Here is my essay from the website of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. (SPME).

SPME is an important academic organization composed of thousands of professors who are devoted to correcting the hatred and anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism of some professors and pro-Palestinian groups that are wreaking havoc on the education of young people, or seeking academic boycotts of Israeli professors.  I am trying to raise some money for them, by asking for donations for SPME when people read chapters of my online book, Second Generation Radical, which is at www.howardrotberg.ca.

Here is the essay:

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Previous Page E-Mail This Page Print HOWARD ROTBERG: A TALE OF TWO UNIVERSITY BOMBINGS By Howard Rotberg Published in: Exclusive to SPME Faculty Forum January 31, 2009 For 7 years, the Palestinians in Gaza sent a constant battery of rockets against the Israeli civilians of Sderot and Ashkelon. The bombing had only intensified when Israel pulled out of Gaza, turning it over to the Palestinians. Finally, after 7 years and constant requests from the residents under attack, Israel attacked Hamas in Gaza. One of the targets of air attacks was the Islamic University in Gaza, which had very close ties to Hamas. Hamas, although democratically elected in Gaza, soon consolidated power by killing or arresting members of its rival, Fatah, and thus established a totalitarian regime. According to Israel, two laboratories in the university were targeted because they served as research and development centres for Hamas's military wing. It was stated by Israeli intelligence that the development of explosives was done under the auspices of university professors. University buildings were also used for meetings of senior Hamas officials. Hamas is classified by most Western countries as a “Terrorist Organization”. The Israel Defence Forces said rockets and explosives were stored in the buildings. Israel, being a liberal democracy, has a flourishing free press, and opposition parties, (including Arab parties) and anyone from the media or the political opposition, can find it career-enhancing to find any false statements from the government. Like journalists and opposition parties here, there is plenty of fact checking for government allegations, and a journalist who proves a politician lying can find that digging up the facts for that purpose can make his or her career. That is to say, in Israel itself, there is an inherent protection against false allegations. So, what I read in the Jerusalem Post or Ha’aretz (both online in English), I tend to believe. Nothwithstanding the conversion of a university into a weapons laboratory to be used against Israeli civilians in Southern Israel, some Canadian university students are up in arms about the fact that Israel bombed a university. Most provocatively, the student council at York University, Canada (the York Federation of Students) at a meeting that was supposed to deal with the almost 12 week strike at York, deferred that topic to unanimously adopt an anti-Israel set of resolutions. One of the recitals to the resolutions stated that “on Monday December 29 an F-16 fighter plane bombed the Science Laboratory and Library of the Islamic University in Gaza, just a few hours before some of its 20,000 students were to enter the campus to conduct exams.” One of the resolutions stated: “RESOLVED THAT the York Federation of Students show support and solidarity with the people of Gaza by calling upon the Canadian government to pressure the government of Israel to adhere to its' international legal obligations to end attacks on civilian infrastructure and to allow unimpeded access for all Palestinians to their educational institutions”. One wonders about this kind of selective concern. Where were the York students when Israeli civilians were the target of Hamas sponsored bombing of Israeli universities, restaurants, cafes, buses and other targets where Israeli civilians gathered? Also, don’t the York students know that the fact that Israel bombed the university lab “hours before some of its 20,000 students were to arrive”, is an essential difference between Israeli military who are commanded to take all necessary steps to minimize civilian deaths, and Hamas terrorists whose very purpose is to maximize civilian deaths? Let us take a look at just one of the horrible incidents that took place in Israel during what became known as the “Second Intifada” in 2001 and 2002. I was in Israel during that period, writing my book, The Second Catastrophe: A Novel about a Book and its Author (Mantua Books). On July 31, 2002, nine people - four Israelis and five foreign nationals - were killed and 85 injured, 14 of them seriously, when a bomb exploded in the crowded Frank Sinatra cafeteria on the Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus during its lunchtime. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The bomber left the bomb in an innocent looking bag packed with shrapnel in the cafeteria. The purpose of the shrapnel was to kill or maim the maximum number of people. Though classes were not in session, students were taking exams at the time of the blast, and the cafeteria was crowded with diners. There were also numerous students in the building registering for classes for the coming school year. The cafeteria is also near the Rothberg International School, where about 80 pupils from the US and other Western countries had arrived to prepare for the fall semester. Most of the injured were between the ages of 18 and 30. The explosion gutted the cafeteria. The dead and injured included Jews and Arabs, Israeli nationals and foreign students. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has some 23,000 student, 5000 of them being Arabs. According to Fox News, Hamas, which carried out the largest number of Palestinian bombings during the Second Intifada, claimed responsibility for the bombing during a rally in Gaza City that drew some 10,000 supporters into the streets following evening prayers in the mosques. "This operation today is a part of a series of operations we will launch from everywhere in Palestine," said a masked Hamas militant, dressed in a green military uniform. At the request of the masked Hamas speaker, the entire crowd knelt to pray that future Hamas attacks "would succeed against the enemy of God." If one checks the internet, there are photographs of wildly cheering Palestinians waiving Hamas flags and flashing victory signs, as they celebrated some kind of victory over a student cafeteria. In addition, how many readers know that in February, 2008, a Hamas rocket (one of 40 launched that day!) landed at Sapir College in Sderot, killing 47 year old student, Roni Yihye, who was survived by four children, and injuring a pregnant Bedouin student? How many newspapers in the West even bothered to report it? Did the students at York even bother to research these facts before they make Israeli actions the single most important issue in their agenda, even more important than a resolution of the strike preventing students from attending classes? Israeli government officials delayed a substantial military intervention in Gaza during 7 years of Hamas rockets against towns like Sderot, where studies indicate that due to the frequent rockets and sirens requiring refuge in bomb shelters, some 75% of the children are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But, once it finally acted, the Israeli government and its public took no joy in the Gaza operation. They only took joy when their reservist children returned from service in the War, because Israelis worship life just as surely as the residents of Gaza, with Hamas turning them into human shields or suicide bombers, worship death. It is just one of the distinctions that the student council at York University seems not to grasp. Howard Rotberg is the author of, the novel, The Second Catastrophe, and two books of non-fiction, his most recent being Exploring Vancouverism: The Political Culture of Canada’s Lotus Land. His literary website is www.howardrotberg.ca and his blog is http://secondgenerationradical.blogmatrix.com/

