"Wouldn’t it be a better idea to protest against Hamas — and for a political process where Palestinians might get the power to choose different leaders and a different future for themselves?"
Amazing questions that I would hope that the leaders and faculty of our finest Universities can ask themselves and understand that the way to move forward is through this type of dialogue. Some of the most damaging folks on the lawn I feel are also supported and funded by "others" that they have never and will never know directly.. very sad what will become of the future for these young people.
Here were my questions for them,, which I posted as a (very) long FB status update:
1) Is there any other country that you feel doesn’t have a right to exist? Literally, any other country in the world that you would describe as “illegal”?
2) You constantly accuse Israel of committing genocide. Is there any other country on the planet against which you make a similar claim? Are you aware of what Russia is doing in Ukraine, and do you know anything about what it did in Bucha? Are you aware of any how many Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular died in the Syrian civil war? Did you protest at all over what has been going on for years in Sudan and Yemen, or do you only get agitated when you can blame Jews?
3) You constantly repeat Hamas talking points, including/especially its claims regarding civilian casualties. Why do you accept its numbers but completely dismiss any numbers from Israel?
4) You scream repeatedly that you want a “ceasefire now”. Are you aware that there was a ceasefire in effect until the morning of October 7th, and Hamas has broken every ceasefire agreement that was in place? Does that matter at all to you? Are you honest enough to admit that it’s really only Israel which you want to “cease firing”, and that you’re perfectly fine if Hamas continues to lob rocket after rocket at Israel, and that what happened on October 7th didn’t bother you at all?
5) What should happen to the remaining hostages that Hamas is holding, and has been holding for over six months now? Should Israel just forget about them?
6) What SHOULD Israel have done after October 7th? No country on the planet would accept what happened that day without responding.
7) You keep referring to Israel as a “settler/colonial” project. Colony of which country/ies? Where do you think the Jewish people came from?
8 ) I’m giving you a magic wand: You can erase Israel from the map. Where are the approximately 8,000,000 Jews who live there going to go? Judging by your protests here in the west, I think that we can safely assume that you don’t want them where you live. So, where should they go?
9) You claim that the Jewish people are not actually from Israel and therefore, have no right to be there. You’re parading around streets/campuses in North America screaming just that. Are you Native American? If not, how did you get here? Are you prepared to immediately go back to the country/ies where your ancestors originated?
10) You claim to not hate Jews, and that’s it’s only “Zionists” and/or Israelis who you dislike, but your protests are full of signs comparing Jews to Nazis and singing the praises of Hamas, an organization which has called for Jews worldwide to be wiped out. How do you reconcile those positions?
11) Not long ago, many of you were out on the streets, protesting that we should believe women when they claimed that they were raped and assaulted, a position with which I agree entirely, BTW. Yet, when Israeli women make that claim, you shout it down and/or deny that it even happened. Admittedly, some of you will concede that it happened, but then you follow it up with a claim that it was “justified”. Why is it “justified” only when Israeli women are the victims?
I have questions. If your pro Palestinian does that mean you're for Hamas? Didn't Netanyahu say he wanted to commit genocide? He's a maggot, therefore a liar. Don't the Israelis want him gone? When someone is anti-Semitic are they against Jews or against Arabs? The Canaanites include the Palestinians and the Jews and are just part of one of the two major groups of semites in the world, the northern and southern semites. It was Jacob's 12 sons that created Israel and the 12 tribes consisted of all kinds of people, including Palestinians and Jews. Israel got its name cuz God decided to call Jacob Israel. It's name is Canaan
You answered not a single one of my questions, but I'll answer yours. 1) No, of course not, being pro-Palestinian does not necessarily mean one is pro-Hamas. The two can and often do overlap, but not always. 2) Tell me when he said that. I can't stand Netanyahu, but I would ask you to show me when he said that. 3) Antisemitism is hatred of Jews. Period. The term "antisemitism" came from German journalist Wilhelm Marr in 1879 to describe hatred or hostility toward Jews. 4) No, that is absolutely false. The term "Palestine" was not even used until the Romans captured what had been previously called Judea, and it was done to erase the Jewish connection to the land. 5) False. There was no such ethnic group as Palestinians back then. A simple review of both the Old and New Testaments will confirm this (as an aside, Palestine is also not mentioned in the Koran). That being said, I would absolutely concede that Palestinians DO constitute an ethnic group today. 6) Not sure what your point is here. You seem to be starting off with a false premise, which is that Palestinians existed in Israel at the same time as or possibly even before Jews. That is not correct. Further, all 12 of the ancient tribes were Jewish.
So then why does everybody go nuts when somebody says they don't like zionists. There's a big difference between zionists and Jews. I read that he said that. I didn't see it in real time, but I'll tell you I am not happy about Israel's attitudes towards the Palestinians. Go find the 10 last tribes and tell me all of them are Jewish. What they were was all Jacob's sons as heads of state. I'm sure lots of Palestinians ancestors were there. Besides Muhammad there's not much of a difference between Arabs and Jews. Of course I know there was no ethnic group of Palestinians. They were part of the Canaanites which was part of the northern group of semites. Semites is the ethnic group. Would you separate dark blacks from light blacks and say that one of them was not an ethnic group way back when. God what are you the Jewish version of Christians who claim America was founded on Christianity?
