U of T under fire for thesis on ‘Jewish Racism’

[Rehmat]

Paul Lungen, a reporter with the Canadian Jewish news (published on November 25, 2010) claimed that Canada's oldest academic institution, the University of Toronto, has come under fire for awarding a Master's degree to a Jew female student Jennifer Peto – for her thesis which claims that the Jews practice racism against non-Jewish communities.

Jennifer Peto wrote in her Master's thesis: "This paper focuses on issues of Jewish identity (Gilad atzmon explains it in 1 of 7 videos below), whiteness and victimhood within hegemonic Holocaust education. I argue that today, Jewish people of European descent enjoy white privilege and are among the most socio-economically advantaged groups in the West. Despite this privilege, the organized Jewish community makes claims about Jewish victimhood that are widely accepted within that community and within popular discourse in the West. I propose that these claims to victimhood are no longer based in a reality of oppression, but continue to be propagated because a victimized Jewish identity can produce certain effects that are beneficial to the organized Jewish community and the Israeli nation-state. I focus on two related Holocaust education projects – the March of the Living and the March of Remembrance and Hope – to show how Jewish victimhood is instrumentalized in ways that obscure Jewish privilege, deny Jewish racism and promote the interests of the Israeli nation-state."

In a letter to University of Toronto president David Naylor, retired sociology professor Werner Cohn said the thesis posits that "the Jews of the world, most particularly those of Canada and the United States, are racist and seek to oppress people of colour everywhere."

Incidently, Jennifer Peto, sort of repeated the statement made by a former Israeli cabinet minister, Shulamit Aloni (born 1928), during her August 14, 2002 interview with Amy Goodman (Jewish) of Democracy Now! : "Well, it's a trick, we always use it. When from Europe somebody is criticizing Israel then we bring up the holocaust. When in this country (US) people are criticizing Israel then they are anti-Semitic. And the organization (Israel Lobby) is very strong and has lot of money. And the ties between Israel and American Jewish establishment are very strong – and they are strong in this country as you know. And they have power which is ok".

The late Israeli historian and author, Professor Israel Shahak testified his own personal experience of religious racism condoned by the Jewish Scriptures: "I had personally witnessed an ultr-religious Jew refuse to allow his phone to be used on Sabbath in order to call an ambulance for a non-Jew who happened to have collapsed in his Jerusalem neighborhood. Instead of simply publishing the incident in the press, I asked for a meeting which is composed of rabbis nominated by the state of Israel. I asked them whether such behaviour was consistant with their interpretation of Jewish religion. They answered that the Jew in question had behaved correctly, indeed piously, and backed their statement by referring me to a passage in an authoritative compendium of Talmudic laws, written in this century," in his book 'Jewish History, Jewish Religion – The Weight of Three Thousand Years'.

Playing the good-old character-assassination tool of 'Self-Hating Israel-Threatening' Jew – Dr. Cohn has claimed that since Jennifer Peto is under the influence of anti-Israel 'Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid' – her thesis is baised towards the Jews and cannot be taken seriously.

http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2010/12/05 ... sh-racism/