Collegiate Times

Welcome to the US - we Israelis are in full control of the government here, too!

"We reject as untrue the Israeli government's claims that the Palestinians use civilians as human shields". Hahahahah

um wow....yeah, I'm sorry, but everyone knows Hamas uses civilians to hide behind. Dunno what rock these people have been hiding behind if they believe that isn't true....

Hitler was elected democratically, too. Being democratically elected does not mean that you are either good, or deserve reverence. What good would US democratic elections do, if our country elected representative was sworn to charter that, for example, China has no right to exist, and we should dedicate our nation to destruction of China, even if the price is sacrifice of every living American. This is how Hamas relates to Israel. And you would be well within reason to admit that indigeneous Palestinians democratically elected this party. It worth mentioning however that Hamas is not handling indigenous Palestinians with power of philosophy. Rather an AK – 47 armed man installed along major roads at certain interval and people get shot when they voice any opposition. Your ignoring the fact that Israel towns were subjected to nearly hundred of rockets per day, which prompted recent Gaza conflict, is a very cheap ploy. The fact that you mistrust facts of Hamas using human shields reported by the very Palestinian people, and that you lend your support based on race, rather then merit... is a testament to you guys being racially motivated. Freedom of speech in America allowed pro – Hitler propaganda back in 1944. So, you are well within your rights to voice support for Hamas. However enmeshing academy into an hot armed conflict does not bring tranquility to the campus. Worse yet it replaces humanitarian cause of education with racially charged tensions.

whew! you people can continue to be naive and see Hamas just as another harmless political party but get with reality. You say that they are just a normal political organization? last time i checked the democrats werent launching rockets into the Va. suburbs. and if you really want to boycott Israel please shut off your Intel chip laptops running Windows XP (both of which were mainly developed in Israel)And dont even get me started on the "non human shield" issue. There are tons of videos online that plainly show Hamas shooting rockets from dense civilian areas. Im all for a peaceful solution to this issue and i hate to see innocent people caught in the crossfire. But as the former Prime Minster of Israel Golda Meir said "Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us."

WE support Israel! You can't attack FROM a school and not expect to be fought back.

The perverse bias of this letter is truly striking. It chooses to hide the real facts of this conflict while embracing what is essentially terrorist propaganda. The people who signed this letter are a stain on Virginia Tech and are truly the ones who should be facing an academic boycott. I very much hope that Virginia Tech takes some action so as not be known as an institution that tolerates such extremism.

As a proud gay Muslim American I agree wth this letter. Israel also abuses gays and lesbians. My ex boyfriend was abused by the israelis in the checkpoint. I was also jailed after our demonstarion and abused by 2 Moldovans. I would like to sign this letter. Please email it to me so i can sign it too. I hope Allah will help Gaza recover soon.

Quote from Hamas charter:"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Muslim). Google it and see what kind of organization they sponsor.

Here are some juicy outtakes from the Hamas Charter for those who are not familiar it. Judge for yourself if there should be any tolerance for this disgusting organization which the "peace loving" Palestinians democratically elected. Pay special attention to the part about killing all the Jews to bring on judgement day. Mein Kampf shows less genocidal intent then the Hamas Charter. "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Muslim). "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."

Milo I don't believe this . This is a Hammas charter. I am a supporter of Hammas and I can tell you that we Muslims are the mos loving and peaceful. As a recent convert to Islam I can tell you that it is so much better then Christianity.. Mohammed PBU was the most merciful and just prophet. Inshallah you can read the Quaran and see the truth.

I have a Pope with a big pointy white hat. I just topped whatever "truth" is in your Koran.

First off this is outrageously biased. Had there been any research to back this up I would have been ok with it. I do not support Israel's handling of gaza, but I do support the Israel and the fact that there needed to be something done about gaza. It is a widely known FACT that Hamas is not a 'peace loving' organization, nor should anyone pretend it to be. Would the US ever stand being bombed from Mexico or Canada for more than 3 years? The US went into Cube with only a threat of such activities. Having visited Israel over this past winter break I can tell you that the only upsets in Israel are the parts that are within firing range of the rockets from gaza. As to 'Yaakub( Yaakov) Sullivan' it may be true that Israelis may heckle gays, but I met no less than two gay soldiers on my trip who were open and proud to be both gay and Israelis, besides, what country doesn't heckle gays? don't ask don't tell? come on! Even as only an assistant professor here at Virginia Tech, I would have expected more from Salaita. Come back to me with VALID reasons to boycoot Israel in ANY way, and then we'll talk.

