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December 12, 2004
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 National Unity Government Expected Within Days by Menahem Rahat
Premier Sharon has already begun to initiate coalition negotiations with Labor, United Torah Judaism and Shas, following his significant victory at last week's Likud convention vote, which overturned a previous decision by the central committee nixing a coalition with Labor. (Maariv International)
City Rejects Divestment by Michael M. Grynbaum
Somerville MA lawmakers resoundingly rejected a proposal last week to divest the city's funds from Israeli holdings, effectively ending a debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that had sparked controversy in recent weeks. (Harvard Crimson)
Galilee Town Rejoices in Homecoming by David Rudge
It was the moment his family, residents of the town of Mughar in the Galilee and virtually the entire Druse community had been waiting for - the release and return of Azzam Azzam, after more than eight years of imprisonment in Egypt. (Jerusalem Post)
Two Israeli Chemists Awarded Nobel Prize for Protein Cell Study by Tamara Traubman
Professors Avraham Hershko and Aharon Ciechanover received the Nobel Prize for chemistry at a ceremony in Sweden's capital on Friday. This is the first time Israelis have won the most prestigious prize in the scientific world. (Ha'aretz)
 Among Palestinians, Evidence of Change by Khalil Shikaki
The Palestinian presidential elections are inextricably tied to the peace process. Mahmoud Abbas (pictured), who has criticized the intifada, is viewed by almost two-thirds of Palestinians as the candidate most able to reach a peace agreement with Israel; Marwan Barghouti, who earlier this year was given five life sentences by a Tel Aviv court for murder, is viewed by most Palestinians as the candidate most likely to keep the intifada going. A majority of the Palestinian public believes that Arafat's death has increased the chances for a political settlement with Israel, and more than 80 percent support a mutual cessation of violence and an immediate return to negotiations. (Washington Post)
Questions for Palestinian Leaders by Hillel Newman
Arafat's death has left people across the globe asking vital questions about the future. It is imperative for the new Palestinian leadership to break from Arafat's tradition and answer these questions not just with words, but with real actions. The first question is a strategic one: Will the Palestinian leadership resolve to live alongside the State of Israel and not instead of the State of Israel? Hillel Newman is the consul of Israel to New England. (Boston.com)
Report Offers Perverse View of Israeli, Palestinian Deaths by Bruce A. Epstein and Barry Augenbraun
The deaths of any civilians in war are tragic, but Susan Taylor Martin's report "Children in the Cross-fire" equates the unfortunate accidental Arab casualties caused by terrorists who deliberately operate in civilian areas in Gaza and the West Bank with the murder of Israeli children killed while riding the bus to school or buying a slice of pizza. That equation should be morally unacceptable to any serious observer. (St. Petersburg Times)
My Day In Court by Daniel Pipes
Personally, I have never threatened a lawsuit. Just one person has actually gone to court against me - Douglas Card, adjunct professor at the University of Oregon. In a course entitled "Social Inequality," the sociology department's Douglas Card reportedly called Israel "a terrorist state" and Israelis "baby-killers." At the earliest possible point in the litigation, however, Mr. Card not only had his case dismissed in March 2004, but ended up owing us thousands of dollars in legal fees. (Danielpipes.org)
Columbia to Review Anti-Semitism Charges by Uriel Heilman
Faced with a growing controversy over charges of bias and intimidation of Israeli and Jewish students by professors at Columbia University, the university's president announced Wednesday that Columbia immediately would set up a committee to review student allegations and overhaul the university's grievance process. (Jerusalem Post)
Columbia: Committee Addresses, Causes Conflict by Liz Fink
The ad hoc committee created to investigate the controversy over academic freedom at Columbia is itself creating controversy -- and the committee hasn't even started its work. Two individuals connected to the committee have close ties to Joseph Massad, a Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures professor accused by students in the film. School of International and Public Affairs Dean Lisa Anderson acted as Massad's Ph.D. advisor. (Columbia Spectator)
See also The Bollinger Committee - Editorial
Mr. Bollinger has, at the most important crisis of his tenure at Columbia, truckled to his employees in the faculty, permitting them, in effect, to investigate themselves. Members of the Bollinger committee fail to generate confidence. While it may be possible for the president of a university to lose the faculty, it's also possible for a university to lose the support of the community in which it is situated. (New York Sun)
"Genocide" Big Word at London Anti-Israel Academic Conference by Atarah Haber
An international conference entitled "Resisting Israeli Apartheid," held at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London last week, was predictably nothing more than a "one-sided rant against Israel," said Gavin Gross, chairman of the SOAS Jewish Society. Appearing at the conference was Palestinian Solidarity Campaign UK representative Betty Hunter, who stated that "our aim is to make Israel a pariah state." (Jerusalem Post)
