CJN.Tzedaka.Sadaqah
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By MICHAEL ISENBERG Special to The CJN Students using violence or abusive speech in support of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) are not pro-Palestinian, they’re anti-Israel, says Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh. “If you are pro-Palestinian, go to Pales- tine and teach illiterate kids how to read and write. Help abused women, impoverished people. That’s pro-Palestinian. Help the Pal- estinians better their lives,” Toameh said at a Hillel-sponsored talk at Ryerson University last week. Toameh, the West Bank and Gaza cor- respondent for the Jerusalem Post and U.S. News and World Report, discussed several issues regarding Israel’s relationship with the surrounding Arab countries, including problems with Iran, extremist governments and a lack of free speech that results in mis- leading, anti-Israel media coverage around the world. A large part of his talk, however, focused on the promotion of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, most notably by young adults on university campuses, as ex- emplified by IAW. “There’s no concept of boycotting Israel by Palestinians. The first time I heard of Israeli boycotts was three years ago in North America,” he said, referring to IAW. Toameh’s concern is not that people should be denied their freedom to disagree with Israeli politics, but that he finds these boycotts are ineffective and damaging. “If you want to boycott, why do something negative? Go do something positive. Go help people.” He argued that many boycotters are not well informed on the issues in the Middle East and are not very supportive of Palestin- ians, but rather against Israel. “The majority of people I’ve met in the U.S. leading Israeli Apartheid Weeks are not even Palestinian. They’re Lebanese. I tell them [create a campaign for] apartheid of Lebanon, because [the Lebanese] have a ban on certain people from working in 62 professions. These students, they say, ‘Shut up.’ Clearly, they don’t really care about the people.” He added that many people who argue against Israel’s actions haven’t thought out the repercussions of their proposed resolu- tions, such as that regarding land ownership. “Even if [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu accepts a two-state solution, who do you give the land to? Hamas? Fatah? “People ask me, ‘When did you become pro-Israel, a Zionist Arab?’ “I say, ‘As a journalist I am pro-facts, pro- truth.’ ” Toameh classifies himself as pro-Pales- tinian because he speaks out against corrupt Arab governments through his work in the Israeli media, hoping to bring about change. He noted that most moderate Muslims’ voices are silenced by their governments. Regarding the West Bank, Toameh said he hates the label “apartheid wall,” adding that the wall is unwanted by most Israelis, but its benefits are too great to ignore. “This wall was built because of [the late Palestinian leader Yasser] Arafat. His name should go on the wall,” he said. “Thanks to the wall, I can take my kids freely around Israel… and not worry about bombings and the picking up of corpses. It’s called reality. Because on the other side of the wall, it’s frightening.” Toameh concluded his talk with the message that all the issues people have with Israel stem from its very existence. “The majority of the world has not come to terms with Israel’s right to exist. There is no other conflict. People have to wake up.” On Campus March 11, 2010 THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS Page 30 T cjnews.com OPTIMED CONSULTING OPTIMAL MEDICATION MANAGEMENT Frances Grunwald RPh, B.Pharm., CGP Sonia Wisebrod RPh, BSc.Phm. Ahuva Edell Designs 416.823.6631 Call us: 905-597-0657 E-mail: [email protected] OUT OF THE COLD: In the middle of Israel Apartheid Week, Muslim and Jew- ish university students came together at the University of Western Ontario to build a more positive relationship between their communities and to make sandwiches for London’s underprivileged. Seventy-five students came out to the event hosted by the Tzedaka/Sadaqah Project which resulted in over 250 sandwiches being distributed to the needy. IAW is anti-Israel, not pro-Palestinian: journalist
Transcript of CJN.Tzedaka.Sadaqah
By MICHAEL ISENBERGSpecial to The CJN
Students using violence or abusive speech in support of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) are not pro-Palestinian, they’re anti-Israel, says Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh.
“If you are pro-Palestinian, go to Pales-tine and teach illiterate kids how to read and write. Help abused women, impoverished people. That’s pro-Palestinian. Help the Pal-estinians better their lives,” Toameh said at a Hillel-sponsored talk at Ryerson University last week.
Toameh, the West Bank and Gaza cor-respondent for the Jerusalem Post and U.S. News and World Report, discussed several issues regarding Israel’s relationship with the surrounding Arab countries, including problems with Iran, extremist governments and a lack of free speech that results in mis-leading, anti-Israel media coverage around the world.
A large part of his talk, however, focused on the promotion of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, most notably by young adults on university campuses, as ex-emplified by IAW.
“There’s no concept of boycotting Israel by Palestinians. The first time I heard of Israeli boycotts was three years ago in North America,” he said, referring to IAW.
Toameh’s concern is not that people should be denied their freedom to disagree with Israeli politics, but that he finds these boycotts are ineffective and damaging.
“If you want to boycott, why do something negative? Go do something positive. Go help people.”
He argued that many boycotters are not well informed on the issues in the Middle East and are not very supportive of Palestin-ians, but rather against Israel.
“The majority of people I’ve met in the U.S. leading Israeli Apartheid Weeks are not even Palestinian. They’re Lebanese. I tell them [create a campaign for] apartheid of Lebanon, because [the Lebanese] have a ban on certain people from working in 62 professions. These students, they say, ‘Shut up.’ Clearly, they don’t really care about the people.”
He added that many people who argue against Israel’s actions haven’t thought out the repercussions of their proposed resolu-tions, such as that regarding land ownership.
“Even if [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu accepts a two-state solution, who do you give the land to? Hamas? Fatah?
“People ask me, ‘When did you become pro-Israel, a Zionist Arab?’
“I say, ‘As a journalist I am pro-facts, pro-truth.’”
Toameh classifies himself as pro-Pales-tinian because he speaks out against corrupt Arab governments through his work in the Israeli media, hoping to bring about change. He noted that most moderate Muslims’ voices are silenced by their governments.
Regarding the West Bank, Toameh said he hates the label “apartheid wall,” adding that the wall is unwanted by most Israelis, but its benefits are too great to ignore.
“This wall was built because of [the late Palestinian leader Yasser] Arafat. His name should go on the wall,” he said.
“Thanks to the wall, I can take my kids freely around Israel… and not worry about bombings and the picking up of corpses. It’s called reality. Because on the other side of the wall, it’s frightening.”
Toameh concluded his talk with the message that all the issues people have with Israel stem from its very existence.
“The majority of the world has not come to terms with Israel’s right to exist. There is no other conflict. People have to wake up.”
On Campus
March 11, 2010THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWSPage 30 T cjnews.com
OPTIMED CONSULTING
O P T I M A L M E D I C AT I O N M A N AG E M E N T
Frances Grunwald
RPh, B.Pharm., CGP
Sonia Wisebrod
RPh, BSc.Phm.
Ahuva Edell Designs4 1 6 . 8 2 3 . 6 6 3 1
Call us:
905-597-0657
E-mail:
OUT OF THE COLD: In the middle of Israel Apartheid Week, Muslim and Jew-ish university students came together at the University of Western Ontario to build a more positive relationship between their communities and to make sandwiches for London’s underprivileged. Seventy-five students came out to the event hosted by the Tzedaka/Sadaqah Project which resulted in over 250 sandwiches being distributed to the needy.
IAW is anti-Israel, not pro-Palestinian: journalist
