Tonight I had the misfortune to attend the inaugural Palestine Society event here in Oxford. I went with Sapan and Jonathan out of a mixture of open mindedness and intellectual curiosity. What I heard and saw genuinely shocked me. Ive heard a lot in my time but this was by far the worst event I have ever attended. I can only describe it as a two hour hate fest of the variety described in George Orwells 1984. It went from the downright idiotic to the explicitly anti-Semitic - and often both. Luckily we have video evidence which will be uploaded shortly in the next couple of days. I heard a girl complain about the evils of Zionist control in her native America - she even attacked Zionists for controlling the make up she wore! No one challenged this girls delusions: they only reassured her that fighting Zionism must remain paramount. I heard numerous people glorify the right of the resistance and reject non-violent tactics, even including an Oxford academic on the panel (Karma Nabulsi). I had a question of my own. I read to the panel a quotation from John Molyneux, a theorist from the Socialist Workers Party; To put the matter as starkly as possible: from the standpoint of Marxism and international socialism an illiterate, conservative, superstitious Muslim Palestinian peasant who supports Hamas is more progressive than an educated liberal atheist Israeli who supports Zionism (even critically). I then added - I’d be interested to know what the members of the panel think about this mode of analysis. Do they support what I consider to be a totally irrational – and dangerous – position? Not only did the panelists evade my question - Avi Shlaim, Karma Nabulsi and Barnaby Raine - to my horror, they actually agreed with its sentiment. Mr Raine, a student at Wadham College and a student activist, mocked me by saying that anyone would stand up for the oppressed against an oppressor. It should also be noted that Mr Raine noticeably hesitated when I put up my hand - he looked everywhere around the room before reluctantly taking my question. This person excuses the most morally reprehensible actions. He practically fetishises totalitarianism. It got worse. Near the end of the talk, a local PSC activist defended Molyneuxs remarks by arguing that hed rather be a Medieval, backward Chassidic Jew in the Warsaw Ghetto than a cultured German in a Nazi uniform. A sizable proportion of the room - hundreds of people - applauded this awful anti-Semitic distortion of history and trivialization of the Holocaust . I am aware this status is long and most students couldnt care less about student politics. However, I think its important that all students know that here, in 21st Century Britain, at one of the best universities in the world, political extremism is flourishing. Whereas far right fascists are, rightly, tarred and made into social pariahs, their equivalents on the far left get away with it time and time again. These are the totalitarians in our midst. I have done what I can. I tried exposing rampant anti-Semitism in the Palestine Society at the start of this year and I was treated with ridicule. Its time to take this stuff seriously. I saw many freshers at this event - freshers whose minds have been poisoned and given a wholly false narrative which demonises one people at the expense of the other, one that demonises the forces of peace and rewards the actions of hate and terrorism. I saw a room of intelligent, perhaps highly naive students, express the most hideous and morally warped trash. I saw no effort to condemn outright anti-Semitic prejudice when it was expressed. I saw pure intellectual fascism - people attending a talk to confirm their prejudices, and actively ostracising those that disagree with them. I cannot think of a worse introduction to Oxford for incoming students to this University. Anyone who genuinely cares about Palestinians - whether in the West Bank or Gaza, or elsewhere in the Middle East or the diaspora - should stay the hell away from Oxford Universitys Palestine Society. And remember that all it takes for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 12:49:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015