While I don’t condone a lot of Israeli actions – they are prone to overreaction and heavy-handedness – this letter is laughable. It’s written as if the innocent Hamas leadership were sitting in Gaza, minding their own business, when – all of a sudden – the Eee-villle Zionists started bombing Gaza from one to the other, going out of their way to identify civilian targets. Check it out. If you establish weapons caches or launch attacks from a mosque, it is no longer a place of worship. If you establish weapons caches or launch attacks from a school, it is no longer a place of learning. It is a legitimate military target under international law. If you use an ambulance to ferry fighters around the battlefield or transport weapons, it is no longer an ambulance. It is a legitimate military target under international law. If you launch attacks from a house or apartment full of civilians, you are using the occupants as human shields. This mess will never get straightened out until both sides recognize that the other has legitimate gripes and that its own side is also in the wrong on some issues. The whole “we good, they bad” approach ensures this conflict will continue.

I stand in support of Israel, a country that constantly has to defend itself from terroristic attacks from its barbarous neighbors. I condemn Hama's consistent breaches of cease-fire agreements. Instead of standing by their agreement, this group of thugs has made it clear both in its words and deeds that it has no desire for peace and is willing to use its own population as shields and propaganda weapons. Hamas’s latest attacks are a continuation of a racist agenda from the Islamist world which seeks to eradicate the only Jewish state in the entire world. I recognize Hamas as a democratically elected party in the same vein as Hitler’s Third Reich. Just as the German people suffered for their choice in evil leadership, I acknowledge that the Gaza population has chosen a similar path and will probably suffer similarly. I call on the Gazans’ fellow Muslim neighbors to devote more of their trillions in oil money to improving the infrastructure of the Palestinian people. I believe that would be a better use of that money instead of providing guns, rockets and bombs to the terrorists. I understand that improving the Palestinians lives would deprive the Islamist world with a major propaganda pawn; however, it would show the world that they actually want peace. I call on Virginia Tech to take a hard look at their English department and ask themselves why this group seems to be a breading ground for terrorist sympathizers and terrorist gunmen.

I also stand in support of Israel. I agree with "Badger Fans" in all his/her comments and am likewise astonished that certain leaders in the English department would propose to support cowardly terrorist extremists. Hamas desires to destroy Israel and all Jews at ANY cost, and therefore, Israel deserves the right to defend itself against such terrorism. Likewise, I call on the remaining peaceful Muslim community to speak out against the crimes of Hamas. The world community should be outraged at such cowardly terrorist acts by an organization that hides their guns and missiles in schools and hospitals.

Video of Ali Abunimah at Binghamton University 11/6/07: http://essentialdissent.blogspot.com/search?q=ali+abunimah

"Fighting over religion is like fighting over who has the best imaginary friend."

This op-ed lost any legitimacy that it might have had once it called Hamas a "democratically elected ruling party." Sure Hamas was democratically elected in the West Bank, but it CEASED control of Gaza in a civil war. Also, to say that Hamas did not use human shields is ridiculous. There is plenty of documented evidence towards that fact. Hamas was using schools and civilian neighborhoods as launching pads for christs sake... there are videos of it! Also... to dissolve study abroad programs in Israel would be a great injustice to students; especially of the Jewish community. Regardless of your personal feelings on Israel, the fact remains that Israel remains a cultural beacon of hope for millions of Jews around the world, and that allowing Jewish students to travel and study in Israel is a way to connect to a culture that we often feel disconnected with in a highly assimilated society. Also... before you boycott Israel, you might want to take a look on what that would actually entail... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saeky9I5T9c Israel has been a beacon for technological innovation, breakthrough medical treatments, the adoption of the Kimberly process (which ensures that diamonds sold to the public aren't blood diamonds), and numerous charitable and aid organizations.

This is ridiculously biased. Boycotting the best institutions in the world would only be a disservice to ours.

From VT's critically acclaimed English Department that brought you the mad-gunman Cho comes the soothing letters of protest and peace titled 'An Academic Boycott of Israel'. "4 Stars" rates Osama Bin Laden, "5 thumbs up...in the air!" rates Khaled Mashal (and blown up children hands), "This shows America's true strength!" says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Charles Steger 2 hours later claims 'Just wait until he gets Tenure!"

if you want to boycott israel, stop using your cell phones, dont dream of texting, dont treat members of your society with polio, dont try and diagnose breast cancer, dont use microsoft on your computers, dont dream to leave a voicemail, dont think about gong on AIM, .....go boycott ISRAEL completely ---i dare you.

