(Harvard Crimson) Lee M. Hiromoto - At a Harvard Law School panel discussion on "boycotting the Israeli occupation," I thought back to the four years I spent in Israel. The Israel I experienced differed starkly from the fascist dystopia of which the panelists spoke. That Israel, my Israel, hopes for peace with its neighbors and respects the rights of minority groups, sometimes to a greater extent than the U.S. does. I served in the office of the Coordinator for Government Activity in the Territories, the Ministry of Defense agency responsible for liaising with the Palestinian Authority. Israel doesn't have to let thousands of Palestinians, many of whom still deny Israel's basic right to exist, into its communities for medical care or work (as happens every day). But Israel does. These actions, along with Israel's full, painful withdrawals from Gaza in 2005 and Sinai in 1982, speak louder than words to Israel's deep desire to get along with - not replace - its neighbors.
2011-02-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive