To the editor:
On Nov. 2, I was fortunate to be able to hear Miko Peled at the Greater Activities Center of Ithaca (GIAC). Peled, an Israeli Jew, author of the autobiography The General’s Son: Journal of an Israeli in Palestine, spoke eloquently to a large audience of the injustices and violence meted out to Palestinians by the Israeli government, abetted by U.S. funding. Attempts were made by uncritical supporters of Israel to shut down this event; thanks to the principled stand of GIAC these repressive attempts failed.
When Peled spoke in Cazenovia, Pat Carmeli, who sponsored his appearance, was verbally attacked by attorney Barry Schreibman who, in a widely circulated letter misrepresented Peled’s views. To take one example, Peled does not call for the destruction of Israel, as Schreibman maintains. He calls for an Israel that genuinely protects the rights of all its residents, that does not violate international law, and does not wantonly destroy the lives, homes, hospitals, etc. of the Palestinians.
When anti-racist Americans worked to support the anti-apartheid efforts of South Africans they were not calling for the destruction of South Africa but for a reconstituted state that protected the human rights of all South Africans — not just whites.
One would hope that a lawyer would be protecting free speech, not unfairly castigating those whose views he finds disagreeable.
Barbara Chasin
Ithaca
Member, Ithaca Jewish for Peace and the Ithaca Committee for Justice in Palestine
