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Student association sends wrong message by sympathizing with terrorists

It really is amazing how some things never change. Before I got my bachelor’s degree in 2005, I spent a lot of time working for the Daily Forty-Niner, where I wrote a weekly column intended to make people think critically about pressing issues.

Back then, I wrote a few columns about the Muslim Student Association’s antics and after I graduated I thought maybe, just maybe, they took some of my constructive criticism to heart. It is clear to me now, however, that they have learned nothing as once again they are up to their same old tricks.

The first week of school the MSA decided it was time to hold its “Die In” protest, where students of the group pretended they were dead and defended the actions of terrorist group Hamas in defending Palestine against the recent violence in Israel. Does the MSA really not understand by now that defending Hamas makes them look bad?

The MSA also found it appropriate to display signs comparing Israelis to Nazis and, according to other campus organizations, wants Cal State Long Beach to boycott any business relations with Israel. The MSA, as usual, claims it is a “progressive” group, but fails to admit what it really is — a group of terrorist sympathizers. The MSA may fool some people with their thinly-veiled progressive protests, but it doesn’t fool me.

This is the same MSA that in September 2006 welcomed vehemently anti-Semitic hate-speech orator Amir Imam Abdul Malik Ali to speak on campus. Campus MSA groups, to help shape young and impressionable minds into jumping on the “Down With Israel” bandwagon, often call upon Ali, who has given speeches at many schools nationwide.

Ali loves to compare Israel to an “apartheid state,” repeat the same tired argument that Hamas “are freedom fighters, not terrorists” and constantly claims that the “Western Zionist controlled media” are covering up the truth about, well, everything. The MSA clearly doesn’t understand how aligning itself with this kind of guy doesn’t scream “Progression!”

Even one former president of the MSA has made statements sympathizing with suicide bombers. In a May 2007 article in the Jewish Journal concerning Muslim support for suicide bombers, Ahmed Billoo stated “Blowing yourself up is not something everyone can do or something that everyone has the courage to do … I just think [terrorism] is something that Islam justifies.”

And that is exactly the problem, Ahmed — your religion justifies killing people and committing terrorist acts and you are OK with that.

One would think that in this day and age, with terrorism in the news practically daily, young followers of Islam like those in the MSA would finally realize that there are parts to their religion that justify doing horrific things to others and would disassociate themselves from those parts entirely. But that isn’t so.

Calling on an unapologetic anti-Semite like Malik Ali to speak on behalf of the MSA, staging protests on campus while toting deceptive signs rife with lies and mistruths, and urging an end to business deals with Israel make it easy to see what the MSA’s true intentions are.

The MSA is not a “progressive” group, like it claims it is. It’s just another group of terrorist sympathizers propagating the same anti-Semitic rhetoric so many of its sister groups across the United States already have.

Gerry Wachovsky is a computer science graduate student and a columnist for the Daily Forty-Niner.

57 Comments

  1. Avatar

    Can we all just get along, there is no need for all this bashing, Things are not perfect in the world and everyone has their problems. Your point is not going to make any difference about anyone else’s opinion so Gerry collect your thoughts on a peace of paper keep it to yourself. Anyway, who gave him the rights to publicly bash MSA? I bet you speak of things you know nothing about, and only what you might have heard. Learn about what the MSA does before you start bashing like a little girl. I see that your name Wachovsky sounds like a Jewish name to me… Don’t abuse your limited power.

  2. Avatar
    MuslimBridges.org

    Once during a pro-Israel rally there was a woman holding a sign “Israel wants peace”, another “Israel has the right to defend itself”, then a car passed by and someone yelled …. “Nuke all the Palestinians” …. the entire crowed cheered. I looked directly at these two women, they both cheered and gave thumps up.

    The problem here is deception. Zionists and the writer of this article should all get PhD in deception!

  3. Avatar
    begat another bigot

    hey “your name” you DUMB ASS, can you read all of these comments and actually claim these morons have the “same God”? LOL, you are deluded. they each claim that their holy books give them the right to the land and the right to blow the other one up to get it. God must be a theological prankster clearing the path for Christians. its my guess none of these fools has read their good books except to pull out favorite passages to use as ‘evidence’ against the others.

  4. Avatar
    begat another bigot

    Your name,
    then why are they always trying to kill each other, dumb ass? is it the sun getting to their heads? something in the water? or is ignorance contagious in the middle east? are their interpretations of god’s being delivered by different messengers with varying senses of humor? i don’t really care, as long as it works and they continue to blow each other off the desert.

  5. Avatar

    I have tried to make two recent posts, but as of now they arent posting. Is there a limit to the length of a post? I really want to comment, but I have spent too much time with this and need to focus on some more immediate issues in my life…like homework and writing papers. Hopefully my posts pop up, but as of now, I am going to duck out of this one for a while.

  6. Avatar
    supporter of Israel

    To the person who left the comment at 16:10 today –

    Gerry Wachovsky did not say that Zionism is an integral part of Judaism. I, the person self-identified as ‘supporter of Israel’, said that. Your impression of Zionism is false. Zionism has nothing to do with “a land with no people for a people without a land”. Zionism is about the land of Israel belonging to the Jews because G-d gave it to us. Zionism is in fact written into the Torah. In Genesis, G-d promises the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham and later on in the Torah, G-d gives the Jews commandments that can only be carried out in the land of Israel.

    Thus, by opposing Zionism, the MSA is being anti-semitic. The MSA is also anti-semitic because of its double standards. The one and only country it calls for the destruction of just happens to be the one and only Jewish state. The only killing in the world that the MSA protests against is the killing of Palestinians by Israelis. To top it off, members of the MSA shouted ‘dirty Jews’ at those who came out in support of Israel when they had the die-in the first week of the semester.

