Here come the Palestinians........
"What Happened to Palestine?
NAKBA DAY COMMEMORATIONS @ STANFORD
Thursday May 13, 2004 @ noon in White Plaza
Guest Speakers: Prof. Joel Beinin, Prof. Khalil Barhoum.
Enjoy: Music, Photo Display, Palestinian Desserts, T-shirts
What Is Al-Nakba?
"Nakba" means "catastrophe" in Arabic ("al-nakba" means "the catastrophe"). Throughout the Arab world, the word is used to refer to the devastation of Palestinian society and the dispossession of the Palestinian people resulting from the ethnic cleansing conducted by Zionist forces in '47-'48.
What Is Nakba Day?
The most important date on the Palestinian calendar, Nakba Day is observed throughout the world on May 15. This is a time to learn about the history of Palestine and of Palestinians, and to remember the tragedy inflicted on the Palestinian people in 1947-48, which has yet to be rectified.
Nakba Day is also an occasion to celebrate the continued vitality of Palestinian culture in the face of continuing hardships, and to reaffirm Palestinian aspirations for peace and self-determination.
Learn more [here]"
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Monday, May 10, 2004
Corporate Tax Down, Bankruptcy Tomorrow
I have three finals in four days, which is why I haven't been posting. If anybody is curious about the basic tax rules of statutory mergers, stock-for-stock swaps, asset sales, redemptions, divisive reorganizations, or contributions to a controlled company of property with a nonrecourse mortgage, you are free to ask me next week.
I have three finals in four days, which is why I haven't been posting. If anybody is curious about the basic tax rules of statutory mergers, stock-for-stock swaps, asset sales, redemptions, divisive reorganizations, or contributions to a controlled company of property with a nonrecourse mortgage, you are free to ask me next week.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Oops, More Rachel Corrie Wrapup. Plus Palestine Photo Display!
The Stanford Daily Ran an Article on it here. It seems there will also be a photo display as well for Palestine Awareness Month, called "Mind, Body, and Soul of Palestine". The Stanford Daily had this to say about the Possible Photo Show:
Haj-Hassan added that MSAN [Muslim Student Awareness Network] does not intend for the pictures to generate any sort of controversy. “The photos are designed to show the truth,” he said. “It’s hard to talk to about the Palestinian people and ignore what they are going through.” MSAN member Omar Shakir, a freshman, predicted that the Stanford community would react positively to the exhibition. “It should open people’s eyes and show them the human side of this conflict,” he said.
Just out of curiosity, will they be showing the dead pregnant woman living in Palestine who was killed this week just because she was Jewish? Isn't that part of the "human side" of this conflict as well? Oops, guess that woman was just a pig or a monkey to some of these fanactics for justice in palestine, so her death probably wasn't part of the equation anyway.
Anyway, I received an email from another person who attended the Rachel Corrie Beatification, which is a very good description of how the event went. I'm posting an excerpt of it below.
I just returned from the Stanford program presenting Craig and Cindy Corrie, parents of Rachel Corrie, the American from Evergreen University and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who was accidently killed by Israeli bulldozer as she stood in front of Palestinian home of suspected terror bombers. As you probably know she has become a rallying point of the anti-Israel propaganda forces, both Muslim and radical left. By the way, this lecture was kick-off of Palestine Awareness Month at Stanford. There will be several other lectures, one by Allison Weir, a photo display entitled "Nakba Day" (This memorializes the the tragedy to Palestinians of Israel's birth and existence) There will be (according to flyer I picked up) dinners, fashion shows, music, and every Sunday a movie about Palestine. The program was sponsored by Coalition for Justice and the Muslim Student Awareness Network.
I want to tell you how dangerously effective this husband and wife team are in demonizing Israel. But first a little about attendees. There were about 100 folks there. About half were students, it seemed equally divided between Middle Eastern types and peace and justice white boys and girls. The other half seemed older Palestinian community people and a lot of sweet little old lady types, retired librarians, doing their thing for the oppressed of the planet. There were also about 4 or 5 ISM volunteers in the audience. (They received a big ovation when asked to identify themselves) Professor Joel Beinin was there also. There was also a young kid about 13, wearing a "Palestine Rocks" tee shirt. Nathan Mintz, a Stanford pro- Israel activist was there with about 5 other pro-Israel students. My friend and inveterate champion of Israel , Ralph Bernstein, joined me there.
