On Monday, I was surprised to learn that Accent Speaker’s Bureau had to cancel its event featuring former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after he backed out of the interview. I assumed it was an early April Fools’ Day joke. The news of the cancellation came the same day that Olmert was convicted of bribery in a Tel Aviv court for taking $160,000 in bribes to speed along government permits to build the Holyland housing estate while he was the mayor of Jerusalem.
But that isn’t the only reason why students should be wary of hosting Olmert on campus. Olmert was the prime minister of Israel during Operation Cast lead, which left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead in Gaza and, according to the Goldstone Report, is responsible for potential war crimes.
Some Olmert supporters might note his realignment plan that calls for Israeli settlements in 90 percent of the West Bank to be dismantled and evacuated as reason for his being a champion of peace. However, Olmert’s plan won’t meet the minimal requirements of international law or UN resolutions demanding Israel withdraw to its pre-1967 border, the Green Line.
Instead, under his plan the bulk of Israel’s settlements will be consolidated: The Palestinians will not be offered a viable state, and their lives will continue to be dependent on the Israeli army’s goodwill. In other words, the occupation will metamorphose but it will still be an occupation.
It is not appropriate for Accent to bring such an individual and justify it by having Rula Jebreal, a Palestinian correspondent for MSNBC, interview the former prime minister. This practice by Accent is very tokenizing. One Palestinian doesn’t speak for all Palestinians.
It is not only offensive to Palestinians to bring such a speaker but also to those who stand against war criminals and believe in the integrity of international law.
If Accent wants to bring speakers concerning this topic, I would suggest they look into names such as Ali Abunimah, Miko Peled, Ilan Pappe or Noam Chomsky.
In the future, we would hope that Accent and others recognize this less as a conflict and more as a struggle of an oppressed, occupied people against settler colonialism, segregation and a state that wants to erase its history and narrative.
[Eric Brown is a UF political science junior. A version of this column ran on page 7 on 4/4/2014 under the headline "Accent blunders suggest tokenism"]
