Grisly college politics

[GabysPoppy]

To win an election, Palestinian student politicians tout number of Israelis killed by party members (sub-headline)


BIR ZEIT, West Bank -- Student politicians at Bir Zeit University no longer stump on simply better library services and cheaper lunches. They also campaign on which party claims to have killed more Israelis.

"For the Islamist bloc, it is 135," says senior Rami Barghouti, a leader of the student bloc formed by militant Palestinian factions Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Barghouti says that figure, which is all but impossible to confirm, is the number of Israelis who have been killed by Bir Zeit students associated with Hamas.


The West Bank's oldest and most prestigious university is awash in rhetoric angrier than at any time anyone here can remember. The sentiments roiling a campus known for producing Palestinian leaders offer a bleak view of the fury and polarization among young people in the West Bank more than three years after the start of the Palestinian uprising.

The political picture at Bir Zeit also captures a broader evolution in the Palestinian balance of power. Like their parents, today's young Palestinians are increasingly inclined to support radical groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad over Yasser Arafat's mainstream Fatah Party, which has steadily lost ground on campuses across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

snip

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0401310120jan31,1,2449826.story

[JohnLocke]

1. Disgusting.

[Muddleoftheroad]

2. Tonight, on terrorists gone wild...

The college years.

[JohnLocke]

3. If would be funny if it weren't so sad.

[Muddleoftheroad]

5. It's funny and sad

I mean how can you not laugh at someone that freakin' pathetic? Still, very sad indeed. You are right.

[bemildred]

4. Gee, a gathering shitstorm right next door.

Peachy.

Saudi Arabia isn't looking too stable either, and Iraq is in
the early stages of a civil war.

Am I the only one that thinks this is a massive failure of
Israeli government policy? Or is this all supposed to be an
accident or some inevitable result of Islamic culture or something?

I thought they were all supposed to be a "beaten people" by now?

:puke:

[MikeGalos]

11. Yes. You are

The rest of us think it's a massive failure of the Arafat regime and the Bush regime.

[bemildred]

14. Nothing to do with Sharon or Likud?

Just doing the best they can in a difficult situation?
In fact a stunning success, really, given the difficulties, eh?

I mean, I'm no fan of Arafart(sic) or Shrub, but whose country is
it anyway?

[MikeGalos]

15. Let's see

It's a university in Arafat's pseudo-country - where he has almost dictatorial control over what happens. I'd say that's Arafat's mismanagement.

But I'm pretty immune to the temptation to blame Israel no matter the facts.

[bemildred]

16. Arafart cannot take a shit without Israeli supervision.

Whatever power he has or once had is the power that the government
of Israel chose to grant him from time to time. He holds in some
degree the allegiance of the (fictitious) Palestinian people, but
that is eroding, and he is impotent to enforce his wishes.

[Darranar]

18. I think you overestimate his control.

[Aidoneus]

19. heh

the old man can't leave his bashed up wreck of a compound, but he's somehow an all-seeing/all-knowing dictator..
corollary:--he's got $3bil to his name, but is too cheap to shell out a few bucks to a construction company to put a coat of paint on what Israeli Peace Tanks and Peace Bulldozers ripped up?

at least try to make the storyline plausible..

[JasonDeter]

6. Wow, how would you like to have these groups move in next door!

aaaaaaaaaaack! Only bin laden would look forward to that move.

[Kundun]

7. Bir Zeit used to be one of the most secular universities

It cannot be that for random reasons it is now largely led by extremist forces.

I believe that on this planet there are always dynamics at work. Unless you subscribe to divine intervention (which you have every right to) you must ask the question what has led both sides to assume such diametrically opposed sides of the spectrum.

[tinnypriv]

9. See #8 (nt)

[tinnypriv]

8. Back in the day

Israel specifically allowed Islamic maniacs to increase infulence at Palestinian universities.

One means towards this end was preventing secular demonstrators from attending meetings while allowing bus-loads of Jihadis through.

'Tis a bit rich to complain about it now, though they're probably assuming (correctly), that the record of this (from Israeli reporters) will be virtually suppressed in the US media.

[Kundun]

10. I believe this is an interesting article

from the Tel Aviv university: http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/sa/v2n3p4.html. It is very recommended reading and might strengthen my point I made in another post in respect to the PA's support of bombings (or not).

It attributes much less significance to the student votes at Bir Zeit (and others) as this article in question.

It is an academic piece devoid of the usual rhetoric, I hope.

[JasonDeter]

12. Ah yes, "The rock blaming the glass for breaking."

[tinnypriv]

13. Nice analogy

You missed the fact Israel was/is throwing the rock.

Plus, it'd only apply if I was Palestinian. I clearly am not.

[Aidoneus]

17. but it sounded like such a good idea "yesterday"!

so they didn't think about what would happen "tomorrow".. :eyes:

part of the plan worked, anyway.