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January 30, 2005
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 Sharon: "We See Encouraging Signs"
Prime Minister Sharon said Thursday: "We are monitoring recent developments in the Palestinian Authority with great interest and it seems that there is a positive approach there regarding the war on terrorism and advancing the diplomatic process. If the Palestinians take comprehensive action to stop the terrorism, violence, and incitement, we will be able to move forward in contacts on implementing the Roadmap and it would even be possible to coordinate with them on various actions regarding the Disengagement Plan." (Prime Minister's Office)
See also Sharon, Abbas to Meet in Two Weeks (Reuters)
Rice to Visit Region Next Week by Janine Zachariah
Newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Israel and the Palestinian areas in early February to assess prospects for assisting Israel with its disengagement plan from Gaza and helping the Palestinian Authority reform. In an interview with the satellite channel, Al Arabiya, U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday that it was possible a Palestinian state could be established before the end of his second term in office. (Jerusalem Post)
Auschwitz Liberation Anniversary Is Marked by Craig Whitlock
More than two dozen presidents, prime ministers, members of royalty, and other leaders sat in the bitterly cold open air to remember the millions of victims of the Holocaust, most of them Jews. Among those attending were Vice President Cheney, German President Horst Koehler, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Jacques Chirac, Britain's Prince Edward, and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, whose father was held at the camp as a Soviet prisoner of war. (Washington Post)
See also Photo Gallery - Auschwitz Remembered (Washington Post)
Harvard: Colleges Battle New Grant Wording by Stephen M. Marks
Harvard has drawn plenty of fire from all sides in recent debates concerning anti-Semitism, but last year, the shots came from an unlikely source: two prominent philanthropic foundations that give the University millions of dollars in grants each year. The Ford and Rockefeller Foundations adopted anti-terrorism language in their grants agreements last year that critics claimed infringed on academic freedoms. Leaders of many leading research universities charged that the restrictions threatened to stifle campus debate on controversial issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict. (Crimson)
 In Europe, an Unhealthy Fixation on Israel by Robin Shepherd
Mixed with the supercharged ideological hostility of the European left, the demons of the continent's past can make for an intoxicating cocktail of anti-Israeli sentiment There is undoubtedly room for criticism of Israel and its policies in the Middle East, but reasoned criticism appears to be giving way to emotional and irrational antipathy that is coloring the wider debate. (Washington Post)
A World Without Israel by Josef Joffe
Since World War II, no state has suffered so cruel a reversal of fortunes as Israel. Admired all the way into the 1970s as the state of "those plucky Jews" who survived against all odds and made democracy and the desert bloom in a climate hostile to both liberty and greenery, Israel has become the target of creeping delegitimization. Would the Islamic world hate the United States less if Israel vanished? The notion that 5 million Jews are solely responsible for the rage of 1 billion or so Muslims cannot carry the weight assigned to it. (Foreign Policy)
If Palestinians Want an Independent State, Their New Chairman Must Disarm Terrorists by Emanuele Ottolenghi
Dismantling Palestinian terror networks is not only indispensable if Abbas genuinely wants to establish a democratic Palestinian state, but also unavoidable if Palestinians will want a state at all. Those who advocate a cease-fire in the hope that bringing extremists into the political process will turn them into moderates forget the lessons of history. Extremists must first be disarmed: leaving them with their weapons will only allow them to challenge state power and blackmail elected authorities. (Newsday)
Israeli Humanitarians Tour Canadian Campuses by Sheri Shefa
Representatives from Israeli humanitarian groups were in Toronto last week to raise awareness and funds for people in need. The members of IsraAID, the Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, spoke to students at Ryerson University, University of Toronto and York University as part of their cross-Canada tour of university campuses. IsraAID is a co-ordinating body of Israeli and Jewish non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as other groups based in Israel, that are active in development and relief work. (Canadian Jewish News)
