BALLS
My name is Ben Shapiro. I'm an alumnus of this
university I'm also a local talk show host on 870 [AM] in the morning,
and I got out of bed and left my one-month-old baby there when I saw
what was going on here tonight. I've never been more ashamed to be a
Bruin. I've never been more ashamed to be an alumnus of this university
than to see this divestment petition being considered at this level.
To pretend this is about occupation, to pretend this is about peace, to
pretend that this anything other than vile, spiteful Jew hatred is a
lie!
There is only one reason we are discussing Israel and not discussing
Saudi Arabia. There is only one reason we are discussing Israel and not
discussing Iran. There is only one reason we are discussing Israel and
not discussing Palestine. There is only one reason we are discussing
Israel and not discussing the vast bevy of human rights violations that
happen every day in the Middle East, exponentially worse that what
happens in Israel.
Any gay or lesbian that is targeting Israel in this room seems to have
forgotten how high they hang gays from cranes in Iran. Every person of
liberal bent who suggests that Israel is the problem in the Middle East
seems to have forgotten that there is only one country in the Middle
East that actually has any sort of religious diversity in it. The
countries that are apartheid countries are those that are
Judenrein[free of Jews] – like, for example, Palestine.
So, for us to sit here and pretend that Israel is somehow on a lower
moral plane is a direct manifestation of anti-Semitism. And to hold
Jews to a different moral standard than any other country or group on
the face of the earth represents nothing but an age-old and historic
hatred for the Jewish people. All the folks here who are pretending
that the B.D.S is about anything other than that – I would like to see
a poll of those folks, and see how many of them actually believe in the
existence of a Jewish state, qua-Jewish state, not as a state like any
other, but as a Jewish state. They don't. They don't acknowledge that
existence. They don't believe in that existence. They don't believe in
peace. All this is about, pure and simple, is a desire to target the
Jewish people.
Shapiro’s remarks earned a standing ovation from pro-Israel students
and forced the student council leaders to tell anti-Israel protesters
to allow dissenters to speak freely. After hours of debate, the student
government finally voted on the resolution at 6:30 a.m. By a vote of
7-5, the resolution was rejected. All student government members voted
anonymously and told the UCLADaily Bruin that they did so out of
concern for their safety. The BDS movement’s defeat led at least some
anti-Israel students to the verge of apoplexy.
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