biases on campus/in the media
One of my good friends called me [Wednesday (Apr 23) morning] to inquire about what happened to SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) some years back (2001) because he had heard from our professor Laura Nader (Ralph Nader's sister) that SJP had organized an event which resulted in the University stripping its funding for the student group and banning it from campus. I told him I would make a few phone calls to see who would be most informed about the event and get back to him.
I myself did not know much about the event other than that it had happened and that the group went on a haiatus for a bit.
So I find out that they had organized a sit-in in/at Wheeler Hall, and drama pursued.
I googled "2001 wheeler sit in students for justice in palestine" and found many links to information on the incident.
you can do the same if you wish to know how scandalous sjp is.
Okay, anyway, one link lead to Campus Watch, which is dedicated to "monitoring middle east studies on [university] campus"es. the article is called Berkeley Intifada, written by Anneli Rufus, who normally writes for the East Bay Express.
Here's a quote from the article,
"Jesse Gabriel, who was student body president in 2002, became concerned after enrolling in an introductory Middle Eastern history course during one of his first semesters at Cal.
'I purposely sought one out that was being taught by a Palestinian professor, because I figured I can't learn if I'm only studying stuff I already know and already agree with,' he recalled. But as the term progressed, 'there were things my professor said in class that were completely offensive to me. My professor did several lectures on the Israel-Palestine conflict and did not mention terrorism once. There was no discussion of Israel's security situation. It was very one-sided.'
All around him, Gabriel saw eager first-year students accepting it all as the whole story. 'This is a very big university, an internationally known university that is very highly rated for its scholarship,' he said. 'There are no faculty members willing to stand up and defend Israel -- and very many who are willing to stand up and criticize it.' Associate Professor Beshara Doumani declined to discuss Gabriel's claim, lamenting the frequency with which such challenges are being leveled at Middle Eastern studies instructors nationwide, fueled by the muckraking of Campus Watch and similar groups. "
I have a couple responses to this.
Ironically, GABRIEL implies, or perhaps I am just inferring, but i prefer the former, that all that he has been taught is completely biased and would not have informed him of a point of view sympathetic to any held by a Palestinian. It is too bad he is not upset with his past education for the lack of points of view taught. He said he wanted a Palestinian teacher so that he could get the opposing point of view and when he got it, what did he do? Should anyone be surprised at his this situation?
"Gabriel saw eager first-year students accepting it all as the whole story"
If any student is naïve enough to think that what you're taught in an introductory course is the whole story, then Berkeley, we have a problem. No one should expect to be an expert on a topic after a couple of months; especially if the course doesn't focus on the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
Additionally, the classroom is not the only place people get information on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, if the teacher was biased, I'm pretty sure that it is justified by the fact that American media simply cannot be sympathetic to Palestinians; GABRIEL's fellow classmates must know about suicide bombers DESPITE the fact that it wasn't mentioned in class.
There was this three-day CNN series, reported by Christiane AMANPOUR, called God's Warriors. It was scheduled to cover religious extremists from Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Search for "God's ________ Warriors" (fill in the blank with Jewish, Muslim, or Christian) on youtube to find the series.
Judaism was foolishly covered during the first day; CNN was pressured to cancel the rest of the program (in the US) due to complaints about the negative light Jews and Israel were shown in. Not surprisingly, there was praise for the portions done on Islam. For example, the title of a Youtube video "CNN for once is right! Amanpour's Report on Islam." tells of the disbelief of CNN providing POVs that are critical of Islam. It's too bad for those who were offended by CNN's coverage on Jewish extremism that the general American public wasn't able to watch the portion on Islamic extremism, as I assume they would approve of such content.
This is just one example of many that show how biased American media is. Perhaps GABRIEL's classmates thought that what they were taught was the whole story because they weren't able to watch Christiane AMANPOUR's pieace on radical Islam.
