I have received a few letters of concern about the comparison made of Jewish people to "viruses" that Israeli journalist Israel Shamir made in his speech at Tufts last Friday. He was invited by the Arab Students Association to speak about his personal reflections on the present Intifada, since he has written extensively about them both. Shamir is a leading Russian-Israeli intellectual, writer, translator, and journalist, whose recent articles about the Arab-Israeli conflict have been circulating widely on the web and can be found on some very prominent media sites. He used to work for the BBC in London, as well as for the main Israeli newspaper in Israel - Ha'aretz. He also wrote for the leading Russian newspapers for years. I invited him to Tufts to talk about his reflections on the present Intifada after reading many of his eloquent and emotive pieces (some can be found at www.thestruggle.org).
I know the actual word "virus" is cause for alarm and is reminiscent of the word "parasite" that was used cruelly to describe and dehumanize the Jewish people in Nazi Germany not too long ago. I want to tell those people who are concerned about his choice of words that it was spoken in a very specific context and should not be taken out of that context. It was not used to insult Jewish people at all. The Arab Students Association would never invite a racist or anti-Jewish speaker to Tufts. I feel terrible for those who have misunderstood the context of the word and have therefore been offended. I agree that he should have perhaps used a different word to express his idea, but I want to reiterate he did not mean it as an offense, rather as an anthropological statement.
I spoke extensively with Mr. Shamir about this word and I am convinced of its intended meaning. He made this comparison because he was trying to say he felt that Jewish people do not have as strong an attachment to the physical land in the region as do Palestinians. Palestinians are more attached, in his opinion, to the specific physical space - the earth, the soil, trees, rocks that they and their families had worked and planted on and been surrounded in for hundreds of years before they were forced off when Israel was created. He referred to Palestinians as "mammals" when trying to put forth this idea.
When he used the word "virus" he was simply saying that Jewish people just need a place to live and they will thrive. It does not have to be a very specific place on a particular plot of land. Compared with Palestinians their attachment is not as strong. He was saying this because he was stressing the importance of the Palestinian right to return to their former lands. Many of the Palestinians will not be happy making the West Bank and the Gaza Strip their future home because they don't just need a home; they need their land. I am not asking people to agree with this idea. I am just asking them to understand the meaning that he intended for the word "virus."
Shamir is a strong proponent for a one state solution in which all the Palestinians and Israelis would live together in a unified Israel and West Bank and Gaza Strip. He is definitely controversial because of that and he is critical of the mistakes Israel has made towards the Palestinians but he is by no means cruel and anti-Jewish. No doubt the word "virus" itself is shocking, but I want to stress that it should not be taken out of its context. It was an anthropological statement and was not meant to offend.
Dina Karam is a senior majoring in sociology. She is president of the Arab Students Association.
