Ryan ChartrandThe name “Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East” (SJPME) is as deceptive as their activities. They are a front group for anti-Israel propaganda; they are selective in the facts they provide and sometimes their claims are plainly indefensible. Their past claims that Zionists control the world’s media, capital, and government is merely a variation of the same anti-Semitic claim made against all Jews. They are hardly about the entire Middle East. A majority of their events are anti-Israel with the token events focusing on other Middle East countries. They classify Israel’s security fence as a wall of oppression. Of course, the barrier is less than five percent wall and one could hardly categorize it as oppressive. In fact the best categorization of it is effective; it has reduced terrorist attacks dramatically. The real oppressor of the Palestinian people is their leadership and ideology. Palestinians are obsessed with destroying Israel. There is no doubt that had the Palestinians put a fraction of the resources used on violence towards building their society they would have been better off. While Israelis are defending their society Palestinians have been busy destroying it. This week alone in the Gaza Strip, where there is not a single Israeli soldier present, Fatah-Hamas fighting has accounted for 41 Palestinian deaths; and it’s only Wednesday! Israel is ready for peace with a Palestinian people that have given up their dream of annihilating their neighbor. SJPME should quit wasting their time bashing Israel and do something that helps the Palestinians.
Michael Holan
Business administration senior