IsraCampus.Org.il

A lot of Israel’s academic-fifth-column has its origins in the left-wing Marxist ideology that has taken over humanities disciplines in American universities… A living breathing example of the product of this situation is Tel Aviv University doctoral candidate Dahlia Scheindlin... She is a “researcher” (meaning political advocate) with the leftwing Israel Democracy Institute and lectures at Ben Gurion… “Peace and Conflict Studies”, Ms. Scheindlin’s pseudo-field of research, is an American university touchy-feely invention that originally emerged out of marriage counseling. Its underlying fundamental idea is that in any conflict both sides have to be accepted as having some valid arguments and they need only to listen compassionately to one another to settle their differences.

So when Arab hordes scream, “Itboch al Yahud!” (Massacre the Jews!), they are simply letting off steam and hoping for productive dialogue and feeling the pain of the Other. Peace is achieved by always recognizing the legitimacy of at least some of the grievances of the other side unless the other side is Israel, which has no legitimate demands, even the right to exist as a Jewish state.

... A case in point is Scheindlin’s writing in the leftwing Huffington Post in an article titled, “Dismantling Israel’s Myths.” There she defends the pro-Hamas Gaza flotillas and their bands of violent terrorist passengers, the “human shields for Hamas” who help keep the conflict roiling forever... This is a woman who makes her living “researching” conflict resolution? The fact that Ben Gurion University would have her lecture students is another example of the absence of serious academic standards at that school.

Ben Gurion University’s (“Conflict Resolution”) lecturer Dahlia Scheindlin just Wants To Flotilla Along with the Jihadis

By Lee Kaplan, www.IsraCampus.org.il
7/8/2011

A lot of Israel’s academic-fifth-column has its origins in the left-wing Marxist ideology that has taken over humanities disciplines in American universities. Entire college degrees consist of indoctrination in the idea that America is an exploiter of the downtrodden the world over, that its capitalist system is corrupt and seeks an empire; and that all accusations against America are justified and correct. Israel, as America’s number one ally in the Middle East, then gets vilified as part of this program; that is, the Little Satan alongside the Great Satan. Add to this mindset the plethora of Arab professors imported into the American college experience thanks to Saudi money, and the indoctrination is complete. If one hopes to advance in academia, it becomes de rigueur to promote these ideas. Israeli universities are if anything worse than those in the US. A living breathing example of the product of this situation is Tel Aviv University doctoral candidate Dahlia Scheindlin.

Ms. Scheindlin emigrated to Israel in 1997 but has kept her hand in American extremist political ideology. She is a “researcher” (meaning political advocate) with the leftwing Israel Democracy Institute and lectures at Ben Gurion. She holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School and is currently a doctoral candidate in Political Science at Tel Aviv University. Her bio states that at present she is one of the “leading pollsters and political analysts” in Israel “associated with progressive causes and peace/conflict research.” Translate that to mean she promotes Israel’s enemies for “peace.”

“Peace and Conflict Studies”, Ms. Scheindlin’s pseudo-field of research, is an American university touchy-feely invention that originally emerged out of marriage counseling. Its underlying fundamental idea is that in any conflict both sides have to be accepted as having some valid arguments and they need only to listen compassionately to one another to settle their differences.

A case in point is Scheindlin’s writing in the leftwing Huffington Post in an article titled, “Dismantling Israel’s Myths.” There she defends the pro-Hamas Gaza flotillas and their bands of violent terrorist passengers, the “human shields for Hamas” who help keep the conflict roiling forever.

She begins by stating, “Certain perspectives on the flotilla, Gaza and Israel have taken on mythological proportions but have little logical force, and they are an obstacle to moving forward. Here are some myths, dismantled.

‘There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza #1’ (as a reason why the blockade is not so bad). There is some humanitarian crisis in Gaza; Israel lets in limited, insufficient, arbitrarily determined supplies and a thriving tunnel business provides the rest, but eats away at any semblance of a legitimate economy, increases lawlessness and becomes an employer for overqualified Gaza graduates who should be the next generation of leaders. Starvation is only one kind of crisis: being trapped and immobilized, with severely limited goods and options, is another.”

“Insufficient?” “Starvation?” “Trapped and Immobilized?” Even the head of UNWRA and the UN have all stated there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. And besides, if she wants Gaza to enjoy free imports and exports, maybe she should get her Hamas friends to release Gilad Shalit and stop firing rockets into Israel!

Even the flotilla organizers have acknowledged there is no “humanitarian crisis” and that the boats are merely to create publicity. The tunnels Scheindlin mentions were built to bring in weapons and missiles to kill Israelis. The flotillas seek to make it easier for the Hamas to get state-of-the-art weapons and explosives.

She continues:

“The ships needed to be let in because they were a symbolic act of protest against a policy that is deemed an unfair, unlawful and immoral violation of the human rights of the people of Gaza. People have a right to protest both the policy and its results.”

Attacking Israeli soldiers with knives and guns is a “symbolic act of protest.” She uses buzz words like “unfair”, “unlawful” and “immoral.”

And still more Scheindlinisms:

“The Exodus too, sought to both (sic) get the refugees into Palestine, and focus world attention on Britain’s post-war Jewish immigration limitations.”

“The Iran excuse against opening up access to Gaza is false, since eventually Gaza will be opened as part of a political conflict-resolution process, and Iran will still exist.”

“'Israel disengaged from Gaza and all we got were 12,000 lousy Qassam rockets.' This is a very prominent, very dangerous myth that is nearly meaningless because it blots out huge chunks of reality.”

“Hamas is a group of evil terrorists, sworn to Israel’s destruction, cynically abusing their people, stifling human rights and oppressing women. Partly -- maybe even mostly true. But mainly, this is an internal Palestinian issue, neither Israel’s moral nor political responsibility. And by now, it is irrelevant as a justification for Israel’s Gaza policy and irrelevant for Israel’s best interests: getting out.”

The ship Exodus, of course, was bringing refugees from the Holocaust to settle in Israel. Scheindlin sees no moral difference between that and the smuggling of explosives to the Hamas with which it can murder the children and grandchildren of the Exodus refugees.

The Dahlia’s glib dismissal of 12,000 Hamas rockets falling on Israeli children also reveals a bit of moral depravity. Almost all of the children in Sderot suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Juvenile Onset Diabetes is epidemic due to the rockets.

Finally, she has never noticed that Israel did “get out” of Gaza, as she demands. What it accomplished was a barrage of many thousands of missiles landing on Israeli civilians.

This is a woman who makes her living “researching” conflict resolution? The fact that Ben Gurion University would have her lecture students is another example of the absence of serious academic standards at that school.

Ms. Scheindlin holds a Master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School in Theological Studies. The Harvard Divinity School had accepted a $2.5 million endowment from Sheik Zayed, former ruler of the United Arab Emirates. He funded a UAE think tank of the Arab League called the Zayed Center, which promotes anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism throughout the Islamic world. The Zayed Center even published a book claiming that the American government by Zionist influence masterminded the Sept. 11 attacks. It has hosted notorious Holocaust deniers and featured a lecture by a Saudi professor who claimed that Jews use gentile blood for holiday pastries. The Los Angeles Times quoted the center director as saying the “Jews are the enemies of all nations.” We wonder how much of his donation to Harvard went into Dahlia’s purse?

Harvard Divinity also hired a South American terrorist to teach a course there until the US State Department stepped in to forbid her entry into the United States. Harvard itself recently enjoyed a $20 million dollar donation from Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal who was one of Hamas’ biggest donors for the families of suicide bombers.

It isn’t a stretch to figure out how her education in an American university program like at the current Harvard Divinity colored her interpretation of what is “progressive.” Somehow it invariably involves murdered Jews.

========================================

Op-Ed articles appearing on IsraCampus.Org.il are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the opinion of IsraCampus.Org.il