Friday, April 15, 2016

From page 19 of the New York Times: "Muslim Students Report Burglaries and Hate Literature at Idaho State"

Last year, the New York Times had a cover story and a very long article about one case: that a stupid student at UCLA asked a Jewish student running for student government whether she can be fair about BDS issues given her faith.  Of course, such a question should not be asked and religious faith should not be a litmus test or a barrier or a criterion for privilege (as in Israel) either.  But the New York Times wrote the cover story and many US newspapers followed suit and there were campaigns about how anti-Semitism is sweeping US college campuses based on that one incident (and the UC system used that one incident as a justification for the attempt to ban anti-Zionist rhetoric from the campuses).    Yet, this story will not be covered on front pages and it won't lead to articles and reports about how Islamophobia is spreading in the US: "Federal officials and the local police are investigating burglaries and hate literature that appear to be directed at Muslim students attending Idaho State University in Pocatello, where tensions have recently risen over an influx of students from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. In an email to Idaho State faculty and students Wednesday, the university’s president, Arthur C. Vailas, said the homes of about 50 Middle Eastern students had been burglarized over the past several weeks. “As a result of these crimes, some of our students are seriously considering leaving I.S.U. and Pocatello,” the email said.""  It will be fair to say that had the students been Jewish presidential candidates would be talking about it today.