# Is Emory University weakening the word "anti-semitism"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 16, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354 "2004-04-16T13:24:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/1 "2004-04-16T13:24:35Z")
over 1000 staff and Students of Emory University signed a petition labelling Mary Robinson, former United Nations Comissioner for Human Rights, the first woman president of Ireland, as an anti-Semite. Are these blatantly untrue and unfair allegations damaging the fight against ignorance? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/2 "2004-04-16T13:26:49Z")
Do you have a link to a news story or the text of the petition? It’s pretty hard to judge without knowing what we’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/3 "2004-04-16T13:33:21Z")
[Link](http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2004/0415/4159743548HM1MARY.html). > [@](#): > > Over 1,000 students and some academic staff at Emory University in Atlanta have signed an on-line petition accusing the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of being anti-Semitic and fostering hostility towards Israel. > … > Prof Kenneth Stein, the director of the Middle East institute at Emory, also questioned what he said was Mrs Robinson’s belief that “the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict is the occupation”. Only a fool believes that fostering hostility towards Israeli policy is anti-Semitism. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/4 "2004-04-16T13:54:44Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Do you have a link to a news story or the text of the petition? It’s pretty hard to judge without knowing what we’re talking about. I knew I forgot something. apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/5 "2004-04-16T14:11:00Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > [Link](http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2004/0415/4159743548HM1MARY.html). > > Only a fool believes that fostering hostility towards Israeli policy is anti-Semitism. Well that certainly depends on what the root cause is for wishing to “foster hostility towards Israeli policy”. If it is genuine concern with the lot of the Palestinians; sure nothing wrong with that, though “fostering hostility” doesn’t seem to be a very constructive way to go about achieving anything. On the other hand if Mary is fostering hostility because she, to put it bluntly, thinks Jews are little money grubbing guys with big noses that killed Jesus – I think that would count as anti-Semitism. I do believe an obsession with the faults of Jews points to aspects of anti-Semitism, but not knowing the details of Mary Donaldson, perhaps someone could provide the straight dope on whether she gives as much attention to other comparable (as per people directly involved) conflict around the globe as she apparently does to Israel and whether she anywhere near gives fair blame to all parties in the conflict or she unfairly singles out Israel – e.g. what is her record on criticising the Palestinians? ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/6 "2004-04-16T14:11:25Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > Only a fool believes that fostering hostility towards Israeli policy is anti-Semitism. Can I ask you a question here? Why do you snip to an issue about Israel which is clearly ancillary, when the article and quote by Mrs. Robinson herself clearly identify the main issue as Durban? Anyway, your statement is not necessarily applicable either. Obviously to equate any and all criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism is foolish. But it is also true that such criticism could be motivated by anti-Semitism. It is a judgment call as to whether it is true in an individual case. In the case of the guy you quoted, his position is likely that the position advocated by Robinson (as he represented it) is so distorted that it is likely motivated by anti-Semitism, especially when viewed in conjunction with her performance at Durban. Turning to the OP, while I would not agree with the formulation of the final sentence, I do think it would be better to reserve public accusations of anti-Semitism for more clear-cut instances, whereas the Robinson case seems more ambiguous. So I think it is a mistake. (Same goes for the campaign against the Passion movie - more so, in fact). ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/7 "2004-04-16T14:15:36Z")
Rune- she has criticised suicide bombings on many occasions. Izzy- Care to give your reasons as to what was wrong with her performance at Durban? ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/8 "2004-04-16T14:16:07Z")
Mary Donaldson is of course the little known alter ego of Mary Robinson :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/9 "2004-04-16T14:24:03Z")
Well, the Durban Conference was pretty anti-Semitic. And Ms. Robinson’s appointment of Mona Rishmawi as special advisor also raises some eyebrows. So does the fact that the Commission for Human Rights often does tend to make Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza its prime focus. The Commission isn’t Israel’s friend, and with her being the head of the Commission, some might conclude she isn’t Israel’s friend either. Now, criticism of Israel isn’t neccesarily anti-Semitism, but there is a relationship between the two, and the fact that Israel is the UN’s perpetual punching bag does tend to make you wonder. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/10 "2004-04-16T14:24:33Z")
From Mary Robinsons report to the UN about the Durban conference: “We understand that the NGO Declaration and Plan of Action was adopted by caucuses which met in a plenary session on 1 September, but not without substantial controversy over both the process and the content. As well, this office has received many reports of the distribution of antisemitic literature and the intimidation of participants — behaviours unacceptable anywhere but especially unconscionable in the context of a World Conference Against Racism.” So, she is being blamed for actions at a meeting in which she wasn’t involved and which she completely condemns? tough break. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/11 "2004-04-16T14:30:26Z")
As for Mona Rishmawi, I’m having trouble finding anything about her that would raise eyebrows other than allegations on the Zionists Organisation of America’s website. care to enlighten me? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/12 "2004-04-16T14:31:52Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > [Link](http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2004/0415/4159743548HM1MARY.html). > > Only a fool believes that fostering hostility towards Israeli policy is anti-Semitism. Isn’t the question _why_ the person at issue is fostering hostility towards Israeli policy? I fully agree that anyone who _automatically_ makes the assumption that the one is motivated by the other is indeed a fool. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/13 "2004-04-16T14:36:02Z")
Malthus, you seem to have jumped to the conclusion Mary Robinson DOES foster hostility to Israel. any proof? ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/14 "2004-04-16T14:39:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Why do you snip to an issue about Israel which is clearly ancillary, when the article and quote by Mrs. Robinson herself clearly identify the main issue as Durban? Huh? I repeated what the article said about the Emory spokesperson. > [@](#): > > his position is likely that the position advocated by Robinson (as he represented it) is so distorted that it is likely motivated by anti-Semitism That’s rather too many 'likely’s for my taste. Please provide a quote which expresses clear anti-Jewish (since not all Semites are Jews) sentiment. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/15 "2004-04-16T14:41:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Isn’t the question _why_ the person at issue is fostering hostility towards Israeli policy? _I_ foster hostility towards Israeli policy (and unreservedly condemn suicide bombings etc. etc. etc.). Am I anti-Jewish? ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/16 "2004-04-16T14:55:04Z")
> [@TwistofFate](#): > > Izzy- Care to give your reasons as to what was wrong with her performance at Durban? As I said earlier, I think her case is ambiguous, and I don’t think this campaign is a good idea. So I am not going to back up the assertion that she is an anti-Semite - only that there might be reason to think so. I’ve not followed the inner workings of the Conference (or her positions on Israel) well enough to know for sure. FWIW, here’s the perspective of Jewish activists on the subject, as expressed in contemporaneous _Jewish Week_ articles. From [8/17/2001:](http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=4925&offset=0&B1=1&author=James%20D.%20Besser&issuedates=&month=04&day=16&year=2004&issuedate=00000000&keyword=Mary%20Robinson) > [@](#): > > “This is a very serious campaign to portray Zionism as the ultimate form of racism,” Samuels said. “This has already infected the international human rights organizations, and it is very much a part of this conference.” > > Planning documents now mention the Holocaust, he said — but they equate it to “the holocaust being imposed on the Palestinian people.” > [@](#): > > Jewish activists say that despite her recent efforts to limit the Middle East debate at Durban, Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has not played a constructive role. > > In a statement to delegates last week, Robinson appealed for compromise, but then called for “understanding of the historical wounds of anti-Semitism and of the Holocaust, on the one hand, and of the accumulated wounds of displacement and military occupation on the other.” > > That overt linkage “is the essence of what this problem is all about,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. This week Foxman met with Powell and urged him not to attend the conference — a change in position for the Jewish group. “Rather than trying to solve the problem, she is part of the problem,” Foxman said of Robinson. And from [8/31/01:](http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=4985&offset=0&B1=1&author=James%20D.%20Besser&issuedates=&month=04&day=16&year=2004&issuedate=00000000&keyword=Mary%20Robinson) > [@](#): > > Anti-American animus was also part of the problem, he said — as was UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, the overall head of the Durban conference, who equated the Holocaust to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in a recent statement apparently aimed at reassuring Israel and Jewish groups. **SentientMeat** , you did not answer my question. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/17 "2004-04-16T15:03:45Z")
> [@](#): > > SentientMeat, you did not answer my question. _Huh?_ I gave a link to the entire article, and snipped what I though were the most pertinent points to provide an easily accessible summary: > [@](#): > > Over 1,000 students and some academic staff at Emory University in Atlanta have signed an on-line petition accusing the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of being anti-Semitic and fostering hostility towards Israel. > > The petitioners called on the university to remove her as commencement speaker at a graduation ceremony on May 10th. > > Mrs Robinson flew to Atlanta last week to explain her views to a group of two dozen staff and students at the university. > > Mrs Robinson has been criticised for her role in the 2001 World Conference on Racism held in South Africa. The New York-based Irish Voice newspaper reported that pro-Israel groups protested recently when Columbia University appointed her to a part-time position. Better? ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/18 "2004-04-16T15:04:41Z")
I don’t think she was equating them, rather try to encourage understandingh that there had been suffering on both sides. If you were sufficiently motivated to find fault with the words, you could see it trying to eqate them though. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/19 "2004-04-16T15:16:38Z")
> [@TwistofFate](#): > > As for Mona Rishmawi, I’m having trouble finding anything about her that would raise eyebrows other than allegations on the Zionists Organisation of America’s website. care to enlighten me? Her previous position as the head of al-Haq, along with her beliefs that the Israelis are attempting genocide in the Occupied Territories, cast some doubt on her objectivity in the Israeli-Palestinian situation. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354/20 "2004-04-16T15:27:05Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > Now, criticism of Israel isn’t neccesarily anti-Semitism, but there is a relationship between the two, and the fact that Israel is the UN’s perpetual punching bag does tend to make you wonder. Are you sure you want to go down that road? If so, how is this any different: Now, criticism of Affirmative Action isn’t necessarily racism, but there is a relationship between the two, and the fact that Affirmative Action is the Republican parties perpetual punching bag does tend to make you wonder. LOTS of people, like myself, find Israel’s methods of dealing with the Palestinian’s horrid. That alone doesn’t make us anti-semitic, nor should it “make one wonder.” I also don’t have to balance that with criticism of suicide bombers to prove that I’m not anti-semitic, which seems to be the yardstick some are using to measure by. If the lefties (my side) do something that pisses me off, I’m not required to spend half of my rant about it talking about the bad things the righties do, just to prove I’m not anti-lefty. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-emory-university-weakening-the-word-anti-semitism/240354.md?page=2)