Tuesday, 4/29/97 Propaganda distorts Jewish beliefs Attacks on
Zionism encourage intolerance, racist views
Hatred deserves no place on our campus. And yet, over the past
week, a campaign of hate has been waged against the Jews of UCLA.
Sandwich boards bearing anti-Jewish propaganda – propaganda
endorsed by several student groups and student government offices –
have been displayed on Bruin Walk. The malice reflected by this
anti-Jewish action has wounded the Jewish community and runs
counter to the atmosphere of tolerance and intellectual discourse
toward which the university strives. The national liberation
movement of the Jewish people has been wrongly branded as "racist"
and "oppressive." It is our duty, as responsible members of the
university community, to respond to these attacks in a mature,
intellectual and noninflammatory manner. We fear that in their
hurry to embrace so-called "progressive," or "liberal" causes,
students at UCLA will forget to educate themselves. First, let us
define Zionism. Simply, Zionists believe in the right of the Jewish
people to a homeland and the security which accompanies it. A poll
in New York Times Magazine showed that 99 percent of Jews support
this claim. Therefore a campaign of this type, which attacks
Zionism, is an attack on the Jewish people. Though one need not be
Jewish to be a Zionist, any distinction between Jews and Zionists
is essentially meaningless. The statement that Zionism equals
racism is absolutely absurd because Zionism, by its very nature, is
inclusive. There are Indian Jews, Chinese Jews, Ethiopian Jews,
Latino Jews, European Jews – Zionism reaches across racial lines;
it is completely colorblind. Following "Operation Moses," in which
thousands of Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to safety in Israel,
William Safire, a New York Times columnist, commented that "for the
first time in history, thousands of black people are being brought
to a country not in chains but in dignity, not as slaves but as
free men" (New York Times, Jan. 7, 1985). The sandwich board
campaign against Israel is an anti-Jewish crusade draped in the
most flimsy of euphemistic disguises. Some of the signs displayed
on Bruin Walk bear what are clearly racist quotes made by Israelis.
These quotes can and will not be justified. While we mourn that the
sentiments expressed in these quotes are those of any person
associated with Zionism, it is nevertheless essential to realize
that they are in no way representative of the Zionist movement. Not
only was the accusation of racism inappropriate and
non-illustrative of Zionism as a whole, but so was the charge of
oppression as characteristic of the movement. The offer of Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion, in the name of the founders of the State
of Israel and made in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, still
stands today: We extend our hand to all neighbouring states and
their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and
appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help
with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State
of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the
advancement of the entire Middle East. Those who contributed to
this defamatory program were not attempting to denounce the
individuals who said the quotes nor the evils of the quotes. What
they were doing was trying to libel an entire people based on the
quotes of a few individuals. Just ask yourself what the reaction of
the African American students on campus would be if there were
signs displayed quoting Louis Farrakahn, and these same signs
claimed that these quotes were somehow representative of all
African Americans. Or one could display quotes from Muslim leaders
such as Muamar Qadafi calling for the destruction of western
culture and civilization and claim that these were representative
of all Muslims. This would also be wrong. The intentions of the
people who chose to display such nonrepresentative quotes should be
considered offensive to all who value intellectual honesty and
abhor propaganda. Propaganda is not a means of opening productive,
intelligent discourse; education is. These anti-Jewish posters are
not at all progressive and they establish nothing but division and
tension on the campus. These posters are examples of regressive and
draconian logic. They slander an entire people using the extreme
statements of a few individuals. No one is claiming that the Jews
have created a perfect society in Israel. There is no such thing as
a perfect society. However, in approaching a more perfect world,
there is one goal that should be sought by all people – peace. The
hate mongering and libelous campaign on Bruin Walk achieves nothing
in getting closer to peace, but only serves to divide. This open
letter was signed by: Rachel Miller, editor in chief, Ha’Am;
Guadalupe Garcia Montano, editor in chief, La Gente; Gulgun Ugur,
editor in chief, FEM; David Bain, editor in chief, Ten Percent;
Anthony Pinga, editor in chief, Pacific Ties; Josh Geffon,
president, Jewish Student Union; Rebecca Blustein, second-year
English student; Yonit Hassid, fourth-year anthropology student;
Ramin Kohanzad, president, Magen David; Sandra Sherman, first-year
psychology student; Chain Seidler-Feller, director, Hillel Jewish
Student Association.