At the film, “Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised land,” hosted by Hampshire College’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), I became a fundamentalist. I’m not sure what type of fundamentalist I am because my accuser, University of Massachusetts professor Sut Jhally, only mentioned that I was a fundamentalist “like Osama Bin-Laden.” After the film I made an unpopular comment to Jhally, the director, after which he made his comment.
As a Mount Holyoke student I have not seen any debates about this conflict be reduced to name-calling. The term “fundamentalist,” was used to make me sit back, shut up, and mimic other audience members in nodding violently whenever Jhally uttered anything.
The attempt to shut up my legitimate criticism of the film is not isolated. It is part of the greater problem of academic intimidation occurring on campuses throughout the country by pro-Palestinian professors and students. Academia is a feisty world, and disagreements should not be uncommon. As someone who supports a fair, equitable peace process in Israel and the disputed territories, but does not support a Palestinian state at this time, it is not uncommon to find people who disagree with me. However, it is uncommon for those who disagree to resort to such forms of hyperbole as calling someone “fundamentalist.”
Sadly, like his charge of “fundamentalism,” Jhally’s film, “Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land,” is also lacking factual basis. “Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land,” constantly references international law, without citing specific laws, their intended application, or how Israel is allegedly violating these laws. Without facts, the film sprays inaccuracies at its viewers, but leaves them without tools to discuss the media and its coverage of Israel and the territories.
One of the film’s premises is that “political elites” and “corporate interests” control the media. Besides a flash of Joe Lieberman’s face, no “political elites” were seen in the film by name, and no organization and no specific corporation or set of corporate interests were named. They were cast as threatening figures looming above the American media and obliterating truth.
“Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land,” continued to be problematic as it lambasted “the occupation.” As an Irish-American with roots in Ulster, I have a nuanced understanding of illegal occupation because for centuries my family has been living under it. Coming from a place of experience, I take issue with the term “occupation” being used to describe Israel’s role in the disputed territories.
The film did not discuss why the Israeli Defense Force is in the disputed territories, or the need for Israel to stop the flow of terrorism. While I attempted to explain this to Jhally audience members (some from the SJP) began screaming and mocking me. An elderly woman began screeching incoherently at me. Jhally did nothing to discourage this juvenile behavior. Instead, he comfortably watched me and my ideas be abused by a group of undereducated, ranting students. After these antics ceased, Jhally made the point that I was a fundamentalist, like Osama Bin-Laden, and “completely irrational.” As a secular liberal who is against violence, I was torn between laughter at his outrageousness and disgust. Do students in his classroom who are not vehement supporters of his biased, ignorant ideas suffer?
Intimidation has a clear purpose: to turn me and my ideas into “the other,” and by doing so he squashed his academic integrity and any hope of a contribution to the peace process. The film’s problems paled in comparison to Jhally’s reference of a quote concerning who live in prisons – the people of the Gaza Strip and West Bank – and are treated like animals, then become animals. Instead of adding, “I don’t think that Palestinians are animals,” he left the quote alone, and an audience member challenged this comparison. Why imply that Palestinians are animals if you are trying to make the case that Palestinians need to be autonomous with their own government? Having spent significant amounts of time with Palestinians through Seeds of Peace International Camp, I do not believe that they are “animals.”
Nothing jars me more than the fact that this program is eating up taxpayer dollars to “educate” people. Neither the SJP or Jhally did a credible work in discussing the Israeli-Arab conflict. The conflict has two sides, not one, and if Jhally wants to speak about media bias in the Israeli-Arab conflict, then he has a duty to mention the role of the media in Arab countries, which often rivals even Nazi propaganda in its presentation of Jewish people. I hope that students will not be influenced by this ignorance and bias and will do the work behind truly understanding the Arab-Israeli conflict and the media’s role in dissecting it.
Adrienne Potter Yoe is a Mt. Holyoke student.