So much has already been said in support of Israel, all of which I agree with, so I will not beat a dead horse. I would like to comment solely on the comments of Yaakub (Yaakov) Sullivan: You write "As a proud gay Muslim American I agree with this letter. Israel also abuses gays and lesbians. My ex boyfriend was abused by the Israelis in the checkpoint. I was also jailed after our demonstration and abused by 2 Moldovans." --Are you unaware of the policies of the Islamic Fascist Government known as Iran towards the GLBT community? Iran has some of, if not THE, worst human rights violations against gays on the planet! As recent as 2006, two TEENAGE BOYS were hanged to death. Their charge: "sodomy" for being caught having sex with one another. So do not come down on Israel about their GLBT stance or even bring that argument into this. It is off topic and practically a non-issue considering GLBT people are mistreated in our own great country, and have less legal rights in fact! So irrelevant. Again, everyone has room for improvement (can Obama PLEASE hurry up and repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell?") but if you're going to rag on a country for mistreating gays and lesbians, direct your criticisms to Israel's "loving and caring Muslim" neighbors to the east who carry out state sponsored murder of those who merely love differently. Thank you.

n addition to my previous comment - I would like to further question the legitimacy of this author’s claims. Aside from dismissing the proven reality that Hamas uses innocent bystanders as human shields, aside from ignoring the proven facts that Hamas hides its weaponry in churches, hospitals, and orphanages, and aside from believing that this terrorist organization should be assisted simply because it is a “democratically-elected” entity, I question the legitimacy of this “academic boycott” in and of itself. Can anyone prove that this "academic boycott" is indeed comprised of academics – much less academics at VT? I've just searched on the VT people-searcher for each of these listed boycott participants to see what sort of position with the university these individuals hold, and aside from the author, Steven Salaita, NONE of these people pop up. It seems strange that aside from this author, that 100% of his fellow VT boycotters either do not exist or have anonymously removed themselves from the VT people-search engine. Perhaps these imaginary people live in the magical, peaceful land of Hamas-utopia, where love abounds for ALL humanity, especially for their Jewish neighbors, where the Palestinian oil profits are spent on lollipops and sugar plums instead of rocket launchers and guns for terrorists.

Maybe we should boycott the English department; 'declare' it a waste and drain to scholar strives and achievements here at VT.

You must be a fiction writer cause just about everything you wrote makes me think you live in fantasy land. Stick to English.

A "democratic government" would not have a propaganda machine like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0U2ce-LmA4

Good for the English Department. Israel's genocide has gone on long enough.

"alum" is it really genocide if you pick the fight? thats like if you were 5' nothing and 90 lbs and you picked a fight with me and im 6'6'' 225 lbs of pure muscle. yes isreal is not handling this correctly but to call it a genocide is going too far, and to say Hamas is legit is even worse

From the "Hamas Charter", Article 13: "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." Good luck, Obama!

Saying Hamas is hiding behind civilians is the same as saying the FBI hides behind civilians by putting a daycare center in the Murough building. Legitimate gov't organizations like the FBI and Hamas live among civilians.

Taking a one-sided approach to Israel's invasion of Gaza isn't helpful; while it's important to recognize the latest round of atrocities committed by the Israeli government (Israel suppressed the media more effectively than Georgia did when it invaded South Ossetia) Hamas is, well, Hamas. Also, whether you agree with the substance of this letter or not, leave the English Department out of your comments.

A brave step, long overdue. If international pressure fails to persuade Israel to see reason, too many people - Jews, Muslims, and others - will come to great harm.

Hamas was accused of using human shields by the Isreali propaganda machine (link to the Isreali military story: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Hamas+exploitation+of+civilians+as+human+shields+-+Photographic+evidence.htm ). The evidence they claim that Hamas does this is that residential locations are used to manufacture and launch weapons. This tactic however is historically the only way for an oppressed people to gain their freedom, simply ask our founding fathers where they stored their weapons in Concord and Lexington, Massachussetts. This is the basis for the "FACT" that is referred to so many times below, but Hamas has no other option, they are not powerful enough to defend a military weapons storage facility, that is absurd, how could they be when the United States provides $6 billion dollars of military aid to isreal a year, or about $20 for each of us, more then the entire gross product of Palestinians.

