Israel slams German university for claim it harvests Palestinian organs

[shira]

BERLIN - A German university faced scathing criticism from Israel’s foreign ministry for teaching students that the Jewish state is an apartheid government that harvests Palestinian organs and commits genocidal atrocities.

"This is an ugly and outrageous demonstration of Jew hatred. This is not a university - it is a hatred factory. One would think that in Germany of all places people would understand the pernicious nature of hatred and racism under a pseudo academic guise", Emmanuel Nahshon, the foreign ministry’s spokesman, wrote The Jerusalem Post by email on Thursday. The academic Dr. Rebecca Seidler, who blew the whistle on the anti-Israel seminar, told the Post she was slated to teach a course on Jewish life in Germany, but was presented with course material for a seminar titled “On the Social Situation of Young People in Palestine.” After Seidler reviewed the seminar articles and material, she told the Post in a telephone interview on Thursday, she could not teach a seminar with “such anti-Semitic and anti-Israel” content.

The Post examined scores of articles for the course curriculum for the period 2015-2016. One seminar article from 2009 titled “Our sons are plundered of their organs" by the Swedish journalist Donald Boström, claims Israel harvests Palestinian organs. The article was translated into German for the seminar. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared the organ-harvesting report at the time to "medieval libels that Jews killed Christian children for their blood." In an interview with Israel Radio, Boström later casted doubt on his sourcing, adding that he could not verify the stories of his Palestinian informants.

Articles for the seminar ranged from “Apartheid in the Holy Land” to “70 victims of torture in Israeli prisons since 1967” to “Third Class Citizens: The targeted discrimination of Arab Israelis.” The source for the article on “Third Class Citizens” is the far left weekly Junge Welt--a socialist paper accused of stoking modern anti-Semitism in Germany. Additional articles covered “The Israeli Apartheid Wall” and Israeli violations of the rights of Palestinian children. The curriculum features poetry from the late hardcore anti-Zionist writer Erich Fried, whose literature makes parallels between Israel and the Hitler movement. Several articles accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. One document from the German-Palestinian Society on Jewish groups who massacred Palestinians invites the HAWK students to become members of the pro-Palestinian NGO....

more...
http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Israel-slams-German-university-for-claim-it-harvests-Palestinian-organs-462712

[Little Tich]

1. Statement by Prof. Dr. Christiane Dienel, President of the HAWK University of Applied Sciences and

Arts Hildesheim – Holzminden – Göttingen, on recent accusations by the Jüdische Allgemeine Zeitung, the Jerusalem Post, and users of social media against an academic seminar

Source: HAWK

(snip, German and English - English version is at bottom of page.)

The Central Council of Jews in Germany has contacted both the Governor of the German state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) and the Lower Saxon Minister of Science by means of two formal letters criticizing the HAWK’s seminar “On the Social Situation of Young People in Palestine”. The criticism of the seminar centers on the use of reading materials which heavily criticize Israel. In response, I asked the university’s internal ethics committee to examine the course with regard to whether this seminar - which has been offered by the HAWK for the last decade - violates fundamental principles of academic instruction. The committee unanimously concluded that this is not the case. The sources under attack only serve as reading materials and are used to train students in critical discourse. They certainly do not represent the political views of the course instructor or the HAWK.

The Jüdische Allgemeine (which is the weekly newspaper published by the Central Council of Jews in Germany) as well the Jerusalem Post subsequently reported on the matter. Their articles claim that the university has been promoting anti-Semitism for years. As proof, the authors mention the reading materials in question, neglecting our stipulation that students are only allowed to take the course if they also concurrently enroll in another seminar that gives an overview of Israel’s views on the subject. This practice is meant to enable students to reflect on the conflict from both sides.

Concerning this matter, I hereby take the following position:

Plurality of opinion is an essential aspect of any academic institution. For this reason both the seminar on Jewish life in Germany and the course on the social situation of young people in Palestine – as well as all course offered at the HAWK - are designed to educate students so that they can analyze the subject matter critically. Contrary to the allegations made by these recent reports, the examination of critical reading material does not imply that a lecturer maintains the views presented as his or her own or promotes them.

I therefore defend myself against claims that our university has been promoting anti-Semitism for years. Anti-Semitism has no place at the HAWK. Indeed, members of the HAWK, especially professors and instructors from the Faculty of Social Work and Health, maintain diverse and cordial exchange relationships with Israeli universities and colleagues.

Read more: http://www.hawk-hhg.de/aktuell/default_214161.php

[shira]

2. Promoting lies that incite hate against a certain group of people is bigotry.

HAWK can try to sell their false & malicious propaganda as Palestinian points of view, but it's hate incitement nonetheless. You don't accuse groups of people of crimes they didn't commit and then get to claim there's nothing wrong with it.

There's no defense for that.

[Little Tich]

3. It's a bit sad that Jerusalem Post lends itself to creating false news.

Presenting opposing viewpoints is in no way an endorsement, it's just a way to teach critical thinking skills, which is what universities do.

It's also significant that the university's ethics committee reviewed the material and found nothing wrong with it. Reality has trumped hasbara once more...

[shira]

4. Support for false "opposing viewpoints" which incite hatred & violence is disgraceful.

“The ethics committee has no reservations to continue the seminar ‘On the Social Situation of Young People in Palestine’. [u ]There is no evidence that the academic course promotes anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic sentiments. The committee appreciates that the Faculty conveys an accurate image of the situation in Israel…,” wrote the HAWK’s press department.

HAWK is a complete joke as you're well aware of the malicious lies.

Or do you now wish to change your argument & claim there are no lies whatsoever?

[Little Tich]

5. Maybe, I shouldn't ask, but what's the source of that statement, and what are you trying to prove?

[shira]

6. It's from the OP. JPost.

Contrary to the HAWK claim, the content is both anti-Semitic and inaccurate.