Prof. Massad Criticizes Israel's Palestine Policy

Correction appended.

Columbia professor Joseph Massad and Israeli linguist Tanya Reinhart espoused the view that Palestinians are currently in a state of apartheid beneath the Israeli government Friday night.

"Challenging Israeli Apartheid" was the penultimate event in the series "Israeli Apartheid Week" held in New York last week by student and activist groups. Massad, a professor in the Middle East Asian Languages and Culture department, and Reinhart, a former professor at Tel Aviv University, sat in the pulpit at St. Mary's Church on 126th St. Friday evening to explore the analogy between South African Apartheid and the debate that characterizes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Moderator Ahmad Shokr, who helped organize the week, made a brief speech during the opening deliberations, calling for the international boycott of goods and divestment from Israel until the country ended what he considered their practice of apartheid against the Palestinians.

In their opening statements, both professors cited various bi-lateral Palestinian-Israeli accords that they claim Israelis have ignored.

Massad was sarcastic as he discussed the three reasons he contends Israeli's lay claim to the disputed territories: "One: Jews are always in danger out in the world, ... two: Jews are carriers of Western Civilization, ... [and] three: God has given the land to the Jews and told them to guard it," he said.

At one point, after air-quoting the term "Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," Massad asked the audience, "does it [Palestine] threaten Jews? Absolutely not. ... The only thing threatening Jews is its commitment to Apartheid and its racist people."

Reinhart, who left a position at Tel Aviv University in protest of what she said she believes to be an anti-Palestinian apartheid state existing in Israel's Gaza and West Bank regions, called the nation a "rogue state," citing the lack of health care and hospitals for Palestinians in the occupied territories.

During the following question-and-answer period, Massad called for "A non-violent solution [to the hostilities] based on human dignity," further suggesting that "our world does not have to pay anymore for the Holocaust."

In response to a question, Reinhart said that Israelis were committing political suicide by making Israel "the enemy of the whole Arab world."

"Therefore, saving the Palestinians is also saving Israel," said Reinhart.

Asked if there was any evidence that Palestinians would consent to equal living with Israelis if given more rights, Massad received heavy applause when he said, "My concern is to fight the government already in power as opposed to a projected government."

Massad called for the creation of what he called a democratic, non-racist state, saying that "When that happens I think Hamas will change seriously. ... Let's try that and see what happens."

One question regarding the debate between a one-state two-state resolution caused dissent amongst the panelists.

Reinhart advocated a one-state solution, saying that "the stress is on returning Palestinian land back to the Palestinians. ... We do not have to decide how the future will look in this respect." Massad got up as soon as she sat down to disagree. "The problem is concerning colonialism maintained by racist law," Massad said, saying later that Israelis have "no right to an ethnic state" and that Palestinians are "continuing to fight racist laws as we speak." The audience again erupted in applause.

CORRECTION: The original version of the article inaccurately quoted Joseph Massad as saying, "Our world does not have to pay any more for the Holocaust." This quote was actually said by Tanya Reinhart. The article also misquoted Massad as saying, "Does it [Palestine] threaten Jews? Absolutely not. ... The only thing threatening Jews is its commitment to apartheid and its racist people." Massad's original statement on this matter was phrased differently.