Boycott Chinese goods! Free Tibet!

During operation "Black Hawk Down" in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993, U.S. Rangers killed 1,000 Somalians, 80% percent of whom were civilians, in a mere 20 hours. Was this a U.S. war crime? I think not. One must understand the difficulties in fighting an inhumane terrorist force. From Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down: "The parallel with Mogadishu [and Israel's military operations in Gaza] is that gunmen in that battle hid behind walls of civilians and were aware of the restraint of the (Army) Rangers. These gunmen literally shot over the heads of civilians, or between their legs. They used women and children for this. It's mind-boggling. Some of the Rangers shot civilians, some of them inadvertently and some of them advertently. They made the choice to shoot at crowds. When a ten-year-old is running at your vehicle with an AK-47, do you shoot the kid? Yes, you shoot the kid. You have to survive. When push comes to shove, faced with the horrible dilemma with a gunman facing you, yes, you shoot. It's not just a choice about your own life. If you don't shoot, you're saying that your mission isn't important, and the lives of your fellow soldiers aren't important."

Anonymous... shooting rockets at Israeli civilians is no way for the Palestinian people to gain independence. In fact; it had has quite the opposite affect. If you recall, before the second Intifada in the early 2000s, Israel was ready to negotiate an independent Palestinian state. Why do you think Gaza is being attacked? Just for the fun of it? Israel has an obligation to stop violence against her own civilians before anything else. Once Hamas recognizes Israel and ceases acts of violence against her civilians; Palestinian independence can begin to become a reality.

Saw this last night and decided not to post, but I knew there would be a lot when I looked today. First, I wanted for someone to expand on this statement, "We do not endorse the regime of any existing Arab state and call for the upholding of internationally mandated human rights and democratic elections in all Arab states." It does not seem to fit, right? Gay issue? Lets clear this up, I am not an expert but it seems like deep believers of any of the major religions hate gays. You can read about devout Muslims hurting them, hasidic Jews hurting them....and on and on. I believe that everyone should be able to live in peace. If someone else is disturbing that peace with disgusting physical violence, then the aggressor deserves what is coming. Fact is both sides have had many chances to be mature and understanding to come to some accord, but things break down and return to violence time after time. It seems as though each major religion has lots of blood on its hands. Seems as though the "West" has been able to rise above huh? Crusades long over, yet Muslims and Jews keep fighting, I guess they want to hurry up and get of this big, blue marble. Well I saw calm down and relax so that we can all stay a little longer.

To Jeremy Baker: The VT English department was the home of the mass murderer Cho Seung-Hui. Now, it's the source of supporters for a brutal terrorist organization. At what point would you say it's okay to question what the blazes goes on in that department? Why is it a breeding ground for such dangerous elements? What are they teaching and why are the taxpayers funding this nonsense?

Give me a break. Jeremy is correct. The English department has zero to do with this letter. Mr. Salaita might have omitted that since it makes the names below it appear to be associated with it (as in a class). Anyways, your accusations are baseless and stupid. Its also well known that English professor Lucinda Roy did all she could to alert the administration about Cho.

False. If any thing it at least supports the type of free thinking and 'creativity' that you can expect from the English Department. It is this type of thinking that is being condoned and since the English department is not stopping it or discouraging than the department is free to criticism.

Yeah, "free thinking" and "creativity". We gotta STOP that at a university.

No offense, commenters, but I bet Dr. Salaita knows a lot more about this stuff than most of you do. I think most of the other people on the letter teach at other universities, by the way.

No offense, Anonymous, but Dr. Salaita hardly has an objective or rational outlook on this subject. According to Dr. Salaita, in his own words (http://www.antiwar.com/orig/salaita.php?articleid=13881) he cannot support Barack Obama because of his "profound commitment to an extreme form of Zionism" because Obama promised ""I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon." Apparently Dr. Salaita doesn't understand why Iran's having a nuclear weapon is a colossally bad idea for a lot more than just Israel. Dr. Salaita's hatred causes him to look at every issue through an anti-Israel lens. He needs to stick to English and leave national security affairs to the grownups. I recommend you google Dr. Salaita - it's pretty enlightening.

To 'anonymous' @ 9:01 pm. you do realize Dr. Salaita's phd has nothing to even do with Israel or Palestine? It has to do with Native American Literature for crying out loud, and for his undergraduate degree he went to radford, and we all know that that means something *cough*

Professor I just want to ask you where you were when insurgents in Iraq were killing OUR American soldiers by violating some of the international laws you stated above when insurgents used school to store their weapons, fight from places of worship, and specifically engage not only medical equipment for the US military but for relief agencies. Where are you when insurgents put 6 year old girls in the back seat of there car to get through a check point , kill 3 US Marines, or bomb a busy market sending the body parts of women and children flying everywhere? Where are you when Iran calls Israel a plague, denies the events of the Holocaust and threatens to wipe it from the face of the earth? Where are you when Hamas rockets fall on Israeli schools and places of worship? And do you even know what white phosphorous is or just describing it as a chemical to imply chemical warfare.

I fully stand by Professor Salaita's comments. We cannot stand idly by while thousands of innocent Palestinians are killed in the name of "Israeli Security". The parallels between Israel's practices and Apartheid South Africa's are startling and we as an academic community have a responsibility to fight injustice wherever it may occur. For too long we have stood on the sidelines in an attempt to maintain "impartiality" but it has become blatantly obvious that there is a wrong and a right in this conflict. We should not support colonialist-settler regimes that ethnically cleanse and oppress native peoples. There is no excuse for such behavior and it is finally refreshing to see boycotts such as these making their way throughout campuses in Europe and America. Justice is making headway, just last week, 60 minutes aired the most honest and intriguing piece of American Journalism on the conflict. Slowly but surely the truth is being revealed and I am proud to have Professor Salaita and Virginia Tech represented in this groundbreaking effort.

I wonder if there is any screening of the "letters" send to Collegiate Times. I mean, this Steven Salaita guy is an open jihadist, see http://socialfoundations.blogspot.com/2007/09/meet-steven-salaida-jihadist-english.html All other people on the list are not from VT (I guess Salaita's pals).

BM, clearly you haven't read even half of the comments on this article, all of which together disprove everything you said. 1. A boycott of any type would be impractical, impossible, and just plain stupid. 2. colonialist-settler regimes? Israel pulled out many of its citizens from the area, from their homes no less. And talk about ethnic cleansing? Jihad by definition is an ethnic cleansing, something that Salaita supports. As you said, there is clearly a wrong and a right to this conflict, you just need to screw your head back on.

Is it just me or do most of the people on his list of supporters sound like they have Arab names? Clearly the biased opinions of an extremist view. The Collegiate Times should never have allowed this to be published. (freedom of speech is a given, but publishing that speech is not). The Collegiate Times is a liberal paper and should never have allowed such conservative and extremist views to be put into writing.

There is so much ignorance on this thread that I am loathe to comment on it. I shouldn't have to defend my department from the pair of braying morons who can't speak unless they stay anonymous, for example. And while the university is trying to sell us yet again on the lie that VTAlerts are essential, omnipotent and unquestionable, this distraction drags on.

While I disagree with Professor Salaita, I believe that the CT was right in publishing his letter. This is an academic environment, and people of all political views should be able to express themselves. However, the letter does point out that Hamas is democratically elected, which I do not dispute. With that being said, just because a party is democratically elected doesn't mean that they are whats best for their country; case in point is the Nazi Party- they were democratically elected by the German people, and we all know how that turned out.

BM, "colonialist-settler regimes"? Really? Did you miss the part where Israel pulled all of its citizens out of Gaza? In some cases with soldiers physically removing families. And how did the Palestinians respond? They elected the Islamic Resistance Movement to power, a party whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel. Israel gave them what they wanted and it wasn’t good enough. Elections have consequences, as the Palestinians are finding out. Instead of buying food and medicine for its people, Hamas buys weapons. Incidentally, for all of this talk of “apartheid” and such, Israeli Arabs have a bigger voice in their government and have more rights than citizens of any Arab country (except, oh, I don’t know, Iraq). Where’s the outrage about the treatment of Muslims in Saudi Arabia? Yemen? Syria? I guess it’s OK to be oppressed as long as it’s by another Muslim, huh? Jeremy, I appreciate your loyalty to your department, but Dr. Salaita is a stain on it.

Assistant Professor,department of English (!!!) Virginia Tech. Your English sucks, dude...

Clearly enough people care that this entire page is filled with comments. as stated earlier, the ct is a LIBERAL paper. not a paper that should be publishing extremist and discriminatory views (Salaita is clearly anti-semitic or something of the like). Do you want to tell everyone on this thread that you support that? Do you think the univeristy or even student media should endorse that?

