[R-G] Robinson tells Press TV of Israeli lobby tactics

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=94746&sectionid=3510203

Victim tells Press TV of Israeli lobby tactics
Thu, 14 May 2009 16:45:23 GMT

Israel unleashed three weeks of military operations against Gaza on  
December 27, 2008. The war killed nearly 1,400 Palestinians, most whom  
were civilians and inflicted over $1.6 billion in damages on the Gazan  
economy.

An outspoken critic of Israeli crimes against Palestinians, William  
Robinson, hits out at efforts aimed at silencing debate on the "Gaza  
massacre".

Robinson, who is a tenured professor of sociology at the University of  
California at Santa Barbara, ran the gauntlet after he likened the  
three-week Israeli war on Gaza to the Holocaust in an email to 80 of  
his students.

The email, which featured juxtaposed photos of concentration camp  
inmates and of Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip, gave rise to  
a raging torrent of criticism from American Jewish circles, many of  
whom accused Robinson of being an "Israel-bashing anti-Semitic".

Robinson, who is slated to be prosecuted for his remarks, hit back at  
the criticism in an exclusive Press TV interview, saying it would be  
"absolutely absurd" to equate criticism of Israel with "anti-Semitism".

"This is an obnoxious charge and the Israeli state and its supporters,  
including the Israeli lobby in the United States has been doing this  
for quite sometime, saying any criticism of Israel state policy is  
anti-Semitic, and this is an intentional tactic done to squash any  
open debate on Israeli policies," said the 50-year-old Jewish professor.

In a recent interview with Counterpunch, Robinson said Abraham Foxman,  
the national director of a Zionist lobby group, the Anti-Defamation  
League, is spearheading efforts to have him prosecuted for alleged  
unprofessional conduct.

Several groups -- including the California scholars for academic  
freedom and most recently the Middle East study association of North  
America -- have come to Robinson's defense and have described the  
prosecution as "a clear attempt to silence the criticism against  
Israel".

Universities in the United States and Europe, under increased pressure  
from Jewish circles, have stepped up efforts to prevent high-profile  
critics of Israel from appearing at universities in recent months.

Norman Finkelstein's sharp criticism of the Zionist occupation of  
Palestinian lands has left him without tenure in the DePaul University  
in Chicago despite his exemplary academic record.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was scheduled to deliver a  
speech and participate in a question and answer session at the Webster  
University in Geneva, Switzerland, but the event was cancelled  
following pressure from the Israeli lobby.

Tel Aviv's latest military incursion into Gaza killed nearly 1,400  
Palestinians, most of whom were civilians. The attack inflicted over  
$1.6 billion in damages on the Gazan economy.

The United States, which claims to be a supporter of human rights but  
is plagued by the overwhelming grip of the Zionist lobby on politics,  
has failed to even condemn the aggression.

SBB/HGH/AA