I am posting an open letter from Dr Judea Pearl (UCLA) to the Associated Students of UC Berkeley regarding their expected vote tonight on whether to override their president's veto of a measure calling for the university to divest from two companies that do business with Israel.
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"Dear Senate member,
I urge you to support President Smelko's VETO of the anti-Israel divestment bill.
As a president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, an organization dedicated to peace, reconciliation and dialogue, I have had a long experience trying to communicate with the leaders of the pro-divestment campaign. It has been made clear to me that divestment is not the aim of this bill -- its purpose is to delegitimize Israel in the public eye.
As a president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation I should also confess to you that the proposed bill would be a knife in the back of all of us who are laboring tirelessly for peace and co-existence in the middle east.
I have been a faculty member at the University of California, Los Angeles for over forty (40) years, and I feel embarrassed at the thought that my own university would let anti- coexistence forces hijack the Senate arena for their destructive agenda. Please help us by VETO-ing this bill. "
Sincerely
Professor Judea Pearl
UCLA
President, Daniel Pearl Foundation
www.danielpearl.org
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Dr Pearl is the father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl.
Almost 30,000 e-mails have reportedly been sent to the student government at Berkeley. If you would like to send one before the expected vote tonight, you can send them to:
Senate@asuc.org
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2 comments:
If you disagree with me, please approve my comment anyway and explain to me why you think I'm wrong about this issue. Here it goes:
How is the divestment bill "anti-coexistence"? All they are doing is divesting from two companies that profit off the suffering of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Would a bill be "anti-coexistence" or a "threat" if it were about divesting from companies that profit off of the civil war in Sudan or the death squads in Colombia?
And let's face it: as Americans we share responsibility for Israeli crimes, since the US gives Israel unconditional support for everything it does and since we, as Americans, have the potential to change the policies of our government. Dr. Pearl is full of crap.
Julia,
Though I disagree with you, I have posted your comment and will reply.
First of all, divestment is part of a larger effort to bring the state of Israel to its knees with the eventual goal of bringing an end to the Jewish state. I mention "the Jewish state" because this whole mess is not really about land or territory. It is about religion. The Arab states cannot tolerate the existance of a Jewish state in their midst.
I don't deny that the Palestinians probably have legitimate grievances, but for some 40 years,they have resorted to terrorism against innocents. They could have had a Palestinian state in 1948, but chose war and corrupt, terrorist leaders to speak for them.
I don't claim to be a Middle East expert; I just feel that Israel has a right to exist and defend itself.
As for the suffering of the Palestinian people in the "occupied territories", is Gaza occupied? How many Jews are in Gaza? Hamas rules Gaza. The PA rules the West Bank. The problem is that they are dedicating their resources against Israel instead of developing a decent society for the people who live under them. In spite of all the propaganda, Israel (which built a wall to keep suicide bombers out) has allowed essentials to pass to Gaza.
As to your references to Sudan, I agree. I wish more people were paying attention to the outrages in Darfur. Colombia I don't agree. I have been to Colombia and worked with their drug cops. Aside from enforcing the law, they have to contend with efforts to assassinate them, judges, prosecutors, politicians and journalists as well as anyone else who tries to fight the drug war. I don't condone "hit squads", but they are fighting for their survival.
You say Israel has committed crimes. I am not yet convinced that these "crimes" are anything but the product of Hamas propaganda swallowed up by a western press eager to print it. The Goldstone Report was a one-sided "investigation" organized by the Org of the Islamic Conference that relied on evidence from one source-Hamas.
You describe yourself as an anarchist/leftist. That makes sense. It is folks like you who have joined hands with the radical folks of the Middle East who are determined to destroy the Jewish state. The by-product of that alliance is a resurgence in anti-Semitism in North America and Europe.
As for Judea Pearl, you might show a little more respect to a man who had his son beheaded by Islamic radicals and yet does not speak with hate. I have seen and heard him speak. Have you? His is a voice of reason on a campus (UCLA) where real hate is preached on a fairly regular basis.
Hopefully, as you get a little older, you will wise up as to who the bad guys in this world really are.
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