Israel is the new Nazi Germany. They've used propoganda to manipulate the American people. And they're either 1. ignorant enough to believe it, or 2. realize that Israel feeds lies but cannot do anything about it because Israel has taken hold of us in an iron fist. Never forget Gaza.

Propaganda? what news or items do the American people ever see? I'm sure we've all seen Al Quaida videos, Hamas videos, I'm still waiting for an Israeli one. Wow you're ignorant. never forget gaza? yes. but not because of Israel, but because of Hamas. The link to the article below is about a UN official stating that Hamas TOOK HUMANITARIAN AID from its own people! (today) http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL4273371._CH_.2400

You know, if you have questions about Dr. Salaita's views, research, writing, etc, just stop be his office and talk to him. He seems like a really nice guy. I think he's written 3 or 4 books on related subjects.

Here is a today's update from UN Radio based on quotes from the UN’s head of humanitarian affairs, John Holmes. Palestinian casualties: 1,314 dead (including 412 children and 100 women) and 5,300 injured (including 1,855 children and 795 were women). Israeli casualties: 9 dead and 11 injured UN and contract workers.

some stats: those numbers mean absolutely nothing without context. For example, the years of harm and psychological trauma which have been done to the citizens of Sderot and other Israeli towns due to the Qassams make me think the response was proportional. Also, there were many more deaths before the "9" which you mentioned before, it was over a longer period of time. You completely neglect to mention that this strike has been a response to ten years of violence against Israelis.

some stats: since Hamas did the math, I am not entirely convinced, mildly speaking. These morons and notorious liars can't be trusted. "Real suffering is translated into exaggerated charges and numbers that cannot be validated by reliable data or methodology" http://www.csis.org/index.php?option=com_csis_pubs&task=view&id=5188

I'm not arguing with you, but I think I should point out that violence over this small parcel of land goes back thousands of years and has probably cost hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of lives on all sides, which probably negates any "but they started it" arguments. At this point it's probably impossible to know who "started it" thousands of years ago, or even when it actually started.

When did Tech get an English department? Between all the liberal support for Obama and this crap I'm glad I got out of there 20 years ago. Stop calling me and begging for money, you ain't worth it anymore.

Those stats were posted in response to complains about lack of data. They were reported by a UN official on a UN website, and not by Hamas (google the news using info from my previous posting and you can verify the source). No interpretation of these data was offered in my posting, so it is insightful that these data on their own were read as critical about Israel. To me, these numbers suggest that both sides propagate civilian violence, but Israelis are more effective. Posting such data, however, should not be misread as a moral judgment. Such stats simply remind us more objectively that those horrible atrocities continue, however justifiable or proportional they may or may not be.

some stats - Even if the numbers are accurate, how are they meaningful? They represent only the most recent deaths in a centuries-long conflict between civilization and barbarism. Yes, many civilians died...that was the intent of Hamas. I'm with mph - no way I'm sending my money to Tech so they can hire more of these useful idiots.

This is fabulous! It is time that justice and peace-loving peoples of the world take a stand against the war-mongering and intransigience of the Israeli government. What Israel is doing is outrageous! Though Hamas is totally wrong with their rocket attacks, the Israeli response is like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer. The Israeli government and military is killing innocent civilians (not to mention its use of white phosphorus gas, which is inhumane and illegal).

ISRAEL FTW! Time for me to start boycotting the English department.

Israel was subject to constant rocket attacks from Gaza for eight years, after pulling out of Gaza and dismantling settlements. They had to do something, but perhaps their force was excessive. I'm sorry for the destruction and civilian deaths. I think the idea of a boycott of Israel is anti-Semitic. The Nazis also advocated boycotting Jews. The anti-Israel campaign contains Nazi elements. It is also anti-Semitic not to condemn rocket attacks on schools, a nursing home and homes by Hamas and Hezbollah while condemning Israel for responding. I think the mentality of some professors at Virginia Tech probably set the stage for the recent shooting spree there, during which a Jew gave his life to save his students.

The Jews are indigenous to Palestine.

