annie Annie Robbins is Editor at Large for Mondoweiss, a mother, a human rights activist and a ceramic artist. She lives in the SF bay area. Follow her on Twitter @anniefofani This user account status is Approved Comments Comments Posts Posts This professor isn’t boycotting Israel. He’s boycotting a Jewish American student. did you read the link? https://www.michigandaily.com/section/community-affairs/controversy-regarding-decline-recommendation-letter-claims-anti-semitism the professor clearly states why he isn't writing the recommendation. “I support the boycott because I support solidarity,” he said in an interview with The Daily. “I follow the idea that people who are being discriminated against or people who need help … I feel compelled to help them. I was following a call by representatives of Palestinian civil society to boycott Israel in a very similar tactical frame as South Africa. The idea is that I support communities who organize themselves and ask for international support to achieve equal rights, freedom and to prevent violations of international law.” surely the student has other professors she can turn to. if it's against his principles not to break the boycott, why would you think he is singling this student out? he stated in his email to her "Let me know if you need me to write other letters for you, as i'd be happy, John". as well as: “I have no bad will against the student, and I would have very gladly written a letter for any other graduate program or study abroad. The idea is that I am just one person, and by refusing to write that letter or at least rescinding it, I tried to keep to my conscious and to the fact that I believe that the boycott is a good tactic to enhance human rights and to get everyone in Israel-Palestine to have what international criminal court and the U.N. in general has requested, which is equal rights for everybody.” why do you want to make it about the student, when it isn't? “As a professor, I’m not just a machine writing things for people,” he said. “I have opinions and even though a letter of recommendation is about the student, a lot of thought goes into them. It’s not a blank check where I’m signing for them to go to any place they want, it is a dialogue. It’s what the University is about, talking through differences and really figuring out where each other stands, not expecting something or assuming something, but really trying to get into what is the key difference. Seeing what can we do more, how can we have a larger campus-wide discussion. I want to push it beyond the horse-race politics of what John did or did not say.” On The ethics of study abroad in Israel the very concept of “antisemitism,” becomes clearly meaningless when everyone is an anti semite no one is an antisemite. Anti-Zionism, is the new, Anti-‘the-System.’ the kids are cool. On When conservatives supported Palestine amigo: Misterioso is not re posting articles for your benefit.Like me , he could care less what you think. nathan: So, what you’re saying, Amigo, is that Misterioso repeats his list of quotes as a type of propaganda ploy. nathan, you're right about one thing, Even the casual reader of the website might be an intelligent person. on a separate note, it's very common for people to hold conflicting views. ie if Rothschild and Herzl views about the outcome of the size of the state contradicted each other it's ok. just try to follow along. On When conservatives supported Palestine i know, it's really sad. On Provoked by BDS campaign, Trump administration says anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism listening now! love you gamal On ‘What I gave America and what America gave me’ — an interview with the incredibly charming Reja-e Busailah old geezer, what i find bizarre is the hasbara about "he was an inciteful human being" as "bravado" and some bs about "gloating over the death of a human" (where?). huh? there's no gloating or bravado, it's merely a statement of fact he was inciteful. or maybe he thought "karma" was a statement of bravado. and where is the so called "whining and handwringing"? truly i am mystified. even the "His death will be avenged tenfold and the vengeance will feel so good" sounds like something might happen in the future, when it's ever so obvious the israelis already went out and killed for retribution/vengeance. maybe he missed it -- or didn't even read the article: “The deliberate murder of six Palestinians by Israeli forces in the last twenty-four hours is yet another escalation in the Israeli occupation’s brutality and inhumanity”, she said on Wednesday. But who is listening? Who wants to hear about the deaths of Muhammad Zaghloul al-Khatib al-Rimawi, Muhammad Yousif Alayan, Muhammad Ahmad Abu Naji, Ahmad Muhammad Muhsin Omar, Naji Jamil Abu Assi and Alaa Ziyad Abu Assi? Nah, Ari Fuld, that’s the news. so this is revenge that "feel so good"? killing random palestinians. most of his comments i just gloss over nowadays. he's not worthy. ignore him. scumoftheearth. On When an Israeli settler is killed, everyone notices The Reform rabbi said that he loves Israel as the embodiment of Jewish values and hopes this reminds me of something an ex (my first real heartbreak) said to me a long time ago. i was having a hard time with our break up. he said 'you miss the idea of who we were, not who we were'. (paraphrasing, i can't recall) and he was right. on this note, i think the rabbi loves his idea of "Israel as the embodiment of Jewish values and hopes". because, for one thing, if Israel was the embodiment of Jewish values and hopes -- i would be the first to proudly state i was an antisemite. the very thought that what is going on over there is "the embodiment of Jewish values and hopes " is abhorrent. i feel sorry for people who placed all these hopes and dreams (and money) in this basket that's manifesting in this global nightmare, but don't limit yourself to thinking this is "jewish values". the religion and people have been around for a long long time. certainly they stand for more than this gruesome apartheid state. on a separate note. a jewish person has massively rescued me from a very difficult situation most recently. he's not religious (very or otherwise), but maybe it was his jewish values part who stepped forward. don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. don't judge jewish values by what israel does. that would be a very big mistake. On ‘We understand why our young turn away from Israel in pain and anger’ — leading DC rabbi on ‘anti-Israelists’ yonah, i really appreciate Avigail Abarbanel's articles and her wisdom, but i think i know what you mean. she had a hard childhood and relationship with her mom (as i recall). i ask her a question once, something about judaism which i can't recall, and she didn't answer me. even tho i am not religious i know there are good people in all religions (let's excluded satanism etc) and so much relies on interpretation. what judaism stands for today -- i don't really understand. but i know there are ways to bring out the positive, via interpretation. i respect people who use their religious values to make the world a better place, and that would included young people finding good faith via their interpretation of judaism. while i would encourage all youth exploring anti zionism to read Abarbanel (she's essential) i don't think of her as a model for anti zionism for the reasons you mention. On ‘We understand why our young turn away from Israel in pain and anger’ — leading DC rabbi on ‘anti-Israelists’ "Every word as I have always said– every word is a reservoir of the past and it is a spring of the future you see." On ‘What I gave America and what America gave me’ — an interview with the incredibly charming Reja-e Busailah all our arab friends? that is a lie. israel has bombed kids playing soccer, pregnant women sleeping in their beds. did it ever occur to you fuld was targeted specifically? who knows, he was an inciteful human being. karma. On When an Israeli settler is killed, everyone notices load more comments