Michigan: Students Find Common Ground on Mideast Conflict by Michael Kan
From soldier to refugee, the victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cut across both sides of a decades-old clash that extends even to the lives of students at the University. Last week, a renewed search to find common ground among the groups began. Pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups met to listen to one another's perspectives in hopes of fostering cooperation with one another. Despite their differing viewpoints, they agree that cooperation is the only solution that can achieve both sides' most vital goal - peace. (The Michigan Daily)
Wayne State: Israeli Consul General Talks About Palestinian Politics by Alicia Chmielewski
Moshe Ram, Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, came to Wayne State University to speak to students last week. The lecture was sponsored by WSU's Students for Israel. "Arafat was not able to transform himself from a leader of a terrorist group to make the historical, strategic move to entering into a new era of ending the arms struggle. We do not lament the disappearance of Arafat," Ram said. Today, he continued, "We can be cautiously optimistic" about the possibilities that await the Palestinian people. (The South End)
Western Ontario: Anti-Israel Graffiti at Western Ruled Legal by Anna Morgan
Students walking into University of Western Ontario's community center last week found a mock wall pulled across the atrium. The banner was erected by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) for Palestine Day, and displayed graffiti that included, "Stop Killing Children," "Stop the Genocide" and "Another South Africa." Over the past year, Jewish students and supporters of Israel have found themselves offended by anti-Israel propaganda that has appeared on campus that compares Israelis to Nazis. Eric Johannson, USC vice-president of campus issues, said that the mock wall was "allowed to remain because it wasn't explicitly racist or harassing." (Canadian Jewish News)
Yeshiva: Students Protest Against Iranian Nuclear Proliferation by Michael Lavner
Last month, the Iran Action Committee, a group of students from Yeshiva University and other colleges, protested outside the Iranian Mission to the United Nations. They came with a simple and clear message: the free world must not tolerate Iran's development of nuclear weapons. According to the US State Department, Iran has been the most active state sponsor of terrorism for over 20 years. Iran has supported Al Queda, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah-Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, and Hizballah. (The Commentator)
York: Election Results Worry Jewish Students by Anna Morgan
Hillel students at York University are worried that the lopsided results of recent student elections will create even more friction on an already polarized campus. The Unity slate took 15 out of the 19 available seats on the York Federation of Students (YFS), including all three executive positions. One of those positions, vice-president of finance, was won by Rabia Siddiqui a spokesperson for the campus group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR). "The atmosphere on campus has definitely taken a turn for the worse," said Jordie Saperia, a fourth year political science student and former Hillel president. (Canadian Jewish News)
Columbia: Less than Reassuring Words by Ralph Seliger
It is apparent from a recent event hosted at Columbia that pro-Israel views, regardless of ideological shading, are under siege. Columbia hosted a November 20 forum titled "Impasse? Alternative Voices in the Middle East." I have no idea of whether the complaints of pro-Israel students at Columbia have validity. But I do know that the blatantly one-sided approach to the conflict on display at that forum is far from reassuring. Seliger is editor of Israel Horizons, the publication of Meretz USA. (Forward)
Illinois-Urbana: For the Record by Evan McLaughlin and Lauren Traut
In a Friday Forum published Nov. 19, titled "Not the only one," a letter writer used misleading and inaccurate material on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The falsified Sharon quote was used by Daily Illini columnist Mariam Sobh in Fall 2003, and she acknowledged its inaccuracy in April 2004. We strive to deliver fair and accurate information in opinion pieces. The Daily Illini regrets the error of republishing the inaccurate information. The authors are editors of the Illini (Daily Illini)
Simon Fraser: The New Anti-Semitism -- and Is It Really on Campus? by Howard Fremeth
According to Nathan Sharansky - a leading Israeli politician and former political prisoner of the USSR - anti-Semitism is revealed through what he calls the 3-D test: if the act is a form of demonization, delegitimisation, or a double standard. It is anti-Semitic to subjectively judge the Jewish State differently than any other country. When anti-war groups justify terrorism against the Jewish State and at the same time condemn Israel's right to defense, their double standard gives the impression that their problem is not with war or violence but with Israelis and Jews. (The Peak)
Israeli Firms Get Silver, Bronze Awards for Technology
Two Israeli companies are among winners of a Wall Street Journal technology award. The silver award went to Given Imaging of Yokne'am for a tiny camera that patients swallow so doctors can see their digestive tracts. The bronze award went to InSightec Image Guided Treatment of Tirat Carmel for a nonsurgical way to destroy tumors with ultrasound waves. (JTA/Israel21c)
