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CUNY: Call the Conflict by Its Proper Name: Geo-Civil War
by John Brenkman
 It is not a “clash of civilizations,” since the conflict rages among Muslims as much as between radical Islamism and the West. It is not, however, merely a “civil war” within Islam between moderates and radicals, since the conflict entails potentially cataclysmic fighting among Muslim nations and also embroils Western countries as well as Israel. It is not simply “global terrorism,” since Al Qaeda and associated groups are but one source of extremism and violence. Nor is it simply Islamism versus the rest, since the most virulent forms flower on both the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam and are antagonistic toward each other. In short, the upheavals in the Muslim world today are at once civil and geopolitical. This protean conflict should be called what it is: geo-civil war. The writer is professor at the City University of New York. (Yale Global)
Cornell: Israeli Conflict Fueled by Intolerance
by Zachary Shapiro
 The last time I checked, the hostile entering of a foreign body into a sovereign nation was considered an act of war. The loss of civilian lives is truly unfortunate, but it is primarily the result of Hizballah’s decision to hide in, and fire rockets from, heavily populated areas. According to International Law, when a hostage or bystanders are killed in an attempted rescue, the kidnappers are held responsible. As Brigitte Gabriel expressed in a speech at Duke University during the conflict, “I’m proud and honored to stand here today, as a Lebanese speaking for Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.” (Daily Sun, Letter to the Editor)
Harvard: Politically Correct Perfidy
by Caroline Glick
  Student groups protested Harvard's Kennedy School of Government's decision to invite former Iranian president Muhammad Khatami to speak at the school on Sept. 10. But why did Harvard need to honor him with an invitation to speak? And why was he allowed to speak alone? Why did Harvard not suggest that he debate Iranian students or journalists whose friends and colleagues were imprisoned, tortured and in some cases killed by Khatami for calling for democracy and freedom of the press during his tenure? (Jerusalem Post)
See also At Universities, Little Learned from 9/11 by Harvey Mansfield (Boston Globe)
NYU: Conspiracy Theories and the Jews
by Brigette Sion
 New spins on the blood libel are alive today in the Middle East. In March 1997, Nabil Ramlawi, the PLO representative to the United Nations in Geneva accused Israel of a sinister plot to kill Palestinian children. "The Israeli authorities infected by injection 300 Palestinian children with the HIV virus during the years of the intifada." Israelis have been similarly accused of spreading mad cow disease to Palestinians through British-made milk chocolates, killing Arab children to get their organs, and sending AIDS-infected Israeli prostitutes to contaminate the West Bank. The writer is a doctoral candidate in Performance Studies at New York University. (Ynet News)
Yale: Contentious Debates Must Remain Civil
by Noah Lawrence
 I am both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine. I rue that Palestinian leaders never accept Israel's peace offers. The intransigence of Palestinian leaders hurts Israel, but it hurts their own people more. Israel's offers have been serious, proposing independence, statehood and sovereignty in East Jerusalem. Even Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia, a country hardly known as Israel-friendly, said of Israel's 2000 peace offer, "If Arafat does not accept what is available now, it won't be a tragedy, it will be a crime." (Yale Daily News)
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UConn: The Consequences of Aggression
by Colin Megill
 Now, the U.S. faces a crisis. It cannot allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons (nor can Israel). Russia and China, however, will not support any punitive actions. Our closest military ally, Tony Blair, is resigning his post as Prime Minister. Unless we attack Iran, and relatively soon, we face the possibility that they could acquire nuclear weapons they could then distribute to terrorist cells and use against the U.S. and Israel. But the situation we now face was brought about by our choices - it could have been averted. (Daily Campus)
Georgia: Deafening Silence Towards Acts of Terror
by Bradley Alexander
 There is nothing ignorant about asking the question “why don’t more Muslim leaders condemn acts of terror.” If Muslims are interested in the peaceful future of their religion and if they really do denounce acts of terror against Israel and America which have killed untold thousands of innocent men, women, and children, then why don’t they say “these fanatics don’t speak for me, the religion I practice opposes such acts of barbarism.” (Red and Black)
Indiana: UN vs. Israel
by Edward Delp
 The U.N.'s humanitarian chief Jan Egeland criticized Israel's bombing of Lebanon as "immoral." Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced a commission to investigate human rights abuses by Israel. As one looks at these snide comments and unfair, one-sided investigations, one cannot help but see what a crackerjack job these U.N. officials are doing. Under their leadership, terrorist groups like Hizballah, Hamas, al-Qaida and others have grown around the world like cancerous tumors. When countries like the United States and Israel take a stand against these killers, they get nothing but criticism and investigations from incompetent U.N. bureaucrats. (Indiana Daily Student)
Michigan: Summer in Haifa
by Daniel Rathauser
 I've now returned to the United States from Israel. As I spoke to Israeli friends, I learned that all the pictures I saw each day in the newspaper, of dead soldiers in their teens and twenties and of grieving Israeli families, were due to the fact that the soldiers had been given orders to take care to protect Lebanese civilians. I was particularly affected in learning of the death of Michael Levin, 21, of Bucks County, PA, whose background was not dissimilar from my own. I believe the youth in Israel fight because they believe in freedom for both themselves and their Lebanese neighbors - freedom from terrorism, freedom to live full and normal lives without war and without rockets. (Michigan Daily)
See also Columbia: Fit to Print? by Ethan Pack (Columbia Spectator)
Yeshiva: More Than Just a Trip
by Racheli Davies
 We were doing community service in the Negev. Our goal was plain and simple. We were going into camp with open arms, full acceptance, and showing love. We made it clear both to ourselves and to our campers that we weren’t going be their “rich American benefactors” and “save them.” We were coming to give and learn and share with the community in Yerucham. While the teens had so many reasons to reject us, their response was one of eagerness and excitement. They wanted to spend time with us and participate in the myriad of activities we planned. (Observer)
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