[NOTE: This post is the second in a series of four retrospective posts to this blog, all of which are relevant to its theme and were instrumental in prompting the author to see to its inception. This post originally took the form of an email, written in response to an article in the Daily Californian that can be viewed as it was printed (though with a preceding apologetic retraction) here.]
To whom it may concern:
I attended the concert covered in the article mentioned in the subject line, and as a casual observer - one who, let me make it as clear as possible from the outset, is an enrolled member of neither Tikvah: Students for Israel nor Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) - I have a few corrections to the piece:
-I had seen the feverish flyering on Sproul Plaza over the course of this week, and so I was interested to see if and how the hip-hop and politics would overlap; as such I was listening intently, and I can say with full certainty that the rapping I heard (unless Husam Zakharia is referring to anti-Palestinian propaganda issued in Spanish by Jermz that I wouldn't have understood) contained no material that an impartial observer could call "anti-Palestinian."
-As a Jew, I find the phrase "[a]ll three men are Jewish" irrelevant and EXTREMELY offensive; as an African-American friend of mine says, "If you'd said, 'all three men are black,' you'd have a monstrous lawsuit on your hands."
-I talked to Senator Moghtader when I noticed him in the crowd during Pep Love's set, and he was never handcuffed or cited for battery.
-I recognize both Husam Zakharia and Gabe Weiner, and was watching as the latter stepped onto the balcony, anticipating some form of altercation; while I cannot vouch for words exchanged up on the balcony, the first blow was issued by Zakharia, who punched Weiner in his right cheek. Unless this is his first experience with physical altercation, he should have not have been "surprised by the violent reaction."
-I have had a conversation with Senator Shah at the SJP table on Sproul Plaza; to my mind, neglecting to mention her affiliation lends credence to the article's closing statement, one which otherwise would seem necessarily biased (though perhaps this was intentional?). Furthermore, though it may just be my inner fifth grader speaking, I still believe that the first person to throw a punch doesn't deserve to be exonerated on the grounds of retaliatory strikes.
- - -
Over the past week I have seen far more exchanges between the two aforementioned student groups than* I ever would have wanted in the past; tonight, I saw a cloud cast over a previously benign event, unprovoked. I'm sure I speak on behalf of many of the undecided in the crowd when I say that the arguments put forth by guest speaker Yehudah Hakohen (sp.?) were disconcerting in their insistence that there exists a palpable, unwavering bias against Israel across the nation's college campuses and newspapers, but tonight he has you to thank for confirming his claims on both counts. Even as a lifelong San Francisco Chronicle reader, I can safely say I've never been this disappointed in a "legitimate" newspaper. I won't venture a guess on whether or not the combined efforts of your field reporters and SJP will cause a spike in Tikvah enrollment, but I can say for certain you've convinced me and a number of my friends they need all the help they can get.
-Judah Mirvish
3rd Yr., UC Berkeley
[*EDITOR'S NOTE: Typo corrected.]
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