1) You still haven't answered even one of my questions.
2) Over 80% of all Jews support Israel (i.e., they are "Zionists"). When someone says that they "don't like Zionists", what they are basically saying is that they don't like the vast majority of Jews.
3) Again, I'm not a Netanyahu fan and wish that someone else was Israel's Prime Minister. But, I'll give you some credit for admitting that you have no proof that Netanyahu ever said anything like you accused him of saying.
4) Your source about this belief that not all of the 12 Tribes were Jewish is?
5) I looked at Encyclopedia Britannica as my primary source for my answers to your questions. What is your source for your belief that "I'm sure lots of Palestinians ancestors were there"?
6) You are redefining Semite to suit your political argument. However, and to repeat my earlier point, Antisemitism is hatred of Jews.
7) No, I don't believe that "America was founded on Christianity". However, that is utterly irrelevant to what I asked, and it doesn't even relate to your original questions.
8) I would add that approximately 20% of the population of Israel is Arab. Arabs serve on the Israeli parliament as well as in its defense forces. I'll bet that while many of them undoubtedly sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians, they would under no circumstances leave Israel to live in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, or any other country in the Middle East.
9) It seems clear, however, that you can't/won't answer anything that I asked, so I don't see any point to us interacting any further. If you want to block me, that's fine, or I can just block you.
Reasonable questions- but these are not reasonable young people at Columbia or anywhere else that are attacking Jews. These groups stopping traffic are not reasonable either. The "squad" are not reasonable people either. They are all genocidal.
So while your professorial questions might elicit some responses from some of the student protestors, most of whom, I am sure, can't even find Gaza on a map, those "outside agitators" and the "professors" and "student organizers" know full well they are calling for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from their ancestral homeland and revel in it.
And yes while the protestors are a fraction of the student body at these schools, the issue isn't the students, it's the administrations and their inability to actually adult. Actions have consequences. There should be huge consequences for these students and their professors. The administrations that are doing nothing to protect their Jewish students (Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Northwestern) from the modern day brown shirts also need to be held accountable and lose their jobs.
Amazing questions that I would hope that the leaders and faculty of our finest Universities can ask themselves and understand that the way to move forward is through this type of dialogue. Some of the most damaging folks on the lawn I feel are also supported and funded by "others" that they have never and will never know directly.. very sad what will become of the future for these young people.
Susie, thank you, my friend. Means a ton. 💙
Thank you for all that you do MG!
Here were my questions for them,, which I posted as a (very) long FB status update:
1) Is there any other country that you feel doesn’t have a right to exist? Literally, any other country in the world that you would describe as “illegal”?
2) You constantly accuse Israel of committing genocide. Is there any other country on the planet against which you make a similar claim? Are you aware of what Russia is doing in Ukraine, and do you know anything about what it did in Bucha? Are you aware of any how many Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular died in the Syrian civil war? Did you protest at all over what has been going on for years in Sudan and Yemen, or do you only get agitated when you can blame Jews?
3) You constantly repeat Hamas talking points, including/especially its claims regarding civilian casualties. Why do you accept its numbers but completely dismiss any numbers from Israel?
4) You scream repeatedly that you want a “ceasefire now”. Are you aware that there was a ceasefire in effect until the morning of October 7th, and Hamas has broken every ceasefire agreement that was in place? Does that matter at all to you? Are you honest enough to admit that it’s really only Israel which you want to “cease firing”, and that you’re perfectly fine if Hamas continues to lob rocket after rocket at Israel, and that what happened on October 7th didn’t bother you at all?
5) What should happen to the remaining hostages that Hamas is holding, and has been holding for over six months now? Should Israel just forget about them?
6) What SHOULD Israel have done after October 7th? No country on the planet would accept what happened that day without responding.
7) You keep referring to Israel as a “settler/colonial” project. Colony of which country/ies? Where do you think the Jewish people came from?
8 ) I’m giving you a magic wand: You can erase Israel from the map. Where are the approximately 8,000,000 Jews who live there going to go? Judging by your protests here in the west, I think that we can safely assume that you don’t want them where you live. So, where should they go?
9) You claim that the Jewish people are not actually from Israel and therefore, have no right to be there. You’re parading around streets/campuses in North America screaming just that. Are you Native American? If not, how did you get here? Are you prepared to immediately go back to the country/ies where your ancestors originated?
10) You claim to not hate Jews, and that’s it’s only “Zionists” and/or Israelis who you dislike, but your protests are full of signs comparing Jews to Nazis and singing the praises of Hamas, an organization which has called for Jews worldwide to be wiped out. How do you reconcile those positions?
