An inaccurate portrayal of Sharon and IDF
Taufiq Rahim's recent (September 24) opinion piece inaccurately presents the role of Ariel Sharon and the Israel Defense Forces at Sabra and Shatilla. His use of the word "cleanse" to describe Operation Peace for the Galilee unfairly and incorrectly implies that the Israeli military action intended to ethnically cleanse Lebanon. Mr. Rahim ignores the years of terror operations conducted against Northern Israel, and the Israelis who died at the hands of Lebanese-based PLO terrorists, including 23 children murdered in their elementary school in Maalot on May 5, 1974.
Further, there is no evidence to support his claim that the Israeli army facilitated the massacres. The Kahane Commission, which investigated the incidents, reported in 1983 that neither the IDF, nor Ariel Sharon himself, had any role in nor knowledge of the massacres, nor did they in any way contribute directly to the killings. The commission, ultimately, faulted the top brass of the IDF, including its intelligence services, for not anticipating that such a massacre might take place.
Mr. Rahim's only cited source is The Independent's Robert Fisk, who, as Andrea Levin of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting points out, has a pattern of "factual recklessness and cinematic manipulation" in his reports on the subject.
I commend Mr. Rahim for his admirable attempt to raise our collective consciousness about the tragedies that did occur in Bosnia, Rwanda and at Sabra and Shatilla. However, his erroneous accusations against Israel and its Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have no place in a free and open debate. Josh Waldman '05
Princeton University should divest from the United States
Princeton University unquestionably has a responsibility to divest (Should the US and Princeton divest from Israel? editorial, Sept. 27) . . . from the United States of America. The U.S. has been conducting an illegal occupation of nearly 1/3 of the territory of the Republic of Mexico for over 150 years. The Princeton community must not allow this criminal travesty to continue. After stealing vast quantities of pristine and resource-rich Mexican land in an imperialistic war, the United States populated the territories with countless settlements — Los Angeles, Las Vegas, El Paso and Santa Fe to name only a few. To this day, aggressive Border Patrols harass innocent Mexican civilians and routinely prevent them from freely moving about in what used to be their own country. The proud Mexican people are constantly humiliated with accusations of drug dealing and trafficking by belligerent Customs Agents. These are just a few examples of America flouting international human rights law, but the list goes on and on. Until the United States ends its colonialist occupation of Mexican lands, including California, Nevada and Arizona, Princeton must divest from all U.S.-owned companies and those that do business with the United States. Now is the time to stand together and right over a century and a half of injustices. Rob Buerki '06
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Princeton, practice what you preach: SPIA graduate students on protest and dialogue
Guest Contributors"As policy students, we are appalled by the blatant hypocrisy of the University administration, which has relied on fear-mongering and false narratives to discredit student protestors. We are increasingly disillusioned with the dissonance of what we are taught in our classrooms and the University’s actions."
"As policy students, we are appalled by the blatant hypocrisy of the University administration, which has relied on fear-mongering and false narratives to discredit student protestors. We are increasingly disillusioned with the dissonance of what we are taught in our classrooms and the University’s actions."
Faculty call on the Board of Trustees to act in face of hunger strike
Guest Contributors“The Princeton University administration should understand that the law loses its moral force when it becomes so detached from ethics and basic human decency. The administration is sacrificing its moral sense and its purported affiliation to human decency in the name of upholding arbitrarily designed and implemented campus rules and regulations.”
“The Princeton University administration should understand that the law loses its moral force when it becomes so detached from ethics and basic human decency. The administration is sacrificing its moral sense and its purported affiliation to human decency in the name of upholding arbitrarily designed and implemented campus rules and regulations.”
Letter to the Editor: The gross manufacturing of narrative
Sarah Sakha"The Gaza Solidarity Encampment, a space we have created together, is an unwavering testament to community and care in the face of apathy, keeping each other safe by growing large, impenetrable, and powerful. And we have done so in spite of a larger apparatus working against students."
"The Gaza Solidarity Encampment, a space we have created together, is an unwavering testament to community and care in the face of apathy, keeping each other safe by growing large, impenetrable, and powerful. And we have done so in spite of a larger apparatus working against students."
