I would like to submit the following comments from a friend of mine
concerning the article "Web Warfare Comes to America," which was very
recently sent to the list.

Let me preface this response to Mr. Davidson's most interesting and
one-sided discussion: "Web Warfare Comes to America" by stating that
while I am not a member of the listserve, I was sent this by one of my
friends and colleagues.  Also, while I am admittedly Jewish, I abhor the
violence being fomented by the myriad sides of the Middle Eastern
situation.

It should also be noted that I will be speaking in generalities, as I
wish to respond immediately, and do not have time to research the
specifics.  If anyone is interested, incidents for and against both
sides will be easy to find.

Mr. Davidson is giving the impression that all abuses by U.S. and
British students are one sided.  He also implies -- by his choice of
examples -- that Universities are only turning a "blind eye" to abuses
by sympathizers of Israel.  Nothing can be further from the truth.
While the Middle Eastern conflict spreads on our campuses, there have
been many physically- and mentally- violent episodes that have been
ignored by University and City administrations accross the U.S., some of
which were anti-Israeli, and some of which were anti-Palestinian.
Unfortunately, many writers, and most listserve distributions, will only
air the complaints of one side or the other.  Bias, unfortunately, is
easier to sell.

I have read of at least one case where a group of Jewish peace
activists, who were peacefully protesting the growing violence -- by
both sides in the Middle East -- were surrounded by anti-Israeli
protesters and were physically threatened and had stones tossed at them,
all within the view of the University of CA adminsitration (I forget
which campus) and their campus police force.   Nothing was done to aid
those that were peacefully protesting FOR peace and an end to violence
by both Israelis and Palestinians.  Similar situations have surfaced at
many campuses in the US, and worldwide.  Anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish
incidents are usually ignored by the media, just as many unfortunate
acts against Arabs, Arab-Americans, Palestinian, and
Palestinian-Americans have been ignored.  There is plenty of blame to
spread to all sides, both in terms of harassment and the conflict in
question in the Middle East.

While I cannot refute any of the specific incidents in Mr. Davidson's
discussion, I cannot doubt that there is probably some truth in what he
says.  His obviously one-sided coverage of the abuses of University
email systems made me question his objectivity.  It wasn't until the
13th paragraph, when he used the word "Zionists" that he really lost his
credibility.  This word, "Zionist" is only used by non-objective
participants, for obviously inflammatory purposes.

The use of email harassment, I am sure, unfortunately occurs on all
sides of the conflict.  It is not limited in one direction.  Anyone that
thinks that only pro-Israeli activists know how to abuse the Internet
are being naive.  The Internet itself is being used by radicals on all
sides to whip up support for themselves and against those that disagree
with them.

Please, it is only if we all strive to become and remain objective
observers and participants in the peace process will we ever be able to
hope for a just and equitable solution for everyone.

Samuel Jackendoff


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