Complex Middle East situation generates misunderstanding

Complex Middle East situation generates misunderstanding

Clarification needed in current dialogue

By Gary Bernato

I write this to put some perspective on the situation strapping
The Bruin at this time. It seems that the current dialogue which
concerns being anti-Zionist and being anti-Jewish is based on
common misunderstandings of the history of Israel and Zionism, in
general. I also feel The Bruin, and namely Roxane Márquez,
have shot themselves in the foot with Marquez’s enlightening
five-part series on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Let me begin with the argument over anti-Zionism. When I stated,
"If you are anti-Israel, anti-Jew or anti-Zionist, just say it,"
("Muslim students rally for freedom," Feb.20) I in no way meant to
separate these phrases about the anti-oppression rally they
responded to.

I believe that people who tend to think Israel should not exist,
as all anti-Zionists do, will most likely be in some way
anti-Jewish. If Ron Richards ("Not anti-Jew," Feb. 22) and Ben Wang
("The real racists," March 4) think they can be anti-Israel and not
anti-Jewish, I think they are grossly uneducated about what
Zionism, Israel and especially Judaism are all about.

If the State of Israel had never been formed, I wonder what kind
of freedom Jews would have in the world today. The fact that Jews
in places like Ethiopia, Syria, Iran and Russia looked to Israel as
a safe haven is evidence enough that those who are anti-Israel are
in some way anti-Jewish.

I also find Wang’s list of Jewish anti-Zionists disturbing; it
represents his misunderstanding of the facts. Listing Noam Chomsky
to prove that people can be anti-Zionist and not anti-Jewish is
misleading. In a book claiming that the Holocaust is a fallacy,
Chomsky prefaced that while he did not support the argument, he did
think it should be heard.

Finally, equating South Africa and Israel is a mistake. The
oppression that apartheid brought to South Africa is in no way
similar to what the Israeli government has done in the interest of
security. I do not think arresting suspected terrorists is a
Zionist crime of oppression, especially when these terrorists
target busy marketplaces on Jewish holidays, and when these
anti-Zionists are arrested with hatchets and fire bombs on the
Jewish Sabbath, planning to break into Jewish homes and murder
innocent settlers.

Could Wang and Richards please stop fooling themselves and
realize that anti-Zionism will, more often then not, lead to
anti-Jewish behavior?

Now, let me turn to the new Bruin expert on Middle Eastern
politics. If Márquez wants to give her opinions on the current
situation in the Middle East, I believe they should be labeled as
such. Putting these articles in the News section damages the
Bruin’s credibility as a source of objective journalism.

Page three of the Bruin is not the proper place to discuss the
intricacies of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and I don’t think
spending a week in Israel should make Márquez an expert on the
region. Simply calling Hamas, "an Islamic resistance movement," is
an example of Márquez’s gross misunderstanding of the whole
situation ("Grounds for Separation," Feb. 28).

Innocent children of one family were killed by the two blasts in
Jerusalem. Their family lost members not once, but twice, due to
these bombings. Márquez’s treatment of the conflict at this
time has shown a great insensitivity toward the situation and those
who have lost their lives at the hands of lunatics.

With that, I think we should all step back and realize how
complicated this situation is, and that every-thing I’ve said here
could be seen as totally biased. This is the problem involved in
the Middle East today. The situation is so complicated, that
dealing with it on a cursory level leads to misinforming the public
about Israeli-Palestinian politics.

I just hope that in the end, the killing will stop, and I will
be able to open a newspaper or turn on the television without
seeing pictures of another bombing in Israel.

Bernato is a fourth-year English student and editor in chief of
Ha’Am.Comments to [email protected]