All For the Palestinians Stand Up and Holler!

Originally posted on American Thinker at americanthinker.com

Ah, spring is in the air. Time for the annual tradition of Israel Apartheid Week spreading across college campuses. UC Berkeley recently held an Israel Apartheid Week, sponsored by the Students for Justice in Palestine and supported by the Muslim Student Association. Immediately following Israel Apartheid Week the ASUC, the student senate at UC Berkeley, voted in favor of Bill 118: A Bill in Support of UC Divestment from War Crimes. Citing the "occupation" and “war crimes” committed by Israel the ASUC approved to divest funds from G.E. and United Technologies, which materially and militarily support Israel. Seems as if the ASUC tore a page out of the SJP playbook, which calls for college students to help punish the "Apartheid State of Israel" by demanding that their schools divest financial assets from companies doing business in Israel.

After ASUC president Will Smelko vetoed the bill, the ASUC met on April 14 to overturn his veto. Needing 14 votes, the meeting lasted until dawn ending with 13 votes and one abstention. For now, the vote has been tabled. Rachel Horning, a 19 year-old sophomore at UC Berkeley, has been elected to serve next year on the ASUC. Although not an official part of the vote, she did participate in the 10 hour-long debate before the vote. Horning is quick to point out that she desires the Middle-East conflict to end favorably for both sides, but she says, "The decisions made by a group of 18-22 year-olds regarding age-old politics has no place within the ASUC." Also, pointing out a glaring problem with the bill, Horning says, "The ASUC has no investments in either companies listed in the bill, and hasn't since 2008, thus proving that this bill is more of a symbolic jab at the Jewish community at Cal, than an actual call for boycott.”

I applaud Horning for recognizing the ASUC’s attempt to "armchair quarterback" from their campus. As Netanyahu once said, "Israel's security needs naturally look different from the banks of the Potomac than from the banks of Jordan." The ASUC states that they are armed with facts justifying their stance. Yet their facts are gathered from organizations with a long history of bias against Israel: the United Nations with its piece de resistance the Goldstone Report, The International Red Cross, the Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International (which recently announced the condoning of jihad "when done in self-defense"). Which brings us to the million-dollar question to ask the ASUC: What about Israel's right to self-defense? But, realistically, why should college students consider the conflict from Israel's point of view when world leaders don't?

President Carter and Mandela propagate "Israeli Apartheid." College students are just following their example. When Hamas claims it's message is reaching the White House, why should it come as a surprise that it is reaching college campuses too? When the "hip" president so quickly turns against Israel, why wouldn't it be "en vogue" for college students to turn against Israel? The list continues to grow of colleges hosting events which are blatantly anti-Israel. On the campus of UC Irvine, the poster-school for anti-Semitism, Hamas and Hezbollah are openly celebrated, supported, and allegedly funded by students. During one event at UC Irvine, speaker Malik-Ali who openly speaks of jihad, was challenged by a Jew in the audience and responded by saying, "If history is any indication, there will be peace when you are gone." Malik-Ali has also been a guest speaker at UC Berkeley.

Meredith Weiss, president of Fuel for Truth, which disseminates truth about Israel among the college-age demographic, sees firsthand the growing climate of anti-Semitism on college campuses. "There is a new anti-Semitism, and it has found its way to our campuses. This is one of the new fronts in what's called 'stealth jihad.'" Is Weiss an alarmist or a realist? Are groups such as the MSA, with whom one of the ASUC members lists as a "liaison," just garden variety college clubs, or do they in any form or fashion support jihad?

The MSA, which now has 150 chapters on college campuses in the US, was founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The MSA Starter’s Guide: A Guide on How to Run a Successful MSA states, “It should be the long-term goal of every MSA to Islamicize the politics of their respective university. Aim to rise within the ranks of the union and to get on selected executive committees.” Sounds harmless enough. Brotherhood. Run for office. Until one realizes what the Muslim Brotherhood is.

The Muslim Brotherhood has provided the ideological foundation for all modern Sunni Islamic terrorist groups. When discussing Hamas, al Qaeda and Islamic Jihad, Richard Clarke, former national coordinator for security and counter-terrorism, stated in October 2003 testimony before a Senate committee: “The common link here is the extremist Muslim Brotherhood - all of these organizations are descendants of the membership and ideology of the Muslim Brothers.” Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the architect of 9/11, was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. In a memorandum by the Muslim Brotherhood on the "General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America,” their mission was to establish "an effective and stable Islamic Movement" in America. It stated that Muslims "must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within." The Brotherhood listed some 29 like-minded organizations seeking to realize the same goal. The MSA made the list.

Am I accusing the ASUC of being involved in jihad? Absolutely not. Is it safe to assume that college students are being influenced by groups that are involved in jihad? Absolutely. When members of Fuel for Truth speak to college students, Weiss describes their reactions, “Scores of students are shocked to learn that speakers Muslim groups have invited to campuses in the past were later arrested by the FBI in connection with terrorist groups.” Post 9/11 investigations have exposed multiple Muslim organizations in America which, to put it mildly, don't have America's or Israel's best interest in mind. With a president who encourages the public to bury their heads in the sand regarding radical Islam and jihad, it has become the responsibility of groups like Fuel for Truth to educate the generation who will move from being in college senates to being in the U.S. Senate.

The Berkeley senate denies that their actions are anti-Semitic. They also officially state that they are not “taking sides,” yet the very title of Bill 118 indicts Israel of war crimes. A bit of an oxymoron. Goldstone would be proud. Zak Meyers, at Fuel for Truth, so aptly reminds us, "At the end of the day, Thomas Friedman said it best: 'Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle-East is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest.'"

To stand against Israel's right to defend itself, is to stand against Israel's right to existence. To stand against Israel's right to existence, is to stand against Zionism. To stand against Zionism, is to stand against the Jews. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews - make no mistake about it." Bill 118 is anti-Semitic to its very core - make no mistake about it.

Camie Davis © 2010