“Others” are not me, IK, I hope. That isn’t what I think at all.

Your point about entrance examinations is silly. Young Arab men and women are bright, they have good teachers. In the United States coaching for University entrance examinations has become normal. There is no reason why Israeli Arab students cannot do well on university entrance examinations, given a minimal amount of preperation.

The story about the conflict over a Christmass tree at the University of Haifa could very well have occurred at an American university. The celebration of christmas in publically financed schools is very controversial now.

Yout hate for Israel is so transindental, Your animosity is so boundless, that it utterly distorts your judgement. You will grasp at any straw to prove thast Israel is evil. You are a sick puppy. I feel sorry for you.

I will, however, make the following points.

1) Dismissing the report of an independent human rights organization on the inexcusable discrimination that Palestinianc citizens of Israel face by pointing to the fact that they enjoy proportionate representation in a single Israeli university is truly absurd.

Here is an extract from an article published last year that addresses the deep inequalities in Israeli higher education which exposes your dishonest argumentation. Note the figures:

“Although Palestinian citizens of Israel comprise approximately 20% of the population in Israel, according to official data, “non-Jews” comprise 9.5 percent of undergraduates, 4.8 percent of students in Masters’ programs, and 3.2 percent of students in doctoral degree programs. Moreover, as the civic-equality group Sikkuy has acknowledged, a “non-Jewish” applicant is three times more likely to be rejected from university than a Jewish candidate. As for the number of Palestinian academic staff in Israeli universities, at the last count that figure was found to be a paltry one percent.

More disturbing still is the reluctance to improve accessibility for aspiring Arab students. When, in 2003, the psychometric examination requirement known to be the principle barrier to entry for Palestinians was dropped, Palestinian university applicants benefited in significant numbers. In direct consequence, the decision was over-turned and the requirement reinstated.

But the discrimination against Palestinians in Israel’s higher education system does not end there, as the experience of Arab students at Haifa University exemplifies. Two weeks ago, the university administration attended a court hearing in which it defended its decision to refuse to place a Christmas tree in the university’s Main Building during the Christmas period, despite repeated requests from the Arab Students’ Committee, and despite the fact that a Jewish menorah is placed there during the celebration of Hannukah. The administration preferred to ghettoize Christmas in another building, far from the center of campus.

In the same week, the University Rector, Prof. Yossi Ben-Artzi, attended a conference hosted at the university titled, “Israel’s Demographic Problem and Policy,” discussing the pet-subject of racists everywhere: the demographic “threat” posed to a state by a particular ethnic group. In Israel’s case, this means the Palestinians.

In addition, the proliferation of indictments filed against successive leaders of the Arab Students’ Committee testifies to the harassment that Palestinian students expressing dissenting views on campus can expect to attract from the university’s administration.” See: http://electronicintifada.net/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/11/3891

2) Many of the Christian Palestinians who now live in Haifa were themselves displaced from and dispossessed of their own property in villages surrounding Haifa. Your contention that they ’stood with Israel’ in 1948 is entirely bogus. They were victims of the Naqba no less than were the Muslim Palestinians. And yes, on many occassions, they were ethnically cleansed, just like other non-Jews.

3) Charles writes “the war in Lebonan has created a surge of Israeli patriotism among Israeli Arabs including offers of militasry service.” This is yet more tired Israelied propagada and is roundly contradicted by up-to-date polls rather than rest on tired Israeli propaganda to make your arguments. It would appear that the longer systematic Israeli discrimination continues, the more restless the Palestinian minority are becoming with the state of Israel. They were radicalised during the second intifada during which Israeli ’security’ forces shot dead 13 unarmed Palestinian citizens of Israel. (No one has yet been charged with these crimes) and they have been further radicalised by the current war. (Not least because the Jewish state did not provide these non-Jews with an adequate number of bomb shelters). Here is the opening paragraph from Yossi Alpher’s latest article on http://www.bitterlemons.org:

“The monthly peace index published by Tel Aviv University’s Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research found on July 31-August 1 that 68 percent of the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel defined Israel’s war in Lebanon as unjustified; 79 percent claimed that Israel’s air attacks on Lebanon were unjustified; 56 percent judged Hassan Nasrallah’s declarations to be credible while 53 percent found that IDF reports were not credible.”

