Re: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
This is to bring to the attention of Hasafran members an important new work dealing with anti-Zionism. Written by a superb Jewish woman, Phyllis Chesler, it is: THE NEW ANTI-SEMITISM: The Current Crisis and What We Must Do About It, published by Jossey-Bass. $24.95. Phyllis Chesler's first book Women and Madness 1972, was a landmark work and paved the way to a new and just way to treat women by the psych. profession. Let us hope this book does the same for the treatment of Israel! Here is a review: http://www.jbooks.com/interviews/index/IP_Pearlman_2.htm Best wishes, Olivia Hibel Olivia Hibel * 5838 Douglas Street * Pittsburgh PA 15217 *412 421-9851 == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
Bernie, Thanks for your statement. Even in these unspeakably terrible times, we must be honest, true to ourselves, and to our intellects. For instance, there can be no question regarding the standing of the authors you mention. Shutting ourselves into a box of everyone who does not agree completely with how I feel is an enemy -- or is part of a plot against us -- does not serve us well. Madeleine Cohen Oakley Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Rockville, MD == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
Well said. Madeleine Cohen Oakley While I appreciate Mr. Sheynin's perspective, I must disagree with him that HaSafran is not an appropriate forum for political discussion. Librarianship is inherently a political profession, and it seems to me that we must engage in these difficult questions even though we will often disagree about them. Librarians work with books, and even more significantly, select and champion or denounce books, and libraririans serve communities of people. Books are political objects (among many other things), and patrons are political beings. To ignore the difficult political issues that librarians must face is, to my mind, extremely dangerous, if not impossible. June Cummins == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
Re: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
Shalom, There is also a review of Chesler's book in the Sept/Oct 2003 issue of the AJL Newsletter (p. 18). Your friendly adult book review editor, Suzanne At 07:46 AM 10/23/2003 -1000, olivia hibel wrote: This is to bring to the attention of Hasafran members an important new work dealing with anti-Zionism. Written by a superb Jewish woman, Phyllis Chesler, it is: THE NEW ANTI-SEMITISM: The Current Crisis and What We Must Do About It, published by Jossey-Bass. $24.95. == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
I am interested why Jewish librarians feel it so important to present the Palestinian point of view? Maybe a Hamas video explaining why suicide bombers are legitimate is also a good idea? Why is would be so bad to stand up for Israel clearly proudly without presenting propaganda from the Palestinians? Just for example the IDFs bombing in Gaza this week. The Palestinians claimed Israel deliberately shot into a crowd. Is this a legitimate view? What about when the IDF could immediately produce videos of the attack to show what a bald faced lie it was? What about the massacre in Jenin? even though the UN has said this never even happened, all Palestinian official information still claims Israeli soldiers killed hundreds of innocent civilians? Do you feel obligated to show this side of the debate? == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
What about the massacre in Jenin? even though the UN has said this never even happened, all Palestinian official information still claims Israeli soldiers killed hundreds of innocent civilians? As Ehud Barak learned the hard way: (from an interview he gave after the Camp David collapse): They (the Palestinians, and especially Arafat) are the products of a culture in which to tell a lie*creates no dissonance. They don't suffer from the problem of telling lies that exists in Judeo-Christian culture. Truth is seen as an irrelevant category*The deputy director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation told me that there are societies in which lie detector tests don't work, societies in which lies do not create cognitive dissonance (on which the tests are based). == I notice that David Elazar's website has an intersting piece about the absence of a word for compromise in Arabic. == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
Friends, Hasafran is not an appropriate forum for political discussions. Even though, I maintain the view that Jews should first of all protect their brother Jews, and I believe that the defenders of the Palestinians in our midst do us a disservice, nevertheless, I think that both sides should consider choosing a better arena for discussion of this subject. Hayim Y. Sheynin Tuttleman Library of Gratz College == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
Well that's nice - state your moral position and then drop a little bomb, and then retreat back to your moral highground. -Your fellow defender of JUSTICE, my friend and fellow Jew. Chaim Singer-Frankes **From the temporary moderator: this discussion has now veered out of scope for a library discussion list. Please confine your remarks to reviews of the video in the subject line. == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
While I appreciate Mr. Sheynin's perspective, I must disagree with him that HaSafran is not an appropriate forum for political discussion. Librarianship is inherently a political profession, and it seems to me that we must engage in these difficult questions even though we will often disagree about them. Librarians work with books, and even more significantly, select and champion or denounce books, and libraririans serve communities of people. Books are political objects (among many other things), and patrons are political beings. To ignore the difficult political issues that librarians must face is, to my mind, extremely dangerous, if not impossible. June Cummins ___ June Cummins, Assistant Professor Department of English and Comparative Literature San Diego State University [EMAIL PROTECTED] == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
Stuart Schnee and Andrea Rapp have raised concerns and points of view that deserve a response. Without going into any rhetoric about the actual issues involved, I would like to say that there is more than one point of view about was has been taking place within Israel both before and after 1948. Authors such as Tom Segev and Meron Benvenisti (not to mention the several new historians) have looked at archival sources that can lead to alternative perspectives and amy present challenges to the older and established histories. As librarians we should not shrink from these alternative views, even when they seem harsh and contrary to what we may have been taught, as long as they are documented by reputable writers. To do otherwise is to do a terrible diservice to our library users and denegrate one of the foundation stones of our profession. B'shalom, Bernard Katz, former Head, Special Collections and Library Development McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph and founding Treasurer, AJL - Ontario Chapter == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
I am interested in the debate taking place over whether we should champion, acquire or at least be silent about books being commisioned/promoted/funded by anti-Israel elements or as part of a public relations campaign by pro-Palestinian groups. In our attempts at fairness, we sometimes bend over backwards beyond the bounds of common sense. I don't waste my school's money on these materials and when they do cross my desk, I communicate my displeasure to the appropriate publishers/editors, etc. It may not make a big difference, but I believe that in the absense of critical feedback, these products will continue to proliferate. Cherille == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
Re: [Ha-Safran] Relentless (actually selection policies)
Andrea's original e-mail (that started this thread) raised a serious question. I'll paraphrase it as: What obligation do we have as librarians to purchase materials that present all viewpoints on a particular issue? knowing very well that we may be in full agreement (or disagreement, more likely) with the content. Is there any sort of ethical obligation to be fair? Or if not fair, then balanced. It is this principle that far transcends the immediate question of Israel's history. It goes into belief, liturgy, faith, the whole schmeer. I can think of numerous examples where ideology might affect purchasing patterns. Should it? Ted == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless (actually selection policies)
I am not a librarian and thus I can't claim to know the professional standards by which you are called to follow. As a Jew, who lives in Israel, I simply would hope that you wouldn't see the Jewish claim to the land of Israel or the Palestinian war against us as alternative views. == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] Relentless
The problem with your statement, Cherille, is that you have set up a 'straw man' by focusing on books being commisioned/promoted/funded by anti-Israel elements or as part of a public relations campaign by pro- Palestinian groups. People such as Segev, Benvenisti and Oz are not at all anti-Israel - at least not in my perspective. But perhaps you are not referring to these authors when you say that you would not waste [your] school's money on these materials and when they do cross [your] desk... communicate [your] displeasure to the appropriate publishers/ editors, etc. Could you clarify? Would you, have you, for example bought One Palestine Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate, or 1949: the First Israelis by Segev; or Sacred Landscape: the Buried History of the Holy Land Since 1948, or Intimate Enemies: Jews and Arabs in a Shared Land by Benvenisti? These and others are important works that provide both new information and an alternate point of view/perspective on Israeli history. They certainly are not part of a public relations campaign by any pro- Palestinian groups. My concern is that it is far too easy to listen to shouts from those who don't want to have any challenges to the older potted' histories and no facts and views that might upset our readers, especially students, about Israel. I have been told, but I'm not in any position to have first hand knowledge about this, that the English language version of the Pillars of Fire video does not contain some of the material that was shown on Israeli tv and *is* in the Hebrew version. If this is correct, then it should be protested by members of our profession, just as we have done with other more recent books that we felt were inaccurate and incorrect. As far as Relentless is concerned, I'm in full agreement with Barry Walfish, my colleague in the Ontario Chapter, who gave a very fair mini- review of it as part of this discussion. Shabbat shalom, Bernard. Bernard Katz, former Head, Special Collections and Library Development McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph and founding Treasurer, AJL - Ontario Chapter == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
