Providing another voice

Deirdre Newman

A Palestinian activist railed against Israel on Thursday at Orange

Coast College, accusing the country’s military incursion in the West Bank

of genocide.

Imam Mohammad Al-Asi attracted a small crowd during his lunchtime talk

in the campus’ quad, designated by the college as a free speech zone.

Al-Asi’s speech was part of the “Free Palestine Day -- The Controversy

Behind Zionism” daylong event, which also included speaker Imam Sadullah

Khan.

While many of the students who attended said they appreciated hearing

the Palestinian point of view, some criticized Al-Asi for being long on

rhetoric and short on factual information.

“As college students, we want more documentation,” said Pete Rothaus,

20. “I didn’t really learn much.”

The event, sponsored by the Muslim Student Assn., highlighted the

Palestinian struggle with graphic pictures of a headless baby, a woman

burned alive and a boy shot in the head.

Dressed in a gray suit, Al-Asi began his criticism by blaming the

media for biased coverage against the Palestinians.

“We have a consistent lie put across to the public by the news media

and government officials telling us almost ad nauseam that Israel is the

only democracy in the Middle East,” Al-Asi said. “I guess it’s proving

its democratic credentials when it can’t tolerate the process it signed

itself up to -- the Oslo peace process.”

While he started out with a calm cadence, as he progressed further

into his critique of Israel, his voice escalated to a fevered pitch as he

accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of genocide.

“You tell me -- what are the Israeli war forces doing in the West

Bank?” Al-Asi asked. “They’re not on a picnic, they’re not there for

purposes of peace. They’re on a killing spree, killing innocent people

who have barely anything to defend themselves.”

Rabbi Mark Miller of Temple Bat Yahm in Newport Beach did not attend

Al-Asi’s speech but defended Israel’s actions Thursday evening.

“If there were no terrorist attacks, Israel would not be in the

position it must be in to defend its citizens,” Miller said. “Israel does

not want to be there. It just wants to live in security as any human

being, as any country [would].”

In his speech, Al-Asi made no mention of the suicide bombers in the

West Bank.

But he did have harsh words for the United States’ unequivocal support

of Israel.

Al-Asi emphasized that the main root of the explosive violence is

because the Palestinians are being denied the freedom to politically

express themselves.

“The whole [Palestinian] area has to be opened to a democratic

process,” he said. “Let the people decide who they want. Let’s not impose

on them what we want them to have.”

After his speech, some students said they wanted to hear more about

possible solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“He was mostly talking about the problem. We know what that is,” said

Andrea Manning, who identified herself as a Jewish student.

Others said they wanted to hear a counter viewpoint to Al-Asi’s

blistering critique.

“I thought he did a good job but would have liked it if the opposing

view were shared,” said Matt Dedrick, 23.

Some Muslim students agreed that Al-Asi’s speech presented information

that they said is not often discussed in the media.

“Some people make it seem like both sides are killing, but it’s the

occupier and the people trying to defend themselves,” said Diaa Salleem,

21. “He did a good job explaining that.”

Professor Ken Hearlson, who voiced concerns about the content of

Al-Asi’s speech on Wednesday, said the speaker did a service to the

college community by highlighting the Palestinian viewpoint.

“I think it’s best [for the students] to learn from both sides,”

Hearlson said. “It’s great there can be variety of free speech. I would

like to see more. That’s how we learn.”

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .