Solomonia Archive: PSM at Georgetown -- Still refusing to condemn suicide bombing

Friday, January 27, 2006

PSM at Georgetown -- Still refusing to condemn suicide bombing

The Georgetown paper writes about the upcoming Palestine Solidarity Movement conference:

Critics Step Up Protests, but PSM Still Coming to Campus

...Bill Levinson, a columnist for the pro-Israel Web site Israpundit.com, has sent repeated e-mails to administrators at Georgetown listing charges against PSM and detailing what he believes are the group’s true intentions for its conference.

“The PSM is [lying] to Georgetown’s administration and the Georgetown community about its true agenda, which is to destroy a country that is friendly to the United States,” he said, referring to Israel.

Students for Justice in Palestine, the student group at Georgetown that is hosting the event, supports Palestinian self-determination, according to the group’s Web site. Neither SJP nor PSM have official positions advocating the destruction of Israel.

“There is always going to be a place for these Jewish citizens,” Muaddi said. “Jews also have the right to self-determination.”...

Gee, thanks, that's mighty kind. Perhaps the PSM will also protest against the PA's policy of administering the death penalty for anyone selling land to a Jew as well.

Muaddi added that the PSM does not seek “the end of Israel as a political entity in the Middle East.” He did, however, cite Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the barrier being constructed along the West Bank as “violations of international law” which he said must be rectified.

I'm thinking the statements of the invited speakers will put the lie to that.

“We condemn violence in all its forms,” Muaddi said.

But Muaddi declined to condemn suicide bombings, saying that it would not be right “to criticize Palestinians for taking part in violence when the Israeli forces are taking part in violence.”

Well there's violence, and then there's violence, isn't there?

Posted by Solomon at 3:14 PM on Friday, Jan 27, 2006 | Comments (2)
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2 Comments

#1 Liz | January 27, 2006 3:23 PM

Muaddi tells the Hoya that neither SJP nor PSM have official positions advocating the destruction of Israel.

Here Muaddi is lying. The PSM advocates the destruction of the Jewish State. T-shirts and banners at their conferences proclaim "From the river to the sea - Palestine will be free." As do the official PSM Guiding Principles.

(http://home.comcast.net/~jat.action/PSM.htm)

The principles call for "full decolonization of all Palestinian land" "the end of the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem and all Arab lands" and "the right of return and repatriation for all Palestinian refugees."

Implimentation of these "principles" would, of course, mean the end of the Jewish state.

I think the Hoya could be a little more astute about what this gorup stands for.

#2 u | January 27, 2006 4:36 PM

From the Hoya article:
"Muaddi said the PSM prefers working with universities and churches to gain support because the nonviolent nature of divestment is more compatible with such groups."
Universities and churches as distinct from what? ACME Widget corporation, where a nonviolent strategy _wouldn't_ be compatible? When they're not saying things that are false and/or offensive, they're saying things that are nonsensical. And the Hoya reporter just laps it up. Such is the state of affairs at one of the nation's better universities.