I couldn’t help but find myself outraged by the pretentious ignorance in Dave Taube’s letter to the editor on Jan. 13 (“Jemmali lacks balanced, unbiased argument; concern for all civilians in conflict necessary”). Itself a response to a previous commentary written by professor Mohamed Jemmali (“Approach freedom of speech with care,” Jan. 12), Taube criticized Jemmali for lacking a balanced and unbiased viewpoint of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Taube denounces the Palestinian people for only seeking the “sympathy from the rest of the world … (in) the war that is currently raging in the Middle East.” I ask you, how exactly are the Palestinians – a people congregated into large ghettos and forced into apartheid – able to wage a “war” against the world’s fourth largest military? How can the Palestinian people, struggling to even get clean water into their communities, compete with a nation that has been given roughly 85 billion in U.S. tax revenues alone?
In the typical fashion of imperialist apologetics, Taube not only rationalizes the loss of innocent (Palestinian) lives, but uses nationalistic propaganda to portray Jemmali as one of the enemies of democracy. He claims that Jemmali only supports freedom of speech when he “approves of what those people are saying” and furthermore claims Jemmali excuses the events of Sept. 11. If Taube had taken the time to read Jemmali’s commentary, he would have noticed that Jemmali was in fact doing the opposite – asking for both sides to negotiate a ceasefire, usher in peace and honor the deceased innocents on both sides.
I also can’t help but comment on Taube’s closing argument that “such an unqualified professor,” referring to professor Jemmali, should not be allowed to work at the University. Not only does this expressly violate Oregon’s academic freedom clause, but Taube advocates for a policy that is inherently undemocratic. I also couldn’t help but think Taube would have made a different argument against Jemmali if he wasn’t Arab. I also hope professor Jemmali, someone who already has earned our respect, knows that Taube doesn’t speak for all his students. I hope one day people on both sides can come together to end this conflict and promote social justice, rather than continue to let people like Taube polarize
the discussion.
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Agreement to end conflict in best interest of society
Daily Emerald
January 13, 2009
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