A writer for the Daily Bruin with an Armenian background attended a meeting of the much-maligned Olive Tree Initiative which discussed the Armenian genocide. Normally devoted to the illusion that they are going to bring peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, OTI has also taken up the Armenian genocide as an issue they want to resolve-somehow. Anyway, the writer was not pleased with the way the event went. His report is in the Daily Bruin. I, of course, have added a comment to the reader thread.
http://dailybruin.com/2015/11/24/olive-tree-initiative-sanctions-armenian-genocide-denial/
Established several years ago at UC Irvine, the OTI, was, of course, supposed to be the answer to the conflict on campus between Muslim and Jewish students over the Israeli-Palestinian issue. It has failed. Today, the UC Regents are struggling-and I mean struggling- to come up with a statement of principles on intolerance that specifically addresses the problem of anti-Semitism on its campuses. Aside from that, they have the even greater task of actually confronting anti-Semitism on campus. The OTI has been a grand failure. All it has accomplished is to sway students toward the Palestinian narrative. In fact, I know of 3 or 4 Jewish students who have joined Students for Justice in Palestine on the UCI/UCLA campuses since returning from their trip to the Middle East with OTI.
I could have warned the student/writer not to expect anything positive.
I too have witnessed the unintended indoctrination of Jewish students in the ways of Palestinian propaganda at the UCI campus. You pointed out the folly to the owners of this "Olive Tree Initiative", only to be maligned and chastised, wrongly. It appears that the Olive Tree Initiative folks still have not learned the lesson, that just wishing for a peaceful solution is not enough.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the writer of the Daily Bruin story was taken by the women leaving the debate, because she felt "uncomfortable." Amazing! America has brought up a generation of wuzzies. Unfortunately, these students do not understand that character is forged in the frenzied fires of fear.
Squid