[lit-ideas] Re: Brigitte Gabriel again supporting Israel
- From: "Helen Wishart" <hwishart@xxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2006 12:51:01 -0400
In March of 2005 Brigitte Gabriel was invited by the Political Studies
department of Queens University (Canada) to give her perspective on the
Middle East conflict. My son is doing PhD in history at Queens and he is my
source of information.
After she spoke, there was an extended discussion among the Queens' students
about her ignorance of ME history, her sweeping generalizations about the
evil, lazy, dishonest "Arabs" and "Muslims", and her characterization of
the Israelis as the embodiment of generosity and good.
Most students allowed that she had the right to frame the conflict in the
context of own personal tragedy but that did not make her expert on the
larger issues. According to my son, much of the discussion centered whether
her opinions could be considered "hate speech".
In a discussion board sponsored by the Political Studies department, a
member of the group who had invited her said the following:
"Having attended the speech, I will say that it was about as close to hate
speech as you can get. I am a member of Hillel, who brought her to Queen's
along with the Queen's Israeli Peace Initiative, and to be frank I am
disappointed that the Hillel leadership did not do better research before
inviting Ms. Gabriel to this campus.
The saddest part of Ms. Gabriel's speech, was that having heard her recount
her childhood experiences, you understand where all that hateful language
comes from. I am in no way justifying what she said, but I think this is an
important thing to take out of this mess. We need to realize just how
prevalent this kind of raw hatred is in the middle east, from Jews, Muslims
and Christians like Ms. Gabriel."
My son said there was an editorial in the student paper that generated
numerous letters to the editor about the speech but I couldn't find it
online.
Here is a link to the political studies discussion board:
http://www.queensu.ca/politics/pols110a/discus/messages/346/567.html?1112978
254
Because my parents and I suffered the consequences of WW II does not,
perforce, make me an expert on the issues. But it does give me a
perspective through which I filter other information. In my case, I think
it made me susceptible to fundamentalist Christian teachings of divine
retribution against those who refuse the truth. When your childhood is
spent in chaos, there is something very comforting about the vision of an
angry God who fights on your side against all who oppose you. That's also
my interpretation of the rhetorical appeal of militant Muslims like
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khomeini. Mix in the lust for political power and you have a lethal
combination.
Now that I I've and teach in the South, I see similar problems with the
conflation of religious fervor and American politics. Please do not
immediately assume that I think the American system is equivalent to the
social vision of militant Muslims. But Jerry Falwell's vision is pretty
creepy too. And here are many Americans who subscribe to that vision .
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Judith Evans
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2006 10:24 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Brigette Gabriel again supporting Israel
I link to an interview with Brigitte Gabriel, who is, of course, a Maronite
Christian. I suggest people who read it check the history of the
phalangists in Lebanon and relate that to the date she gives (1975).
In the eighties I knew a Lebanese Christian studying here among whose
main friends in the UK were non-British Muslims, in particular, one
from Syria. She decided to return to the Lebanon -- because her
family was there -- despite the belief that conditions there were about
to worsen. They did. Her family were killed. There's much secrecy
about exactly what happened next but basically, she was located,
helped out of the country, and brought to safety in Syria.
Here's Brigitte Gabriel:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19016
Judy Evans, Cardiff
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