Political Musings
By Gamal Zayda, al-Ahram – Cairo, 30 Sept 2009

At a time when some of us defend the welcoming of killers with open arms, some of the most prominent intellectuals in American universities say ‘No’ to the occupation of Palestinian land; ‘No’ to Israel’s collective punishment of a whole people; and ‘No’ to the continuing violation of international law.

And how do we know? Noam Chomsky, the prominent MIT professor and Irene Gendzier, political science professor at Boston University; Assaf Kfoury, professor of mathematics and computer science; Steven Shalom, professor of political science, the writer Howard Zinn and Mustapha Barghouti launched a new website called the “Israeli Occupation Archive.”

The site documents every kind of violation of Palestinian human rights by Israel. It was published with the conviction that the Occupation is wrong and should be opposed.

These professors and writers, except for those of Palestinian origins, didn’t suffer from the Israeli occupation like we did. No members of their families were killed by the Israelis.  Still, they are not ready to ignore the Occupation: they condemn it and they document it daily, while some of us are scurrying, ready to give up on our own rights.

These people express human conscience in its clearest forms, while those among us who call for normalization (between the Arab world and Israel) squash their own interest.

These good people live in the same exact West that is always condemned for its bias by some among us who willfully ignore crimes committed by some in our own countries: historical distortion and cover up of crimes committed by the racist regime in Tel-Aviv.

The Israeli Occupation Archive deserves many ovations from an Arab world which knows only how to shout.

So thank you to all of you whose humanity is reaffirmed by such humanist acts!