    Since Zionism is part of Judaism, it’s anti-semitic to (falsely) compare it to Nazism. The MSA does NOT “criticize” the State of Israel. It completely *demonizes* the State of Israel. Calling for the complete destruction of a country is a whole lot more than mere criticism. The MSA doesn’t really have a problem with Israel’s actions or policies. Its only real beef is with Israel’s existence. The MSA doesn’t even really have a problem with Nazism. Like the Nazis, Hamas has called for the death of all Jews, yet the MSA supports Hamas.

    Here is what international law says about human shields. Article 51(7) of the Additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions says, “Parties to the conflict shall not direct the movement of the civilian population or individual civilians in order to attempt to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield military operations.” Hamas has indeed directed Palestinian civilians to surround buildings used by Hamas in its war against Israel on many occasions.

  7. Avatar
    Gerry Wachovsky

    It tells me that Henry Kissinger, like the MSA, was pretty anti-Semitic too.

  8. Avatar

    “If a group of people have been persecuted for over 2000 years then they must be doing something wrong”- Henry Kissinger on Jews

    now what does that tell you

  9. Avatar

    maral, it was supporter of israel who said that

    “For example, the MSA is equating Zionism with Nazism. Zionism is an integral part of Judaism. Thus, the MSA is equating Judaism with Nazism”

  10. Avatar
    Gerry Wachovsky

    The comment below is directed to Maral.

  11. Avatar
    Gerry Wachovsky

    Your name:

    You are severely mistaken. I never said anything of the like about Zionism. I NEVER said Zionism is integral to Judaism, because I don’t believe that statement. If you don’t mind, would you please quote where I said that? Oh, that’s right, you can’t, because that’s something I never said.

    And I will repeat it again, since so many people cannot understand: I was being critical of the MSA by calling it out on what it is, an anti-Semitic student group, which is demonstrated through their actions and speakers they hire. Personally, the MSA offends me, because I find its concern for the “Palestinian plight” overshadowed by its blatant anti-Semitism, and I think it is disingenuous for a group to claim it is “progressive” when in actuality, it is as far from the term as possible. I have not written or disseminated any form of “hate-speech”, and those who don’t have an immediate knee-jerk reaction to my article find that easy to see.

  12. Avatar

    I added my name, it did not post the last time. the comment below is mine

  13. Avatar

    Gerry,

    I appreciate the fact that you are sharing your opinion. While reading through all the comments on your article, i have discovered some interesting discrepancies. Early on, you mention that Zionism is INTEGRAL to Judaism. Then, in a later post, you accuse someone of falsely assuming that the Jewish publication is by default a Zionist publication.. Now, I was under the impression that Zionism–engineered by Theodore Hertzl (not a Jew)– is simply an agenda that operates on the notion of A LAND WITH NO PEOPLE FOR A PEOPLE WITHOUT A LAND. Gerry, could you please make up your mind and make the final call– is Zionism in fact written in the Jewish scriptures? or is it in reality a political ideology that is using religion to establish some form of legitimacy among Israeli citizens and the international community? For now, since you seem slightly confused on the relationship between Zionism and Judaism, let’s use my definition.

    Secondly, allow me to quote you, “First off, being critical is not hate-speech, it is simply being critical. Nothing more, nothing less.” Then, I ask you, why are you calling the MSA “anti-Jew?” (to avoid using the uneducated mass’s inaccurate use of the term “anti-Semitic”) The MSA’s posters or statements comparing Zionism (note: NOT Judaism) with Nazism are simply criticisms of the Israeli state’s political agenda. Just as you expect your opponents to view this article as “criticism” and “not hate-speech,” (disregarding the fact that you are attacking the MSA as a student group and its constituents, whereas their “attacks” target the Israeli state, not you personally) as a member of an academic environment, you should try to do the same.

    Finally, to those who do not know the legal definition of human shielding, look it up. And not on your favorite news website, but through international research institutes.

  14. Avatar

    begat,

    “It’s nice to know that people believe that their form of god is the best and wants us to kill non-believers.”

    muslims and jews believe in the same God dumbass

  15. Avatar
    begat another bigot

    Like the movie Religulous, religion is almost always the cause of violent conflict. It’s nice to know that people believe that their form of god is the best and wants us to kill non-believers. The only way to achieve world peace will be to round up all religious leaders and shove them off a cliff; especially the jews and arabs.

  16. Avatar
    Gerry Wachovsky

    Supporter Of Israel – Wow, I don’t think I could have said any of that better myself. Everything you said is true and it’s sad that a lot of people on here are trying to spin the issue and blow it so out of proportion that it becomes an entirely different issue. My favorite is when “thaer” claimed that people blowing themselves up in a marketplace isn’t terrorism, rather, it is some sick form of self-defense. And you hit the nail on the head when you say that I am not saying anything that the MSA hasn’t already admitted. It is easy to judge a group’s true feelings on something by the speakers they invite to campus and the events they hold, and inviting the imam they invite every year is proof-positive that the MSA is, in fact, anti-Semitic. The whole Palestinian/Israeli conflict is always so blown out of proportion when if you look at the facts there are always several constants. The most telling constant is how after EVERY war that Israel has ever fought with Palestinians, Israel has always given the Palestinians back the land that was conquered in a good faith effort towards peace. Israel just wants to live side-by-side and in peace with the Palestinians. The movie “Munich” really hit this point home. Whenever the team was dispatched to kill a target, they always did their best to avoid any civilian casualties. And after every Muslim that was assassinated for having a part in the Munich massacre, the Palestinians always responded with a bomb going off in a crowded marketplace or someone blowing themselves up at an airport. And this trend continues today, when Palestinians intentionally use human shields to give the effect that “Israel kills innocent civilians”. The guerilla tactics used by Hamas is unconscionable. Golda Meir, the former Prime Minister of Israel, said it best: “Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.” Truer words have never been spoken.

