Hat tip to Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism
The below link from the Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism contains an exchange of letters between the University of California at Irvine and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). In the UCI letter, the university concedes that the meeting of the 2009 Olive Tree Initiative (OTI) participants with a known Hamas figure, Aziz Duweik, in the West Bank was a misstep that should not have happened.
In the ZOA letter, it is pointed out that a UCI spokesperson had previously dismissed the incident as merely an exchange of views with people of different viewpoints.
http://octaskforce.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/in-an-apparent-contradiction-uc-irvine-now-calling-oti-meeting-with-hamas-leader-a-misstep/
On another note, there is an up-coming OTI meeting, (April 9-10) which will take place at UCLA on setting up new OTI chapters.Representaives from UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, UC San Siego and UC Santa Cruz, as well as UC-Irvine will be involved.
Full steam ahead.
8 comments:
Gary, I have nothing to say about this subject, but I have to say that by the time I scroll down all the silly and sometimes downright disgusting pictures you post I have lost all interest in anything.
And where is the outcry from the Federation leadership about the misstatement by the university representative? Or the absence of any follow-up by UCI since 2009?
Chirp. Chirp. (that's the sound of crickets in the silence)
There is no question in my mind now that the Federation leadership has a J Street orientation and they WANT the students to get all the anti-Israel propaganda, true, false, from Hamas or anywhere else. They are convinced that they know better what is best for Israel even more than the Israelis themselves. This has been demonstrated over and
over in the past years. This refusal to sever relationships
with OTI or to sign on to the San Francisco Guidelines (not
to fund or support anti-israel organizations or BDS efforts)
makes the case in an even more obvious way.
.
I forgot to mention that the J Street organized trip to Israel that would be the equivalent to the OTI student trip to Israel was cancelled by the Taglit Birthright organization. Obvously not without reasons. So no matter how mainstream and good intentions the J Steetrrs may claim, in essence they harm Israel and give propaganda to its enemies.
.
Have any students who went on this trip publicly stated their opinion of their experience?
The ocweekly.com is covering this story too.
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/04/aziz_duwaik_palestine_hamas_uc.php
Those who speak defend it fiercely.
'Nuff said then. Those who disagree don't have to go.
Thank you for the honest response Gary -- it truly speaks well of your integrity, regardless of how far apart we are in our interpretation of the data.
Siarlys,
They have every right to go. That has never been disputed. You or I can go tomorrow if we wish. As for meeting with a member of a terrorist organization (Hamas). Now that could be a problem.
The question is the funding. Someone is paying for the students to go. That is where the transparency comes in.
But Gary, those providing the funding are not the ones issuing denunciations and asking questions. Those who have NEVER provided funding are asking questions about whether those who are providing the funding know what they are giving money to... as if they needed to have conservators appointed, people with The Right Viewpoint of course.
Post a Comment