Secondly, your assumption that the State of Israel expelled its Arab populations is far from accurate. I do not doubt that there were expultions, but most of the Arabs refugees were not forced to leave. In the cases of Lydda and Ramle the evidence of expultion is strong, but in cases like Haifa, and Jaffa the evidence is absurdly weak. In Haifa it is exceptionally weak becausew the Christian Arab population did not leave. It would appear that thiat Christian Arabs were among those who stood for Israel in 1948. Your contention about the poor quality of Israeli arab schools is absurd. The University of Haifa is a world class technical school. 20% of its students are Israeli bArabs. Si9nce admission to the University of Haifa is higly competative, this indicates that Israeli Arabs are receiving a very good education. Surveys of Israeli Arabs show that 90% prefer being citizens of Israel to being citizens of a Palestinian state. Israeli Arabs are volunteering for military service in increasing numbers, and the war in Lebonan has created a surge of Israeli patriotism among Israeli Arabs including offers of militasry service.

Desmond Tutu like many great men is not beyound the capacity to say stupid things. I have pointed out sigtnificant ways which Israeli society does not in any respect resemble Apartheid South Africa. I suggest you reread my comments on the subject.

As for The Paqlestinian territories, Since Israel has never claimed sovereignty over them I cannot see how the term apartheid applies. In East Jerusalem, where Israel claims sovereignty, all Arabs have been offered the rights of citizenship. The Jerusalem Arabs like the Israeli Arabs, prefger to be Israeli subjects, rather than be governed by a Palestinian State.

The Palestinian Authority has been a miserable failure. Arafat behaved more like a bandet than the leader of a democratic community. He stold rapaciously from the Palestinian people. At his death his fortune was estimated to ve 6 billion dollars. Arafats close associates were just as crooked. Palestinians have one moral flaw, before they can realize their true potential. The must hold themselvces accountable for their failings and shortcommings instead of always blaiming the Israelis.

“A far more appropriate investigative study would look at how states founded by European-originating colonizers treat their indigenous populations today. How many of them continue to deny equal rights to their indigenous populations?”

Certainly someone with your education and understanding of the situation can answer this. Certainly someone who can recognize whether your countryman lives in downtown Nablus or the refugee camps merely by hearing Salam Alakhum will know that Baghdad was majority Jewish during the first world war until they were expelled. You will know that Lahore was 100% Hindu before they were expelled, that the Sudeten Land was 100% German before they were expelled, that families from the Hejaz have little claim to rule over Palestinians on the east bank, and that Alawites are fewer than 15% or their underlings.

Should you hold up the example of South or Western Sudan as the appropriate way to treat indigineous minorites? Or would you rather be born a Christian in East Timor than a Kurd is Iraq? Perhaps the treatment of SE Saudi Arabian Shia’s is the model you seek? Or maybe you prefer to be an Azari in Afghanistan?

Yes in the sickness that pervads the tissue of the muslim world you might well find an uninfected corner here or there. There will be the occasional Christian marrying a Muslim. There will be the occasional Hindu marrying a Sunni. One must really respect your penchant for finding these exceptions, linking to them, and attempting to craft an argument based on them.

You continue in an impressive tradition of Palestianian debate - and one which has had some success. (After all you’ve essentially convinced the European world that you were the only people to have to migrate after WWII to make way for a new order of ethnically defined states. Europeans have of course forgotten the 20 million Hindus forced to leave the Western side of the Durand line, the millions of Poles forced to flee Russia, the 10s of millions of Germans forced to flee Central Europe contemproaneosly with Palestinian migration. The world belittle the 500,000 Jews forced to leave other Arab countries without compensation as Palestinians have convinced them that Israel was a European project instead of finding homelands for the Jews of Arabia as well.) I applaud you for continuing to obfuscate exceptions and general truths.