  17. Avatar
    begat another bigot

    See, I am soooo right. Let them do each other in so Christianity can have its Holy Lands back. Warsaw Ghetto, Gaza Strip, who cares? Neither muslims or jews are the chosen people.

  18. Avatar
    supporter of Israel

    n s,

    Your statement that people would be appalled if Gerry Wachovsky said about Judaism or Christianity what he said about Islam is very interesting. You see, Gerry wrote this article in the first place because the MSA, representatives of Islam, have said appalling things about Judaism. For example, the MSA is equating Zionism with Nazism. Zionism is an integral part of Judaism. Thus, the MSA is equating Judaism with Nazism. I’m sure you can understand that appalls Gerry Wachovsky as well as many other people at CSULB. Gerry wrote this article to let everyone else know how appalled he was at the MSA’s anti-semitism.

  19. Avatar
    supporter of Israel

    thaer,

    What I showed were only a few examples of many that demonstrate Islam’s support of terrorism. I could easily find you numerous other statements in Islamic holy books and from Islamic religious leaders condoning the murder of non-Muslims if I took the time and effort to search for them. That Islam condones terrorism is proven by the MSA inviting a speaker to campus who praises suicide bombings and by the numerous massacres of Jews throughout history perpetrated by Muslims.

    You’re flat-out lying to Gerry Wachovsky about what Ahmed Billoo said. In the sentences preceding Billoo’s statement that “it is something Islam justifies”, the phrase “Blowing yourself up” was used. Blowing yourself up along with a bunch of other people certainly is terrorism. Gerry being thousands of miles away is irrelevant. The “all-too-exoticized suicidal strand of resistance” that you speak of is murder and is terrorism according to international law. The fact of the matter is that the Israelis have not been blockading food and medicine. They have cut off electricity to Gaza at some points but they are allowed to under international law. Israeli “oppression” of the Palestinians is not the reason for suicide bombings. The anti-semitic propaganda that Palestinians are constantly bombarded with is the reason for suicide bombings. Muslims don’t need to be oppressed to murder Jews. During the Golden Age of Spain, there was a massacre of 4000 Jews in Granada in a single day. Back then, there was no State of Israel to oppress the Palestinians.

  20. Avatar
    supporter of Israel

    Chris Puder,

    Yes, Gerry Wachovsky’s article certainly is biased but so are your comments. Whether or not the prophet Mohamed said such a statement about Jews is irrelevant. The important point is that a *Muslim scholar* asserted that Mohammed said this and then *Muslims* accepted the work he put the statement in as one of their holy books.

    The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem certainly seemed to think that the Koran justified murder. Most Muslims certainly DID agree with his anti-semitism. That’s why they welcomed him back with open arms after World War II. That’s why Yasser Arafat praised him in a 2002 news interview. That’s why Egypt and Syria gave refuge to a number of Nazi war criminals after World War II. That’s why all the Muslim countries surrounding Israel began a war of annihilation against it in 1948 with the ultimate goal of pushing the Jews into the sea. That’s why newspapers in the Muslim today are rife with articles praising Hitler’s murder of 6 million Jews. That’s why the Palestinians in 2006 elected to power Hamas, a terrorist group calling for the death of all Jews.

    The notion that Hitler intended on eventually wiping out all the Muslims as he tried to do to the Jews is absolutely ridiculous. Hitler did to the Jews what he did to no other group only because he hated the Jews far more than anyone else. If Hitler hated the Muslims enough to want to wipe them all out then he would not have created a whole SS division of Muslim troops. Your statement that the “Mufti didnt see past his own semitic roots” is very curious. You seem to be saying that it was dumb for the Grand Mufti to be anti-semitic because he was himself a semite. Are you not aware that the term ‘anti-semitism’ specifically and exclusively refers to hatred of Jews? If you want to know the reasons for Muslims’ anti-semitism or the reasons for any other group’s anti-semitism then I suggest your read the book ‘Why the Jews? The Reason for Antisemitism’ by Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin.

    Let me give you another history lesson on terrorism in the Muslim world. Muslims began using terrorism long before the State of Israel existed. In the 100 years prior to the establishment of Israel, there were dozens of pogroms against Jews in the Muslim world. In fact, the Nebi Musa pogrom in Jerusalem of 1920 was the first act of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Muslim terrorism goes back even further. In the year 1066, Muslims in Spain massacred 4000 Jews in a single day in the city of Granada. And to think that the Jews called it the Golden Age of Spain. I don’t care how many different forms of Jihad there are. I only care about the form that involves slaughtering infidels and the fact that most Muslims don’t fight those who practice this form of jihad or speak out against them.

    Your opinion about what happened in Gaza being terrorism is a commonly held but at the same time entirely mistaken view. The people who bash Israel casually throw around terms such as ‘collective punishment’ and ‘disproportionate force’ without actually knowing what they really mean in international law. Under international law, Israel’s assault against Gaza does not qualify as terrorism. If you REALLY oppose terrorism then you should only condemn Hamas and not Israel at all for the death of Palestinian civilians in IDF operations against Hamas. Civilians die because Hamas cynically uses them as human shields to make sure they’re killed when the IDF strikes back at Hamas so that people around the world can have an excuse to further demonize Israel.

    Islam DOES justify terrorism. If you really believe it doesn’t then you should go to the CSULB MSA and tell them that they’re misrepresenting Islam by inviting every semester to campus an imam who praises suicide bombings.