A little about the Corries. They come across as tremendously believable. Of course as parents who have lost a child, they merit and garner instant sympathy. Both are white haired, distinguished, gentle looking people. Although they've both been long time activists in the radical left wing, pacifist, (except when a Democrat makes war) movement, the husband added to a "mainstream" credibility by mentioning repeatedly he was a Vietnam Vet. Here's something I suspect you will find depressing. (And by the way, if one were to try to accuse their daughter or them of anti-semitism, the Corries would likely make the accuser look foolish...however true the accusation would be.) They spoke warmly of many Jews and Israelis they know personally. They said Rachel initially was introduced into her Palestinian activism by an Olympia, Washington neighbor.. a former Israeli citizen and Holocaust survivor. They told us they had warm friendships with two co-founders of ISM, both Jewish. In fact, about 20 to 30 per cent of ISM volunteers, they claimed, were Jewish. In addition, Rachel died in the arms of fellow ISM worker, Alice, who was Jewish. They told moving stories about their friend and Palestinian activist Rabbi Arik Ascherman. At least 10 to 15 times they both warmly and specifcally lauded their Jewish friends and colleagues in the movement.
Now about the presentation. I am not going into much detail of the horrid propaganda they so smoothly propounded. Suffice it to say that Israel was portrayed as the oppressor, the vicious occupier, the vile bully. (Yet this was sprinkled as I mentioned above, with comments about their warm feelings toward so many Jewish folks and their nebulous calls for peace for everyone.) They talked of Israelis destroying olive groves, mosques, houses of the Palestinians without provocation. They claimed,(and used quotes from Israeli Human Rights Organizations,) that most home demolitions were not done because of terror tunnels or weapons caches but because "Israel needed to teach Palestinians a lesson." Throughout the whole anti-Israel propaganda fest, there was a contuous slide show showing larger than life pictures of Rachel, as a beautiful blond child swinging on a swing or laughing in a swimming pool. They also showed a home video of Rachel, at age 10, giving a class speech about ending world hunger. The pictures served as a continual backdrop to the oral presentation. My friends, sad to say, the medium gave a powerful message. And while they twisted facts and told vile lies, it didn't seem to matter.
Now the Corries told the audience they want to continue with Rachel's message and her work. They are lobbying Congressmen. They are trying to get others involved in the work, (and from the presentation I witnessed, they are skillful and effective.) They plan to continue speaking whenever they can. Here's what's frightening to me: In this particular audience, they were speaking to the converted. No real harm done. But what happens when they bring their slide show and their home videos and their anti-Israel poison to a community Milpitas library lecture or Vallejo High School current events discussion day? How many naive folks will be persuaded?
Now there were about 5 or 6 of us good guys in the audience. Of the 8 or 9 people called on to ask questions in Q&A, we got in 4. We all spoke politely, and prefaced our comments with a condolence message to parents. But all our questions had an edge that, I believe, broke some of the spell. One of us asked about Rachel's photo in USA today burning the American flag shortly before her death. One of us asked if the parents had any misgivings that Rachel's actions protected those who explode human bombs on innocent Israeli children. One asked why ISM didn'textend their love of peace and children and nonviolence to protect those on the Israeli side. While the Corries rather slickly bridged these questions and got back to their anti-Israel tirade, it did seem to cause them some discomfort. Those in the audience also were a bit discomforted by the questions. After it was over, we overheard one young Stanford girl remark, "Yeah it was pretty good, till all those people disrupted it."
The Stanford Daily Ran an Article on it here. It seems there will also be a photo display as well for Palestine Awareness Month, called "Mind, Body, and Soul of Palestine". The Stanford Daily had this to say about the Possible Photo Show:
Haj-Hassan added that MSAN [Muslim Student Awareness Network] does not intend for the pictures to generate any sort of controversy. “The photos are designed to show the truth,” he said. “It’s hard to talk to about the Palestinian people and ignore what they are going through.” MSAN member Omar Shakir, a freshman, predicted that the Stanford community would react positively to the exhibition. “It should open people’s eyes and show them the human side of this conflict,” he said.
Just out of curiosity, will they be showing the dead pregnant woman living in Palestine who was killed this week just because she was Jewish? Isn't that part of the "human side" of this conflict as well? Oops, guess that woman was just a pig or a monkey to some of these fanactics for justice in palestine, so her death probably wasn't part of the equation anyway.
Anyway, I received an email from another person who attended the Rachel Corrie Beatification, which is a very good description of how the event went. I'm posting an excerpt of it below.
I just returned from the Stanford program presenting Craig and Cindy Corrie, parents of Rachel Corrie, the American from Evergreen University and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who was accidently killed by Israeli bulldozer as she stood in front of Palestinian home of suspected terror bombers. As you probably know she has become a rallying point of the anti-Israel propaganda forces, both Muslim and radical left. By the way, this lecture was kick-off of Palestine Awareness Month at Stanford. There will be several other lectures, one by Allison Weir, a photo display entitled "Nakba Day" (This memorializes the the tragedy to Palestinians of Israel's birth and existence) There will be (according to flyer I picked up) dinners, fashion shows, music, and every Sunday a movie about Palestine. The program was sponsored by Coalition for Justice and the Muslim Student Awareness Network.
