Olmert Heckled at University of Chicago
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert came to the University of Chicago on Thursday to deliver what was to be a 20-minute speech as part of the King Abdullah II Leadership Lecture Series, which is funded by the Jordanian leader. Instead, the speech took more than hour as protesters did their best to interrupt Olmert, the Chicago Maroon reports.
Olmert spoke about a two-state plan for peace in the Middle East, the Maroon reports, but his words were often disrupted by outbursts from the crowd. There were "dozens" of protesters inside the auditorium and more than 100 outside, the report says. Many belonged to University of Chicago student groups such as the Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice in Palestine. Some came from the University of Illinois-Chicago and Northwestern University.
One student scuffled with a police officer in street clothes, the report says. The Chicago Tribune reports that 25 students were removed from the lecture hall.
Attempting to shrug off the shouts and protests, Olmert told the crowd that he was used to heated exchanges and arguments. "I understand these emotions. There is the same rage from voices on the right in Israel," he said.
Olmert later added, "We have to make a choice of what we want. Do we want to fight these people forever, or do we want to make peace? If people shouted less, we could have done great things."
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Tags: Israel | colleges | University of Chicago | Ehud Olmert
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Reader Comments
Faulty Journalism as Usual
I'm not surprised, given the two main sources of this article are the Chicago Maroon and the Chicago Tribune. For the record, 18 students were forced to leave (not 25), and only four of which were from the University of Chicago. Many other people came from all over the Chicagoland area to either hear or protest Olmert. A lot of people were shocked that the University would select such a politically-charged leader for what was meant to be a positive conference.
More importantly, Olmert not only spoke of an alleged two-state solution (which ceases to exist to this date); he went further to say such things as "Hamas throws babies out of windows," and that his Israeli counterparts were critical of him being too considerate of the Palestinian people. In fact, this type of ridiculous propaganda was the basis of his argument: the Palestinians are to blame for the violence in Gaza. Forget about Israeli blockades or extremely advanced chemical weaponry that ended up killing 1,400+ people at the beginning of 2009. The Palestinians are the reason for lack of progress and peace.
It was sad to see that people weren't actually listening to what Olmert said when he was finally able to speak (i.e. when all of the last hecklers were kicked out). Instead, many administrators and students at the university pardoned the ex-prime minister's war crime charges, concluding that he was a sweet, innocent man being attacked by those meanie protestors. UChicago may be at the top of the US News 'America's Best College' list, but my fellow colleagues will never have an ounce of common sense.
Bogus Use of The Smear of Anti-Semitism Is Designed To Intimidate Critics of Israel Into Silence
I would, in fact, state that most Israeli apologists have no interest in the welfare of the Israeli people seeing as how they want to silence critics of Israeli in their tracks by calling them anti-Semites because they expose Israel's wrongdoing, and want to see Israel live in peace with its neighbors unlike what it has been doing for so long, namely, being an internationally illegal occupier over the Palestinians in their own lands.
Israel apologists make a blanket slur that anyone who criticizes Israel is motivated by searing hate of Israeli and her inhabitants, and, therefore, must be an anti-Semite.
Again, it is very obvious to all that this very crude interjection is simply a standard tactic of Israel apologists to silence any one that criticizes Israel because the allusion that is made here is that this "searing hate is anti-Semitic or motivated by anti-Semitism".
It's pretty obvious to all readers that this allusion on the part of Israeli apologists is completely fabricated and doesn't stand up to scrutiny especially when people see how Israeli apologists try to casting slurs via smearing tactics on any poster criticizing Israel, and exposing its nefarious nature to the light of truth.
This is even more obvious when people read how often Israeli apologists have made this same slur and against so many people throughout so many different postings on these boards. Taking this into account, it appears that Israeli apologists have a pattern of throwing out this slur against any critics of Israel that are seen as being too effective in exposing Israel's transgressions and occupation of the Palestinians as the evil that it is.
