Israel Campus Beat - April 9, 2006

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Business Science & Technology Arts and Entertainment Sports Domestic Israel News Suggest a Story Educational Resources Israel Study & Travel Additional News Sources Research Institutes NGOs Israeli Universities Israeli Government & IDF Featured this week Bar-Ilan Baruch Cornell George Washington Haifa Hamilton College Harvard Hebrew Indiana Interdisciplinary Center Herzilya John Hopkins London - UK Maryland Northwestern Pennsylvania Rutgers Swarthmore College UCLA US Naval Academy Washington State York	Conversation with Ehud Olmert by Lally Weymouth I declared before the elections what my plans are [for withdrawing from the territories] in a most explicit manner. And I certainly intend now to go ahead and not waste time.     The idea is that most of the settlements that would have to be removed from where they are now will be converged into the blocs of settlements that will remain under Israeli control. The time has come for a change, and I am absolutely determined to accomplish it. I think the time is right, and I think the Israeli electorate is ready. The fact that, after having said in the most explicit way what my ideas are, we came out of these elections as the largest party is, I think, a testament to the determination of the Israeli electorate to move forward. (Washington Post) Additional Headlines U.S., Europe Cut Aid to Palestinians Debunking the Newest - and Oldest - Jewish Conspiracy: A Reply to Mearsheimer-Walt "Working Paper" Hamas Foreign Minister: "I Dream of a Map Without Israel" Israel's President Asks Olmert to Form Government Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert received the formal nod last week to form a government, which he has pledged would set Israel's permanent borders within four years with or without Palestinian consent. "I have the honor to announce that I have decided to ask member of parliament Ehud Olmert to form the government," President Moshe Katsav said after meeting Olmert. (Reuters) Buying Time by Ze'ev Schiff Tactically, at this stage, the most important thing for Hamas is buying time. The movement needs quiet in order to get organized, to strengthen itself, to nurture its rare, first victory, in the wake of which a Sunni Muslim regime has been established. Yet it will maintain quiet only for a limited period.  One possibility is that the government of Israel will make a massive disengagement-convergence move. Hamas will see this as Israel running away again. The Palestinians will refuse to see the line of the new "convergence" as an agreed-upon border. It is clear that the new line that will be drawn will also be a new basis for the continuation of the war against Israel, as happened in Gaza. (Ha'aretz) Anti-Israel Bias at Colleges Scrutinized by Mary Beth Marklein The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, responding to allegations that an anti-Israel bias is rampant on college campuses, approved recommendations last week aimed at ensuring that Jewish college students are protected from anti-Semitic harassment. The recommendations grew out of a November hearing at which speakers cited examples of anti-Semitic incidents. One frequently cited involved a 2004 documentary that said Middle East Studies faculty at Columbia University were intimidating Jewish students who defended Israel. (USA Today) Carnegie Mellon: Students Hope Mideast Video Game Will Produce Insights, Investors The complex choices facing leaders in the Middle East have long confounded observers. But two graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University are hoping their video game based on the conflict will help players find solutions - and raise capital for their new company. Asi Burak and Eric Brown, along with a team of fellow students, have spent more than a year building , a computer game that attempts to simulate the violence and political turbulence of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. (Israel Insider) UCLA: Jewish Student Protection Advised by Udeitha Srimushnam After receiving reports from various Jewish groups that anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiments are rampant on college campuses, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights voted to recommend that the Department of Education take steps to protect Jewish students. Of the many universities he has visited, Rabbi Yonason Quinn, with the Jewish Awareness Movement, said he finds UCLA students to be significantly different from students at other schools.  "Maybe it's the weather," he said jokingly. "But students at UCLA are very open and warm. Never, except for once, have I seen any incidents (of anti-Semitism) during my time here." (Daily Bruin) Haifa U. Prof: Pensioners Party Restores Human Capital by Judy Siegel-Itzkovich The spectacular showing made by the Gil Pensioners Party in the recent election was a victory for all senior citizens - or at least for those in Israel, according to one expert on aging. Prof. Ariela Lowenstein, head of the University of Haifa's Center for the Study and Research of Aging, said the newly elected retirees represented "human capital that society had lost. This was an opportunity to correct the situation," she said. (Jerusalem Post) Point-Counterpoint - Does Acting Prime Minister Olmert Have a Mandate for Territorial Withdrawal? Borderline Support by Meyrav Wurmser The Kadima victory has been touted as a vindication of "convergence," Kadima's new title for unilateral Israeli withdrawal from large areas of the West Bank. Not all Israelis - not even a significant majority -support such a policy. And this could pose quite a challenge for Olmert's soon-to-be-formed government.  Instead of gaining the hoped-for 36-45 seats, Kadima won the elections with only 29. This result was disappointing to many in Kadima if only because they hoped the party would have more positions to hand out. But the results are most disappointing to the advocates of unilateral withdrawal. Although many Israel observers in Washington interpret Kadima's election as a mandate for unilateral withdrawals, the fact is that there is not a strong, reliable Zionist majority to support such a move. No matter how wide a temporary coalition Olmert will be able to establish, his ability to maneuver and carry out his political plan will face strong opposition. The disengagement plan may just disengage the flimsy coalition. (National Review) A Decisive Election - Editorial Though Mr. Olmert's Kadima party won fewer parliamentary seats than it hoped for, up to two-thirds of the new Knesset will probably support a West Bank withdrawal. The Israeli parties that favor holding on to all of the remaining occupied territories and settlements were devastated by the election. The Likud Party, which governed Israel for most of the past 30 years and pursued the cause of a "greater Israel" during most of that time, won only 11 of the 120 Knesset seats. Even among right-wing parties, it took second place to one that favors a territorial separation of Israelis and Palestinians. Mr. Olmert should have little trouble forming a coalition, though he may have to agree to some big government spending on social programs and pensions. (Washington Post) To unsubscribe from Israel Campus Beat, click here
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