Young Medical Student Has an International Focus by Susan Knight
Robbyn O'Connor is studying medicine at the Medical School for International Health which happens to be in Israel, half way around the world from her home in Harleysville, PA. Columbia and Ben-Gurion Universities have teamed up to teach a different kind of medicine than is taught in most western medical schools. This international school focuses on total community health rather than just individual health. "We're looking at a larger context," she said. "We have to ask, 'is [the illness due to] the family or is it cultural?'" Though the culture is Israeli-dominant, she said there are many sub-cultures in Israel as well, including Arab, Bedouin, Russian and Ethiopian. (Central Bucks Life)
Seminar Turns Students into Activists by Gil Hoffman
After two visits to Israel, Adam Goldman is an informed Israel activist who has been trained to act as an unofficial ambassador representing Israel on his college campus. Goldberg decided to spend his college winter vacation this year in Jerusalem, learning about Israel on a Hasbara Fellowship, a two-week, intensive educational program designed to train effective pro-Israel student activists as leaders in the fight to improve Israel's image on college campuses across North America. Nearly 700 students (including 170 this winter) from 150 college campuses have come on the program. (New Jersey Jewish News)
See also Arming Students with Arguments to Combat Anti-Semitism on Campus (Jewish Tribune)
Columbia: Barenboim Comments Spark Anger as Controversy at Columbia Builds by Rachel Pomerance
At Columbia last week the Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim excoriated the Jewish state at a memorial lecture for his late friend Edward Said, the Columbia professor who was a member of the Palestine National Council. Barenboim compared Theodor Herzl's ideas to Richard Wagner's; criticized Palestinian terrorist attacks but also justified them; and said Israeli actions contributed to the rise of international anti-Semitism. The lecture is emblematic of an escalating crisis embroiling Columbia.
(JTA)
Columbia Postpones Middle East Conference by Lisa Hirschmann
Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Daniel Ayalon withdrew from an international conference scheduled to take place at Columbia last week in response to allegations of anti-Israel bias and intimidation within the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures department. The conference, organized by former Senator George Mitchell, was focused on the Middle East peace process, and was supposed to be attended by numerous government officials from Israel, Palestine, and the United States. On Tuesday evening, Mitchell released a statement announcing that the conference would be postponed until September. (Columbia Spectator)
See also Columbia: Committee Draws Fire, Keeps Investigating MEALAC
Despite serious concerns raised by students regarding the committee created to investigate allegations of anti-Israel intimidation and harassment, the University administration is continuing to voice its confidence in the committee. A number of students are refusing to appear in person, citing committee members' inappropriate connections to MEALAC faculty and political biases against Israel. (Columbia Spectator)
Dartmouth: Pipes Lecture Unexpectedly Civil by Christopher Moss
Despite police presence and rumored threats of violence, Daniel Pipes' speech to a packed crowd in Dartmouth Hall was a relatively civil affair. Pipes said Palestinians are to blame for the conflict in the Middle East. Unlike the Israelis who are fighting for Palestinian acceptance, Pipes said, Palestinians are fighting to destroy the state of Israel. A change in the Palestinian attitude would benefit the Palestinians more than the Israelis, Pipes said. (The Dartmouth)
Harvard: Israeli Military Man: Challenges Ahead by David Perry
There is a mix of "hope" and "uneasiness" built around the state of Israeli-Palestinian relations, said Gillad Eisin, a lieutenant colonel in the Israeli Intelligence Corps. The historic land conflict is going to involve "some very tough decisions" on the part of both Israel and the Palestinians. Eisin, 36, is in the midst of a year-long leave from his Israeli Defense Forces military duties to study public administration as a Wexner Israel Fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. (Lowell Sun)
Michigan State: Ban Lifted on Aid for Israel Study by Josh Jarman
MSU students who want to study abroad in Israel just got a big break from the university. Kathleen Fairfax, director of the Office of Study Abroad, said MSU officials decided on Monday to lift the ban on students applying for financial aid to study in Israel. In October 2000, all MSU-sponsored study abroad trips to Israel were suspended after several security warnings from the U.S. Department of State. Warnings came after repeated attacks on Israelis by Palestinians. (State News)
UNC: Students Connect with Israeli Heritage by Jacqueline Brill
Colin Sutker spent the worst night of his life during his winter excursion to Israel. He was sick and stuck sleeping in a tent shared by 200 people while touring the Negev Desert. He wasn't ready to pack his bags, though. Instead the experience made him realize how significant this adventure was for him. Sutker, along with 35 UNC students and several more from other colleges around the state, traveled to Israel for 10 days with the Birthright Israel program. "There was just so much unity, energy and spirit," Rachel Rosenberg said of her Masada visit. "I had a really powerful feeling." (Tar Heel)
Robert Morris: Mideast Leaders Should Grab Chance for Peace, Barak Says by Brandon Keat
The death of Yasser Arafat might open a door to peace with the Palestinians, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday in Pittsburgh. "The landscape is changing. Arafat is dead. I didn't shed a tear," Barak said about the leader of the Palestinian Authority. "He always was a criminal, a terrorist, a totally corrupt leader." If Abbas can rein in Palestinian terrorists, Barak said, Israel should make efforts to make life easier for the Palestinians and thus bolster Abbas' power. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
Toronto: Arab Students Plan Anti-Israel Event by Frances Kraft
Hillel students at the University of Toronto don't want their annual Israel Fest, a week-long arts and culture program, to be politicized by the university's Arab Students Collective, says Tilly Shames, Hillel's Israel Affairs director. The Arab Students Collective - representing seven groups including Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and Al-Awda Toronto, the Palestine Right to Return Group - has organized "Israeli Apartheid Week" at the University of Toronto next week, the same week as Hillel's Israel Fest. (Canadian Jewish News)
UK: Protests Over Anti-Israel Debates by Michelle Mablin
Jewish students in Southampton, England are protesting about a range of anti-Zionist debates due to take place as part of the annual Union of Students conference later this year. The conference, which will be held in Blackpool in April, will be debating proposed resolutions such as: "We are horrified at the slaughter being carried out by the Israeli army, police and settlers against Palestinian protesters." (TotallyJewish.com)
Yeshiva: Minister Livnat: Dispute Over YU Degrees to be Resolved by Daphna Berman
Minister of Education Limor Livnat promised in a letter to Yeshiva University president Richard Joel Thursday to "resolve existing problems to the satisfaction of all concerned" regarding a report of the ministry's policy that immigrants who have studied in Yeshiva University cannot get their degrees recognized in Israel. The report touched something of a raw nerve in the American Jewish community, with widespread outrage that an Israeli ministry had disregarded an institution long considered a bedrock of the community's Orthodox establishment. (Ha'aretz)
Brooklyn: A Lesson From Israel In Higher Education by Roberta Matthews
As an educator, a Jewish woman, and the provost of Brooklyn College, I recently traveled to Israel to see how my counterparts in Israel have responded to the challenges of fostering higher education while engaging a student body that is often sidetracked from their goals by the country's on-going security issues. Israel's Open University is the archetype for creative, hybrid education, based on independent study but united with a strong community-building component. This means that young soldiers can take college courses while on active duty. It means that young parents with children at home can take college-level courses whenever they find time. (Jewish Press)
UC - Berkeley: Transcending Borders by Chris Silver
The professor hoped the class would draw the conclusion that the focus of the contemporary Zionist argument, the notion that Israel is the Jewish state, is misguided. He proposed the theoretical dismantling of the Jewish state. How do we reconcile the current State of Israel and the current state of the Diaspora? The hearts and minds of the Jewish people find refuge in Israel whether or not their bodies follow. (Ha'aretz)
Cornell: Bomb the Eucalyptus Trees! by Jamie Weinstein
In a pre-dawn raid on Jan. 24, 1965, Eli Cohen was arrested in his Syrian apartment. His capture marked the end of one of the greatest espionage operations the world has ever seen. Cohen's story is significant not only because of its harrowing tale of courage and cunning, not to mention its importance to Israel, but what it reveals for America's modern struggle against terrorism. While we may become more technologically advanced, and while our satellites may be the best in the world, nothing replaces human intelligence. (Daily Sun)
