So now Mr. Chowdhry is calling anyone who supports the state of Israel ignorant. He says the media is biased in favor of Israel. However, it is not in the media’s interest to be biased in favor of Israel; the media loves the underdog. All I see when I read the paper about something that happened in Israel is a body count. This could be due to an IDF airstrike, or a suicide bomber. What do you expect them to report on? The vast Palestinian culture? It’s a non-story to Americans, just as Israeli culture is a non-story. No one denies that Palestinians have a culture … after all, they used to be called Jordanians, back when Jordan was in control of the disputed territories.
Palestine Awareness Week needs to make people aware of the corrupt leadership that has shafted the Palestinians for so long, not the Israeli government, who has actually given more aid (this includes monetary and social aid) to the Palestinians than any other country or organization ever has. I’m aware that the Palestinian Liberation Organization was created three years BEFORE the disputed territories were won by Israel, thereby negating all claims that terrorism comes from occupation. I’m aware that the average Palestinian is living in squalor while the late Yasser Arafat was worth over 1 BILLION dollars, which is now in possession of his wife living comfortably in France. I’m aware that the IDF risks soldiers’ lives by doing door-to-door manhunts for terrorists, while instead they could carpet bomb the entire area and not worry about civilian casualties, like the U.S. has been doing in Iraq. Mr. Chowdhry and Ms. Foroohar are trying to make you believe otherwise this week; they are trying to make you believe it is all Israel’s fault, when instead they should be directing their efforts to the animals that have incited hatred into the Palestinian population. And Mr. Chowdhry is even trying to convince you that Hamas has no problem with Jews, when they make it no secret that Jews are the problem. Make the decision for yourself, and know that Palestine Awareness Week is missing a lot of awareness.
Yoav Ben-Haim
Mechanical engineering junior