Opinion

Decisions demand facts, not passion

Kellie Langley
Opinion Columnist

Is it ridiculous to ask that government representatives and heads of organizations present clear and logical arguments for their positions when speaking at a college campus? Of course it is, but Iim tired of being bombarded by propaganda.

Two guest lecturers visited one of my classes this week. Ora Wise, a Jewish Israeli, was speaking in opposition to the Israeli occupation. The other speaker, a representative from the Israeli Consulate, was attempting to justify it. I walked away from each of their presentations bitterly disappointed.

I read a biography on Wise. I had thought a woman born in Israel to a rabbi and a Hebrew schoolteacher, now fighting for Palestinian rights, was bound to have an interesting, fresh perspective. I was wrong. She began by reciting a piece of prose she had written. I tuned out as soon as she turned on that "theater voice."

She finished her performance and quickly blamed the entire situation on America, mostly because of the funding we provide to Israel. There is some validity to this claim, but, instead of developing it, she dropped the words "capitalist," "Christian" and "American" in a tone that offended at least a few people in the room.

Then she claimed the U.S. media to be the most censored in the world. Hmm. We have almost no media censorship. Do speakers expect to blatantly lie and still retain credibility?

Then, video -- a 10-minute bloodbath, with the big, bad Israelis slaughtering innocent Palestinians. Give me facts -- give me numbers; give me cases; give me concrete things to ponder. Gory video removed from any context is not evidence. If you have logic on your side, there is no place for this shameless propaganda. 

Nothing particularly impressive followed. She compared our military to Nazis -- that was cute; she insulted my religion and country a few more times; she spouted more circular non-logic; and she rudely snapped at any student who asked for clarification or her answer to certain opposing arguments. 

The speaker from the Israeli Consulate was timid. I understand her apprehension -- Iim sure our professor warned her that the majority of her audience was going to be passionately pro-Palestine. Nevertheless, when you are arguing any position you have to leave anxiety at the door. The only way to be an effective presenter is to be 100 percent confident in your cause.

The problem with government representatives is that they risk losing their jobs if they offer anything other than the pre-approved official statements. This not only makes for a boring presentation, but also makes it impossible to respond satisfactorily to questions.

More video. I got to witness the poor, innocent Israelis being murdered by the big, bad Palestinian suicide bombers. While I appreciated that this video was not as graphic as Wiseis, it was even more saturated with loaded words. Lovely blood-red headings appeared onscreen accompanied by a sound effect alarmingly similar to machine-gun fire. 

Then she compared the Palestinian authority to Nazis (amusing, isnit it?) and claimed that the U.S. media was horribly biased against Israel (um ... no). Though her presentation was much more logic-based than Wiseis, I found that so many of her "facts" were flagrantly untrue that her argument was untrustworthy. 

The most infuriating aspect of these lectures was the audience member who apparently believed we were there to hear her opinions. During the first lecture, she "whispered" her agreement with the Palestinian cause to everyone around her. During the second, she more than whispered her obvious contempt for Israel and burst out laughing in the middle of the presentation. She laughed. I was outraged. This speaker had volunteered her time, at our request, to be interrogated by a room full of students disagreeable to her cause. I donit care how much you disagree with a guest speaker. Either show some respect or remove yourself from the room.

So, despite seeing two highly qualified, opposing speakers, I still find myself without any logical, factual arguments from which to formulate an opinion. I hope future speakers will add a little substance to their theatrics.

Langley, a communication and anthropology major, can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu.