LETTER: Go team Palestine!

Editor,

Congratulations to team Palestine for a fantastic debate! I thought they did a superb job of answering some very difficult questions and made a strong case that peace and occupation are contradictory principles and cannot coexist.

The Israelis, on the other hand, seemed to feel the constant need to justify themselves, saying that they were not responsible for their own actions, that the situation compels them to “react.” They also felt picked-on, claiming that the United Nations is anti-Semitic and out to get them, and that residents of the Jenin refugee camp booby-trapped their own homes to make it look like Israeli tanks destroyed them.

The impression I was left with was, “We’ve been beating up the Palestinian people for the past 50 years, and if necessary, we can keep it up for another 50.” Or at least that was my perception. I wish that more students could have attended the debate so they could hear firsthand from both sides, instead of just basing their beliefs on what they hear from the highly pro-Israel U.S. media.

Tai Davis