Student Prerogatives
A vociferous, outraged group of sanctimonious students dedicated to their vision of social justice on the international scene busy on campus at Carleton University to highlight their disgust with Israel through their committed action as Students Against Israeli Apartheid. Wholly focused on one small country encircled by other, hostile countries.
Where, since its birth 60 years ago, it has had to contend with wars of conquest and obliteration which all failed, and then violent and bloody terrorist attacks on its citizens. The State has distinguished itself by insisting on its universal right to existence, and upon its major focus, that of a homeland and a haven for the world's Jewish populations.
To protect itself and its people it has been forced by circumstances it cannot control to police its borders. And to mount a protective ring of its military around the Palestinian Territories from whence violent opposition to its existence emanates from various terrorist militias. While at the same time attempting to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
These students have no interest in protesting the situation in Zimbabwe, in Sudan, in Somalia, in Democratic Republic of Congo, in Ivory Coast, in Kenya, where dictatorial regimes violate their peoples' rights and those of their neighbours. They evince no interest in the tyrannical autocracies of the Middle East. China's internal affairs, and Burma's and North Korea hold no interest for them.
They are entirely invested in expressing their passionate hatred for Zionist Israel, the Jewish homeland. And they insist that it is their right to zealously confront Carleton's executive administration, to debate with them their demand that the university divest all money from companies they claim to be doing business with Israel; a total boycott and nothing less.
The university's administrators had little option but to cancel a scheduled meeting of their board of governors because 200 unruly students yelled, chanted and shouted slogans about democracy in the process of blocking access to the meeting site. They were outraged that the administration invited them to select representatives from among their numbers to attend the meeting, that the chamber designated could not accommodate all of them.
"Unfortunately, the student demonstrators would not allow a number of the board members to get through [the crowd] to attend the meeting", explained a university spokesman. Which effectively forced the cancellation of the meeting. A spokesman for the SAIA student group claimed the meeting represented an "illegitimate process", since all the students were unable to attend the meeting due to fire code regulations.
The university's offer to permit a self-selected representative number of the student group was rejected. And as they rejected the conciliatory offer, the group threatened that if not every student who wished to attend the meeting was enabled to, then "hundreds" would gather to "disrupt" the meeting. Which was what occurred.
"There is no way we can allow the university to be run by threats. When you get to the point where you have groups of students telling the administration, 'We intend to disrupt your operations', that's frustrating because it interferes with people's efforts to focus their energies on making Carleton the best place it can be for students" explained an administration spokesperson.
How's that for understatement, for mealy-mouthed convention? An administration fearful of once again facing an inconvenient confrontation by obstreperous and bullying students, certain of their entitlement as progressive social arbiters of justice in their ideological war to position the university's affairs to suit their political agenda.
Where, since its birth 60 years ago, it has had to contend with wars of conquest and obliteration which all failed, and then violent and bloody terrorist attacks on its citizens. The State has distinguished itself by insisting on its universal right to existence, and upon its major focus, that of a homeland and a haven for the world's Jewish populations.
To protect itself and its people it has been forced by circumstances it cannot control to police its borders. And to mount a protective ring of its military around the Palestinian Territories from whence violent opposition to its existence emanates from various terrorist militias. While at the same time attempting to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
These students have no interest in protesting the situation in Zimbabwe, in Sudan, in Somalia, in Democratic Republic of Congo, in Ivory Coast, in Kenya, where dictatorial regimes violate their peoples' rights and those of their neighbours. They evince no interest in the tyrannical autocracies of the Middle East. China's internal affairs, and Burma's and North Korea hold no interest for them.
They are entirely invested in expressing their passionate hatred for Zionist Israel, the Jewish homeland. And they insist that it is their right to zealously confront Carleton's executive administration, to debate with them their demand that the university divest all money from companies they claim to be doing business with Israel; a total boycott and nothing less.
The university's administrators had little option but to cancel a scheduled meeting of their board of governors because 200 unruly students yelled, chanted and shouted slogans about democracy in the process of blocking access to the meeting site. They were outraged that the administration invited them to select representatives from among their numbers to attend the meeting, that the chamber designated could not accommodate all of them.
"Unfortunately, the student demonstrators would not allow a number of the board members to get through [the crowd] to attend the meeting", explained a university spokesman. Which effectively forced the cancellation of the meeting. A spokesman for the SAIA student group claimed the meeting represented an "illegitimate process", since all the students were unable to attend the meeting due to fire code regulations.
The university's offer to permit a self-selected representative number of the student group was rejected. And as they rejected the conciliatory offer, the group threatened that if not every student who wished to attend the meeting was enabled to, then "hundreds" would gather to "disrupt" the meeting. Which was what occurred.
"There is no way we can allow the university to be run by threats. When you get to the point where you have groups of students telling the administration, 'We intend to disrupt your operations', that's frustrating because it interferes with people's efforts to focus their energies on making Carleton the best place it can be for students" explained an administration spokesperson.
How's that for understatement, for mealy-mouthed convention? An administration fearful of once again facing an inconvenient confrontation by obstreperous and bullying students, certain of their entitlement as progressive social arbiters of justice in their ideological war to position the university's affairs to suit their political agenda.
Labels: Conflict, Crisis Politics, Human Relations, Ottawa
posted by Pieface | 5:51 PM
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