11) Not long ago, many of you were out on the streets, protesting that we should believe women when they claimed that they were raped and assaulted, a position with which I agree entirely, BTW. Yet, when Israeli women make that claim, you shout it down and/or deny that it even happened. Admittedly, some of you will concede that it happened, but then you follow it up with a claim that it was “justified”. Why is it “justified” only when Israeli women are the victims?
I have questions. If your pro Palestinian does that mean you're for Hamas? Didn't Netanyahu say he wanted to commit genocide? He's a maggot, therefore a liar. Don't the Israelis want him gone? When someone is anti-Semitic are they against Jews or against Arabs? The Canaanites include the Palestinians and the Jews and are just part of one of the two major groups of semites in the world, the northern and southern semites. It was Jacob's 12 sons that created Israel and the 12 tribes consisted of all kinds of people, including Palestinians and Jews. Israel got its name cuz God decided to call Jacob Israel. It's name is Canaan
You answered not a single one of my questions, but I'll answer yours. 1) No, of course not, being pro-Palestinian does not necessarily mean one is pro-Hamas. The two can and often do overlap, but not always. 2) Tell me when he said that. I can't stand Netanyahu, but I would ask you to show me when he said that. 3) Antisemitism is hatred of Jews. Period. The term "antisemitism" came from German journalist Wilhelm Marr in 1879 to describe hatred or hostility toward Jews. 4) No, that is absolutely false. The term "Palestine" was not even used until the Romans captured what had been previously called Judea, and it was done to erase the Jewish connection to the land. 5) False. There was no such ethnic group as Palestinians back then. A simple review of both the Old and New Testaments will confirm this (as an aside, Palestine is also not mentioned in the Koran). That being said, I would absolutely concede that Palestinians DO constitute an ethnic group today. 6) Not sure what your point is here. You seem to be starting off with a false premise, which is that Palestinians existed in Israel at the same time as or possibly even before Jews. That is not correct. Further, all 12 of the ancient tribes were Jewish.
History and the truth favors no one
So then why does everybody go nuts when somebody says they don't like zionists. There's a big difference between zionists and Jews. I read that he said that. I didn't see it in real time, but I'll tell you I am not happy about Israel's attitudes towards the Palestinians. Go find the 10 last tribes and tell me all of them are Jewish. What they were was all Jacob's sons as heads of state. I'm sure lots of Palestinians ancestors were there. Besides Muhammad there's not much of a difference between Arabs and Jews. Of course I know there was no ethnic group of Palestinians. They were part of the Canaanites which was part of the northern group of semites. Semites is the ethnic group. Would you separate dark blacks from light blacks and say that one of them was not an ethnic group way back when. God what are you the Jewish version of Christians who claim America was founded on Christianity?
1) You still haven't answered even one of my questions.
2) Over 80% of all Jews support Israel (i.e., they are "Zionists"). When someone says that they "don't like Zionists", what they are basically saying is that they don't like the vast majority of Jews.
3) Again, I'm not a Netanyahu fan and wish that someone else was Israel's Prime Minister. But, I'll give you some credit for admitting that you have no proof that Netanyahu ever said anything like you accused him of saying.
4) Your source about this belief that not all of the 12 Tribes were Jewish is?
5) I looked at Encyclopedia Britannica as my primary source for my answers to your questions. What is your source for your belief that "I'm sure lots of Palestinians ancestors were there"?
6) You are redefining Semite to suit your political argument. However, and to repeat my earlier point, Antisemitism is hatred of Jews.
7) No, I don't believe that "America was founded on Christianity". However, that is utterly irrelevant to what I asked, and it doesn't even relate to your original questions.
8) I would add that approximately 20% of the population of Israel is Arab. Arabs serve on the Israeli parliament as well as in its defense forces. I'll bet that while many of them undoubtedly sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians, they would under no circumstances leave Israel to live in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, or any other country in the Middle East.
9) It seems clear, however, that you can't/won't answer anything that I asked, so I don't see any point to us interacting any further. If you want to block me, that's fine, or I can just block you.
Reasonable questions- but these are not reasonable young people at Columbia or anywhere else that are attacking Jews. These groups stopping traffic are not reasonable either. The "squad" are not reasonable people either. They are all genocidal.
So while your professorial questions might elicit some responses from some of the student protestors, most of whom, I am sure, can't even find Gaza on a map, those "outside agitators" and the "professors" and "student organizers" know full well they are calling for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from their ancestral homeland and revel in it.
And yes while the protestors are a fraction of the student body at these schools, the issue isn't the students, it's the administrations and their inability to actually adult. Actions have consequences. There should be huge consequences for these students and their professors. The administrations that are doing nothing to protect their Jewish students (Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Northwestern) from the modern day brown shirts also need to be held accountable and lose their jobs.
Far too many smart ideas.
I absolutely adore this. Thanks for stating the reasonable questions, reasonably. I do hope some will share their responses. Fantastic questions.
One person did (see above), sort of..........
Lovin’ that name though …
Love these questions. Can we get them to a News anchor to read?
Many thanks, Reuben!!