This is so disgusting.   The students at York U. are in danger of losing their year as the strike heads into the 12th week;  the Student Council sets up a meeting to discuss the strike, but finds it easier instead to ignore the whole issue and turn the meeting into an anti-Israel hatefest.

This is another key historical development showing what serious trouble we are in.

I enclose also the information about the 2002 Palestinian suicide bombing attack at Hebrew University.   Those who condemn Israel for attacks on Palestininian educational buildings that are complicit in terrorism and weapons storage and do not condemn the Palestinians for intentionally targetting innocent civilians are clearly using double standards and should be exposed for that, and then we should all ask WHY they use such double standards, and if the reason is anti-Semitism, we should not be afraid to say so.

Courtesy of the great Shirley Ann Haber, here is the information:

 

In spite of the fact that a strike has been going on at York U for many weeks, the student council met to supposedly discuss the difficulties that students were having as a result of the strike last Wednesday and instead discussed and voted on a motion to condemn The State of Israel. The motion is listed below for your information – a black mark against this student body with its overly biased and hateful resolution.

 

 

Dear Friends,

 

York University, the third largest post secondary institution in Canada with a student body reaching 50 000 and a large Jewish community of 5000 students, is becoming increasingly more hostile towards the Jewish, Israeli and pro-Israel communities on campus.

 

Wednesday, January 21st 2009, many Jewish students ascended on the York campus in order to prevent an insidious motion condemning the State of Israel from being passed by the student government.  York University's elected student government, the York Federation of Students (YFS), unanimously voted in favor of this despicable motion understanding very well its controversial and dangerous nature.  During an open meeting that was supposed to address the needs of York students during this difficult time, the YFS failed its constituency yet again, which it claims to represent, by avoiding the needs of students and condemning Israel instead. 

 

As we enter the 12th week that York students have been locked out of classes, it seems strange that of all issues, including bringing an expedient end to the strike, finding ways for students to cope with issues brought forth by the labour disruption or fiscal reparations, the student government has decided to pass anti-Israel motions instead.

 

It is inherently clear, after facing severe criticism for their inaction during the strike, as well as coming under fire for not being truthful to the public about their faithful support of CUPE 3903, the YFS is using an anti-Israel motion to divert attention from the real issues that York University students face.

 

As Israeli, Jewish and pro-Israel students become increasingly more fearful of their future on Ontario University campuses with CUPE Ontario's proposed ban of Israeli academics, it's important for the community to be acutely aware of the adversity our students face.  

 

Please take a few moments to look over this motion passed Wednesday afternoon by the YFS.

