When I covered the 1982 Lebanon war, I learned something surprising about wars: they attract all kinds of spectators, meddlers, do-gooders and do-badders. They use the conflict and the attention it generates to play out their own identity issues, passions and biases. My favorite [...]]]> By Thomas L. Friedman of the NYTimes. Click here for full article.

When I covered the 1982 Lebanon war, I learned something surprising about wars: they attract all kinds of spectators, meddlers, do-gooders and do-badders. They use the conflict and the attention it generates to play out their own identity issues, passions and biases. My favorite in Beirut was a gentleman who showed up in August 1982 as the Palestinian guerrillas were sailing out of Beirut harbor. His name — I am not making this up — was Arthur Blessitt, the “Sunset Boulevard Preacher.” He had walked to West Beirut from Israel to pray for peace, dragging a 13-foot-long wooden cross with a little wheel on the bottom.

Arthur was harmless; some of the others, though, were mendacious, which prompted me to promulgate this rule: I adore the Israelis and Palestinians, but God save me from some of their European and American friends. Their grandstanding interventions — like those blockade-busters sailing to Gaza or the wealthy American Jews who fund extremist settlers’ housing purchases in Arab East Jerusalem — often fuel the worst trends on either side and divert our energies from the only thing that is important: forging a two-state solution.

So is there anything good happening in that regard? Yes. The effort by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to build the institutional foundations of a Palestinian state from the ground up — replacing the corrupt, jerry-built structure that Yasir Arafat created and Israel destroyed — is actually making progress. This matters — and must be nurtured.

You see, there are two models of Arab governance. The old Nasserite model, which Hamas still practices, where leaders say: “Judge me by how I resist Israel or America.” And: “First we get a state, then we build the institutions.” The new model, pioneered in the West Bank by Abbas and Fayyad is: “Judge me by how I perform — how I generate investment and employment, deliver services and pick up the garbage. First we build transparent and effective political and security institutions. Then we declare a state. That is what the Zionists did, and it sure worked for them.”

[Full Article]

Suggested Reading: http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177445

For [...]]]> After decades of requiring students wishing to study in Israel to carry out an arduous petition process, the University of Minnesota has added Israel to the massive list of University-endorsed and approved study abroad options. Read the Daily article for more:

Students previously had to seek special permission in order to study abroad in Israel.

BY RAGHAV MEHTA

For years, University of Minnesota students were required to seek special permission to study abroad in Israel. However, a recently approved petition will open the door for more students to study in the Israeli cities of Haifa and Jerusalem.

After reviewing proposals from the Learning Abroad Center and Institute of Technology, the University’s International Travel Risk Assessment and Advisory Committee approved three new study abroad programs to Israel, one of them beginning as early as this May. The deadline to apply for fall semester programs is April 21.

While the University offered similar programs in the past, policy currently requires students to seek permission to travel to countries that appear on the U.S. Department of State travel warning list.

Stacey Tsantir, coordinator for International Health, Safety and Compliance, said that although the committee regularly approves petitions from students, this is the first time a group program has been ratified.

The Learning Abroad Center will be offering programs at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Haifa beginning in fall 2010.

The Institute of Technology will also be hosting a three-week faculty-led summer session for undergraduates starting this May. Which university the IT program will study at is yet to be determined.

[Full Article]

Last week, Hamas released a propaganda cartoon showing Gilad Shalit’s father receiving Gilad’s dead body [...]]]> On April 25th 2010, I celebrated my 20th Birthday. I ate Sushi and cake and spent time with family and friends. On April 25th 2010, Gilad Shalit celebrated 1400 days in captivity after being kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on June 25th, 2006.

Last week, Hamas released a propaganda cartoon showing Gilad Shalit’s father receiving Gilad’s dead body in a casket.

Go to the Habanim site to learn more about Gilad Shalit. Want to get involved with Israel and/or Gilad Shalit issues on campus and in Minnesota? Contact GopherIsrael.

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This letter is in regard to the Palestinian protesters Sunday at Coffman Union. [...]]]> A great letter appeared this week in the Minnesota Daily, the University of Minnesota newspaper. The letter, in response to comments made during an anti-Israel protest, highlights the unfortunate flawed mindset of many of Israel’s detractors.

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PUBLISHED: 03/23/2010

BY SPENCER GOLDSTEIN

This letter is in regard to the Palestinian protesters Sunday at Coffman Union. After speaking with a group of the supporters for “freeing Palestine,” I can understand why it is so difficult for Israel to make peace. I was told by one supporter that the reason Israel allows sugar into Gaza but not juice is the fact that bombs can be made with sugar but not juice.

Apparently, Israel wants to be attacked by rockets to look like they are the ones being harmed. Not only is this information illogical but it also is blasphemous. For people not educated on the Israeli-Palestinian situation, one might actually believe that what some of these anti-Israel protesters are saying has any merit. It saddens me to realize that peace is further and further away from the Middle East when you have people spreading false propaganda in order to justify their intolerance of a nation the size of New Jersey and the only true democracy in the Middle East.

Spencer Goldstein, University alumnus

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