  21. Avatar
    supporter of Israel

    David Barsness,

    Chris may not act arrogant around you but he is certainly arrogant when it comes to explaining the Islamic religion as my comment addressed to him made all too clear. I don’t care about how manly Chris is. He may very well be manlier than I am but I don’t care. This isn’t about manliness. It’s about who is right and who is wrong and your friend Chris just so happens to be wrong about Islam. I’m not so stupid as to leave my real name on a message board available to public viewing by everyone else in the world on the internet. You and Chris leave your own real names here at your own risk.

  22. Avatar
    supporter of Israel

    Michael,

    Clearly, no one ever told you that op-eds are SUPPOSED to be subjective. Because an op-ed is what Gerry Wachovsky wrote here. In fact, your comment here is also completely subjective but you didn’t let that stop you from writing it so subjectivity shouldn’t stop Gerry from writing op-eds for the 49er.

    The word ‘terrorist’ may be *used* by some people in propaganda but the word itself is not propaganda. There are terrorists in the world who are not Muslim. Hamas and suicide bombings aren’t propaganda either. They are both realities that the Israeli people are forced to deal with.

    Hamas firing rockets at Israeli civilians is clearly not self-defense. Hamas says that the IDF is persecuting them. If the IDF is persecuting them then firing rockets at Israeli civilians doesn’t defend them from anything because it doesn’t impede the IDF at all from going after Hamas. The Palestinians’ “true home” just so happens to be the entire State of Israel. The State of Israel is not up for sale so they should give up trying to get it back. It’s rather easy to justify what Israel is doing. The Allies did far more to Germany and Japan during World War II and we glorified that.

  23. Avatar
    supporter of Israel

    n s,

    Newsflash: the term ‘anti-semitism’ does not mean hatred of semites. It specifically and exclusively means hatred of Jews. Therefore, Gerry Wachovsky can continue to accuse the MSA of being anti-semitic. And they certainly are anti-semitic. That’s why they call for the destruction of the one and only Jewish state in existence.

    I’ll tell you exactly how Gerry can state that “there are parts to their religion that justify doing horrific things to others”. Every semester, the MSA invites this imam to campus to rant against Israel. The first time he came, I went to go hear him speak. The imam not only praised the suicide bombers killing Jews in Israel but also praised the suicide bombers killing his fellow Muslims in Iraq. That’s where Gerry got the impression that the MSA are terrorist sympathizers. Since the MSA invites such a person to speak on campus, they clearly don’t give a crap about human rights.

    So the MSA agrees that Gerry is right about Islam. The Grand Muftis and Grand Ayatollahs that have called for the death of the Jews also agree that Gerry is right about Islam.

  24. Avatar
    supporter of Israel

    student,

    You are a fool. The pictures you saw don’t prove anything other than that the people in them are dead. Mere dead bodies don’t prove that anything resembles the Nazis. I could just as easily show you pictures of dead Israelis killed by Hamas rockets and suicide bombings and claim that it resembles the actions of the Nazis. I could just as easily show you the pictures of dead German civilians killed in Allied bombing raids and say that the actions of the very people fighting the Nazis resembled the actions of the Nazis.

    The deaths of innocent children killed by IDF ordinance are entirely the fault of Hamas. Hamas uses children as human shields specifically in order to make sure that some get killed whenever the IDF launches a strike against Hamas. If you really care about those children then you will blame their deaths on Hamas rather than on Israel. Schools were bombed by the IDF because Hamas used them as part of their terrorist campaign against Israel. Hamas launched rockets at Israel from such schools. The same goes for mosques bombed by the IDF. Israel did cut off electricity to the Palestinians at times but it has every right to do that under international law. Israel did not cut off food or water to the Palestinians. The claim that they did is a lie.

  25. Avatar
    Gerry Wachovsky

    Jaber – “if you want some help, i’m here for you. i’m a nice guy and i just want people to live their lives in peace.” You must be joking. First of all, who says I want help, and secondly, why in the world would I want help from you?! Hahaha, this has to be a joke. I don’t know what you mean by, “It’s hard to go up against your own country” as I’m not going against a country. What are you implying “my country” is?

  26. Avatar

    begat another bigot

    begat you most not know your history very well! Maybe you should open up a

    history book. The Holy Land is rightfully for the Palestinians whether they are Muslim,

    Christians, or even Jewish. Get your facts straightened out! I’m glad that you’ve admitted

    what you did. You are a racist neo-con! You most have forgotten that there is Arab

    Christians that will be apart of the “self destruction” that you have assumed will be the

    result of American hegemony. You should be ashamed of how ignorant you are.

    If you think that the Arabs will give up their land that easily then you’re mistaken.

    By The Way I WOULD NEVER CONVERT!

  27. Avatar
    begat another bigot

    n s
    I have much more knowledge than you. I know how to use a dictionary, something you obviously have not opened since your grade school teacher forced you. The way it’s going to play out, and the reason America supports Israel’s military, in the Middle East goes like this; We keep Israel heavily armed and aggressive=they keep everybody pissed=terrorist groups like Hamas and other jihads escalate the violence until an all out war breaks out=the UN and the U.S. “pretend” we want peace, but what we truly want if for all of them to annihilate each other. The result? Christianity reclaims our Holy Lands. That’s how you gain total control, turn ’em all against one another and let them self-destruct. The rest is only collateral damage. And so it shall be, so convert…

  28. Avatar

    I did read the article and the title itself says “U.S. Muslims support suicide bombing” when the article actually says that they understand it, not support it. We dont approve of the actions but when you see what their life has become bc of Israeli actions, it is is evident WHY they do it. It seems pretty logical and simple to me, stop the occupation, holocaust and imprisonment, and you stop the defensive attacks by hamas. but israel is digging themselves a hole bc they are creating many more enemies so they will always be in fear.

