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Eugene

(61,595 posts)
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 09:52 AM Jun 2014

Palestinian professor resigns after taking students to Auschwitz

Source: The Guardian

Palestinian professor resigns after taking students to Auschwitz

Ian Black in Doha
The Guardian, Friday 13 June 2014 14.07 BST

Mohammed Dajani knew he was on sensitive ground when he took a group of students to visit the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland in March. But it took the furore that followed to make the Palestinian academic realise that he had entered a political and psychological minefield.

Dajani resigned from his post at Jerusalem's Al-Quds University this week after failing to win the unequivocal support of his employers in a row which highlighted the darkest taboos of the conflict with Israel and each side's enduring sense of victimhood.

The visit to the concentration camp was part of a project to study the Holocaust and teach tolerance and empathy. "It is about understanding the other," Dajani told the Guardian during a conference in the Qatari capital, Doha. "You need to understand the other because reconciliation is the only option we have. And the sooner we do it the better. Empathising with your enemy does not mean you sanction what your enemy is doing to you."

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Dajani faced abuse, intimidation and death threats over the visit. Al-Quds dissociated itself from the project but defended his right to be involved. It insisted he had not been dismissed and supplied him with bodyguards. But in the end it accepted his resignation.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/13/palestinian-professor-resigns-students-auschwitz
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libodem

(19,288 posts)
2. Just read this
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 10:25 AM
Jun 2014

And had it copied to my clipboard ready to give it a home.
You beat me to it. I admire this professor. He was truly educating students to think for themselves by giving them experience with history.

azurnoir

(45,850 posts)
3. Interesting the article should be read beyond the snips presented because
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 11:15 AM
Jun 2014

the title that is posted is not the title of the article the real title is : Palestinian professor: no regrets over taking students to Auschwitz

azurnoir

(45,850 posts)
5. The Israeli government not only refusing but indeed sanctioning Nakba observances
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 04:09 PM
Jun 2014

may have played a role too

a couple of snippets not included

Propaganda that conflates antisemitism with opposition to Israel has also played a role. Israel's foreign minister, Abba Eban, famously talked about the country's "Auschwitz borders". Menachem Begin, the prime minister who invaded Lebanon in 1982, described Arafat "cowering in his bunker" in Beirut like Hitler in Berlin.


Misunderstanding played some role in the row. An article in an Israeli newspaper about the Auschwitz trip was mis-translated into Arabic. And the timing was unfortunate – just as the last round of US-brokered peace talks was on the brink of collapse – even though the project had begun long before.

King_David

(14,851 posts)
6. I doubt the reason for the backlash was that profound,
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 06:34 PM
Jun 2014

Certainly a visit to the most holy of Jewish cemeteries wouldn't be popular amongst a government that recently accused all Jews of being Christ Killers.

azurnoir

(45,850 posts)
7. Doesn't the same government you claim says Jews killed Jesus (unverifiable claim BTW)
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 07:04 PM
Jun 2014

have Christian members?

King_David

(14,851 posts)
8. Yes and so?
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 07:11 PM
Jun 2014

The worst antiSemitic governments before the current Jew hating crop were Christian.

Dubious ??? It's in the record .

azurnoir

(45,850 posts)
9. what verifiable record proves that the Palestinian Authority says Jews killed Jesus ?
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 07:32 PM
Jun 2014

and yes the claim that the PA has this as it's official stance is very dubious

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