For those of us who have experienced the hostility of SOAS, even images of the building can create an uneasy feeling. Those Jews who attend events, tell tales of the anti-Jewish rhetoric that thrives and multiplies there. Yet until you have personally experienced it, it is difficult to adequately describe the threat SOAS presents. Too many people make the mistake of suggesting SOAS, like towns such as Bradford, simply reflect the political demographic of those that walk within. That’s ‘okay’ they suggest, because it is just Bradford, just SOAS.
They are wrong. They completely fail to understand the central message such understanding brings. This is why:
SOAS isn’t some outlying town, it is a university. A university in the heart of London. The prime function of SOAS is to create an environment where research and higher education flourish. Where people that enter its halls have their underlying beliefs challenged, reaching for greater understanding, whilst standing on the giants of those that came before.
Unchallenged lies at SOAS
And yet SOAS isn’t fulfilling its primary function. SOAS in reality is little more than a breeding pit of ignorance and intolerance. A place where for many, education becomes stymied, if it isn’t in line with the narrow ideological constraints of the thuggery that has taken control. Students of some minorities are simply unwelcome if they refuse to conform. In lecture halls, lies are told openly, and the university promotes and defends an environment where those lies cannot be challenged. Like Stalinism and Nazism, at SOAS, history is being erased and replaced with a dangerous ideology through the use of threatening behaviour and effective propaganda.
I have seen over a dozen events at SOAS. At almost every single one, all that is thrown at students, is lie, after lie. A pyramid of fiction. If someone openly challenges a lie he becomes ridiculed, threatened or physically intimidated. These are not just student events. When SOAS held an official centennial lecture, they gave the honour to Rajeh Shehadi, who for an hour stood and demonised Israel, delivering numerous falsehoods in the speech. When people complained to Baroness Amos, the Director of SOAS, she in turn defended & protected Shehadi’s ‘opinion’. It wasn’t opinion that was being criticised, it was Shehadi’s use of the platform to propagate falsehoods. There is no difference at SOAS. Truth has no meaning.
This is a constant theme at SOAS. Take the statement that ‘all the Palestinians were brutally expelled in 1948’. It isn’t an opinion, it is a historical fiction. This lie is a central underlying falsehood upon which the entire antisemitic / anti-Zionist argument is built. It is both false and heard frequently inside SOAS. This central lie cannot be challenged. Other tales, just as absurd and offensive are also delivered at event after event. SOAS provides a stream of lectures and events that demonise Israel. Much of the substance clearly crosses the Government’s accepted definition of antisemitism. A definition, that SOAS refuses to accept.
Using the 5%
The central way that SOAS and other similar institutions fend off criticism of their ideological opposition to mainstream Jewry is through the use of the Jewish 5%. The anti-Zionist Jews. Every community has a 5%. With Jews, this tiny minority, normally of Marxist or near Marxist leaning, are ideologically opposed to Zionism. The remnants of movements like the Bundists, who were annihilated in the Holocaust. Many of these are on the fringes of the community, and their identification as a Jewish anti-Zionist, is the only Jewish identification that still exists in their lives.
But for places like SOAS these Jews are useful. I want you to consider this: Do Jehovah’s Witnesses represent Christianity? Could they be fairly used to represent Christianity? What if I said Jehovah’s Witnesses were the only true Christians? If I negated everything mainstream Christians said and did, rejecting them because Jehovah’s Witnesses, the ‘real Christians’, gave me cover. This is *exactly* what is occurring with Jews. A tiny fringe minority, completely unrepresentative of the mainstream, are taken and placed in front of crowds, denouncing mainstream Jews as ‘fake’.
The use of Jehovah’s Witnesses to attack mainstream Christian thought would be seen as a direct attack on Christians. The use of the Jewish 5% should be viewed in the same way. As a strategy, it is inherently antisemitic. Yet almost no university will hold an event today without first ensuring their ‘good Jews’ will be present. Last night at SOAS they had several.
Spreading the lies
And then there is propagation. Within the SOAS walls, the lies spread unchecked. At two separate events, in Warwick and Sussex, I saw James Eastwood from the Queen Mary University deliver a speech on racism in Israel. Two universities, both with anti-Israel activists / academics who are seeking to spread the fictional tales. Eastwood’s thesis won an award. His field of expertise is ‘racism’ within Israeli society. And yet what was visibly evident from his presentation at both Warwick and Sussex, was that he couldn’t differentiate between European and non-European Jews. This award winning ‘expert’, showed a slide of a Mizrahi (eastern) family and claimed they were European. His dialogue was full of distortion. Where did he learn the trade? SOAS, under the watchful eye of Professor Laleh Khalili.
And this is how it spreads.
Look at Exeter. At Exeter a disgraced Professor from Haifa is a head of a department. Other historians have called Ilan Pappe a liar. In this video, Ilan Pappe openly suggests that there are times it is important to lie ‘for historical records’. This is a Professor of History! It is no coincidence that sitting next to him in the video, is another scholar from SOAS, Rubah Salih.
Conveyor belt
Pappe rolls anti-Zionist activists out of Exeter like sweets from a conveyor belt. He chooses the reading list. He dictates what is true and what is not. In the end, brainwashed individuals, that have been let down by the system that was meant to educate them, embark on a activists career where they propagate the lies themselves. Ghada Karmi is also from Exeter. I recently co-authored a report that dismantled a book of anti-Zionist lies authored by Thomas Suarez. When you open Suarez’s book, this is how he begins his introduction:
“This book grew out of conversations with Ghada Karmi”
This entire narrative, this fictional tale of ‘Palestinianism’, is a giant Ponzi scheme, that uses places like SOAS as a hunting ground for new investors. The gullible students are the schemes prey. Look at how many of today’s anti-Zionist academic activists were shaped in the cesspit of SOAS. A university betraying both itself and the society it is meant to serve.
Wherever you find one central anti-Zionist figure, you will find a production line of anti-Zionist activists. And there you will also witness a growing intolerant attitude for the truth and for Jews.
So why is it important
It is important because it shouldn’t be happening anywhere. Just recently, Jonathan Arkush met with Baroness Amos. He described the meeting as ‘the worst of his life’. At the very top of SOAS, those in control have lost their way. Rather than bring the university in line, they have become protectors of the disintegrating environment. The Board of Deputies of British Jews is now considered a hostile element by a UK university and treated as such. A quick search will provide dozens of examples, of anti-Israel and Jewish rhetoric delivered at SOAS. Just one website, Richard Millett’s lists more than a dozen of his own personal experiences.
Yet SOAS is just an example of what can and will happen, wherever the perfect storm is created. Anti-Zionist activists, funding and the social and ethnic make-up of the students. Nobody has any interest in addressing the problem. At SOAS, Jews are not just a minority, they are a hunted minority. If you are Jewish with a soft spot for Israel you hide in the undergrowth or become prey. At a place like SOAS, which is so dependent on pacifying the mob, the Jews are left unprotected.
SOAS isn’t some regional town. It is a university. SOAS is like a local police station where the officers are all corrupt, were those arrested can have unfortunate accidents and local minorities live in fear of the authorities. SOAS is like a local council, where the Councillors prohibit Jews from certain professions unless they are willing to convert to the local church belief. This is an indication of a societal problem at an organised level. Not just a bad street, not just a bad town, but a bad Executive. A growing problem, developing at the very heart of our society. One that clearly threatens Jews.
Like a cancer it has to be rooted out. We need to identify what the problem is. Why Baroness Amos stands atop a rotten edifice, that betrays all of the core values it is meant to hold dear. We need to ask why is the lie unchallenged? Is it the demographics? Is there finance entering campus that is proving detrimental to Western society? What exactly is it that is developing in the academic undergrowth? Everyone who views SOAS with distaste should want to understand just which variables need to be in place to create an environment like this.
If you don’t want all universities to eventually look like SOAS looks today, you have to understand why this is happening. Why in London there is a university that threatens people who tell the truth. First there was one, now there are several of these pockets, spread across the country. A disease that is spreading. Which is why you cannot, must not, just shrug your shoulders.
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David you seem to place quite a reliance on Richard Millett’s SOAS experiences. Well here is the unexpurgated reality of Richards experience.
https://hoffmanchronicled.wordpress.com/thought-on-4thought/
The video evidence here is pretty illuminating
As you should know, the evidence against SOAS is overwhelming. I personally have seen it many times, and have spoken to Jewish students who are scared to speak out. So I agree with Richard because I have seen it. As has everyone else. This strategy you have of attacking an entire post through a defective and weak personal attack is tedious.
