Reading Hazam Jamjoum’s article Liberal Racism on Campus (Nov. 17), I felt deeply disturbed, and not just because of the hateful message it carries, but also because of the alleged quote Jamjoum used in his preface. Somehow my knowledge of Golda Meir’s way of expression did not settle down with those words.
Actually, I was so disturbed that I went to the microfilm section at the Toronto Reference Library and retrieved the cited article. Surprisingly, I found that Meir never said what was attributed to her by Jamjoum’s misleading pseudo-quote. Moreover, she said quite the opposite. Asked about Israel’s relation to the Palestinian cause, Meir said “There was no such thing as Palestinian people…It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out and took their country away from them. They did not exist [Italics mine, V.K.].”
Without getting into this statement about the historical origins of Palestinian self-definition (which has a very solid empirical basis), I would like to comment about the general message carried in the article. None of the so-called “liberal racists,” according to Jamjoum is denying the legitimacy of the Palestinian national movement or the suffering of the Palestinian people, nor is anyone claiming for the integration of Israeli-Arabs to be perfect.
The only racism introduced into the dialogue is the one expressed by Jamjoum himself. His dichotomist view is simply anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitic, because it’s damaging both sides of this Semitic conflict. Yes, both sides. Both sides, because when a Palestinian bomb is exploding in an Arab restaurant in Haifa, both sides suffer equally. Bombs do not differ blood from blood. The miserable attempt to blame all the responsibility on one side and ignore the injustice of the other is only adding to hatred and violence, and not to the overcoming of them. I suggest to all those who are interested in the region’s good to focus on bridge building, despite the disagreement. You won’t believe how easy it is once you try.
Three weeks ago an Israeli-Arab (by his own definition) wished me the best in my service in the IDF. He did so after we both initiated and established an Arab-Jewish community centre, located in a neighborhood where Jewish families are living next door to Arab ones. It is possible to do only when people choose to overcome their fears and historic grudges, and dedicate themselves to a better future. This is impossible to achieve with hate, as precisely expressed by Jamjoum. It is also impossible with violence, oppression and terror. Both sides must stop it, because one-sided initiatives will always fail. This was exactly the message carried by the “More Humus, Less Hamas” campaign. It was not the message expressed by the Arab students that protested against it. I agree that their protest should not be ignored; if this campus is to seek justice, it must denunciate it, not just ignore it. So, Mr. Jamjoum, why don’t we both meet over humus and try to find a positive approach to both sides’ problems?
Valery Kisilevsky is an Innis college first year student in Poltical Science and Economics.