The shameful ultra-Zionist comments I read about this needed initiative are typical: personal attacks, diversions, innuendo, half-truths. (E.g., I see on my screen just below: "The Jews are indigenous to Palestine." Yes, there were indigenous Jews living alongside their Muslim and Christian fellow semites for hundreds/thousands of years; but the invading Ashkenazi Zionists of the 20th Century were hardly "indigenous" to Palestine.) I also detect a sly attempt to isolate the just-concluded state terrorism inflicted on the Gazan people: this pogrom has been ongoing in the illegally Occupied Palestinian Territories for decades!...not to mention Lebanon, 1982, 2006.... The truth is that Zionist Israel is hellbent on cleansing the entire historical Palestinian homeland of its rightful inhabitants. The militant, ideological Zionists, pulling observant Jews into their net of iniquity, have used verifiable instances of horrific trauma (in Europe!) to pursue their enterprise. Alas, that trauma has progressively matured to a state of fullblown psychosis. The psychotic bully needs a certain level of repression and violence at all times, with its madness bursting forth into sadistic depravity at intervals, to the great peril of its victims. This psychosis needs to be examined, observed with dispassion and urgency, diagnosed, confronted, and openly treated with compassion, firm resolve, persistence, and closure. The traumatized victim has become the psychotic victimizer; the Palestinian people have assumed the position of hapless victim. This travesty of justice, this wrecking of an entire societal group, must end -- forthwith. First, END THE ILLEGAL OCCUPATION!

Posted by R. Stiver: "I also detect a sly attempt to isolate the just-concluded state terrorism inflicted on the Gazan people: this pogrom has been ongoing in the illegally Occupied Palestinian Territories for decades!" Thank you for showing an insight into the factually incorrect, distorted realities of the anti-semitic terrorist sympathizers. Israel is not an illegal occupation. It was land set aside for the Jews by the League of Nations after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Guess what? When a country loses a major, world war, the victors decide what happens. The other Islamist neighbors didn't like having non-Muslims in their vicinity (tolerant, aren't they?), so they decided to stage a massive invasion in which they got their butts handed to them by Israel. As part of that victory, Israel decided to keep some buffer land to prevent the Muslims from being able to mass tanks right on their border. Sounds like a good idea, yes? If you have a bunch of maniacal neighbors, you probably want some added protection from them after they just attacked you. Since then, every time Israel has given back land, those peaceful overtures have been met by rockets out of Hamas & Hezbollah from civlian centers like hospitals and schools. That is why the Gazan civilians suffer. They support terrorists staging attack from within their ranks. Hamas and supporters are happy to have the civilians die because then they can use them as propaganda.

Well said Badger Fan

I'm curious about how many people commenting are current VT students or professors. It doesn't sound like many of you are. Hey CT, is there any way to keep non-VT people from posting on our school newspaper's website?

I STAND FOR ISRAEL and for the Palestinians to STOP TERRORIZING THE CITIZENS OF ISRAEL. Until they do, Israel has every right to DEFEND HER NATION AGAINST TERRORISTS.

Israel is a USA puppet receiving free everything, beggars! Israel is worse than the Nazis.

Your' ignorance is well stated paul. Thanks for adding something meaningless to the discussion.

Hey Paul how many Nazi's have the Israeli's killed compared to the millions of Jews the Nazi's murdered?

Ok, let us end ILLEGAL OCCUPATION of United States of America. Then England Then France Then Germany If we start going that way humans have to depart to Mars because every single country today lives on lands that were fought out in genocidal wars of the past. This is not to say that I am for occupations. But your approach towards Jewish people is tantamount to dismantling Israel, a legal state that is under siege from the day of her birth. I only wanted to make sure that you get the absurdity of your point, because not a single country, Palestinians included, is inhabited today by people who were first to come by.

Interesting that the signers of the letter do not boycott Arab nations that do not hold democratic elections...Kill all terrorists...Liberalism is a mental disorder...woof!

Interesting that the signers of the letter do not boycott Arab nations that do not hold democratic elections...Kill all terrorists...Liberalism is a mental disorder...woof!

Here's what I'm curious about. I'm sure there have been tons of actual letters to the editor at this point in regards to this particular letter. It usually doesn't take much in an article at all to get students here at Tech witting away. I want to know why we haven't seen any of these letters published yet.... (and obviously, if in todays paper, they post some letters, this comment is well...pointless)

So, who are the people who actually keep most of the cease fire agreements? Israel did and if Palestine wants the peace then they will have to keep it. If the US army was taken over by a terrorist group that bombed other countries, then we would get bombed by them until we ended the siege.

Absolutely and undeniably outrageous.