GW: Abbas Must Unite Palestinians First by Will Dempster
Palestinian society desperately needs to develop a broad consensus on a course of action toward its own state. Abbas correctly understands that no Palestinian state awaits at the end of an armed uprising aimed at inflicting death upon Israeli civilians. Abu Mazen must articulate his own vision about improving the economic situation in the Territories and how he is to deal with difficult nationalist issues such as Jerusalem and refugees. After doing so, he must enlist the Palestinian street behind him, by negotiations if possible and by force if necessary. (GW Hatchet)
Princeton's Anti-Israel Jihad by Lee Kaplan
Princeton University's Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, originally financed by the royal family of Morocco, is offering a new fellowship based on the righteousness of the Palestinian cause and the illegitimacy of Israel. On the subject of Palestinian and Arab terrorism, the Institute's director Miguel Centeno said he hoped the program would help people to "understand" terrorism, "not excuse or condone it, but explain why terrorism occurs, why does a society produce this?" (FrontPage Magazine)
Rutgers: On Zionist Activism and the War of Ideas by Joshua Einstein
As a community, we have chosen not to defend Israel's good name but rather to attempt to quiet Israel's attackers and detractors. Our stump speech was a reaction to another's and so we have become slave to the cycle of intellectual violence and one-upmanship that does disrespect to the marvel of Israel and the Zionist idea. Classical Zionism put forth a positive vision for the future. Campus Zionism, if we are to truly triumph in this war of ideas, must do the same. (Ha'aretz)
Virginia: Shalom from Israel by Daniel Crane
18 Virginia students and I traveled to Israel with students from the University of Miami on the free "birthright israel" program offered by Hillel. My expectations of bonding with Jewish students and being introduced to the Holy Land were far exceeded in the 11 days that we spent in Israel. In an area the size of New Jersey, one can find desert and snow, kosher restaurants and soaring churches, cities and tents, old and new....Israel has it all. The people of Israel are resilient and friendly, democratic and traditional, and excited about the future while respectful of the past. (Cavalier Daily)
Yale: Israeli Offers Optimistic Look by Easha Anand
Shai Feldman, the head of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, painted what he called a "rosy picture" of Israeli-Palestinian relations following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. He said the change in the Palestinian leadership had resulted in an environment where Israeli leaders can "take risks." "Israelis need to be convinced at a fundamental level that this transformation from violence to negotiation is genuine and that it will not be easy to reverse," Feldman said. "Palestinians need evidence that the process won't be frozen in the middle." (Yale Daily News)
Marquette: Ohanon Grows Into Role, Has Empathy for Marquette's Berkowitz by Todd Rosiak
Struggling to make the transition to a new country both on and off the court, Marquette Golden Eagles freshman Niv Berkowitz (pictured right) need look no farther center court to find someone who has experienced many of the same growing pains. Izik Ohanon (pictured left), a 6-foot-9 forward for the Saint Louis Billikens, is a fellow Israeli. He and Berkowitz are among the only four Israelis currently playing Division I basketball in the United States. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Israeli Artists Conquering American Audiences by Yehoshua Sagi
Idan Raichel came up out of the depths to conquer America. Raichel and his dreadlocks are a success story in the U.S. Along with his five musicians, some of whom are immigrants from Ethiopia, he has already held one round of concerts in America, and has now been invited back for another tour for next month's Black Heritage Month. Raichel is but one example of the success found by many Israeli musicians performing in the United States. Some of the musicians have sparked the interest of American audiences that have no direct link to Israel or Judaism. (Ha'aretz)
Hebrew University Holds Key to Einstein's Memory by Dan Williams
From entertainment moguls to educational innovators, anyone wanting to use a picture of the 20th century's most celebrated scientist must get permission from the Israeli university Einstein helped found and which owns all the rights to his legacy. "We have one objective - perpetuating Einstein's memory with the proper dignity," said Professor Hanoch Gutfreund, a former president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who oversees a 55,000-item archive and trust willed by the German-born physicist. (Reuters)