I want to tell you how dangerously effective this husband and wife team are in demonizing Israel. But first a little about attendees. There were about 100 folks there. About half were students, it seemed equally divided between Middle Eastern types and peace and justice white boys and girls. The other half seemed older Palestinian community people and a lot of sweet little old lady types, retired librarians, doing their thing for the oppressed of the planet. There were also about 4 or 5 ISM volunteers in the audience. (They received a big ovation when asked to identify themselves) Professor Joel Beinin was there also. There was also a young kid about 13, wearing a "Palestine Rocks" tee shirt. Nathan Mintz, a Stanford pro- Israel activist was there with about 5 other pro-Israel students. My friend and inveterate champion of Israel , Ralph Bernstein, joined me there.
A little about the Corries. They come across as tremendously believable. Of course as parents who have lost a child, they merit and garner instant sympathy. Both are white haired, distinguished, gentle looking people. Although they've both been long time activists in the radical left wing, pacifist, (except when a Democrat makes war) movement, the husband added to a "mainstream" credibility by mentioning repeatedly he was a Vietnam Vet. Here's something I suspect you will find depressing. (And by the way, if one were to try to accuse their daughter or them of anti-semitism, the Corries would likely make the accuser look foolish...however true the accusation would be.) They spoke warmly of many Jews and Israelis they know personally. They said Rachel initially was introduced into her Palestinian activism by an Olympia, Washington neighbor.. a former Israeli citizen and Holocaust survivor. They told us they had warm friendships with two co-founders of ISM, both Jewish. In fact, about 20 to 30 per cent of ISM volunteers, they claimed, were Jewish. In addition, Rachel died in the arms of fellow ISM worker, Alice, who was Jewish. They told moving stories about their friend and Palestinian activist Rabbi Arik Ascherman. At least 10 to 15 times they both warmly and specifcally lauded their Jewish friends and colleagues in the movement.
Now about the presentation. I am not going into much detail of the horrid propaganda they so smoothly propounded. Suffice it to say that Israel was portrayed as the oppressor, the vicious occupier, the vile bully. (Yet this was sprinkled as I mentioned above, with comments about their warm feelings toward so many Jewish folks and their nebulous calls for peace for everyone.) They talked of Israelis destroying olive groves, mosques, houses of the Palestinians without provocation. They claimed,(and used quotes from Israeli Human Rights Organizations,) that most home demolitions were not done because of terror tunnels or weapons caches but because "Israel needed to teach Palestinians a lesson." Throughout the whole anti-Israel propaganda fest, there was a contuous slide show showing larger than life pictures of Rachel, as a beautiful blond child swinging on a swing or laughing in a swimming pool. They also showed a home video of Rachel, at age 10, giving a class speech about ending world hunger. The pictures served as a continual backdrop to the oral presentation. My friends, sad to say, the medium gave a powerful message. And while they twisted facts and told vile lies, it didn't seem to matter.
Now the Corries told the audience they want to continue with Rachel's message and her work. They are lobbying Congressmen. They are trying to get others involved in the work, (and from the presentation I witnessed, they are skillful and effective.) They plan to continue speaking whenever they can. Here's what's frightening to me: In this particular audience, they were speaking to the converted. No real harm done. But what happens when they bring their slide show and their home videos and their anti-Israel poison to a community Milpitas library lecture or Vallejo High School current events discussion day? How many naive folks will be persuaded?
Now there were about 5 or 6 of us good guys in the audience. Of the 8 or 9 people called on to ask questions in Q&A, we got in 4. We all spoke politely, and prefaced our comments with a condolence message to parents. But all our questions had an edge that, I believe, broke some of the spell. One of us asked about Rachel's photo in USA today burning the American flag shortly before her death. One of us asked if the parents had any misgivings that Rachel's actions protected those who explode human bombs on innocent Israeli children. One asked why ISM didn'textend their love of peace and children and nonviolence to protect those on the Israeli side. While the Corries rather slickly bridged these questions and got back to their anti-Israel tirade, it did seem to cause them some discomfort. Those in the audience also were a bit discomforted by the questions. After it was over, we overheard one young Stanford girl remark, "Yeah it was pretty good, till all those people disrupted it."
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Rachel Corrie Wrapup
Took a study break last night and went to the event that I posted about earlier. Rachel's parents were very good. Slow, hypnotic speakers, well trained to handle criticism. They spoke movingly about the need for not mere words in the quest for social justice, but rather action, which Rachel's sponsoring group, the International Solidarity Movement (or ISM) accomplishes. They spoke of the need to look at the blood on the hands of both sides in this conflict, not just the Palestinian side. They humanized those that suffer (at least on the Palestinian side). They responded to the predictible question about Rachel burning a U.S. flag by pointing out that it was an American Flag that was drapped over her mock coffin in Gaza for her mock funeral - the first time in ages that Palestinians would carry our flag with pride.