Juilliard: "A Paradise for any Young Artist" by Haim Handwerker
Some of Israel's greatest musicians are studying at Juilliard, as regular students, or in the context of master's or doctoral studies. There are also Israelis on the teaching staff. Every year, between 10 and 20 Israelis enroll at Juilliard. This year there are 16 Israelis students there. Symbolically, Israelis hold three of the only existing chairs at Juilliard. Yitzhak Perlman holds a chair in the violin; Yossi Kalichstein holds a chair in chamber music; and Yoheved Kaplinsky holds a chair in piano. (Ha'aretz)
Citrus Oils May Hold Key to Asthma Prevention
A key to preventing asthma might be found in a lemon, a rose or a pine tree. According to a study at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, inhalation of limonene, the main component found in the essential oil of citrus, prevented asthma symptoms in animals. The findings are published in this week's Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry. (American Technion Society)
West Texas A & M: Israeli Shenar Tabbed NSCAA First-Team All-American
The West Texas A&M University women's soccer player Sarit Shenar was named to the first-team National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-American list. Shenar, a sophomore forward from Rehovot, Israel, is the first-ever first-team All-American from WTAMU. On the season, Shenar scored a WTAMU single-season record 24 goals, adding 10 assists for a total of 58 points, which is also a single-season school record. (CSTV Collegesports.com)
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 - Can the Palestinians Conduct a Non-Violent Strategy? | | Nonviolence in the Abu Mazen Era by Yossi Alpher
- The emergence of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) as leader of the PLO and leading candidate for the Palestinian Authority presidency points to the relevancy of nonviolent tactics of resistance.
- Abu Mazen unequivocally denounces Palestinian violence as a counterproductive approach; by default, the only appropriate form of resistance in his eyes would be nonviolence (coupled with a diplomatic campaign for a peace process congenial to Palestinian terms). It is possible to perceive a nonviolent strategy that could potentially be successful for Palestinians. Its point of departure would be the premise that, as the weaker actor, the Palestinians need to find a more effective tactic of mass resistance than force.
- The non-violent protest would be confined to the territories, and no Israeli lives or property would be threatened. The backdrop would be a total absence of violent attacks against Israelis by organized Palestinian groups like Hamas and the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, as well as of stone throwing and Molotov cocktail attacks, which are potentially lethal. And the media would have to be heavily involved in covering the protest.
- A Palestinian nonviolent campaign could be effective, particularly if Abu Mazen gets a popular mandate for his rule. Yet this does not appear to be an easy option for Palestinian society under current social and political conditions.
Yossi Alpher is coeditor of bitterlemons.org (Bitterlemons)
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A Practical Guide to a Successful Nonviolent Strategy by Sami Awad
- The first uprising, which was for the most part nonviolent in nature, brought immediate international recognition to the Palestinian people, forced Israeli society to recognize Palestinians as a "people" and to recognize their legitimate leadership, and finally led to a peace process.
- The failure of that peace process, known as the Oslo peace process was not due to the means that led to the negotiating table, on the contrary; it was largely due to the lack of continued mobilization and support by the Palestinian leadership of the popular Palestinian nonviolent resistance movement.
- Nonviolent resistance should have continued as a means to balance the imbalance at the negotiating table, viewed by the Palestinian leadership as the only way of attaining the legitimate rights of the Palestinians. When discussing armed resistance, Palestinians must recognize both the internal and international implications of continuing the armed resistance.
Sami Awad is the executive director of the Holy Land Trust, a grassroots organization based in Bethlehem. (Bitterlemons)
See also I'm Not Sure They Can by Danny Rothschild
- I'm not sure I know what "nonviolent intifada" means. If this means no shooting, no stone throwing, no violent acts at all, this is one thing. If it means no shooting, but stones and Molotov cocktails are allowed, this is a different issue. As far as we are concerned it makes no difference. A stone can kill and so can a Molotov cocktail, just as shooting can.
- As I see Palestinian society at the moment it is too divided and diverse. Part of what has happened in the last four years happened because we disarmed their entire law and order structure, and part happened because Yasser Arafat did not want such a structure.
- In the absence of a law and order structure those who took the lead are those who traditionally committed criminal acts, not terrorist acts, and they have gained a lot of power, money and respect in their regions and I'm not sure they're going to give them up. Are they capable of launching a sort of nonviolent intifada? I doubt it.
Major General (res.) Danny Rothschild was coordinator of Israeli government activities in the territories until 1995. (Bitterlemons)
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