[IvanDenisovich]

Don't know much about the rest of the US, but debates in my school are usually won by whoever feels hurt and marginalized the most. The latest Israel-Divestment debate revolved around what would be least offensive to Jews/Israelis/Palestinians/Muslims, with Black and Latino students' feelings thrown in for good measure. It was all about who self-victimizes the hardest, objective reality in the middle east never came into play. Surprisingly enough, most Muslim/Jewish/Black/Latino students went on peacefully with their life, totally oblivious to how badly their feelings were hurt during that debate. Thank god the school paper was there to tell them.

[scarmig]

Hmm. It doesn't seem to me that Israeli-Palestinian debates are one of the ones centered around whose feelings are hurt the most. It's an emotional discussion, to be sure, but one based around hard facts on the ground: anti-Semitism/people calling for a second Holocaust, terrorism, mass expulsion, expropriation, colonization, ethnic cleansing.

Hurt feeling debates are about nothing, typically, but Israel/Palestine is very much about something.

[IvanDenisovich]

>It's an emotional discussion, to be sure, but one based around hard facts on the ground: anti-Semitism/people calling for a second Holocaust, terrorism, mass expulsion, expropriation, colonization, ethnic cleansing.

For sure, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is substantial and deals with objective reality in the middle east that actually affects the lives of millions of people. I'm just saying that the debate on my campus was never about any objective reality, and only revolved around the feelings of the participants. The main claim was on both sides "if the school adopts decision _, my feelings will be hurt really bad".

[_bfhp]

Do you have any evidence that any of this is actually the case? In my experience it is Zionist feelings verses actual facts that BDS activists present about Israel's expansion. Your anecdotes against mine, I suppose.

[formulaT]

The debate is also settled this way in real politics, it's just that outside some universities, Jewish feelings win.

EDIT: for downvoters: why is it ok to point out diversity politics in universities and not in US politics?

[IvanDenisovich]

hi formulaT. I was just giving the Israel-Palestinian debate as one example of a bigger issue. No need to hijack the conversation in that direction.

[formulaT]

I just happen to think it's a bad example because political correctness pervades all of politics, but (unlike say White vs Black or Male vs Female), for the Israel-Palestine issue only in the far left would does political correctness favor the Palestinians, while this is reversed in mainstream US politics. So I think it's important to point out that how this example differs from most forms of political correctness.