An open letter sent to the Student Union of Goldsmiths' College. Reproduced here with permission of the author. Background on the events, where the situation in Gaza was be compared to that in the Warsaw Ghetto under the Nazis, can be see at the forums. The table in this letter is adapted from Michael Horesh's blog by the author.
OPEN LETTER sent to Holly Bott of Student Union, Goldsmiths' College:
13 November 2008
Dear Holly Bott
"From the Warsaw Ghetto to the Gaza Ghetto" - 12 November - Palestinian Society, Goldsmiths College, London University
You invited me to write to you about this event.
Both the title and the content of this event were
antisemitic, according to the most widely agreed definition of antisemitism
(that of the European Union Monitoring Committee - it can be found at this
link:
http://eumc.europa.eu/eumc/
This definition is used inter alia by the US Congress and by the UK Parliamentary Committee on Antisemitism. It includes among examples of statements that could be antisemitic: “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”
The title clearly falls into that category. So did much of Suzanne Weiss’ talk. The following are six examples that I noted down:
Quite apart from being replete with antisemitism, Weiss’ talk was also replete with falsehoods. Here are seven examples that I noted down:
But the biggest falsehood of all was in the title of the event, "From the Warsaw Ghetto to the Gaza Ghetto". Here are ten ways in which the Warsaw Ghetto differed from the situation in Gaza:
|
Issue |
Warsaw Ghetto |
Gaza Strip |
1 |
How did they get there? |
Jews were forcibly rounded up and sent there |
Residents have lived there for generations Arrived there after wars with Israel Went there to escape from Egypt |
2 |
Allowed out? |
Under no circumstances – under threat of death |
Israel allows tens of thousands every day to work in Israel. Israel allows in medical cases. Egypt maintains a blockade. |
3 |
Supplies allowed in? |
No |
Israel sends in approx 90 lorries of supplies, 5 days a week. Mass smuggling campaign. Egypt has closed its border. |
4 |
Has other housing been provided? |
No |
Israel left Gaza in 2005. |
5 |
Do people die of hunger? |
Hundreds - daily |
No – see the photo of Lauren Booth in a well-stocked shop (below) |
6 |
Was the outcome in the residents’ control? |
No – liquidation and slaughter |
When Hamas recognises Israel and changes its antisemitic Charter, peace can come quickly. |
7 |
Resistance? |
Pathetic – and directed against troops |
Daily Kassam rocket fire directed randomly against civilian targets in Israel (nb there is now a ceasefire)
|
8 |
Life expectancy |
3 years at most for a Jewish woman |
75 for a Palestinian woman (Souce:UN) |
9 |
Human rights |
The world ignored the slaughter of 100s of thousands. |
Hamas rejects freedom of press, persecutes Christians, subjects women and gays to second class status and has dismissed teachers who are not members of Hamas
|
10 |
Genocide |
Yes |
No |
You claim that your Union has a “no platform” policy for racists and that you condemn racism. If this was so, surely you would not offer a platform to speakers who make antisemitic statements.
Unlike in the US, there is no concept of "freedom of speech" in English law. The college and the Union have to have regard to their duties under the Race Relations Amendment Act, the Racial and Religious Hatred Act, the Protection against Harrassment Act, the Public Order Act and others. The Human Rights Act 1998 says specifically that human rights protection (the right of free speech) must not be used to undermine the human rights of others, in this case the rights of Jewish students on campus. I know that the outcome of events such as this is to increase the pressures on Jewish students on campus, since Israel is central to Judaism (you will be aware that the Zionist movement – the move for a State grounded in Judaism – was the response to centuries of persecution of Jews culminating in the Holocaust).
If Jewish students are indeed being intimidated as a result of events such as tonight’s, then at some stage there will be a successful prosecution under one or more of these Acts.
Is it too much to hope that Student Unions such as yours will self-regulate before this happens?
Copyright Jonathan Hoffman, 2008, used with permission at Zionism on the Web
May be copied, but only with acknolwedgement by
linking to this page and listing the author.