[OPINION | Right In Our Backyard ]
Professor Makdisi is an English professor at UCLA. He is best known, however, as the author of several Los Angeles Times Op-Ed pieces, each of which has vilified Israel for its treatment of Palestinians. His most recent editorial raised eyebrows and fueled much debate as it went so far as to label Israel an apartheid state.
Following his days as chairman of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) at Berkeley during the late 1960s, Rabbi Michael Lerner is a social theorist, theologian, and psychotherapist. He is also the founder and publisher of Tikkun magazine. In 2003, the San Diego Jewish Journal described Lerner as “the most controversial Jew in America,” writing that “He is relentlessly critical of Israel.” The executive editor of Philadelphia's The Jewish Exponent wrote that Lerner “supports every measure against Israel short of its immediate destruction and often makes common cause with those who do plot the eradication of Israel’s Jews.”
Dr. Haas posed questions to the panel that can only be described
as those of the "How often do you beat your wife?" variety
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Having spent more than 30 years working with congregations, Rabbi Laibson currently serves as rabbi at Congregation Shir Chadash in Lakewood. Rabbi Laibson has served on national commissions related to Jewish Education and Interreligious Affairs. He has served on the Board of Directors of the California Conference for Equality and Justice for twenty-five years, and is a Past President of the South Coast Interfaith Council.
Allowing what seemed to be his own anti-Israel politics to intrude on the traditionally neutral role of a moderator, Dr. Haas posed questions to the panel that can only be described as those of the “How often do you beat your wife?” variety. Questions that presented a one-sided view of Israel as the aggressor in its conflict with Hamas, completely overlooked Hamas's role in instigating the latest conflict by firing rockets from civilian areas in Gaza at civilian targets in Israel, pre-supposed guilt on the part of Israel in its treatment of and attitudes toward all Palestinians, and really only served as context for Professor Makdisi's dogmatic anti-Israel pronouncements.
Dr. Haas began the program by inviting Professor Makdisi to explain to the students exactly how Israel was an apartheid state, and as he continued to lead the discussion in a clearly anti-Israel direction, it quickly became apparent that Rabbi Laibson was invited to this event to play defense. Yet, rather than taking a defensive posture or tone,