What is sickening:
- Israel's efforts to always portray itself as the victim when in fact it is the oppressor and the victimizer of the already victimized. For example, look at how Israel and its supporters always try to present it as under siege even though it regularly puts 3.5 million Palestinians including people who are already refugees under curfew, subject to military justice, imposes checkpoints on them, practices South African style racist apartheid againt them, and all sorts of other coercive terror behaviours of a fascist state within their own lands.
- Israel's efforts to co-opt all the arguments that really apply to Palestinians to itself e.g. using the weapon of anti-Semitism against critics when in fact Israel is the biggest anti-Semite in all history when taking into fact that European Jews are not Semites but descendants of the Khazar Tribes of Eastern Europe whereas Palestinians are true Semites; another example being Israel's efforts to present the Palestinians as trying to drive Israel into the sea when, in fact, Israel the oppressor has been trying to drive the Palestinians into the sea via ethnic cleansing in their own lands through tactics such as the imposition of racist apartheid, the breakup of Palestinian lands into little Warsaw Ghettos into which Palestinian inhabitants are herded
Old Morte Is a War riminal and Judge Goldstone Is A Jewish Person of Conscience
The UN Human Rights Council has taken a bold step by endorsing eminent Judge Richard Goldstone's report despite all of Israel’s efforts to smear this distinguished Jewish person of conscience. Of course, it is understood that some of the states that endorsed this Report have questionable human rights records but so what as the reality still is the same, namely, that Israel, under the so-called leadership of Ehud Olmert, has committed war crimes against th people of Gaza?
Instead of spending all their efforts trying to distract away from the war crimes that Israel has committed against Palestinian civilians but particularly children, Israel supporters do have the choice to write about other issues that they say concern them so much such as Darfur, the Congo and Iran and so on. Instead Israel supporters continuously harp about others needing to write on issues of concern to them!!!! As such, I say to Israel supporters that they do have the power to stop wasting their time defending Israel's documented war crimes against Palestinians and instead take action on those other causes that they say say "concern" them so much. That would be time better served than demanding that others do so all the while complaining about others’ efforts to bring Israel to justice for crimes against humanity.]
Since Israel’s occupation began, thousands of Palestinian civilians including children have been killed by the Israeli military.
Israel always claims that it was a “tragic accident”
The Israeli military has had thousands of so-called “tragic accidents” in which thousands of Palestinians have been killed, and tens of thousands of additional Palestinians injured These so-called “accidents” have happened over and over and over again over decades without cease.]
These so-called “accidents by the Israeli military have happened with every type of weapon platform conceivable including Merkava tanks, Apache helicopter gunships, remotely piloted drones armed with Hell-fire missiles, fighter aircraft, artillery strikes, and even snipers
The State of Israel has received hundreds of billions of dollars in military aid from western nations and yet it still keeps on having these so-called “tragic accidents” leading to one of two conclusions:
1. That the Israeli military is made up of incompetents who can’t shoot straight and upon whom billions of dollars in western aid have been wasted
OR
2. That the Israeli military and civilian leadership think that they have carte blanche to methodically murder Palestinians.]
You be the Judge!!
Moreover, Israel supporters keep on saying Hamas hides behind civilians as if this allows it to murder civilians without cease methodically as already illustrated. ]
My question though is why does Israel hide and, indeed, encourage its soldiers to eat in public cafes and restaurants, ride in public buses to go to and fro from military bases and so on.
In fact, why is the Ministry of Defence even located in the heart of the civilian population of Tel Aviv if Israel is so concerned about its civilians as it keeps on saying? Are Israeli soldiers cowards that they need to hide hide themselves among Israel's civilian population despite all the massive firepower at their disposal? Are Israeli soldiers cowards that they need to hide behind Palestinian civilians as they attacked Gaza as illustrated here:
http://lawrenceofcyberia.blogs.com/news/2006/08/hiding_behind_c.html
Just asking.....
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