Professor Halper's Useless Exercise In Ego Gratification

Prof. Jeff Halper, a former anthropology lecturer and the head of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, was the only Israeli aboard the human rights boat which made its ways to the Gaza Strip shores on Saturday. In a phone interview with Ynet, Halper spoke about the reasons which motivated him and other left-wing activists to try and break the siege on the Strip: "There are people here yearning to live in peace with us, yearning for freedom."

Right. That's why they elected a theocratic thugocracy with a genocidal agenda and they fire weapons at us on a nearly daily basis. If that's how they express their "yearning to live in peace with us" I'd hate to see what they do when they decide they want to go to war.

It's hard for me to understand why a people "yearning to live in peace with us" can send their kids to "summer camps" where they are trained to use weapons and indoctrinated to kill Jews.

It's hard for me to understand why a people "yearning to live in peace with us" can attend worship on Friday and listen to their religious leaders spouting venom and hatred against Jews.

It's hard for me to understand why a people "yearning to live in peace with us" can't openly demonstrate in the public square for the return of Gilad Shalit as a 'confidence building measure' towards Israel.

It's hard for me to understand why these people "yearning to live in peace with us" rejoice with candy, gunfire and cries of jubilation every time an Israeli is killed by their rockets.

These people, "yearning to live in peace with us," are arming to the teeth with money provided by Useful Idiots of the EU/NGO persuasion, along with infusions of cash from Iranian and Saudi sources who are competing with each other to see which of them can buy Hamas fastest.

The United States itself has provided millions to the PA this year alone:

"The United States remains the largest single state donor to the Palestinian Authority. We have provided $562 million in total assistance in 2008, surpassing our pledged level of $555 million. This includes $264 million in project assistance through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL); $150 million in direct budget support - the largest single tranche for funds provided to the Palestinian Authority by a single donor country; and $148 million in contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/07/107534.htm

The Palestinian Authority is providing the bulk of its budget to Gaza, it claims:

In an interview with the Dubai-based al-Arabiya satellite channel, Fayyad said the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and the West Bank were "politically and geographically united territories despite Hamas' coup against the legitimacy." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose security forces lost control of Gaza in fighting with Hamas last June, deposed the Hamas-led government and appointed Fayyad as the prime minister of a caretaker government which rules the West Bank. Fayyad explained that his government has spent 58 percent of its budget on Gaza Strip "to ease the life of the people and enhance their living conditions." http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/03/content_7560965.htm (Thanks, Dave!)

Halper went on to explain Israel's motives: "All these restrictions, they're not just for security reasons, they're symptomatic to something much, much deeper."

Reeaallly, Professor? Do tell! Could it be a vile Zionist plot to take over Gaza? Hardly--we just gave it back two years ago with the assurances of the world at large, including our own obtuse government, that giving back Gaza would reap a 'peace dividend' by showing the Palestinians we were serious about peace.

Maybe these restrictions are about war, Professor (how can someone so stupid end up with a doctorate and a teaching post?). Maybe when a hostile entity wages unceasing war against your civilian population, the government has a duty to do Something -- and rather than carpet bomb the Gaza Strip, which would kill all the wrong people, Israel has done to Hamastan what the rest of the world did to Saddam Hussein and is now trying to do to Iran. Economic sanctions against a government openly trying to kill your people and destroy your state is a perfectly legitimate tool of statecraft.

Economic sanctions give a rogue government two choices: comply with international standards, stand down from war footing and threats OR face economic ruin.

Hamas has always had a choice: recognize Israel, end terror, and adhere to previous peace agreements made with Israel OR continue their war footing and war preparations, continue indoctrinating their children in hate and Islamic imperialism. If Hamas were to choose the former, the economic situation in Gaza would change; however, Hamas has opted to starve its own captive subjects while failing to provide jobs, infrastructure, food and trade because the international funding it receives (as "humanitarian aid") is directed entirely to its war machine.

So what did all this showboating by Halper accomplish?

A giant ego trip, that's what. It was a blip in the print media locally; it got no coverage on the international broadcast news (unless it was Al Jazeera--I think that's the only station I didn't see).

What did the Palestinians in Gaza say about it? They asked, quite rightly, "Where's the beef?":

Palestinians: Leftist boats didn't bring enough food / Ali Waked

Gaza disappointment: Palestinian source tells Ynet local residents disappointed by small quantities of food brought in aboard leftist 'peace boats'; some people left beach in disillusioned after realizing boats were mostly carrying activists.

I feel sorry for the Palestinians waiting hopefully on the beaches. They really believed that these 'activists' were coming to help them, when in fact, it was a bunch of self-absorbed poltical groupies showboating for the press about how good and noble they are for coming to Gaza.

Poor Palestinians -- they failed to grasp that for people like this, it's All About Them and has nothing to do with really helping anyone in any practical manner.

All that money for rockets, ammo, guns (prostitutes, drugs, and cigarettes, too)and concrete to reinforce bunkers---but not a dime for food for your people, for investment in agriculture, for teaching peace, for building medical clinics, for updating the sewage treatment plant, for building a tourist industry on the coast's nicest beaches, for building your own power plant and desalinization facility.

No, their terrible yearning for peace and freedom has been trumped by their addiction to weapons of war and the rhetoric of hate.

Halper claims to be motivated by humanitarian concerns? When was the last time he was in Sderot, bringing the world's attention to the victims of Hamastan's Blitz by leading a convoy of "human rights workers" to break the seige of Sderot?

How about it, Professor? What was your Ph.D for, anyway? Hypocrisy, I gather.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

I had originally described Jeff Halper as a former anthropology professor at a prestigious university in Israel, based on accounts in the press and in the blogosphere recounting his credentials. I have since been corrected and I am delighted to remove the erroneous information in light of this email clarifying Jeff Halper's status vis-a-vis the prestigious Israeli university:

September 14, 2008

To whom it may concern:

Please note that Dr. Jeff Halper was never a “professor” at {deleted} University. Many years ago, he was an outside lecturer (“adjunct lecturer”) for a total of two semesters, and as such, he cannot claim that he was a “faculty member” of our institution, much less a tenured professor.

Therefore, we strongly object to the repeated assertions that are travelling around the internet (e.g., http://www.blogger.com/profile/12570980519532246704) that he is a “former faculty member” or “professor of anthropology” of {deleted} University, or any like claim.

We request that you remove all references associating Dr. Jeff Halper with {deleted} University from your internet site(s) and that you refrain from doing so in the future.

Thanking you in advance for your kind cooperation.

Sincerely,
{deleted in order to protect the university in question, as requested}
Office of the Rector
{deleted} University
{deleted}, Israel