’s Israel Task Force, said he did not want to speculate about the events before they take place, but he encouraged people in the Jewish community to attend.
“I think it’s important to go and hear what’s being said, and to respond if necessary by offering balanced information and arguments,” Meissner said.
Donn Rubin, chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council’s Israel Committee, said the choice of Finkelstein as a speaker sends up a red flag for him.
“It’s one thing to encourage lively debate on all sides of an issue, but it crosses a line to invite speakers whose credibility is besmirched by their outrageous stands, including Holocaust denial.” Rubin said. “We look forward to working with campus organizations to promote appropriate and productive discussion on these complex issues in the Middle East.”
Event organizer Brendan Kottenstette says Finkelstein does not deny the Holocaust - that he discusses the labeling of Jews who criticize Israel as self-hating Jews, “which is really kind of a ridiculous term.”
Published by Rivka Bukowsky January 30th, 2007
in Main.
University of Western Ontario held an “Israel Day” yesterday, and The Gazette reports that students showed up to learn about the Jewish state - and to get some food and free stuff.
“My favourite things around here are the [camel costume worn by two students], and the condoms with funny slogans on them, and the Borat pins,” [event coordinator Karen] Yehudaiff said.
The event featured Israeli candy and food, as well as a falafel stand. [Israelis on Campus President Didi] Nishlis said lineups for food extended across the atrium.
I wonder what went the fastest - the food, the condoms or the Borat pins.
Joyce Wang took the above picture.
Published by Rivka Bukowsky January 30th, 2007
in Main.
With so much press attention devoted to former President Jimmy Carter’s speech at Brandeis, many expected massive protests on the day of the event - but the expected did not occur. Jonathan Fischer analyzes the event in the Justice.
About 30 demonstrators carrying signs with slogans ranging from “Carter lied, thousands died,” to “Closing our eyes to injustice is not a Jewish value,” to “End occupation now” gathered across from the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center by 4 p.m. in a fenced-off protest area near the Squire Bridge. While some displayed Israeli flags and colors in criticism of Carter, most of the participants were supporters of the former President, including about 15 members of a group called Jewish Voice for Peace.
[…]
Members of the club Zionists for Historical Veracity planned to march from the Shapiro Campus Center to Gosman, hoping to sing and wave posters along the route. But with only four members and an alumnus present, they instead cheerfully speculated over how the afternoon would unfold as they walked. This group and others later distributed flyers criticizing Carter’s book.
By 4:35 p.m., when Carter took the dais to a standing ovation, the campus had gone from near calmness to total placidity, with community members watching the presentation via closed circuit in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium and Theater, demonstrating a repose mirrored by those listening to Carter in person.
Was all of this just much ado about nothing?
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