CornellWatch

Has anyone seen any of the panelists from the Gaza in Crisis Discussion Panel hosted by the Cornell International Affairs Review (with various other groups, ranging from MECA to Tommy Bruce’s office to the International Soccer Club) on Wednesday? From what I heard, the moderator prefaced the discussion by stating that he knows very little about Gaza, proceeding to cite a summary from Wikipedia in a room full of well-informed, emotionally charged college students. I wouldn’t be surprised if the panelists were shanked walking home that night.

For those actually wanting to engage in a dialogue, meaning the Islamic Alliance for Justice (IAJ), Hillel, Cornell Israel Public Affairs Committee (CIPAC), and the Daily Sun herself, a real panel discussion was held the next day in the same exact room (Lewis Auditorium), one in which the panelists (gasp!) seemed to know what they were talking about.

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Most of Cornell’s class-attending pedestrians have encountered the earnest appeals of various student groups’ clunky quad displays. I, for one, have calmly settled into the habit of taking their message to heart, and then promptly forgetting it sometime during my requisite mid-lecture nap. After all, it’s a little unrealistic to envision a talking fetus named Elena, especially one giving you facts about her developing organs that she wouldn’t learn until at least ninth grade biology class.

When the encounter involves some 1,300 black flags commemorating the deaths of those killed in the most recent flare-up of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as it did this Monday morning when they were installed, it’s a little harder to criticize the reality of the message or to exorcise it with a nap. Adding fuel to the fire, the flags’ accompanying signs — statements from the UN and Amnesty International about casualties and humanitarian aid — were vandalized by three seemingly “pro-Israel” students later that day. While that situation was quickly rectified and the signs restored, the worst was to come Wednesday night, when the flags were transfigured into a Star of David under cover of darkness, finally garnering the attention of President David Skorton. Here’s an excerpt of the statement he released this afternoon, which neglected to mention the whole, um, Star of David thing:
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