“Facts”
I am distressed to read an ad [from Standwithus.org] on page 11 of the Feb. 3 issue of your paper that debated Israel’s status as an apartheid state. The facts as they are presented are false. I would like to remind you that non-Jews cannot buy land appropriated by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), especially Arabs.
This is not what the ad says. It is misleading and it lessens the integrity of your reputable publication.
Rashid Abu-Ghazalah
No macho here
As the two very female co-chairs of Israel Affairs at U of T Hillel, we were offended by Dr. Taylor’s insinuations in her article “Clashing conferences, boring machismo, frozen Mid East discussion.” To reduce IsraelFEST to a “farcical” event ignores the passion and hard work that goes into it every year. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the lone democratic country in the Middle East (which, by the way, is the only one to recognize the full rights of women). This is our one week to show the campus and greater community that Israel is more than just a political hotbed (where dissenting opinions are accepted, discussed and even welcomed), and that it is more than the IDF. This diversity that we have in common with Canada is what we are celebrating.
Our committee has held numerous events from all sides of the political spectrum throughout the year. From Amos Oz to Michael Oren to Naomi Chazzan, we have invited the university community to come out and talk about the issues. IsraelFEST is our week to simply celebrate a culture we feel is worth celebrating.
Dr. Taylor, we assure you that female opinion outnumbers the “macho” opinion in our planning of IsraelFEST. More importantly, we consider our group to be comprised of people passionate about Israel, not a group divided into men and women.
Lauren Parl and Lia Katz
Co-Chairs, Israel Affairs Committee
Hillel at U of T
Who’s a racist?
Racism in Israel? Racism is when a murderer gets on a bus prepared to kill civilian commuters, or when a sniper locks in on an innocent baby sleeping in a stroller.
Racism is the process through which a murderer systematically demeans his victims as subhuman, “cockroaches,” or “infidels” in order to justify their subsequent murder.
Racism is when the supporters of terrorists justify murder by characterizing the victims as belonging to an apartheid state.
Racism is what led to the murder of my brother (Chezi Goldberg Z”L) blown up on bus 19 in Jerusalem one year ago.
Ronn Goldberg, MD, MBA
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine (Medical Imaging)
University of Toronto
The controversial Israeli Apartheid Week, sponsored by the Arab Student Collective (ASC), ran last week claiming that there is evidence of apartheid in Israel. Alongside this ran IsraelFEST, a non-controversial and non-political week of events promoting Israeli and general Middle Eastern food, music, and culture. An attempt at promoting a country and region plagued with many political concerns was achieved through these events. My concern is that instead of promoting the Palestinian culture, nation, and possible country, the ASC chose instead to incite controversy by degrading a wonderful country with a vibrant culture by claiming it practices apartheid. It seems to me, though I would love to be proved wrong, that the culture the ASC is promoting as Palestinian can only be seen as one that degrades Israel. Why not focus on positive aspects of the Palestinian culture, such as art and literature? I ask this because it would be a great learning experience for everyone.
Steven Kraft
Doubly offensive
I just read about an event organized by Arab students at your university which calls Israel an “apartheid state.” As a Canadian citizen currently living in Israel I find this offensive and an affront to both world Jewry and the sensibilities of the Canadian public.
It is an attempt to discredit and deny the state of Israel legitimacy.
I call upon U of T to act decisively to prevent such anti-Semitic campaigns on campus in the future. Canada stood with Israel in Durban, and your university must stand for truth now as well.
Daniel Ashkenazy
Jerusalem, Israel
