Category: Political

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People Places Political

More on Anti-Semitism in Northern California

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

According to an email I received from the editor, later this afternoon, the Jewish Bulletin of Northern California will have another article related to the Peace Rally at SFSU. You can look for it at the publication’s web site.

In the meantime, the publication did just post an article about an English class being taught at UC Berkeley (SF Gate also published an article on this class). The class, “Politics and Poetics of Palestinian Resistance”, generated a lot of controversy because the teacher, a pro-Palestinian graduate student stated in the course description:

“…This class takes as its starting point the right of Palestinians to fight for their own self-determination. Conservative thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections.”

When I first read this description, I was appalled. That a University known for free thinking would have a class with this disclaimer attached.

Should the class be pulled? If it focuses on the use of writing and rhetoric as it relates to the Middle East, then I don’t believe it should be pulled. A writing class of this nature would not only be interesting, it would be thought provoking as well as useful. However, this applies only if the class looks at the impact of writing and rhetoric from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Unfortunately, as the class is titled and according to the political affiliation of the teacher, it promises to be pro-Palestinian biased, and that’s inappropriate considering the venue.

These issues are never black & white, or uncomplicated, are they?

Categories
Political Weblogging

SFSU

There’s been considerable discussion throughout the weblogging community about a Pro-Israeli peace rally held at SFSU earlier this month.

According to a letter by Professor Laurie Zoloth, Jewish Studies Program Director, a group of pro-Palestinian counter-protestors caused a riot or near-riot at the Rally, physically threatening the Rally members, as well as saying things such as “Hitler didn’t finish the job” and that the “Jews should go back to Europe”.

This is hateful behavior, and saddens me greatly to hear that such things are happening in San Francisco, a city I see as one of the most tolerant in the country.

I’ve also read that we webloggers have a …disdain for the search for the truth. Bluntly, this is an assessment I disagree with. I believe that webloggers have an almost obsessive interest in the “truth” — whatever, we believe it to be.

Whatever we believe it to be.

What is the truth about anti-Semitism in San Francisco and northern California? What is the truth behind the “Shame of SFSU”? Was there a riot? Were Peace Rally members physically threatened? Did the counter-protestors say ugly things such as “Hitler didn’t finish the job?” Did they threaten to kill the Hillel rally members?

I dislike reading such things as the San Francisco Bay area is the new France, because San Francisco is seen as progressively becoming more and more anti-Semitic. I dislike it, but is there truth in this statement?

I remember a pro-Israeli rally held at Justin Hermann Plaza a few blocks from myself only a month or so ago. I remember the smiles of the rally attendees as they left, and how they felt that the rally had gone well. I know this because I walked home just behind a group of them who live in my condo building. As far as I could see, there had been no counter-demonstrations, no slurs, no hatred expressed.

Yet only a few miles away, and a short time later, this incident occurs at SFSU.

What’s happening? What is the truth?

We webloggers have been told that we’ll never supplant professional journalists because we don’t research, we don’t pursue, we don’t investigate. True — we tend to link a lot, instead. And sometimes this isn’t enough.

I have no interest in challenging professional journalists, but I want to find out what’s happening in this city. I want to find out what happened that day in SFSU. I want to hear the stories, and print them in this weblog, and together explore what is “the truth”.

To do this, though, I need help. I need contacts with people in the area — pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-Peace, or neutral observer. I need contacts with people who were at the SFSU demonstration. If you know of people I should talk to — and I’ve already started the process of contacting people in the last two days — please email me with contact information, or have the people contact me directly.

You say we should seek the truth; I say, you’re right. And I also ask for your help.

Categories
Political

Freenet and Freedom of speech

One person I admire greatly is Ian Clarke, the founder and architect of Freenet — the most sophisticated and open distributed network. In an interview in news.com, Ian talks about 9/11’s impact on Freenet, and the greater need for this type of technology today.

When asked the question:

What effect has Sept. 11 had on your drive for online anonymity? Are there more concerns today that Freenet could be used for terrorists’ or other lawbreakers’ activities, and has the project itself felt any official pressure because of it?

Ian responds with:

Well, since Freenet is a publication mechanism, the only way that terrorists could really use it would be to share information with the general public, such as why they must resort to terrorism. Personally, I think this is a good thing. I grew up in Ireland, parts of which have suffered from terrorism for most of my youth. One thing that taught me was that the only way to resolve issues such as terrorism is to understand the other point of view. Simply dismissing people as “evil” won’t do anything to resolve the problem.

Found thanks to link at Boing Boing

Categories
Political

Different Viewpoints

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I read with respect Sargeant Stryker’s eloquent and extremely well thought out discussion about Doc Searl’s comment killing does not justify killing (a misrepresentation of Hanan Cohen’s Death does not justify death).

I may not agree with Stryker’s analysis and interpretation, but I can respect the effort and the interest as well as the careful consideration he gave.

Categories
Political Weblogging

And sometimes you want to sing

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Peace bloggers. We have an official name, now. Of course, can’t have a term without a definition, and my definition of a peace blogger is anyone who believes, as Hodja did, that everyone in the Middle East conflict is right. And we believe this because we know that no one in the Middle East conflict is completely wrong. Takes two sides to make a war. Takes two sides to make a peace.

I guess peace starts with us, doesn’t it?

Unlike the typical warblogger, peace bloggers don’t always talk about peace. We don’t always talk about the Middle East. We don’t always talk about this story or that in the “biased and misrepresentational press”. In fact, there’s a lot of folks who are “peace bloggers” in heart, mind, and soul who don’t talk about the Middle East at all. And you know something, that’s just cool.

It seems to me that If you subscribe to an extremely narrow view of what’s right and wrong, why you’d have to spend pretty much all your time defending your view. So folks like Glenn Reynolds who focus on the Middle East and the evil Arabs and the wrongness of leftist-pinko liberals (me! me!) kind of have to because they’ve placed themselves on a ledge of belief that doesn’t have a lot of give, sure as heck doesn’t have a lot of take, and no room at all for movement.

How many warbloggers can stand on the head of a pin?

I know. It does seem as if there are a lot of warbloggers and they get a lot of buzz and a lot of hits per day and we can feel a bit overwhelmed at times. However, I’m finding that the warbloggers also link to each other in a kind of (close your eyes, AKMA) masturbational frenzy of self link love that’s a bit, well, kinky. However, that’s cool, too.

(I grew up in the generation that firmly believed in “whatever turns you on, as long as you don’t scare the cows”.)

Just because we’re peace bloggers doesn’t mean we have to spend all of our time refuting the warbloggers and crying out for peace. If you’re a peace blogger and read something that you feel strongly about, then post your thoughts, say the words, hum the tune. However, don’t feel you have to speak out just to balance the warblogger word count.

Remember the Vietnam war? Now what was it we were fighting for?

A peace blogger blogs for peace anytime they talk about their dog, show a picture, say a poem, sing a song, debate Post-Modernism, promote a book, talk about our significant others, talk about our kids, our jobs, our friends, about sex (we really do need more sex in weblogging), technology (Radio doesn’t count), and generally talk about life and what about life turns us on.

Always with the remembrance that wars result in people who have had their lives turned off. And nothing…nothing…nothing…will ever justify this.

Honk if you want peace, babies.