Dr. Marsha Levine is an expert on the origins of horse
husbandry, and spent a decade as a fellow and a senior research associate the
University of Cambridge’s McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. She was recently contacted by 13 year-old
Shachar Rabinovitch, an Israeli pupil, who asked her questions for a school
project about how ancient horses lived, and how much modern horses have in
common with their ancestors. Dr.
Levine’s astonishing response to Shachar read, “You might be a child, but if
you are old enough to write to me, you are old enough to learn about Israeli
history and how it has impacted on the lives of Palestinian people”. When asked by London’s Jewish Chronicle
about the incident, Dr. Levine said that she has the choice not to waste her
time on people who tread on the rights of other people. She continued that she will answer Shachar
when there is justice for Palestine. Dr.
Levine is a signatory to Jews for Justice for Palestinians, and she claims to
have responded in this way as a matter of conscience and to stand up for what
she believes in. She described Israel’s
treatment of Palestinians as “totally disgusting” and says that Israeli Jews
have become the Nazis!
Dr. Levine’s response is wholly unacceptable for a number of
reasons. Politics aside, answering an
innocent enquiry from a 13 year-old child in this manner can never be
justified. This aspect gives perhaps the
greatest incite into Dr. Levine, and who she is as an individual. While having sympathy and standing up for the
human rights of the Palestinians, what happened to this empathy when approached
by a child? There is no possible way of
understanding that this child, or any child, can be held responsible for the
political situation in the Middle East, and deserves to be punished or taught a
lesson for it. It is entirely likely
that Shachar will remember the rude response received from a person who
sympathises with the Palestinian cause, and hold a negative view towards such
people in the future. There is nothing
positive that young Shachar can glean from this response, and her exposure to
Dr. Levine. The most likely educational
lesson that Shachar has learned is that she should be wary of people who stand
up for the human rights of the Palestinians.
Dr. Levine also perhaps forgets that it takes two to tango,
and that the current situation that exists between Israel and the Palestinians
arises as a result of the actions of two parties. Perhaps she has forgotten the ongoing attempts
to attack Israel, to commit terror attacks against innocent Israelis and the
larger desire to destroy the State of Israel at any price. Where does she raise the issue of how the
Palestinians are treading on the human rights of the Israelis? Do Israel civilians not have the basic right
to live without threat of terror attack and without having missiles fired
towards them? Does Dr. Levine consider the
possibility that the current human rights situation is more as a result of the
actions of the Palestinian leadership, than it is about Israel? When looking at the human rights records of
Muslim countries around the world, it is extremely difficult to conclude that
human rights violations in the Palestinian Authority area are wholly about
Israel and her actions. The desire by
Muslim fundamentalists to destroy does not stop in Israel. Perhaps Dr. Levine forgot that these Muslim
acts of terror are also seeking out Jews and other innocents around the
world. The terrorists are looking for
people exactly like her to kill, maim and terrorise.
The act of signing up to Jews for Justice for Palestinians
is somewhat superfluous. We have a whole
country of Jews who are signed up to this – those living in Israel. Israelis believe in justice for all
people. And while Israelis certainly
stand up for justice for innocent Palestinians, Israelis firstly believe in
justice for themselves. If this justice
is under threat at any time, Israelis will not stop at any obstacle to defend
themselves, even if this means that they stand accused of treading on the human
rights of other people by Dr. Levine and her cronies. Respect for human rights is something that
should not only be given, but it should also be received. When the human rights threats come in the
form of a desire to destroy an entire nation or people, there can be no doubt
that this nation and those people have the right and the obligation to defend
themselves in protection of their own human rights.
Being a career academic, I would have expected Dr. Levine to
study the facts before she stands up to criticize, and before she takes the
wind out of the sails of an innocent child.
I cannot blame uneducated people for being sucked in by the propaganda
that is presented by enemies of Israel and by the general press. Dr. Levine should know better than to be
influenced by such unreliable sources, and to take such a strong stand on the
base of these flawed positions.
I am do not expect Jews like Dr. Levine to blindly support
Israel’s cause or actions. I know that
all countries can, and should be held to account for transgressions that they
commit. Israel is no exception. Israel, however, has a slightly different
status for the Jewish community around the world. Not only does Israel defend and protect the
rights of the Jews living in Israel, it also sees its role as defending and
protecting the rights of all Jews around the world. This includes those, like Dr. Levine, who are
Israel-hating Jews. There is little
doubt in my mind that, the only reason why there has not been another Holocaust
in more recent times, is because of the existence and the actions of the State
of Israel. With the terrorist actions
undertaken by Muslim fundamentalists against Jews even with the existence of
Israel, we can only consider what may have been without the protection afforded
by the Jewish state. There can be little
doubt that it is precisely this protection that has given the background to
allow Jews like Dr. Levine to live their lives in relative normality. I have strong doubts as to whether she would
have succeeded at a Jew as an academic at one of the world’s top institutions,
without the protection afforded by Israel.
Dr. Levine, you have lost respect in my eyes. You have lost my respect for the
inappropriate and unjustified insult that you issued to an innocent child when
she turned to you out of admiration for you as an expert in your field. You have lost my respect for your attack on
Israel, which is flawed and baseless.
You have lost my respect for your lack of balance in the manner in which
you presented your views. You have lost
my respect for stooping so low as to compare Israelis to Nazis. Perhaps it is best that young Shachar
Rabinovich received the real picture of who you are, and learned her lesson
about you in this way. You are not
worthy of her admiration.