    And you are right, i saw “Jewish” in the title so i assumed its going to be pretty biased. but you guys need to dig deeper than jewish OR muslim/palestinian sources. and i dont doubt that they won awards however its probably from their own people so that doesn’t really count. and thats besides the point so i dont care to look it up.

    And it was NOT aimed at you but i’m glad you included yourself. and it’s true, its hard to go against your own country and what you believed in for so long but dont be blind. if you want some help, i’m here for you. i’m a nice guy and i just want people to live their lives in peace. i want people to actually live a life without a constant fear of one of the most powerfully military in the world destroying their village (no to mention their lives and their whole country)

  29. Avatar

    Begat I do not know me and I am fortunate enough to not know you! I do not understand how somebody could make such crazy accusations like yourself!

    Maybe since you are suggesting that I would “strap on a bomb and walk into a marketplace” you might also know my name? O wait but you had already guessed that I was “not significant”, but you still chose to reply to a “not significant” person. Maybe I am significant after all. I’m sorry to see that you are just as ignorant as Gerry Wachovsky. Why don’t you stop spreading such HATE SPEECH like your friend has been doing and do some research from an unbiased source.

  30. Avatar
    Gerry Wachovsky

    A couple replies…

    Noah – Honestly, I couldn’t care less whether you buy what I said or not. I backed up my assertion that they are terrorist sympathizers in the article; I didn’t blindly accuse them of something. Based on their actions, I, as well as a lot of people, consider them to be terrorist sympathizers. When you support Hamas, by definition you sympathize with terrorists. What I am taken aback by is what I stated in my post, which you AGAIN had a knee-jerk reaction to. If you stop having these knee-jerk reactions, maybe you’d understand what I’m saying and see that there is reason for it. You see, while YOU may understand it’s an Opinion page, many people do not, as they have demonstrated here. So in all, I guess you weren’t the one I was talking to with that statement. But you felt the need to pipe up anyway. And my name is spelled with a “y” at the end, not an “i”.

    Jaber – The Jewish Journal is a respected publication, however, you simply saw the word “Jewish” on it and immediately consider them a “Zionist publication”. The story I quoted, if you bothered to read it, was written objectively and did not take a side on the issue. But you obviously didn’t read it and were immediately blinded by the word “Jewish” in the publication’s name. The non-profit Jewish Journal has been around for 24 years and is an award-winning newspaper. It has a circulation of 600,000. It is not an “extremely biased Jewish or Zionist source”, as you can see, so you sir are just about as ignorant as they come. And although you didn’t direct your “you don’t have to agree with Israel if you are Jewish” comment at me, let’s face it, it was directed at me, as I can read between the lines. Whatever my beliefs or lack thereof happen to be don’t matter. I wrote about what I feel, and they are not because of anything else. I look at what’s going on and have a mind of my own, hence, they are solely mine. There is nobody telling me how to think.

  31. Avatar

    Leaving personal opinions aside, MSA has been doing humanitarian events by informing the student body of CSULB of all people that have been murdered and killed in such a short time. In just the recent 22 day or so war, over 1300 people have died. Those just happened to be Palestinians murdered by Israel. And not directly speaking to Gerry, but just because you are Israeli or Jewish, it doesn’t mean that you HAVE TO support the Israeli government. We need to recognize when people are being oppressed and imprisoned in their own homes whether it’s in Palestine or anywhere else like Africa. This is Genocide and a modern day Holocaust by a group of people that you would think would sympathize with them the most. I actually encourage people to do their own research as long as it’s not from “Jewish Journal” or any other extremely biased Jewish or Zionist source. Even mainstream media is a start to your research but try to dig a little deeper than that.

  32. Avatar

    begat,

    if you had any sort of knowledge you would know that suicide is completely against Islam…although we do not support these people’s decisions to blow themselves up, we do understand why they feel like they must do this….when you have nothing left in your life…your family is killed, your house is in crumbles..what is your natural response?…revenge…you want revenge from the people who ruined your life….you cannot blame these people for their choice. If the Israelis would stop persucting the Palestinians, there would be no reason for suicide bombers to even exist. If the Israelis would take down the Wall, Palestinians could lead a normal life. Israelis need to stop their horrific actions in order for there to be peace.

  33. Avatar

    Gerry Wachovski stated:
    “It is incredible to me that there are so many people defining my article as hate-speech and so many believe that it is somehow related to the “ideology” of the Daily 49er, if you will.”

    I am not buying this “SURPRISED” action one bit. What do you expect when call a student organization “terrorist sympathizers”? I understand this is an opinion page and that is the best part about it. We all can state our opinion. But to actually be flabbergasted by the reaction of fellow CSULB students is just cheesy.

  34. Avatar

    Begat: Whoa buddy!! You took the lowest swipe so far. Why would even go so far as to equate anonymity on a forum with strapping on a bomb and walking into a crowded marketplace? And licking your own toe crud? How can you be so disrespectful to someone you dont even know? I mean, I felt like I was almost crossing the line with some of the criticisms I threw at Gerry, but man, you took the cake!!

  35. Avatar

    How come the area controlled by Fatah is so much better off today then the area controlled by Hamas? Could it be that Hamas keeps shooting rockets into Israel and Fatah does not. People need to take an objective look at the situation in the Middle East and see who really is oppressing the Palestinians and the reason why.

  36. Avatar
    begat another bigot

    n s
    Your conviction is truly your beacon of bravery. That’s why you sign “n s” which I assume means “not significant” enough to come out of the shadows of cowardice, the consequential ignorance of somebody who would no doubt strap on a bomb and walk into a marketplace. You’re not worthy of licking your own toe crud.

  37. Avatar
    Gerry Wachovsky

    And one more thing…

    It is incredible to me that there are so many people defining my article as hate-speech and so many believe that it is somehow related to the “ideology” of the Daily 49er, if you will.

    First off, being critical is not hate-speech, it is simply being critical. Nothing more, nothing less. A lot of people are saying that my article somehow meant something deeper or had some hateful message. It didn’t. If you simply take it on face value, you would see that. I wasn’t attempting to imply something other than what was said. I was being critical of a campus group, a group that happens to be a Muslim group. Just because I am critical of this particular group, it does not mean I think all Muslims are terrorists or terrorist-sympathizers. I was simply talking to the ones who are, which seem to be many in the Muslim Student Association for the reasons contained in the article.

    Secondly, my article was in the Opinion section, meaning, it is an oped and is not necessarily the beliefs of the Daily 49er or California State University, Long Beach or any other institution. That’s the beauty of the Opinion page. It allows for discourse and discussion and sometimes you might see something on there that offends or causes you to have a gut reaction of some sort. But to condemn the Daily 49er is to miss the point of there being an Opinion page in the first place.

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    Gerry Wachovsky

    thaer – I did not misquote the Jewish Journal. You said “there is no mention of the word ‘terrorism’ in the preceding sentences – he seems to be referring to suicide bombing.” So, according to you, suicide bombing is not a form of terrorism?

    Amber – It is sad that you consider public discourse and being critical of a campus group and a religion to be “hate-mongering”.

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    It does take great “courage” to share such untrue and hateful statements that Gerry has made about Muslims. Unfortunately because of ignorant students like Gerry who feel like it is their duty to make false and ignorant accusations about a religion’s teachings and a student organization that I no longer find our respected University paper, Daily 49er, credible. I’m sure if Gerry had made similar statements about the Christian or Jewish faith others would be just as appalled as I am! Gerry’s article is not an opinion piece it is HATE SPEECH!

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    Duke Rescola-opinions editor

    Right or wrong, I applaud Gerry for opening up the dialogue. It’s where we need to be to find solutions to ending these violent cycles. In the grand scheme of things, we are all related and relative. The common bond of humanity should be our primary directive to working together to end global strife. What is a fundamentalist on any particular side of politics and religion is a leftist to the opposite, and vice versa. But there is a continuance, or thread if you will; no matter how you trace our beginnings philosophically, religiously, evolutionary or other, we did not have separate beginnings as a species. The only way to resolve differences is to share and respect opinions and use each other’s thoughts to construct workable peace. Without conversation and empathy, we are truly the lesser beings of this planet, rather than the guardians and stewards. As long as Gerry wishes to write opinions for the pages I publish, I will support and defend his First Amendment right to do so. It takes great courage on the part of all of our writers to put their thoughts and expressions out there with their names on them. It takes none to hide in the shadows and resort to name-calling. Duke Rescola-Daily Forty-Niner opinions editor.
    -Peace

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    re: supporter of israel: please, let’s not resort to reducing the plethora of muslim perspectives to a single hadith and two individuals (one is just a community leader with rather provocative speech and the other, like many muftis in the middle east, was a politician – spinelessness implied). also, that hadith ought to be presented in conjunction with other hadiths such as ones that explain that the people of the book are considered to be the brothers and sisters (and cousins in other narrations) of muslims, that their defense and safety as neighbors is mandatory on muslims, etc. furthermore, let us keep in mind the indignity of speaking for others and sweeping the multiplicity of perspectives in general under the totalizing carpet of celebrity voices – after all, text does fall back on hermeneutics and interpretation, no? it seems the wrong you’re attempting to indict Chris for you yourself have perpetrated.

    re:Gerry: it’s really unfortunate that you chose to misquote out of the Jewish Journal. where Billoo states that “it is something Islam justifies”, there is no mention of the word ‘terrorism’ in the preceding sentences – he seems to be referring to suicide bombing. the only sense i’ve been able to make of your misquotation is that you, thousands of miles away from a context in which hopelessness and despair perhaps combine with anger to produce an all-too-exoticized suicidal strand of resistance in no way unique to that region, have condemned it to a position proximate to murder. i’m curious how you expect a population held in confinement with a year round blockade on food, medicine and energy to react? should they contact their elected officials? Oh, but you don’t approve of them either.

    the categories will always be there – “terrorist sympathizers”, “fanatics”, let’s not forget the lot of labels McCarthyism provided us with for half a century. however, i really think we should move past them – let go of our fixation on every Emmanuel Goldstein tossed in our direction.

    here it is for fellow readers: http://www.jewishjournal.com/community_briefs/article/pew_poll_finds_some_us_muslims_support_suicide_bombing_20070601/

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    Gerry – I think as an academic you are an embarrassment to Cal State Long Beach. Stick to posting about something you know about, say computer science. I am grateful for freedom of speech in America but the 49er shouldn’t give you the platform to promoter hate-mongering and misconceptions.

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    Sorry about the 2 spelling erros, I meant to write Actually Gerry, and There are over 100 different forms of Jihad in the Muslim religion, that vary (not very), and One such example was Chechnya and later into the end of the war with Russia civil unrest broke out (in Algeria)

