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Bazian Lies About "Intifada" Speech
Wed, May 26, 2004 at 8:34:50 am PDT
Anti-Israel UC Berkeley lecturer Hatem Bazian, who called for an intifada in this country, is interviewed for the Berkeley Daily Planet by a gullible reporter who accepts his every lie at face value: UC Lecturer’s ‘Intifada’ Comment Brings Death Threats. (Hat tip: zombie.)
He’s now trying to claim he said “political” intifada—a flat-out falsehood. The Daily Planet reporter doesn’t notice.
A recent speech delivered by a UC Berkeley lecturer during an impromptu anti-war protest in San Francisco has set off a firestorm of criticism around the country, including death threats and calls for his removal from the university.
The speech, given by Hatem Bazian of UC’s Near Eastern Studies Department, at one point noted the intifada in Palestine and uprising in Iraq and then asked the crowd why the U.S. has not had its own political intifada to protest the lies U.S. government has used to lead this country to war.
Critics took offense with his use of the word “intifada” and are claiming Bazian could be calling for an armed uprising like the ones in Iraq and Palestine. In Arabic, Intifada comes from a root word which means “shaking off,” but the word has come to be associated with the armed Palestinian struggle against Israel.
But Bazian, who claims he has always advocated for non-violence, said the statement is being taken out of context. He also said the campaign appears to be a smear tactic to shut him down because he has been an outspoken opponent of the Israeli and American occupations in the Middle East.
“I was calling for political change considering the lies and half truths that have been thrown at us to take the nation to war,” said Bazian. And in turn, he said, critics spun that to mean he was calling for “global jihad,” charging that his comment was “sedition” and “treachery.”
Here are Bazian’s actual words, verbatim:
“Are you angry? [Yeah!] Are you angry? [Yeah!] Are you angry? [Yeah!] Well, we’ve been watching intifada in Palestine, we’ve been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don’t have an intifada in this country? Because it seem[s] to me, that we are comfortable in where we are, watching CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox, and all these mainstream... giving us a window to the world while the world is being managed from Washington, from New York, from every other place in here in San Francisco: Chevron, Bechtel, [Carlyle?] Group, Halliburton; every one of those lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving individuals are in our country and we’re sitting here and watching the world pass by, people being bombed, and it’s about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here. And we know every— They’re gonna say some Palestinian being too radical — well, you haven’t seen radicalism yet!”
Bazian also claims to have received one hundred thousand emails, many (he says) containing death threats:
Although no official group has come out and criticized the comment, Bazian returned to his office the Monday after the April 10 speech to find he had thousands of critical e-mails waiting for him, many of them openly threatening. Several of the e-mails were sent directly to UC Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl, calling on the chancellor to force Bazian to resign. In one day alone, Bazian received 18,000 e-mails—in another 12,000—in another 7,000. In total Bazian estimates he has received 100,000 e-mails.
The “death threat” claim is a favorite tactic of the whining far left—it makes them look courageous and noble, standing up to the evil right-wingers and their death threats. It’s the easiest claim in the world to make, and people like this Daily Planet reporter invariably accept it without a word of skepticism.
Sending such threats through email is more than a nuisance, however; it’s illegal. Bazian also claims to have received death threats over the phone. Has he filed charges against these thousands of people who threatened him? And where did he find time to read 100,000 emails?
The reporter doesn’t ask.
The article is full of whoppers like this; Bazian actually claims that the pro-Palestinian side is being “silenced” in mass media:
Still, Bazian said the campaign against him is a dangerous “smear tactic” used to silence anyone who challenges the campaigns in Iraq, or in his case, Israel as well. He said he has been criticized for speaking out against Israel in the past.
“It’s been going on for a long time, anyone who speaks on the Palestinian issue and doesn’t tow the line will have to suffer a systematic smear tactic,” he said. “This is from Edward Said, to Chomsky…to Jesse Jackson to Pat Buchanan.”
Bazian’s tactics are straight out of the radical Islam, pro-terror playbook; deliberately incite violence, then claim to be “taken out of context,” paint yourself as the victim, and moan about how your “free speech” is being taken away—as you’re quoted in a newspaper.
UPDATE: The video of Hatem Bazian’s statements is here, courtesy of LGF reader zombie: Movies of the April 10, 2004 Rally in San Francisco.
This has given me an idea. The next time an LGF-bashing session breaks out at Matthew Yglesias or Daily Kos or LAObserved, I’ll claim I’m getting death threats. Seems to work for some people.
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