David the point was to provide people with unedited evidence of how it works. What is defective about the videos? It was material Richard himself put together. It shows the modus employed in its naked reality. It demonstrates clearly that anything Richard says about SOAS should be heavily discounted rather than heavily relied upon which is what you seem to have done.
These students what are they scared of exactly? What do they think is going to happen to them? What would they like to speak out about but daren’t ?
David
Get rid of him . I understand your reluctance in the interests of free speech but he abuses that privilege. He has nothing to offer but puerile Ad Homs. He does this in order to deflect and distract from the ATL post . Why allow trolls to pollute the excellence of your posts ? You rightly refer to the lies and propaganda disseminated by far left fascists on campus and how we must all take steps to counter the vile distortions and flagrant violence, yet you tolerate one such example on your blog. Get shot of him .
Harv my post was not an ad hom. David put forward a certain evidence re SOAS. My posting of the videos was a challenge to that evidence. I merely am saying that the videos clearly show that anything Richard has to say about SOAS should be taken with a very large pinch of salt.
I am of course sorry that David finds questioning of the value of his evidence tedious. But hey ho.
You are an intelligent guy Stephen. I have a strong sense of fair play and hate censorship. You are using that as a weakness. You seem intent on being restricted here so you can claim I shut down opposing voices. That is not what will happen. You will be removed precisely because you hinder rather than help discussion. You are free to air any political view,, relevant to the post that you have., Your tactic is far too transparent.. either leave the personal attacks out of your posts or leave the site. Your choice.
And Harv.For goodness sake. Quit whining like a ripped off crack ho.
The execrable Hoffman Chronicle blog you saw fit to link further up , is nothing but a pile of lies, distortions and ad Homs put together by an individual morbidly obsessed with several pro Israel activists including myself. The author , one Richard Armbach , has since disappeared only for you to arrive on the scene writing in much the same style while resorting to the same ad Homs . Maybe Armbach is your ‘twin brother ‘ . Either way the blog is steeped in lies including attempts to link us to EDL because they happened to turn up at the Ahava demonstration several times . But that’s what individuals like you do , being an unreconstructed propagandist who seeks to besmirch and smear opponents . As David mentions , your ilk have been disrupting Israeli events including dance and theatre troupe , guest speakers etc for years . We do nothing of the sort when attending these anti Israel hate fests.
As for my whining about the ad homs , I suggest you take a long hard look at your posts because from here your rank hypocrisy stretches all the way back to Limerick.
You are fortunate to have David’s heightened sense of fair play which allows you to post here. If it was up to me I would adopt the BDS way and block you ,guilty or otherwise, for expressing the merest hint of opposition or in your case constantly posting ad Homs. Now run along and make sure to keep it on topic .
Harv the material you refer to was put together by more than one person in more than one country. I miss Richard and Iris but while love persists agendas can drift away from each other.
It is time for much of it to be updated. This at a time when I would much rather be sitting on a bench overlooking Roaring Water Bay, and thinking about referring expressions.
The problem is that my understanding of the game that is being played is second to none and duty calls. Sigh, my sense of duty will be the death of me.
“Either way the blog is steeped in lies including attempts to link us to EDL because they HAPPENED ( my emphasis) to turn up at the Ahava demonstration several times”
Harvey Garfield…….
“The two state solution is an illusion. Israel should not give up one metre of land. I admire the full on ballsy approach of Roberta. Jews tend to keep their heads down. It’s our nice middle class assimilated, yet conscious of our difference character which prohibits us from getting up close and personal with our enemies. There are exceptions to this rule. Jonathan, Richard, Roberta and others.”
“Roberta reminds me of one of the Bielski brothers, the red mist descending one. Good for her!!! if you are still here Roberta figure you could go it alone if you were a mind to. It’s time to give it back to them 10 fold, let them know we are there at their Quaker/Methodist meetings. Their A1 soiree and university hate fests etc. The next Ahava/Tesco boycott and counter boycott is likely to be June 4th. PLEASE ENDEAVOUR TO BE THERE ( my emphasis ).
But anyway this is wonderful stuff. Cheered me up no end.