University campuses are famous for being pillars of progressive beliefs and maybe GABRIEL should take a second guess as to why much of the faculty here at Berkeley is willing to criticize Israel and not be as openly supportive. At the university, I should hope that students are not only taught information that you can find on your local television station.
I myself did not know much about the event other than that it had happened and that the group went on a haiatus for a bit.
So I find out that they had organized a sit-in in/at Wheeler Hall, and drama pursued.
I googled "2001 wheeler sit in students for justice in palestine" and found many links to information on the incident.
you can do the same if you wish to know how scandalous sjp is.
Okay, anyway, one link lead to Campus Watch, which is dedicated to "monitoring middle east studies on [university] campus"es. the article is called Berkeley Intifada, written by Anneli Rufus, who normally writes for the East Bay Express.
Here's a quote from the article,
"Jesse Gabriel, who was student body president in 2002, became concerned after enrolling in an introductory Middle Eastern history course during one of his first semesters at Cal.
'I purposely sought one out that was being taught by a Palestinian professor, because I figured I can't learn if I'm only studying stuff I already know and already agree with,' he recalled. But as the term progressed, 'there were things my professor said in class that were completely offensive to me. My professor did several lectures on the Israel-Palestine conflict and did not mention terrorism once. There was no discussion of Israel's security situation. It was very one-sided.'
All around him, Gabriel saw eager first-year students accepting it all as the whole story. 'This is a very big university, an internationally known university that is very highly rated for its scholarship,' he said. 'There are no faculty members willing to stand up and defend Israel -- and very many who are willing to stand up and criticize it.' Associate Professor Beshara Doumani declined to discuss Gabriel's claim, lamenting the frequency with which such challenges are being leveled at Middle Eastern studies instructors nationwide, fueled by the muckraking of Campus Watch and similar groups. "
I have a couple responses to this.
Ironically, GABRIEL implies, or perhaps I am just inferring, but i prefer the former, that all that he has been taught is completely biased and would not have informed him of a point of view sympathetic to any held by a Palestinian. It is too bad he is not upset with his past education for the lack of points of view taught. He said he wanted a Palestinian teacher so that he could get the opposing point of view and when he got it, what did he do? Should anyone be surprised at his this situation?
"Gabriel saw eager first-year students accepting it all as the whole story"
If any student is naïve enough to think that what you're taught in an introductory course is the whole story, then Berkeley, we have a problem. No one should expect to be an expert on a topic after a couple of months; especially if the course doesn't focus on the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
Additionally, the classroom is not the only place people get information on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, if the teacher was biased, I'm pretty sure that it is justified by the fact that American media simply cannot be sympathetic to Palestinians; GABRIEL's fellow classmates must know about suicide bombers DESPITE the fact that it wasn't mentioned in class.
There was this three-day CNN series, reported by Christiane AMANPOUR, called God's Warriors. It was scheduled to cover religious extremists from Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Search for "God's ________ Warriors" (fill in the blank with Jewish, Muslim, or Christian) on youtube to find the series.
Judaism was foolishly covered during the first day; CNN was pressured to cancel the rest of the program (in the US) due to complaints about the negative light Jews and Israel were shown in. Not surprisingly, there was praise for the portions done on Islam. For example, the title of a Youtube video "CNN for once is right! Amanpour's Report on Islam." tells of the disbelief of CNN providing POVs that are critical of Islam. It's too bad for those who were offended by CNN's coverage on Jewish extremism that the general American public wasn't able to watch the portion on Islamic extremism, as I assume they would approve of such content.
This is just one example of many that show how biased American media is. Perhaps GABRIEL's classmates thought that what they were taught was the whole story because they weren't able to watch Christiane AMANPOUR's pieace on radical Islam.
University campuses are famous for being pillars of progressive beliefs and maybe GABRIEL should take a second guess as to why much of the faculty here at Berkeley is willing to criticize Israel and not be as openly supportive. At the university, I should hope that students are not only taught information that you can find on your local television station.