 

 

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA
MOTION 2009-01-21: 03
a. Whereas the York Federation of Students works to defend the basic human right to an accessible system of post secondary education for all, regardless of race, colour, creed, sexual orientation, ability, class status, nationality, place of origin , or personal or political beliefs;
Whereas on the 27th of December, 2008, the Israeli state launched a mass military attack against Gaza, code-named "Operation Cast Lead" and as of January 19, 2009 over 1200 Palestinians have been killed and infrastructure including hospitals, schools and civilian homes have been destroyed, and

Whereas the state of Israel's military have attacked educational institutions in Gaza including: on Saturday the 27th of December, 2008 an air missile hit the Gaza Training Centre in downtown Gaza City killing 8 students and wounding 19 and on Monday December 29 an F-16 fighter plane bombed the Science Laboratory and Library of the Islamic University in Gaza, just a few hours before some of its 20,000 students were to enter the campus to conduct exams. A few days later, on the 3rd of January a jet levelled the private 'progressive' American school in Gaza, killing its security guard and denying some 200 students their education for the foreseeable future. Later the same day, the Agricultural School in Beit Hanoun was damaged by 4 artillery shells, and 4 more schools were damaged throughout the Strip, and on January 10 reports of two direct air strikes of Gaza's education ministry, and

Whereas this recent attack is the single largest massacre in Gaza, and despite the current cease fire, Israel's current occupation of Gaza has dramatic negative implications on how Palestinian youth and their families access basic human rights including, but not limited to, clean water, food, health care and education;
Whereas this humanitarian crisis requires an international call from students to demand that we work towards building an environment free of systemic societal oppression including one that is free of military occupation and war, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the York Federation of Students issue a public statement of its condemnation of the Israeli attacks on civilian, humanitarian targets, Universities, United Nation Schools, and Academic infrastructure in Gaza that have lead to the bombing and mass destruction of educational institutions and caused over a 1,200 civilian deaths, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the York Federation of Students show support and solidarity with the people of Gaza by calling upon the Canadian government to pressure the government of Israel to adhere to its' international legal obligations to end attacks on civilian infrastructure and to allow unimpeded access for all Palestinians to their educational institutions, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the York Federation of Students support the call from Human Rights Watch for an unbiased, independent investigation of human rights violations and any violations of the Geneva conventions that occurred during the conflict, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the York Federation of Students affiliate to the RIGHT TO EDUCATION campaign which provides information on the need to protect and ensure access to education for all students in Palestine and any student living under war and or occupation.

 

So York U. students ignore the attacks made against Israeli civilians, not even pretending any more that they follow "moral equivalence".  Instead they show "solidarity" with the lovely folks who welcomed to power a terrorist group whose main purpose is violent overthrow of the Jewish state and the killing of Jewish civilians.

Everyone should be aware that York University has over 5,000 Jewish students and many Jewish faculty, and they are all in potential danger.  Moreover, please pass this matter on to as many people as possible and all students thinking of attending York should be dissuaded from doing so.

Now, we are starting to understand that double standards applied to Israel are symptoms of anti-Semitism, because why should the Jewish State be treated so differently than others.

Because of my knowledge of suicide bombing attacks against the civilians of Israel (I wrote a novel about it - entitled The Second Catastrophe), I immediately recalled a horrible intentional murder of Israeli and even foreign students at the Hebrew University.

I am almost sure that York U. Student Council didn't pass a unaminous condemnation of that attack and a motion of solidarity with the Israeli students.  I would be indebted to anyone who can check the Student Council resolutions from that period and confirm that for me.    If there was no such resolution, then that makes the action of the York students even more heinous than it would otherwise be.

Here is the information about the bombing at Hebrew U.

Terrorist bombing at Hebrew University cafeteria
July 31, 2002

©2002 Reuters/Nir Elias  Emergency workers attend victims of a bomb blast at Hebrew University ©2002 Reuters/Nir Elias  Injured woman is help from the scene of the explosion ©GPO  The cafeteria after the bombing ©2002 Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah  Palestinians wave Hamas flags and flash victory sign at Hamas rally in Gaza to celebrate attack on Hebrew University in Jerusalem (July 31)

Nine people - four Israelis and five foreign nationals - were killed and 85 injured, 14 of them seriously, when a bomb exploded in the crowded Frank Sinatra cafeteria on the Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus shortly after 13:30. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bomber left the bomb in an innocent looking bag packed with shrapnel in the cafeteria. The device was professionally prepared, possibly in one of the factories in the Nablus casbah, which the IDF has refrained from entering since Operation Defensive Shield after Passover.

Though classes were not in session, students were taking exams at the time of the blast, and the cafeteria was crowded with diners. There were also numerous students in the building registering for classes for the coming school year.

The cafeteria is also near the Rothberg International School, where about 80 pupils from the US and other Western countries had arrived to prepare for the fall semester.

Most of the injured were between the ages of 18 and 30. The explosion gutted the cafeteria.