Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.
In his editorial last Friday “American Discourse Distorts Gaza Conflict,” Charlie Price characterizes supporters of Israel as either an “inadequate or crafty storyteller” or “a duped or vulgar propagandist.” As a supporter of Israel, I may be one or all of these things. Perhaps Price or the readership of the Wheel can help me sort these things out. Possibly, it is my experience that has converted me into a vulgar propagandist, in that I am opposing Price’s narrative of “Hamas good, Israel bad.”
During the summer of 2014, two of my sons and I were in Israel. I was working on cancer research, my oldest son Ethan was doing an internship in counterterrorism, and my middle son Adam was attending a high school program in Israel. Three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped on orders of a Hamas operative named al-Arouri living in Turkey. Apparently, the purpose of the kidnapping was to boost Hamas credibility in areas outside of Gaza, to give them “street credit.”
Tragically, the teenagers were murdered. My son Ethan attended their funeral, and I visited the house of mourning of Naftali Frenkel, a dual Israeli-American citizen. Hamas soon started firing rockets. My middle son Adam watched as Iron Dome took down a Hamas missile over his school. Had the missile hit Adam’s school killing large numbers of American teens, it would have been regarded as a great victory for Hamas. Candy would be passed out by kids on the street of Gaza.
Operation Defensive Edge did cause civilian casualties in Gaza. No army as yet has been successful in minimizing civilian casu- alties to zero. As opposed to the reaction in Gaza whenever Jews are killed (because no Jew is a civilian), there is no joy over Gazan civilian casualties. Civilian casualties are inevitable when schools, hospitals and UN shelters are used as missile depots. Hamas general headquarters is the basement of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and the UN allowed Hamas missiles to be stored in shelters.
I suspect Price knows all of this, but doesn’t want these inconvenient facts to spoil the narrative of “Hamas good, Israel bad.” Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has sent the U.S. military to learn from Israel how to minimize civilian casualties in urban warfare. Forbes has ranked Hamas the second wealthiest terrorist organization in the world, just behind ISIS and ahead of Hezbollah.
The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, has had his daughter, sister, granddaughter and mother-in-law obtain medical care in Israeli hospitals, despite the fact that Hamas wants Israel eliminated. When I visited Chaim Sheba Hospital in 2010, I learned that it is the leading provider of dialysis to patients from Gaza. The sister of Abu Marzouk, another Hamas leader, is having her cancer treated in Israeli hospitals.
I have been watching the anti-Israel scene since before Price was born, and can offer some observations. First, he is late to the party, which will make it more difficult to stand out. Second, there is a unique property about being an anti-Israel activist. It takes over your life, like an itch that requires more and more vigorous scratching to obtain relief. I can spend most of my time doing cancer research and treating patients, and just a fraction of my time generating “vulgar propaganda.”
As an example, an anti-Israel activist, Max Blumenthal, was found chasing a German politician into the restroom, attacking him for not being anti-Israel. This episode has been labeled “Toiletgate” in the German media. Finally, who is the unseen hand that Price implies that is preventing discourse in America?
– Jack Arbiser, Thomas J. Lawley Professor of Dermatology, Emory University School of Medicine, Winship Cancer Institute
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
There are two basic camps of Muslims and their supporters like Price:
~ the “jihadist”, who wants to hack our heads off.
~ the “moderate”, perfectly content with the jihadist hacking our heads off.
That is absolutely incredibly racist and bigoted.
The following is true whether you want to deny it, or not…
While Israelis laud their scientists, their artists, their
doctors and multiple Nobel Prize nominees and recipients, Palestinians have a
long and ignominious tradition of extolling the virtues of those who commit
mass murder, slaughter innocents on buses and hijack
commercial airliners. Public squares and streets are named after
them and their children are taught to emulate them. The contrast between
Israeli and Palestinian society could not be starker. One society celebrates
and encourages progress and life while the other has morphed itself into a
death cult, steeped in perverted traits that are an anathema to Western
civilization.
Stop exalting ‘Western civilization,’ your comment comes dangerously close to drawing unjust distinctions between the ‘savage’ and ‘civilized,’ a type of discourse we all know from history only leads to (and has actually perpetuated in this specific situation) terrible, terrible things.
