Sender: Rare book and manuscripts <EXLIBRIS-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
(I would like further discussion of this taken off-list, but feel the
charges and yet more labelling warrants one final reply)
From: "Jerry Blaz" <ffdog@EARTHLINK.NET>
You seem convinced that one side has all the
truth and virtue.
**I judge everything on its own merits, but did grow up with a sense of
fairness and justice, instilled in me from childhood, thankfully. For
example, I know that when people's homes are bulldozed down, their olive
groves blown up, their land stolen -- that one has every right in the world
to organize against such criminality, and to bring the criminals to justice,
or at the very least shame them to stop their destructive habits. I am also
aware that to be silent in the face of such crimes is to condone them, to be
complicit in them.
Tenured professors can be fools
**(Noam Chomsky's scholarship has been judged by the best standards
we currently have - his peers. It speaks for itself. If you have a
problem with Chomsky's scholarship then you ought to take that up with the
editors of the various scholarly journals where his works are regularly
published and cited. There are more than a few of them, and it could be a
daunting task, but I wish you well)
I do not believe that the play is going to have
that rough a time of it, if it can draw
audiences. Not having seen the play, I can state
an opinion of it. These "censors" you are
speaking of are apparently a part of some
conspiracy you know about because as I stated, a
censor is someone operating under the cover of
law, and we do not censor plays or writing.
**There is no "conspiracy". There are people who make threats, people who
use scare tactics and intimidation. Toronto was a fiasco. One might assume
that such vulgar harassment will stop with further showings, but that would
be foolish. If assuming such a pattern continues makes one some sort of
"conspiracy theorist", then the empiricist in me says this is a rather weak
and empty charge. You are quite correct though in terms of draw. *If*
people can be allowed to make their own decisions about whether to see
the play or not (ie. if they are not intimidated), and *if* there are no
ridiculous charges of "anti-semitism" thrown into the mix prior to the
event, then I would venture to guess that every venue will be well-attended,
just as at its debut in London, UK.
Your version of what happened at the site of Ms.
Corrie's demise is a trumped-up version of the
tragic situation created to influence the
politics of the Israel-Palestinian
situation. There are number of instances where
this kind of exploitation for political reasons
of a difficult situation has occurred.
**I saw the recording, including the operator nearly doubling over laughing
after committing the murder. The video is not for the faint-hearted.
It is quite evident that you've never sat in the seat
of a bulldozer
**You assume a lot. I grew up on a farm, surrounded by heavy equipment for
much of my life, all or most of which I operated. My father owned a
Caterpillar, not the D-9 the Israeli military uses for demolishing homes
people are living in, but a smaller one that we used for dugout
construction, for ourselves and for neighbouring farms. Regardless of the
size, there is a very basic safety precaution surrounding the use of all
heavy equipment, which is that if you suspect, and especially if you know
someone is anywhere near you, unless that person is a spotter you do *not*
move the machine -- not backwards, not forwards, not sideways. You power it
down you kill the ignition, or you lock the brakes. You get out and do a
360 safety. If all is clear you resume your work. I won't even get into
the question of safety in demolition work specifically, except to say that
in demolition work there are too many unknowns, and it is extremely rare for
an operator to work alone, unless there is little regard for the safety of
others.
Bullhorn, indeed!
**Several bullhorns have been tested on the ground and have proven to be
effective in penetrating the noise of a DC-9. The pitch is key to
effectiveness. Bright fluorescent colours also attract the attention of
operators. That is why both those things are used by the ISM, by the
volunteers who continue to go to Palestine, from all over the world, because
of their sense of fairness and justice.
Now I'm hoping we can end this Off-Topic discussion now, by taking it
off-list, and saving everyone the grief of hitting the delete button yet
again?
Feel free to email me privately. Anyone. Apart from being a bookseller, I
have worked for many years as a news editor, but not one that is beholden to
corporate stocks and values of shares. Those things don't sway me. My work
is unpaid ('unprofessional', no doubt, for some!), in the genre of
"alternative"
media, and covering issues which America's great freedom press seldom
touches.