March 16, 1995
Adolf Hitler said if a libel is repeated often enough someone will believe it. Voltaire said as long as men believe absurdities, they will commit atrocities. AS Vice President candidate Marisol Ruiz's remarks in "AS Candidates speak up" (Golden Gater, March 9) about campus race relations are absurd.
She states, "Even the United Nations says that Zionism is racism," referring to the resolution passed in 1975. She fails to mention that the resolution's momentum was carried by the Soviet Union, seeking to embarrass the United States while solidifying Arab and Third World ties. This resolution was rescinded more than three years ago. If Ruiz feels that the initial resolution validates her beliefs, why doesn't its subsequent repudiation by the same body carry similar authority? And how do the Zionist Jews of Ethiopia and North Africa fit her model as racists?
Zionism, defined by Yigal Allon at U.N. General Assembly in 1975, is the national liberation movement of a people exiled from its historic homeland and dispersed among the nations of the world. It is the revival of an ancient language and culture, in which the vision of universal peace has been a central theme, creating a society, however imperfect it may still be, which tries to implement the highest ideals of democracy -- political, social and cultural -- for all the inhabitants of Israel, irrespective of religious belief, race or sex. Zionism seeks coexistence. Golda Meir wrote in 1973, "The heart of Zionist faith was the conviction that Jewish independence could be achieved in harmony with Arab national aspirations."
In reference to Israel as a sanctuary for Jews after the Holocaust, Ruiz states, "But that was Palestine, somebody else's safe haven." The truth is Palestine has many names, including Judaea and Zion. Its history as a Jewish homeland dates back 4,000 years and has maintained a Jewish presence despite the best efforts of occupying forces from the Babylonians to the Ottomans.
Ruiz states, "Malcolm X was anti-Zionist." True, at one time he was. At one time he was also a felon, but he didn't advocate a life of crime. Ruiz has conveniently selected a view espoused during his most militant period. Is she unaware of the change in his views following his trip to Mecca, or is she omitting it because it doesn't fit her agenda?
Finally, Ruiz states Zionism is "an ideology, it's not a cultural aspect of the Jewish people." Who is Marisol Ruiz to tell me what is or is not part of my culture? The truth is, for millions of Jews, the spiritual and emotional ties to the land of Israel are inseparable from their faith. The love of Israel is an extension of the love for Judaism, a living testament to our perseverance over four millennia. As a political movement, Zionism is about 100 years old. But, to quote Golda Meir, "Zionism as an aspiration is as old as the Exile."
Ruiz's bigoted statements were supposed to answer the question of campus politics being racially divided. Her response is summarized when she says, "I think the whole thing is Zionism." History repeats itself. This is scapegoating and it is ill-fitting for SF State, a "progressive" institution. Ruiz's comments are sad and reprehensible. But mostly they are scary, because a major slate in the AS elections has decided that she best represents them as their candidate for vice president.