This, more than any football game, makes me more proud to be a UM graduate. The University of Michigan Press decided unanimously to continue to distribute Pluto Press books. A Zionut campaign pressured the university and the press to cancel the contract because Pluto Press publishes books critical of Israel. They were especially angered by the publication of Joel Kovel's book, 'Overcoming Zionism,' which is anti-Zionism and proposes one state based on equality between Israelis and Palestinians as the basis for peace (how offensive!)
Finally, a kernal of good news. My hats off to the Press for upholding the values of academic debate. I imagine UM Press will publish some pro-Israel tracts to manage the backlash, but we will see.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
GOOD NEWS: UM Press Bucks Zionut Pressure
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4 comments:
Yes, values of Academic Freedom upheld. Next up on the Academic Freedom train:
Books explaining how smaller Arab brains contribute to animal-like mentality, complete with diagrams comparing the size of Arab brains to European brains. Killing Arabs isn't REALLY like killing human beings, more like cattle.
It's academic freedom, right? No voice can be silenced, even the neurotic psychopaths get their limelight... right?
You don't care about Academic Freedom; at be honest about it. You are fighting a propaganda war - less successfully that pro-Zionist forces - and there is nothing wrong with that. Just don't clothe yourself in the mantle of "academic freedom", before someone decides to test your commitment to it.
"one state based on equality between Israelis and Palestinians as the basis for peace"
Are you still too dense to realize that this will result in anything BUT peace. Until you, or anyone else for that matter, can explain why this one state idea business is a practicable and workable idea, it's just more hot air and nonsense from those living cushy lives in America trying to speak for those that don't. I mean, we all saw what happened with Fatah and Hamas this Summer, so I'm sure putting everyone all together under one state will work wonders and peace will spread throughout the land. Someone. Please. Explain why the fuck this one state "solution" would ever work?
Oooh, oooh, I have an explanation!
Oooh, call on me, oooh oooh, call on me.
Ok. Here's my explanation why this one state business is a practical and workable idea:
South Africa.
They had the history of violence between Blacks and Whites, the terrorism, the violence between various Black parties, the extreme and sudden politico-demographic change.
Looking at South Africa and Israel in 1980, or comparing South Africa in 1980 to Israel and the occupied territories today, a _much_ more compelling argument could have been made that a one state solution would have been impractical and unworkable in South Africa than Israel.
It looks like that argument would have been vapid and that one state solutions are generally the answer to remove ethnicity-based political structures.
Jim-crow Alabama is another example of ethnicity-based political arrangement that was broken in a one-state context.
I guess that's one way to do it, although I'm not a fan of transcribing political arrangements (like the ones made in SA) on a very different and distinct geopolitical reality.
South Africa was not born in war between two or more indigenous forces, as in the case of the formation of Israel. In addition, the white makeup of South Africa was much much smaller than the black population. Excluding the Palestinian Diaspora, Jews outnumber Palestinians from the Mediterranean to the Jordan river.
Furthermore, it is not at all clear that the change which has occurred in South Africa is for the better. Instead of wealthy white people practicing apartheid and living in walled communities, now they have wealthy black people practicing apartheid and living in walled communities. The economy of Africa's southern powerhouse was crippled for a decade, forcing poverty on millions and destroying the health services, leading to untold deaths and the spread of diseases (such as AIDS).
South Africa was never in danger of external invasion, while Israel was historically under threat of attack by three neighboring Arab states - Syria, Jordan and Egypt - and unconventional attack by Iraq, Iran, and GCC states.
As for why as one state solution would work, I don't think there are any guarantees that it will. I think mutual self-interest should guide Jews and Palestinians towards a national framework. As a Jew, I refuse to secede the right to live on land that constitutes the legal boundaries of the Kingdom of Israel. There is simply no option to dismiss the connection and deep relationship between Jews and this land.
Does this mean I want to wipe out or ethnically cleanse the Palestinians to achieve what I believe? No, of course not. I think that Palestinian terrorist elements need to be dealt with brutally, once and for all. There can be no peace when a few thugs with guns and bombs are given a veto to destroy any agreement.
At the same time, the rule of law must apply to Palestinian ownership of land, and in all other areas. Civil services - water, sanitation, roads... good governance - should be rolled over into the West Bank. The process of integrating Palestinians living in the West Bank with Israel proper may and should take decades. You cannot snap your fingers and undo 60 years of war.
Village by village should be brought under Israeli law, and infrastructure built to incorporate those villages into the nation, in every conceivable way, from funding for schools to voting rights, army service, etc.
Many writers on this blog, and indeed, many Palestinians, complain bitterly about the lack of fairness and equality in Israel's judicial system and overall government policy. These issues should be solved, but they will not be solved overnight. You cannot legislate thought and morality, and this goes for Palestinians as well. I think it will take decades to purge Marxist and Islamist propaganda from the Palestinian mindset. Furthermore there are still remnants of millennial-old traditions of treating Jews as an underclass. It is important to create a process that addresses these issues as they arise.
Here in America it's been 40 years since Jim Crow laws, and we are still evolving, still addressing issues of inequality. There is not an instant fix to everything. What is necessary is a long term commitment to participate in solving injustice, not a short term commitment to decry it.
If taken slowly, methodically and with a clear outline available for all to see, from beginning to the conclusion, I think a unification of Judea and Samaria with with coastal plain can bring peace to this country and is as viable as the current state of perpetual war, if not more so.
No doubt the Palestinians here think me racist or selfish for wanting a one state to satisfy my own narrow Jewish interests. You don't need to trust my good will. This is the beauty of a democracy - different (even ideologically opposed interests) can coexist and form a consensus. Perhaps you support a one state solution for another reason. The point is that we don't need to affirm and agree with each other's moral values or self-interests. It is the balance of our interests that will create a healthy, free and peaceful democratic society, so long as we don't resort to violence.
This will be my last comment on KabobFest. I enjoyed the week or so I spent here and wish everyone the best. Love mail can be addressed to kabobalmakshouf@gmail.com ;)
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