campus politics

[sabotabby]

nouveau_itgirl, sushicake, and rohmie...why have you all forsaken me? Grrr.

Tonight's political slugfest was Al-Awda's and the Arab Students Collective's event, "Al-Nakba and the Roots of Israeli Apartheid" at UofT. I'm reminded of why I kept my politics off-campus when I was at school. Global events + testosterone + youthful enthusiasm is a pretty contentious combination, and while I am confident in my ability to debate, it's impossible to get a word in edgewise with people who would rather shout than wait their turns.

Various UofT Zionist groups, after failing to have the event cancelled, showed up in full force. They had some interesting signs and banners, as well as leaflets specifically attacking Hazem, one of the speakers. They had some interesting fashion sense, too; a whole contingent was dressed exactly the same, and another guy decided to accessorize his outfit with a gigantic Israeli flag. I have said it before (even to people with whom I agree politically): Flags are not good fashion statements. Please do not wrap yourself in one.

Best sign? Some guy was so creative that he went on the Protest Warrior website to download a placard. It was this one.

Me: Um...you know Saddam is in jail, right?
Him: What's your point?
Me: I don't think he's giving money to anyone except maybe his lawyers.
Him: SHUT UP!

That was basically the level of debate. I ended up sitting smack in the middle of the Zionist contingent for some reason, which was very enlightening. I heard very little of the speakers, though. One guy, who was upset that he wasn't allowed to videotape the event, was sitting in a very macho posture with his legs spread open, heckling and snickering. He was trying to be intimidating, but it failed miserably because he had a big-ass boner poking through his jeans and you couldn't miss it. That might have been because the girl in front of him kept leaning over, exposing her thong with Hebrew lettering all over it. Or maybe he was getting it up for Hazem, who is admittedly very cute.

Anyway, they all got upset that they had to wait until the speakers were done to ask questions, so they started yelling. Finally, when they did get to ask their questions, they seemed unhappy with the answers, so they yelled some more. My greatest sympathies lie with the two people from the SAC, who had the difficult job of keeping things calm.

I did have a rather civilized discussion afterward with two lefty Zionists who had a genuine interest in debate. I'm sorry that people like that get drowned out, because while I might disagree with them on many, many things, I'm interested in what they have to say and I think the feeling's mutual.

After the talk, I stood in the hallway and chatted with Moose for a bit about the whole macho bullshit that was going on. He said, "We [men] aren't all like that." To which I was very tempted to reply, "We [Jews] aren't all like that either," but I didn't have to, because I think he and everyone else knows that already.

There's a big Israel event happening either this week or next, and I hope that people from the ASC aren't disrespectful and disruptive at it. One of the advantages of being an activist here is that there is an atmosphere where debate doesn't happen at the end of an M-16. I know that no pro-Palestinian group at UofT has ever tried to shut down a pro-Israel event, and generally, I've been impressed with the way UofT has handled controversial speakers. When Ali Abunimah spoke there, someone asked "What should we do?" with regards to promoting the Palestinian struggle on campus. He replied, "Just tell the truth." If you need to shout to get your point across, then there's a fundamental weakness in your argument.

But I ramble. I did intend to make it an early night tonight...

Comments

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

1) There was some Israeli group tabling in the Bear Pit today. Their large map of Israel was one solid block extending from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean.

2) So, can one define "zionist" nowadays without an adjective in front of it?

[sabotabby]

1. Ewww. Still, as long as they're not recruiting for the IDF, they have a right to be there. And we have the right to argue with them. I've very liberal that way.

2. I'm not sure that you ever could. Even right at the beginning, there was cultural Zionism, which talked about a Jewish identity without the prerequisite of a state, and political Zionism, which was considered pie-in-the-sky by most Jews. Buber's politics were nothing like Ben Gurion's.

[betenoire.livejournal.com]

Moose totally didn't even need to bother pointing out that he's not typically testosterony. He's such a decent, almost gentle, type of guy.

Christ, he'd have to be. I'm, like, 70% gay and I used to have a crush on him. I hope he doesn't read your journal because this is SO top secret. And stuff.

Also: Haha! "SHUT UP" is one of the most well-worded counter-arguments like evah!

[sabotabby]

Oh, who doesn't have a crush on Moose? When he was in Jenin, 16-year-old girls were throwing themselves at him and older folks were saying "OMG marry my daughter!" I don't think he reads ElJay, though; once I sent him a link to a discussion on yorku where mick_hale was accusing him of hanging around rapists and murderers and he was all, "Who are these people?"

That guy saying "SHUT UP" totally convinced me that Saddam is funding suicide bombers from his cell. The only thing that would have convinced me more would be if he said, "shut up shut up SHUT UP!"

[zazuomgwtf.livejournal.com]

yeah, if he had said "shut up shut up SHUT UP!" he would have been so convincing that Bush would have hired him as communications director.

[sabotabby]

::dies::

[zazuomgwtf.livejournal.com]

Or maybe he was getting it up for Hazem, who is admittedly very cute.

I actually gawfawed aloud at this.

[sabotabby]

It's true, though.

[zazuomgwtf.livejournal.com]

Would not be the least bit surprised.

[(Anonymous)]

*Ah-em* I have not forsaken you. I have merely deleted my LJ account. And you can expect to get some reading material in your email later this evening. Don't go talkin' behind folks' backs, because they might still be in "earshot" and call you out on it ;)

[sabotabby]

I know you're still in earshot. Why do you think I said it? ;)