Manitoba: Canadian-Israel Cultural Fund in the Works by Helen Kaye
Dale Lonis, dean of faculty of music at the University of Manitoba, has been meeting with local movers and shakers in an ongoing effort to set up The Canadian-Israeli Music and Culture Alliance. It will "provide opportunities for study, collaboration and exposure in Canada and Israel," to young Israeli artists whose talent and abilities, says Lonis, "are as good as or better than any in the world." (Jerusalem Post)
Bobsled Team on a Mission by Lori Gilbert
Members of the Israeli bobsled team don't envision themselves as the subjects of "Cool Runnings II," as some latest version of the 1988 Jamaicans, heroes of the Calgary Olympic Games. Former Israeli pilot Aaron Zeff and former San Francisco 49er tight end John Frank started the two-man bobsled team for a greater purpose than to have people shaking their heads at the seeming oxymoron, "Israeli bobsled." (Record Net)
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 - More Views on Israel's Disengagement | Listen to the Calls of Distress
by Ari Shavit
- This summer, Israel is going to do the most ruthless thing it has ever done to its citizens. It is going to send its soldiers into the homes of citizens to pull them out. And to destroy all that they built, all they planted, all they believed.
- This brutal act is necessary. The settlements in Gaza were a historic mistake. That mistake threatens our very existence here. If Israel wants to survive, if it wants to continue to exist as a Jewish-democratic state, it must correct that error. It must evacuate all of Gaza. Completely. Down to the last house.
- Moreover, since the current conditions don't allow leaving the residents of the settlements under the protection of the Palestinians, there is no choice but to withdraw them along with the military forces. And since a substantial proportion of the settlers ideologically oppose this necessary move, there is no choice but to impose it upon them. It is impossible to leave the freedom of choice to individuals. It is necessary to coerce those individuals to accept the will of the Israeli majority and the will of Israeli sovereignty. It is necessary to go from house to house and empty each one of its inhabitants.
- However, that difficult deed must be done properly, correctly. Not with glee, not with indifference, not as a matter of fact. That horrifying deed must be done with awe and trembling; with weeping hearts and bowed heads. (Ha'aretz)
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Unilateral Withdrawal Is Irresponsible by Michael Rubin
- President George W. Bush called Sharon's disengagement plan "historic and courageous." Nothing could be more untrue. While Israelis might fear civil and political strife if settlers are forced from their homes, Sharon's plan will reinvigorate terrorism not only in Israel, but as an international tactic of choice.
- The subsequent pictures of Hizballah and Hamas flags flying over Jewish settlements like Netzarim and Kfar Yam will torpedo hope not only of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, but also of an end to terrorism in Iraq, Turkey, Kashmir and against the West in general.
- The reasons for Israel's withdrawal will be irrelevant on the streets of the Islamic world. If terrorism can free Gaza, why not the West Bank, the Galilee, Indian Kashmir or democratic Iraq? Why compromise if terrorism obviates the need for concession? There is a limit to the West's stamina.
- Unilateral withdrawal is irresponsible. Should Gaza be part of a comprehensive deal, pictures of Hamas flags over Gaza will be immaterial, for they can be counterbalanced with images of Israeli embassies hoisting flags in Damascus, Riyadh and Tehran. (Ha'aretz)
Applying Baghdad Lessons to Khan Yunis by Zvi Bar'el
- Almost without anyone noticing, the name of Prime Minister Sharon's plan was shortened from "the unilateral disengagement plan" to "the disengagement plan." Because as soon as you say "we have to give Abu Mazen a chance," unilateralness is dead. And it's better that way.
- Now comes the turn of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to give the plan its only chance of life.
- In Ramallah there is a Palestinian partner who wants to administer an orderly, quiet Palestinian state without terrorism. That has to be the working assumption. With that assumption, it will be possible to conduct negotiations in a bilateral disengagement plan, on unconditional aid and on the continuation of the political process. (Ha'aretz)
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