Good point…we should roll over for the Islamists just as Europe did for Hitler.
Or,
There is nothing wrong in criticizing
Islam. It is not “hate speech.” Religion is a philosophy and set of
beliefs that are just as open to scrutiny as any text by Plato or Kant.
Religion should be discussed, reformed when needed, and certainly criticized if people wish to do so.
Or,
When Christian’s reformed they went back to the
scriptures rather than keep them from the people. Islam is reforming, when the read the Qu’ran they are doing what it commands. Reformation in Islam is dangerous.
Or,
As for tolerance – the only tolerance they are being
taught – is that others tolerate their intolerance!
Or,
The enemy is now within the gate. The jihadists are beheading
Americans in their places of work. Apologists for evil cannot discern what is happening. Their moral vision is based on prejudice and a priori thought rather than an understanding of foundational Islam and Islamic history.
Or,
I can think of some contributions made by Muslims:
1) The discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. He and other explorers
would not have looked for a western trade route had Muslim marauders not made
the eastern route unsafe.
2) Enhanced airport security techniques, developed to help foil Muslim
hijackers.
3) Drone technology, developed at least partially for pinpoint strikes on
jihadists.
4) Anti-missile technology like Iron Dome, developed with Israel to protect
from terrorist rockets.
These are just of few of their valuable contributions. Thank you, Muslims.
@sjoglekar: Hamas is barbaric and savage. I think we can all agree that Islamic extremism is savage, medieval, and backwards. Have you seen these disgustin human beings passing candy out in the streets, actually CELEBRATING the meat-cleaver slaughter of Rabbis in Jerusalem yesterday? Palestinian society in general has savage elements – their textbooks teach children to hate, their leaders vehemently oppose the very existence of the Jewish state, and their leaders also perpetuate lies and blood libel propaganda.
Dr. Arbiser: kudos and I am so glad you wrote that. Criticism of Israel is not in itself anti-Semitic. But holding Israel to a different standard and singling it out for special criticism in the face of its continuing battle against Islamic extremism and terrorism is anti-Semitic. And I’m glad you called out Price for the ignoramus he is.
Bravo!
For every Naftali Frenkel there are THOUSANDS of Palestinians. every jewish death makes international headlines, and every Palestinian death is disregarded as a stupid statistic. Sorry but one side is clearly bullying the other and then getting upset when the victim tries every effort to stand up for itself.
Modern Muslims have religious conflict with: Hindus in Kashmir;
Christians in Nigeria, Egypt, and Bosnia; atheists in Chechnya; Baha’is in
Iran; Animists in Darfur; Buddhists in Thailand; each other in Iraq, Pakistan,
Somalia, and Yemen; Jews in Israel; Why is Islam involved in more sectarian and
religious conflicts than any other religion today? In fact, why is Islam the
only religion in conflict with every single one of today’s major world
religions?
But you think belligerent pugnacious Islam has legitimate grievances in this
constant conflict, and that, for example in Palestine, Islam is just defending
its own reasonable interests?
No, not at bottom. At bottom what we have in Islam is a violent,
expansionist totalitarianism. That’s why Islam is in conflict all over the
world with every other religion.
So is Judaism. There is a reason people have hated Jewish people for so long, they refuse to integrate into society.
So in your book killing Jews be it during the Spanish Inquisition, or the Crusades, or the Roman conquests, or during the Holocaust was all the Jews fault for not integrating, eh?
Well if that ain’t the stupidest phuking thing I’ve ever heard.
That is exactly what I’m saying. Why, out of all the peoples in the world are the Jews always targeted? Even blacks have almost fully integrated into most societies in the world and they were definitely the most oppressed group.
So Buddhists integrated into societies? Is that right?
And Animists, they too integrated into societies? Is that right?
And Mennonites, Amish? Yeah right.
It’s likely Jews are hated not because they do not integrate so much as they excel and make morons like you feel dumb as dirt.
Calling Jews superior is a little bit like Hitler calling Aryans superior isn’t it. Your ideals are literally Hitlers. That is so ironic.
So let me get this straight…Are you denying the reality that generally speaking Jews do excel? Are you conflating that with them being like Hitler?
I am trying to understand your logic and have not spent any time in psych hospitals so please understand my difficulty in doing so.