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/jpr-anti-semitism-survey-open-goal-for-corbyn/
And anyway Harv I am sure you have a sense of humour hidden deep in there somewhere. You must have enjoyed this. Especially as the ” Moshe” in the comments is you
https://harrietsplace1.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/robin-bagon-richard-armbach/
The leadership and governing body of SOAS should be reported to the HEFCE, the higher education funding council and the DfE, Dept. for Education for special investigation, to determine whether SOAS is achieving the required educational standards and rigour, to enable it or any of its courses to be run, and for it to be properly accredited as an acceptably responsible academic teaching institution.
May I add that many of the meetings I have attended have been noticeably bereft of pro-Israel supporters.. Whether Richard’s tactics are questionable or not is not the point. At least Richard has the guts to attend in the first place.
A pro-Israel Jew can feel easily intimidated at a BDS/PSC meeting wherever it is held because you feel like the ‘elephant in the room’….well I used to. Now, I do not feel intimidated or threatened by the atmosphere or the attendees. If one believes in the right of a Jew to have their own land, the right of the Jew to stand up for Israel then you have nothing to fear so, can I see more pro-Israel supporters at these meetings please.
Mike I would love for there to be more Israel supporters at these meetings. It would be nice though if they weren’t just there to disrupt.
If they are there to just follow Jonathan’s advice, what is the point ?
“WE hand out leaflets, MAKE A FUSS and then blog what happens at the meetings,”.
“We could argue about the best way to advocate for Israel at these meetings. Should you stay silent and hope to be called on in the Q+A, or should you heckle and INTERRUPT. strong preference is to heckle and interrupt.”
“
This is a lie Stephen. Although there have been occasions where I have seen limited amounts of heckling during a speech, almost all of the opposition I have witnessed has come during the Q&A. Or in other words the right to freedom of expression is upheld on both sides. Which means to suggest silencing the speaker is the preferred option is incorrect. Both the Falk / Atzmon event and Suarez at SOAS are perfect examples of this. Loud opposition that only developed after the Q&A had started. Contrast this with the way thugs stop Pro-Israeli events. Whatever I think of the behaviour, you are wrong.
David I am not sure what you are identifying as a lie. Are you saying that Jonathan’s statement is untrue or that he didn’t say it ? ( albeit a few years ago) #screenshotsrus
Stephen, I am away from a base station, so relying solely on a mobile screen for access. As I understand it you posted what seems to be a quote from Jonathan. In or out of context for the point of this doesn’t matter
However you wish to play the quote is also irrelevant. As usual you bring it down to a single quote by a single person.
The fact is that in almost all cases the Zionists absolutely adhere to freedom of speech principles and it is the Jew hating thugs who shut down debate. This even counts true when including the behaviour of the person you quoted. Therefore whatever it is you are trying to do has little merit.
So you can try to deflect however you like. I am on the right side of freedom and they are not. You have the luxury of getting to choose who to align with. You seem to be getting that wrong too.
Although it appears to be a very hostile place overall, Arkush didn’t condemn SOAS entirely. He said this to one interviewer:
“But Mr Arkush also added that Soas, in London, “is probably not the worst place around our campus community. There is Israeli studies, Hebrew studies — they all run well. Lady Amos is entitled to stress this to me. She also stressed that Israel’s ambassador came [to the campus]recently — although she was severely criticised for hosting him. I accept all these things.”
See: https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/baroness-amos-meeting-was-my-worst-ever-says-arkush-1.442122
I think Arkush is fibbing when he said his meeting with Amos was the worst of his life. Surely that honour goes to his meeting with Stephen Sizer and Simon Nattrass which so fritted him he bottled out of his CDM complaint against Rev Sizer with all possible haste.
Shana tova from us all in the Jewish State. Most of us have put our genocidal, imperialist apartheid-loving Bond villainy to one side for the weekend and are enjoying the sweet fruits of victory with our friends and family in the land of milk and honey. Nowt like a long weekend to recharge the batteries before we can embark on another year of world domination. Go us!
” Most of us have put our genocidal, imperialist apartheid-loving Bond villainy to one side for the weekend”
Well I am very pleased to hear that Ian
I am a bit worried about the rest of you though.
Not to worry lad. The tourists like to see us in character. For the lucky ones it’s as lucrative as media response. Pip pip.