The Battle against the Flag by University of Haifa Faculty

This is going to sound like another Plaut spoof, but I am afraid the following story is entirely for real. It involves the outpouring of anguished calls by faculty members at the University of Haifa NOT to have the Israeli flag flying on campus!

The story begins with an announcement on January 15, 09 by the heads of the university and its PR officer that for the remainder of the battle in Gaza, Israeli flags will be flown on campus as a sign of solidarity with the embattled residents of Sderot and other towns under attack near the Gaza Strip. Nothing in the university announcement indicated that the gesture should be taken in any political sense, such as endorsing the Israeli defense Forces tactics and specific strategies, but only as a way of saluting the courage of Israelis in the south. Back in 2006, when Haifa was itself under attack by 4000 of Ehud Barak's missiles being fired at the city by the Hezbollah, many people in the Israeli south similarly responded and many hosted Haifa residents seeking to escape the rockets at the time. (Not me, I stayed put, like the tree standing by the water in that old union song.) In addition, the University of Haifa has been lighting up the front face of its high central Eshkol Tower, 30 stories tall, as an Israeli flag for the same reason. Given the fact that the University of Haifa has a reputation for being an arena for the largest number of radical sometimes-violent often-pro-jihad Arab students in Israel, it made sense to try to project a pro-Israel public image.

The response to the gesture by leftist faculty members at the University of Haifa was boisterous and hostile. How dare the university have Israeli flags waving on campus! It is offensive and insensitive to Arabs!

On the "Segel-Plus" chat list for University of Haifa faculty members, a number of expressions of outrage were posted. A math lecturer named Kobi Peterzil, who runs the northern chapter of the anti-Israel anti-Zionist Taayoush political splinter, wrote this:

'This is a joke, right?

Should we all sing HATIKVA as we enter our classes?

Kobi Peter (Peterzil)
Mathematics
Haifa'

(not a bad suggestion, actually --- SP)


Then Gabriel Salomon, who teaches "peace education" (meaning leftist indoctrination) in the University's School of Education, responded in Hebrew (my translation):

From: "Gabriel Salomon" :
'We all know that patriotism is the last refuge of …
So how do you think the Arab students on campus will react to this, if it is implemented, and does that matter? Is it really necessary to jab thumbs into their eyes? This proposal sounds less like a gesture of solidarity than an attack on an oppressed minority trying to yell that they are here amongst us.'


Micah Leshem, a rabidly anti-Israel professor of psychology, who regularly denounces Israel and Zionism as racist, insisted that if Israeli flags were to be flown on campus then so should PLO flags be flown and lit up. He did not suggest any swastika flags be flown. He added:

'It (the PLO flag lights) can be slightly smaller, as befits a minority, and because that minority might also be less chauvinist, and more considerate of other ethnic groups' sensibilities.
'Also, on independence day, I see many cars with US and Israeli flags, so I
think we should reserve 5 stories of the Tower and lighted 51 windows for an
American flag too. After all, without the American F16s and Apaches we would
be fighting the Kassam's with Davidka's.
'Finally we should have some stories dedicated to a lighted or burning Bush,
in recognition of the great support of our Nation (not State) by the Bush,
and it should be easily switched to a Texas Bar-B-Q in 5 days time.
'These are profound and important symbols, and we should give them proper
respect, as Yishayahu Leibowitz urged us to.
Micah'


That is correct, your eyes did not play a trick on you. Here we have the spectacle of a professor of psychology at a major Israeli university who thinks there are 51 stars in an American flag and that the US consists of 51 states! My guess is that he also thinks that the Star of David has 7 points, given that he would not be caught dead with one in his possession.


In another post, the same Leshem sent out a photo of the lights on the tower in the shape of the flag, with his added comment "Bullshit Tower".

Prof. Ramzi Suleiman of psychology, an Arab professor, having earlier in the week posted a number of messages on the list denouncing Israel as a racist entity conducting genocide, posted a sarcastic comment, suggesting that university ranks be replaced with army ranks and that there should be set up an armed honor guard at the campus entrance that is rotated 3 times a day.

Finally, political science lecturer Zach Levey suggested that the flag of lights be shut down because it is wasting electricity. He did not suggest that providing people in Gaza with electricity be stopped because it is a much bigger waste of electricity.


It should be noted that the week before, anti-Israel Arab students held a noisy demonstration illegally on the Haifa University campus, while waving PLO flags. One guard refused to allow a group of Jewish students enter through a campus gate carrying an Israeli flag.

None of the above professors had anything to say about that or found it insensitive or offensive. None suggested that marches by Palestinians and their supporters with swastikas and banners calling for annihilation of all Jews be removed because they are offensive. In the past, a few leftist faculty members at the university hoisted PLO flags in the middle of the wave of suicide bombings against Jews. None of the above people objected to that either.