After 60 years of that with only less to show for the Palestinian project perhaps you should continue in another direction? No one in the West will be persuaded that the Muslim world is anything but sick when our daily headlines are (like they were two days ago):

- Muslims in England seek to blow up airplanes
- Sunni Muslims in Iraq kill 35 Shia in Najaf
- Rockets from Muslim Hezbollah continue to rain down on civilians

Of course these are just the headlines burried in page 3 and 4 are
- President of Muslim Iran again calls for Israel’s destruction
- India still reeling from Muslims bombing its commuter trains
- Muslims in the Phillipines continue their violent attempt to found SE islamic state
- Muslim Sunnis again attacked a Shia mosque in Karachi
- Muslim Janjaweed continue to prevent Black Muslims returning to the Western Sudan
- Muslims in south Thailand continue their two year insurgency by bombing local bar

You typically call for the west to be educated and typically use people’s ethnicity (especially your own) to convey some sort of credibility. Surely you’ve made some guesses about my own ethinicity and skin color (both wrong to good probability) considering your previous comments. But by ‘education’ what you really are saying is you want the west to be aware of some exceptions to the overwhelming sickness in the muslim world.

Well, you don’t deserve that. It is you, who has the obligation to us. You have to create some example of a healthy society before it is worth studying for us. Perhaps the internecine battles of the last 30 years in the Congo are worth understanding. But why waste our time when every indication is that they are simply more interested in killing each other than in forming a decent society. I’ll spend my efforts studying the economic development of Szenchen or the hydroelectric projects in and around Gujjarat.

I know the history of your region and have no need of the so called education you offer. I know how King Abdullah came to rule over Palestinians and how ibn Saud came to rule the Penninsula. I know the number of Palestinian refugees from 1948, I know how Palestinians were treated under Egypt and Jordan and I know how they were treated under Israel. (I also know the statistics on Palestinian Polio under those differing regimes, perhaps you do to.)

What I also know is the difference between an exception and the general truth. The statement ‘America is a rich country,’ is a general truth. Pointing out pockets of destitution is none-the-less appropriate. Pointing out pockets of destitution to argue that America is in fact NOT a rich country, is fallacy.

In short my advice to you remains stop wasting your time with these exceptions. If you want me to believe the Muslim world is anything but sick stop raining Qassam rockets on Jewish civilians the moment Israel tries to trust you.

Actually I should not condem all Europeans. There are a few countries in Europe where Israel receives a fair hearing. And Frinch animosity toward Israel has notably subsided during the last year. Most Europeans know little about Isarael. They rely on the European media for their oppenions, and the European media has chosen to be a conduit for Palestinian Propaganda, rather than truth. An esample of hatefulness of the European Media towards Israel is this cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Olmert as a concentration camp commander, published in a Norwegian newspaper. It is utterly reprehensible.

http://www.xanga.com/bartoncii/518224074/the-quislings-strik-again.html

My concers are as follows: 1 Do Europeans judge Israel without knowing the facts? 2. Do Europeans Judge Israewl by the same standards they apply to other states and societies? 3. Do the acknowledged flaws of Israeli society and state policy justify the harsh judgements made against Israel by much of the European media and many Europeans. 4. Do European attitudes betay a prejudice aginst Israel? 5. If European prejudices account for some of the european attitude toward Israel, to what extent can those prejudices be laid to the foot of traditional European anti-Semitism?

In the case of Mr. Gaarder we have an European intellectual who uses language that has been traditionally used by Christains to express anti-Semitism. Here is an example of the anti-Semitism of a major figure in the history of Christianity in Europe. Martin Luther:

http://www.nobeliefs.com/luther.htm

The traditional language used to describe Jews and Judaism by both the Catholic and Protestant churches of Europe portrays a sustamatically false image of Jews and Judaism, and has been repeatyed quite litterally thousands of times in Christain tracts and Sermons. After the Holocaust, European Churches repudiated this language in shame, but now it appears to have come back. What is notable about Mr. Gaarder’s essay is that it manifests a clear link between the lannuage of traditional Christain anti-Semitism, and Israeli-phobic bigotry.