"To understand birthright-bashing Jews such as Peto and company, you have to understand the leftist contribution to modern anti-Semitism, a contribution that would be anathema to the grandparents of any living Jew, including Peto’s. That is the bogus notion that Zionism produces anti-Semitism; rather than the truth, which is that Zionism is a response to anti-Semitism.
The Left is a conduit for the self-pitying Arabist narrative, and that is what the credulous Peto has internalized. If you have been brainwashed to believe that Zionism causes anti-Semitism and Zionism is oppressive, then you may even believe anti-Semitism is justified if it hastens Israel’s redemption (read: dissolution).
I disagree with other commentators on one score: Peto is not a self-hating Jew. She is full of admiration for herself. She is unaware that her thoughts are unoriginal, that she speaks in predictable clichés, and that she is lending herself to anti-Semitism laundering on a grand scale. You’ll find ample evidence of her intellectual vacuity in a YouTube Israel-bashing address to her small audience of Peto-philes. It’s particularly sad to witness her excitement that al-Jazeera gave her thesis its stamp of approval. (Bubbie! You didn’t fight the Nazis in vain! They love me in Saudi Arabia!).
Of course, Peto herself is a sideshow in the educational scheme of things. The larger issue surrounding Peto’s unworthy thesis is the obvious flight from integrity in her degree-bestowing institution. An embarrassed OISE administration is spinning Peto’s rant as “academic freedom.” But academic freedom is only credible when bounded by academic standards, here demonstrably absent."The entire column is in The National Post
UPDATE: An analysis that details the failure of the University of Toronto to maintain academic standards by accepting Peto's opinion piece as a "thesis."
The Jenny Peto case demonstrates a real problem with our educational system that is identified more explicitly in the BlazingCatFur post titled "Let The Show Trials Begin! Progressive Profs Declare Themselves Racist!"
ReplyDeleteJenny obviously had a relatively painful childhood, as do many people. However, instead of brushing herself off and going on to live a productive life, Jenny chose to nuture her anger while fantasizing that all of her problems were someone else's fault.
This is called being character disordered. It is not a crime. Neither should it be a career. The problem is that it has become a career, and also an entire industry, complete with educational programs offering graduate level training in how to blame your problems on others.
And that should be a crime, if only because it takes advantage of naive, emotionally disturbed students, while seriously reducing their chances of ever growing up to enjoy healthy, productive lives.