# Posted 10:40 AM by Ariel David Adesnik  

RHODES SCHOLAR IGNORES PALESTINIAN TERROR: I received the following message on the Rhodes Scholars' e-mail list this morning:

Dear Friends,

As some of you may already know, this weekend saw another Israeli incursion into Palestinian territories, leaving 14 dead (including 4 children) and over 50 wounded in what the Israeli army is calling a "pin-point operation." While killings like this are all-too frequent, they are set against the backdrop of a 37-year-long military occupation that has been condemned by the UN, International Red Cross and Crescent, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and a vast majority of the world community. Most recently, this occupation has taken the form of a physical wall that is even now being used to encircle Palestinians and further limit their dreams of a nation-state. The Jewish-only bypass roads will remain in place, only now they will be diverted so as to avoid the ghettos in which Palestinians will be imprisoned on their own land.

I am writing to all of you because, at the threshold to the second century of Rhodes Scholar history, we face an important ethical moment, and I would like to call upon us all to face that moment with all the moral fortitude with which we, as a global community, saw the downfall of apartheid. Not only are the histories related in light of Israel's arms dealings with South Africa in the face of an international embargo against the apartheid state, but the creation of bantustan-like Palestinian ghettos and the systematic disenfranchisement of that entire nation also speak their own truths. It is no longer enough for us to congratulate ourselves on the marriage of the Rhodes Trust and Nelson Mandela. We must speak out when we see the Israelis perpetrating the same crimes we now feel safe in criticizing South Africa for having committed for nearly half a century. President Mandela has long spoken out against Israel's ilegal occupation of Palestine, even calling for military resistance
against the Israelis in the name of an independent Palestinian state.

I would like to invite all of my colleagues and friends in the Rhodes community to write to me privately, so that we may discuss the eventual creation of a Rhodes Scholars Palestine Forum. A multiplicity of political beliefs and ideas is welcome; only a desire to see a free and peaceful Palestinian state is required. I look forward to meeting and discussing this historical crisis with each of you. Thank you for your consideration. Until then, I am --

Truly yours,
C.H.

In response to Mr. H's e-mail, I sent a message back to the list that read as follows:

Dear Friends,

As some of you may already know, February 22nd saw another suicide bombing in Jerusalem that targeted innocent men, women and children. While killings like this are all-too frequent, they are set against the backdrop of a 56-year-long record of terrorist attacks against the state and citizens of Israel, the first and oldest democracy in the Middle East.

Most recently, this terrorism has taken the form of repeated suicide bombings intentionally designed to slaughter as many civilians as possible. The victims are Arabs as well as Israelis, Muslims as well as Jews. In an effort to negotiate peace, the State of Israel offered the Palestinian people their own state on their own land -- including more than 90% of the territory in the West Bank and Gaza. However, the Palestinian Authority rejected this offer and launched a second wave of violent attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. With little hope left for a negotiated peace, Israel has chosen to construct a physical wall to protect its citizens from unceasing attack.

I am writing to all of you because, at the threshold to the second century of Rhodes Scholar history, we face an important ethical moment, and I would like to call upon us all to face that moment with all the moral fortitude with which we, as a global community, saw the downfall of the Taliban/Al Qaeda regime in Afghanistan. Not only are the histories related in light of Al Qaeda's murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children in New York and Washington, but both Al Qaeda and Fatah and Hamas are driven by the same radical anti-Semitic ideology of hatred that condones murder in the name of God.

It is no longer enough for us to congratulate ourselves on the marriage of the Rhodes Trust and Nelson Mandela. We must speak out when we see Palestinian organizations committing the same crimes they have committed for more than half century -- since long before the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. President Mandela has long spoken out against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, even calling for military resistance against the Israelis in the name of an independent Palestinian state. As a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mandela's one-sided criticism of the State of Israel is shameful and hypocritical. As the author of a peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa, Mandela should be also support peace and freedom in the Middle East.

I would like to invite all of my colleagues and friends in the Rhodes community to write to me privately (and cc: C.H.), so that we may discuss the eventual creation of a Rhodes Scholars Arab-Israeli Peace Forum. A multiplicity of political beliefs and ideas is welcome; only a desire to see a true and lasting peace in the Middle East is desired. I look forward to meeting and discussing this historical crisis with each of you. Thank you for your consideration. Until then, I am --

Truly yours,
David

(0) opinions -- Add your opinion