    Just trying to avoid misunderstandings

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    ctually Gerry, I only knocked the 49er once. If you recall, I called it a floppy four pager. The rest of it was aimed at you. You are what I am critiquing because your article is blatantly biased and contains zero objectivity. As far as the material is concerned, lets respond to your buddy. First of all, the Hadith, which in Arabic translates to discussion, is a record of things that the prophet may or may not have said during his life time. These were recorded nearly 200 years after his death, and some scholars argue that there are a number of Hadith that may not be entirely correct due to translation and loss of contextual evidence. I stated that the Koran does not justify murder, and there are many Muslims out there that would give you a good fight on this. Unfortunately World War II brought out the worst in a lot of countries, and religions. Lets not forget that Pope Pius XII watched the Holocaust take place right under his nose, including the collusion of Italy and Germany. Anti-Semitism was rampant in the United States during the war, and the only reason they joined the war was Pearl Harbor and economic opportunity. Mohammed Amin al-Husseini was as anti-Semitic as they come and said horrid things, but do you think that all Muslims agreed with him? Hitler was going to exploit the Muslim world for their oil, and then once he completed his goal, they were going to suffer the same fate as the Jews. The deranged Mufti didnt see past his own semitic roots and believed that Hitler saw him as an ally.Now we can sit here all day and interpret motivations for anti-semitism, but whats at the root of this discussion? Lets go back to Gerry for a minute, saying things like “And that is exactly the problem, Ahmed — your religion justifies killing people and committing terrorist acts and you are OK with that,” “the Muslim Student Association’s antics,” “they are up to their same old tricks,” are childish. Just the line that “your religion justifies killing people and committing terrorist acts,” is absurd.Let me give you a little history on terrorism in the Islamic world. During the 1950s and 60s, there were multiple accounts of war related acts of terror in Israel on both sides of the line. Many of which happened during the second wave of assaults enacted by the Haganah and IZL in Palestinian villages. None the less, using terror as a tactic of war did not become popular in radical Muslim sects until the Algerian civil war in the late 1970 and 80s. Many of the Mujahed soldiers that had trained in the camps in Afghanistan were recruited into the terrorist group known as the GIA. The GIA was the first Muslim terrorist cell that condoned killing innocent civilians in the name of Jihad. This sent shock waves throughout the Muslim world and split many Jihadi factions into toe to toe adversaries. The question at hand was how were the Hadith and Sharia law to be interpreted, especially regarding Jihad. There are over 100 different forms of Jihad in the Muslim religion, that very from personal struggles, to defending your land from being taken over from an outside body of power. Thus the Mujahed camps in Afghanistan, where many Muslims were coming from all over the world to train, and then go back to there countries that were in the midst of war. One such example was Chechnya and later into the end of the war with Russia civil unrest broke out. During this time, many of the Mujahed soldiers left the war zones and went to Europe, mainly London and France. It was this particular group of extremely radical Muslims who started manipulating interpretations of the Koran and Hadith to justify murdering innocent civilians. The main justification in one case was the bombing of the US embassy in Sudan, where an early form of AQ stated that since it was Friday, that all good Muslims should have been in praying and not on the streets. Therefore, no one who died was actually innocent because they were denying their faith. Again, Muslims abroad fiercely opposed these actions for being against the tenets of Islam. The GIA and AQ are two of the most well know terrorist groups that gained strength during this time, and ultimately have become the mouthpiece for radical Islam. I adamantly oppose terrorism on all levels, especially when the targets are innocent civilians. Unfortunately, too many innocent people died in Ghaza last month, and this in my opinion was an act of terrorism to answer an attack on terrorism. I will not however says that all Israelis are terrorists because they join the IDF at the age of 18, and get stuck in war, just as I would never say that all Muslims condone terrorism. Saying Islam justifies terrorism is just as bad as saying Zionism justifies terrorism. We, as members of Academia should be more diplomatic, especially in published print. And finally, if your going to use sources about the tenets of a religion, get them from the source. Here are direct translations from the Koran…

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    Devin Barsness

    The person who is named “Supporter of Israel” wrote this regarding what Chris Puder stated:
    “How can a non-Muslim such as you be so incredibly arrogant as to tell the Muslim Student Association of CSULB, an imam and a Grand Mufti that they are wrong about their religion but you are right about it?”

    Really? I actually surf with Chris and “arrogant” is the last word I would use to describe him. He has traveled all over ther world and is probobly one of the most open-minded and easy-going people I have ever met. You on the other hand, take swipes at people and hide your true identity behind “Supporter of Israel”. At least Chris is “man enough” to leave his real name.

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    I honeslty don’t think I’ve ever read a crappier article in my life. It’s completely subjective, and the quotes are obviously taken out of context. Like how can someone actually buy what your article has to deliver? Come on, if your going to spread false propoganda, at least make it sound legitamate.

    That word–terrorist–is nothing but pure propoganda used to link fear of and hatred towards Middle-Easterns and Muslims, and the only thing you have to back up your argument are possibly the two most feared terms in America–Hamas and Suicide Bombing–which is also due to propoganda. Just throw those three words in, maybe a couple Arab names, spice it up with a little “terrorism” here and there, make it clear that your talking about the Palestinians, and congratulations… you’ve got yourself a great article!

    Please, don’t refer to the Muslims as being “up to their same old tricks”. We all know that it’s YOU people that play the dirtiest. You try to bash on Muslims/Middle Easterns publicly in order to gain support from people who can’t open a book and read for themselves. If you can’t justify the actions of the Palestinians–in their self-defense and attempt to regain their true home, of course–then how dare you even attempt to justify all that has been done by the Israelis, and possibly even glorify them?

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    Gerry Wachovsky, Arabs are Semites just as much as Jews as Semites, so you can stop trying to accuse the MSA or Arabs as being anti-Semitic. Secondly the article you wrote in the daily 49er today is not only insulting to Muslims on campus, but also the 1.3 billion Muslims around the world! How dare you state that “there are parts to their religion that justify doing horrific things to others”? It is very clear that you are ignorant about the religion and teachings of Islam. Maybe you should take a Religious Studies course on Islam and educate yourself while you are on campus. Thirdly where do you get the impression that the MSA are “terrorist sympathizers”? The last time I checked innocent civilian women and children where not labeled as terrorist. The MSA is human rights and justice sympathizers. If anything you sound very anti-humanitarian! Whoever allows such atrocities to take place and does not condemn these types of actions is no better than the ones committing them! As a graduate student you should be ashamed by the amount of ignorance that you have presented in your article. I do not understand how the daily 49er allows someone with this amount of prejudice and ignorance publish anything in their paper.

