Ok, so I am disappointed that the Daily Universe decided not to address the bias and racial undertones of Abigail Shaha's article on the division wall. But to publish a letter to the editor which repeats the exact same prejudice and ignorance to the situation? "how myopic and distorted" indeed.
"Intimating that "trash-littered, crumbling" East Jerusalem is the wall's fault again shows a lack of understanding. The sad condition of many Palestinian communities lies solely at their own government's feet. First, successive Palestinian governments have alternately supported and turned a blind eye to terrorism, which was the impetus for the wall in the first place. Second, these regimes' corruption and mismanagement have led to the sorry state of the West Bank's economy. While we wish a better life for the Palestinian people, their plight is their own doing - not Israel's and certainly not Israel's wall." - Taylor, Blasucci
Again, I would challenge, strongly, the moral high ground that Taylor and Blasucci award Israel. A simple internet search will produce the evidence that outside of the comfortable sphere of our college lives, seemingly obvious truths of Israeli innocence against Palestinian hostility is widely and hotly debated example. I do not claim that the tables are turned, a Palestinian angel verses an Israeli devil, but rather hope that the studious and critical reader of the news will understand that there is a war going on that has no right or reason to claim to be a battle of moral verses amoral, right verses wrong, or one-sided self defense against an incomprehensible and chaotic aggressor. Just like every other war in history, it is a matter of opposing political entities struggling to legitimize and expand their influence where someone else thinks they shouldn't. Both sides are virtuous and justified and both sides have historically and repeatedly commited gross violations of human rights and decency.
The solution to this whole ordeal is not the assignation of blame and name calling. It is the struggle to legitimize and recognize the grievances of both parties and work toward a mutual respect and for the rights of each to exist. Unfortunately, this has been made monumentally more difficult as each side progressively losses confidence in the integrity of the other due to skewed reality, broken promises, hidden agendas, and fruitless political dances. The future of the region doesn't seem bright when even our university can't see past the rhetoric.
2 comments:
Wow, yeah, i was hoping you read that letter to the editor because it definitely made me pissed off when i read it.
the Daily universe article was just someone who didn't know what they were talking about trying to sound all "i've seen the real world here's what it looks like blah blah"
the letter to the editor was someone(s) who knew what they were talking about in terms of statistics, but don't understand history and didn't understand what the concept of solution would look like.
part of the problem is assigning guilt needlessly.
part of the problem is...well, it's not like putting up walls actually solves problems. It might *temporarily* solve the *effects* of the problem, i.e. maybe there are less deaths from political violence, but it doesn't solve the reason why there is political violence in the first place.
okay...anyway. now that i've hijacked your comments page as my own soapbox in addendum, have a wonderful evening and i will see you in class.
My response to the article and the subsequent letter to the editor was published in The Daily Universe Letters to the Editor section on April 14, 2008. I received the following message that same day:
I apologize for seeking out your email address, but I saw your forum letter in the Daily Universe and wanted to express my gratitude. I have had opportunity to discuss the Jerusalem situation with many people, including Jews, Arabs, American citizens, and other BYU students, but yours was one of the most accurate overviews I have heard. Thank you for contributing your astute insights.
--Amy Hill
Post a Comment