I quickly got sick of this charade posing Rachel as a non-partisan peace activist. So I decided to pin her parents down with this question.
"Mr. and Mrs. Corrie - it means a lot to me to have both of you come here tonight and speak of the need for direct social action over mere words. Too often in our generation, those that would seek to make this world a better place give themselves contentment with the pat on the back of mere words when they should be acting. With that in mind, you pointed out earlier that we should pay attention to the actions of both sides in this conflict. I wholeheartedly agree, and wanted to press you on how your late daughter or even the ISM has engaged in direct non-violent action, as opposed to mere words, to restrain the Palestinian side from its violence, since both clearly had the Israeli side covered."
Their faces went from smiling at the beginning of my question (bait to get them listening) to shock at the end of it. The wanted to say that ISM has condemned and their daughter was against suicide bombing, but I of course cut that escape route off to them with my request for examples of the direct action both have prided themselves for (besides, their daughter was actually quite in favor of suicide bombers). To prove that their late daughter and the group she stood for was truly a "peace-organization" and not just a group of partisans that were supporting one side over another, they needed an example. And they couldn't find one. The Father stuttered for a few seconds, then tried weasling his way out with an excuse that as peace activists they don't need to be fair to both sides, since the Israelie's are stronger. Of course, this means that these peace activists were partisans and not the neutral observers they claimed previously to be, a point that didn't go unnoticed in the audience. Even the Muslim Student Awareness Representative up there with them started chuckling.
I hadn't had that much fun asking questions at an event since I made former presidential candidate Gary Hart look like a dumbass...but that is another story for another time.
Oh yeah - sometimes mere words are important. Just as long as you aren't contradicting them with your actions.
Took a study break last night and went to the event that I posted about earlier. Rachel's parents were very good. Slow, hypnotic speakers, well trained to handle criticism. They spoke movingly about the need for not mere words in the quest for social justice, but rather action, which Rachel's sponsoring group, the International Solidarity Movement (or ISM) accomplishes. They spoke of the need to look at the blood on the hands of both sides in this conflict, not just the Palestinian side. They humanized those that suffer (at least on the Palestinian side). They responded to the predictible question about Rachel burning a U.S. flag by pointing out that it was an American Flag that was drapped over her mock coffin in Gaza for her mock funeral - the first time in ages that Palestinians would carry our flag with pride.
I quickly got sick of this charade posing Rachel as a non-partisan peace activist. So I decided to pin her parents down with this question.
"Mr. and Mrs. Corrie - it means a lot to me to have both of you come here tonight and speak of the need for direct social action over mere words. Too often in our generation, those that would seek to make this world a better place give themselves contentment with the pat on the back of mere words when they should be acting. With that in mind, you pointed out earlier that we should pay attention to the actions of both sides in this conflict. I wholeheartedly agree, and wanted to press you on how your late daughter or even the ISM has engaged in direct non-violent action, as opposed to mere words, to restrain the Palestinian side from its violence, since both clearly had the Israeli side covered."
Their faces went from smiling at the beginning of my question (bait to get them listening) to shock at the end of it. The wanted to say that ISM has condemned and their daughter was against suicide bombing, but I of course cut that escape route off to them with my request for examples of the direct action both have prided themselves for (besides, their daughter was actually quite in favor of suicide bombers). To prove that their late daughter and the group she stood for was truly a "peace-organization" and not just a group of partisans that were supporting one side over another, they needed an example. And they couldn't find one. The Father stuttered for a few seconds, then tried weasling his way out with an excuse that as peace activists they don't need to be fair to both sides, since the Israelie's are stronger. Of course, this means that these peace activists were partisans and not the neutral observers they claimed previously to be, a point that didn't go unnoticed in the audience. Even the Muslim Student Awareness Representative up there with them started chuckling.
I hadn't had that much fun asking questions at an event since I made former presidential candidate Gary Hart look like a dumbass...but that is another story for another time.
Oh yeah - sometimes mere words are important. Just as long as you aren't contradicting them with your actions.
Saturday, May 01, 2004
Iraqi Prisoner Abuse
Many seem to think that this might trigger years of future violence by an enraged arab populace. I am skeptical. While the abuse of prisoners is undoubtably a disgusting thing, it is also the traditional mode of police behavior in that part of the world. As such, while I wish our troops would not engage in such conduct, I would be quite surprised if the "arab street" is in fact shocked/further enraged by this turn of events.
Many seem to think that this might trigger years of future violence by an enraged arab populace. I am skeptical. While the abuse of prisoners is undoubtably a disgusting thing, it is also the traditional mode of police behavior in that part of the world. As such, while I wish our troops would not engage in such conduct, I would be quite surprised if the "arab street" is in fact shocked/further enraged by this turn of events.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