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    ” signs comparing Israelis to Nazis…”

    i hope you actually saw those pictures/signs because the truth is, they do in fact resemble the actions of the Nazis…..

    killing innocent children…bombing schools…bombing mosques…cutting off electricity, water and food supplies….now THAT just screams terrorist

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    Gerry Wachovsky

    Chris Puder clearly doesn’t have much material. It’s blatantly obvious by the fact that half your post is designed at putting down the Daily 49er and claiming that I’m trying to be some kind of “shock jock” who’s last name Puder can’t even spell correctly. I’m just a guy with an opinion. I’m not trying to be Tom Leykis and you can call me names all you want. The truth is in actions, though, and clearly the Muslim Student Association’s actions prove what I said about them in the article.

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    supporter of Israel

    Chris Pruder,

    For a graduate student in Middle Eastern history, you sure do seem very ignorant about Islam and terrorism. The statements of Amir Abdel Malik that Gerry Wachovsky mentioned in his article are only the tip of the iceberg. The first time I saw Malik speak on campus he not only praised the suicide bombers killing Jews in Israel but also praised the suicide bombers killing his fellow Muslims in Iraq. I’m sure that at some point in your studies of Middle Easter history you came across Mohammed Amin al-Husseini. He was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the time of World War II. He spent most of the war in Germany, becoming good friends with Adolf Hitler and personally participating in the Holocaust. On Radio Berlin, he made the following statement:

    “Arabs, rise as one man and fight for your sacred rights. Kill the Jews wherever you find them. This pleases God, history, and religion. This saves your honor. God is with you.”

    In addition, the Sunni hadith Sahih al-Bukhari states that the prophet Mohammed said the following:

    “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. ‘O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him'”

    How can a non-Muslim such as you be so incredibly arrogant as to tell the Muslim Student Association of CSULB, an imam and a Grand Mufti that they are wrong about their religion but you are right about it?

    You told Gerry Wachovsky in your comment that “speaking with ignorance and contempt is only perpetuating this horrid cycle”. Since you evoked so much ignorance about Islam and terrorism in your comment, I am forced to ask, why do you want to perpetuate this horrid cycle? There’s something very wrong with this world when a graduate student in computer science understands Islam better than a graduate student in Middle Eastern history does.

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    oops, sorry for the double post…it gave me an error message the first time. Apparently it worked.

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    Your over-generalized perception of Islam and terrorism is appalling. I suggest you read the Koran, or at least make a friend with someone who has, before you go around throwing the same tired rhetoric about Islam justifying murder. Unfortunately your banter is just as “tired” as the argument, “that Hamas “are freedom fighters, not terrorists” and constantly claims that the “Western Zionist controlled media” are covering up the truth about, well, everything.” You sound as fanatical as those who justify murder through interpretive manipulations of Islam and the Koran. As a Middle Eastern history graduate student who has just returned from 4 months in the Middle East, including Israel, I can confidently say that your future as a journalist, on any realistic level, will be relegated to the floppy four pager known as the Daily 49er. I truly hope that you, and the rest of the one-sided/sighted people of the world, wake up and realize that speaking with ignorance and contempt is only perpetuating this horrid cycle. As an aspiring journalist, you should drop the Tom Leykus shock jock b.s. and practice some social responsibility while implementing freedom of speech. I strongly encourage you to read some academic literature regarding this subject, or stick to writing about something less controversial, such as…COMPUTER SCIENCE. Good luck climbing out of this deep hole you are digging for yourself.

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    And while Im at it, I should say that the second paragraph or your article reveals a lot about your racist beliefs. As opposed to using the term “antics,” try a more professional term such as methods. And “tricks,” well that is just demeaning. As if the MSA is being sneaky and “tricking” anybody into allowing them to have the same on-campus privileges as anyone else. Would you use these terms regarding a Jewish Student Association on campus while exercising their rights to freedom of expression about critical issues?

    Just a thought

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    Your over-generalized perception of Islam and terrorism is appalling. I suggest you read the Koran, or at least make a friend with someone who has, before you go around throwing the same tired rhetoric about Islam justifying murder. Unfortunately your banter is just as “tired” as the argument, “that Hamas “are freedom fighters, not terrorists” and constantly claims that the “Western Zionist controlled media” are covering up the truth about, well, everything.” You sound as fanatical as those who justify murder through interpretive manipulations of Islam and the Koran. As a Middle Eastern history graduate student who has just returned from 4 months in the Middle East, including Israel, I can confidently say that your future as a journalist, on any realistic level, will be relegated to the floppy four pager known as the Daily 49er. I truly hope that you, and the rest of the one-sided/sighted people of the world, wake up and realize that speaking with ignorance and contempt is only perpetuating this horrid cycle. As an aspiring journalist, you should drop the Tom Leykus shock jock b.s. and practice some social responsibility while implementing freedom of speech. I strongly encourage you to read some academic literature regarding this subject, or stick to writing about something less controversial, such as…COMPUTER SCIENCE. Good luck climbing out of this deep hole you are digging for yourself.

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    YOUR “constructive criticism” is nothing but your own one-sided view. Stick to computer science.

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    Gerry Wachovsky

    It is common knowledge in the lexicon of our society that anti-Semitic means “anti-Jewish”. It doesn’t follow the literal meaning of the term “Semitic”, as I am well aware of what that means. Nice try there though, Seth. 🙂

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    Gerry needs to learn what “Semitic” means for starters. Arabs are considered Semitic… so that makes them self-hating?

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