I should have complained last year but was afraid that it would spark more Jewish resentment. My mistake… I hope.
This year, the SPHR brought another orator to present a lecture called "Israel the Racist State." The speaker, Israel Shamir, already gave a talk at Tufts University this past spring. There he was quoted as saying, "Palestinians are perfect mammals; their life is deeply rooted in the ground. Israeli people represent a virus form of a human being because they can live anywhere." Shamir also once tried to sell Nazi memorabilia to David Irving, a famous British Holocaust denier. Even Palestinian activists Ali Abunimah (who has his own pro-Palestinian website) and Hussein Ibish have denounced Shamir as an anti-Semite. As their final proof in accusing Shamir of bigotry they wrote "On March 30, the Jerusalem Post published an op/ed that reported: 'Two weeks ago, Russian-language journalist Israel Shamir told a largely Jewish audience: "Jews only exist to drip the blood of Palestinian children into their matzas." ('The Jewish student — a minnow among sharks," March 30, 2001)." And I had thought this lie had gone out in the Middle Ages. On Shamir's website, he has an article he published that says:
Jesus taught, love your neighbor as yourself, even if he is a traditional enemy of Jews, a Samaritan. That is why he was hated by the Jewish supremacists of his time. He said: you can not worship God and Mammon, the god of greed, you have to choose. That is why he was hated by supply-side economists and bankers of his day. They sentenced him to death…
These speakers and posters like the previous mentioned poster have offended me and many of my friends. Universities should be places where, even if we do not agree, we can at least disagree respectfully. I hope that the SPHR will take more responsible action in the future.
Alex Kemeny
U1
