Posters Were Vicious Propaganda

To the Editors of The Crimson:

In the days since the recent postering by the Committee on Palestine, much discussion has been placed on the freedom of speech issue, often at the expense of discussion of the rather transparent motives of the committee. Though the controversial posters were placed with the stated goal of comme morating the third annivserary of the beginning of the intifada, their true purpose was clear enough: to viciously defame the Jewish state and its supporters with unsubstantiated knee-jerk propaganda.

To see this, one need not analyze anything but the words on the posters themselves: "As a center of protest, this University has been closed. --Israeli military command."

Such a statement makes no mention of the actual reasons for the periodic closure of schools in the occupied territories, the greater context of the issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict or even at the very least, the words "Palestinian" or "intifada". The posters had the sole purpose of discrediting Israel by portraying the Middle East's only democracy as a barbarous and militaristic regime.

Clearly, the posters were presented in manner in which public outrage toward the postering would be maximized. It is virtually impossible that the committee could not have expected the rather understandable way in which students, both Jewish and non-Jewish, reacted to unsubstantiated attempts at Israel-bashing.

Therefore another goal of the committee can be seen: to incite students so heavily that the posters would be removed almost immediately. As a result of the predictable immediate removal, the committee would hope to gain martyr status, become a darling of Harvard's politically correct and wait patiently for students to form the opinion that right here at Harvard, just as in the Occupied Territories, where Palestinian freedom of expression is stifled by the Israelis in power, the discussion of the plight of the Palestinians is being squelched by the agents of the powerful international Jewish conspiracy.

Other evidence of this goal is that no posters made mention of how they were allowed to be placed in areas illegal for postering because of permission from Dean of Students Achie C. Epps III. Without such a statement, students and maintenance people had no reason to regard them as legally posted and therefore had no reason to treat them any differently from ordinary Yard litter.

The committee's posteres were designed to have the innocent, uninformed reader believe that the reason for the shutdown of Palestinian universities during the intifada was merely because of their role as "centers of protest." It would seem that Israel is attempting to abridge the right to free speech (which, of course, exists nowhere else in the Middle East).

Not only is this attempt to influence opinion built on falsehood, it is built on absurdity: It does not take a genius to realize that it is in the best interests of the Israelis to have Palestinians studying in libraries rather than in the streets assaulting Israeli soldiers.

The reason that the Palestinian universities were shut down (again, it should be emphasized, shut down temporarily) is that the universities were indeed being used as centers of protest. However, the protest of choice being employed by the Palestinian "activists" was that of violent rioting and assaults on persons in uniform. Palestinian school administrators have, in fact, asked Israeli officials in many recent cases to close schools temporarily until the violence had subsided.

Further, the posters, in their context, attempt to create a parallel between Harvard University and the Palestinian universities and the West Bank. This attempt is perhaps the most ridiculous aspect of all to the posters. Quite simply, this parallel is nonexistent.

Harvard has not been the center for the coordination of violent activity for the eventual overthrow of a government. As far as I know, Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 has not been stockpiling rocks, molotov cocktails and knives. President Derek C. Bok has not been urging students never to relent in a "holy struggle" against "the Zionist entity."

Finally, it should be remembered that, since assuming administrative control of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967 as a result of an Arab invasion of Israel, Israel has taken a leading role in the development and growth of educational opportunities for the Palestinians. The establishment of six Palestinian universities and the more than 50 percent increase in the number of elementary schools since 1967 are the result of Israel's efforts to provide the Palestinians with a broad range of educational opportunities.

Palestinians also have taken advantage of the access to various educational programs inside Israel, including Jerusalem's Hebrew University. In general, the empirical evidence hardly paints a picture of Israeli repression of educational opportunities for the Palestinians.

Clearly, the Committee on Palestine has, through its actions, demonstrated a desire to propagandize rather than engage in serious debate about the issue of the intifada in the context of the more general Arab-Israeli conflict. Such motives and methods are at best questionable and, at worst, inflammatory and slanderous. Adam Taxin '93