The campus community seems to have been largely oblivious to the Pacifica Forum; whether this is fortunate, because it limits the spread of their anti-Semitic statements, or unfortunate,
because it allows them to go unchecked, is debatable.
Supporters of PF make the argument that they are being unfairly labeled as anti-Semitic because they are pro-Palestinian and critical of Israeli government policies.
While I consider it ironic (to put it nicely) when white U.S. citizens feel entitled to look solely outside of themselves
for a colonial power to fight, intelligent solidarity with Palestinian struggles is clearly important right now, and all governments deserve criticism. This support and critique can and should be done without mobilizing historical oppression,
obviously. PF’s method, on the other hand, can be summarized as blaming Jews worldwide for everything that’s wrong with the
world and U.S. foreign policy while rarely mentioning Palestine at all.
I was a co-director of the Survival Center during that group’s sponsorship of PF.
We did not stop sponsoring them because they promoted Palestinian solidarity; I’m not sure they ever did, and if they had it would not have been a problem.
We stopped sponsoring them because they claimed the holocaust was caused by an international Jewish conspiracy.
Pira Kelly
University student
Pacifica Forum is anti-Israeli, not pro-Palestinian
Daily Emerald
July 12, 2006
0
More to Discover