END THE OCCUPATION! PALESTINE MUST LIVE!

Right on, Professor Salaita! I agree with your sentiments entirely. You and your students are taking a much-needed stance to end the tyranny that the people of Gaza are unjustly facing. I'm in great admiration of your letter!

I took a class with Dr. Salaita a few years back and he was a very interesting and engaging professor. He's also very open to discussion and discourse about his views, and was highly interested in hearing the perspective and ideas of others. Thus I was rather disappointed to read this article, for I found it to be out of character for the Dr. Salaita who's class I took for a semester. The fact that the Hamas terrorist organization was legitimately elected does not make it any less of an illegitimate terrorist organization. Israel has to have the right to defend its citizens at all costs. The viewpoint of the government has to be that even 1 of its citizens being killed by a rocket is unacceptable, and that 100's of enemy losses are acceptable in ending the threat. I liken the situation to a much smaller scale. There are no police. Your neighbor spends all day every day firing his shotgun or rifle at your house. When are you justified in attacking back and defending yourself and your family? Is killing him then an extremist response, or should you just disarm him? Israel is only doing what it has to defend its citizens, which is the government's job in the first place.

It's easy to say that war is bad, and that it is sad what happened to the Gaza civilians. Perhaps you can then also agree that is sad when Hamas rockets are fired into Israeli cities, with no intention whatsoever at hitting military targets. Israel was provoked. They repeatedly sent the message to stop firing rockets into Israel. Hamas continued. Please, explain to me the conspiracy that proves Hamas is a legitimate organization. The governments of Canada, the entire European Union, The US, and Japan can't all be wrong, can they? Anyways, I hope you used a computer with an AMD processor to write this. Most Intel processors that came after the Pentium IV are based on designs R&Ded in Israel.

hey CT, heres an idea: Stop hiding all the response letters we know you've gotten and publish some of them in that GIANT "your letter could be here space" thats in every paper. Are u afraid of being a balanced newspaper? please gain some credibility and print some of the papers its not that hard.

A lot of people are writing that Dr. Salaita "seems like a nice guy." Well he's prone to the same short-sightedness as anyone. Some professors get overconfident. I can tell you SS has been pretty smug and condescending before. I can see how that attitude could translate to his work and tarnish his pretentious ethos.

Are you kidding me!? The first line of this delusional letter had me smirking. Attempting to imply Arabs(most likely a high % from Jordan), aka Palestinians as "indigenus" to the land they are living on is utterly riddiculous. Obviously the historical facts i.e. maps, were not consulted, or irrelevant to their biased conclusion. I am constantly amazed by the far-fetched concoctions that so called 'educated' individuals create, and then try to pass off as facts....stunning.

I am very happy to see that more people are seeing Israel for what it is. The people of Gaza have been under the control of Israel since 1948.When England gave their land to the Jews to create Israel. I have been boycotting Isreal for many years. I am a proud Muslim and know of the horrible things the people of Palestine have suffered.

Marna, while you "know of the horrible things the people of Palestine have suffered," you apparently don't know the history of it. The United Nations partitioned Palestine, not England, and it was for the creation of both a Jewish and a Muslim state, and it was in 1947, not 1948. 1948 was the year Israel declared independence. Did the Arabs do likewise and establish a Muslim state on the land the UN gave to them? No. The day after Israel declared independence, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq invaded Israel. Seems destroying Israel is more important than building a Palestinian state, as evidenced by the election of Hamas in the first place. As Golda Meir said, “We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.”

Alum, it seems that your understanding for the Palestinian problem is not correct too, I suggest to you to visit this site and read about how Palestine became Israel : http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/ref-nakba.html. No one can deny that the main reason for our suffer is England as a resulto of Balfour Decleration in November 1917 to the Jews to give them a home country in Palestine, here is the decleration: 1. His Majesty's Government accepts the principle that Palestine should be reconstituted as the National Home of the Jewish people. 2. His Majesty's Government will use its best endeavours to secure the achievement of this object and will discuss the necessary methods with the Zionist Organization. Please read the history very carefuly, and I am wondering how do accept to build a country for Jews by deporting the origional Palestinian of Palestine... Do you think if I come and take over your house by force and call it MY HOUSE you will accept this? even if I tell you lets share it I am sure you will never ever accept that, and if you do, your children and your grand children will fight to get it back. Anyway, I do beleive that the conflict between Jews and Palestinian will go forever....