THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 69, March 10, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT DEBATE
By Cinnamon Stillwell
THE ISRAELI-ARAB CONFLICT -- A DEBATE: THE ISRAELI POSITION VERSUS THE PALESTINIAN ARAB POSITION -- A
DEBATE BETWEEN DAVID MEIR-LEVY & HATEM BAZIAN -- A DEBATE BETWEEN AN ISRAELI ACADEMIC & A PALESTINIAN
RADICAL PROPAGANDIST
FULL STORY:
A Santa Clara University course optimistically titled, "The Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes," was the setting
for a February 26, 2008, academic debate on one of the world's most intractable disputes: The Arab-Israeli conflict.
San Jose State University Middle East History Lecturer, David Meir-Levy, represented the pro-Israeli side of the equation,
and University of California - Berkeley Islamic Studies Lecturer, Hatem Bazian, argued the pro-Palestinian position.
Interestingly, each embodied the nationality of his respective side of the debate. David Meir-Levy is an American-born
Israeli who once served in the Israeli Defense Forces, while Hatem Bazian is a Palestinian native.
Bazian is notorious for his transparently biased approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict. His call for "an intifada in this country"
at a 2004 San Francisco anti-war protest is just one of many radical statements. More of an activist than an academic, Bazian
personifies the politicization of Middle East Studies today.
Meir-Levy, on the other hand, is known for his scrupulous scholarship on the subject of Middle East History. His recent
book, History Upside Down: The Roots of Palestinian Fascism and the Myth of Israeli Aggression, as described by
Middle East Forum Director Daniel Pipes, "applies great common sense where demagogues and ignorami too often
dominate."
Throughout the debate, Meir-Levy succeeded in turning history or, rather, the inaccurate historical narrative popular on
university and college campuses, upside down, exposing the fallacy of Bazian's arguments in the process.
Bazian's approach was to vilify Israel and paint the Palestinians as the aggrieved party. But Meir-Levy demonstrated in no
uncertain terms that a Palestinian state could have emerged many times over, if not for the anti-Semitism that has subsumed
Palestinian society and, in a larger sense, the Muslim world. "Absent that," he stated, "all issues could be resolved just as
other nations have done."
While Meir-Levy was able to expound upon a variety of subjects, Bazian kept consulting his laptop, resulting in an array of
flimsy talking points. Meir-Levy took note of the latter, accusing Bazian of engaging in "red herrings," and, at one point,
stating coolly:
"There's only one thing wrong with what you said.
It's contrary to the historical record."
Proving his point, Bazian touted post-Zionist Israeli academic Ilan Pappé as an authority on the alleged "systematic
expulsion of the Palestinians" from 1948 onward. Bazian's stated source for this outlandish claim was Pappé's book, The
Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.
Meir-Levy then conveyed a revealing admission the author made to him during a 2002 radio debate. As Pappé put it, "I care
less about veracity because I have an agenda to advance."
The same could be said for Bazian, whose coterie of falsehoods included the assertion that Israel is depriving Palestinians
of water. Bazian, Meir-Levy responded, must have "fallen prey to a misrepresentation." He then set the record straight on
Israel's preservation of the water table and rebuilding of the West Bank and Gaza's sewage systems.
Following Bazian's condemnation of Israel's security barrier, Meir-Levy noted that the purportedly ominous wall is
composed largely of chain-link fencing. The actual wall section, he pointed out, was built to prevent Palestinian snipers
from shooting at Israelis and suicide bombers from getting into Israel. He concluded by stating the obvious: "If there was
no terrorism, there would be no fence."
Taking a page from controversial Columbia University Professor, Nadia Abu El-Haj, Bazian flatly denied Israel's
archeological foundations. "There is no evidence of a major [ancient] Jewish civilization," he stated matter-of-factly.
When not promoting canards, Bazian tried to impress the audience with his credentials. He referenced his position at UC -
Berkeley several times for no apparent reason, and then went on to do the same with his 2004 appearance on Fox News
Channel's The O'Reilly Factor. Yet, he managed to conveniently omit the fact that he was invited on the show to
explain his aforementioned "intifada" comments.
In a further display of boorish behavior, Bazian, responding to Meir-Levy's favorable reference to Daniel Pipes, accused
Pipes and, for good measure, David Horowitz, of being one of the "the drum beaters of Armageddon."
Despite such heated rhetoric, Meir-Levy retained his composure throughout the debate. In contrast, Bazian gave way to
frustration and anger quite easily. At one point, he fumed, "This is not a discussion," and later threatened to end the
debate early, exclaiming, "This is nonsense!" But the "nonsense" in question consisted entirely of facts, and it was clear
that Bazian, a skilled propagandist when dealing with the uninformed, was no match for the knowledgeable. As Meir-Levy
pointed out, "one side in a debate descends into hyperbole when losing."
Nevertheless, some of the students in the classroom were not ready to hear the facts, at least when it came to the bigotry
and genocidal ambitions of the Palestinian "resistance." The idea that both sides of a conflict are not on the same moral
footing is difficult to accept by those indoctrinated by years of relativism. Several students accused Meir-Levy of
demonstrating a "lack of constructive criticism" and of being "overly negative" for his denunciation of what he termed,
"Arab Jew-hatred." One young woman asked him, "Why do we have to focus on hatred?" before walking out. The
majority, however, remained cordial and stuck it out until the end.
To the protestations of Bazian and his student supporters, Meir-Levy answered with a profound, yet simple, statement:
"Peace begins with trust. Trust begins with truth."
Unfortunately, Middle East Studies academics such as Bazian appear to have little interest in truth, and it is the students
who suffer the consequences. That is why spirited debates such as this one are so important.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Israel & the Arabs -- The Israeli-Arab Conflict
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Islamism & Jihadism -- Radical Islam & Islamic Terrorism
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Cinnamon Stillwell is the Northern California Representative for Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum.
Stillwell can be reached at stillwell@meforum.org.
The foregoing article by Cinnamon Stillwell was originally published in Front Page Magazine, March 10, 2008, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/1871)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
March 10, 2008
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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