He made the statements while in high school. What kind of star chamber is the University of Michigan student government running, that they would censure this young man for statements he made before he even got there, and for which he has apologized? The Leftist totalitarians are now demanding that one march in ideological lockstep with them every day of one’s life, or pay the consequences for dissent, no matter how callow one was at the time of the dissent, and how groveling one’s apology.
What’s more, Gerstein didn’t say anything false. The student government’s censure is indicative of the Left’s general tendency to criminalize and marginalize any dissent at all. The “Palestinians” are indeed “rejecting constant peace deals,” financing terror, and “raising kids to hate people purely because of their religion.” So what is Gerstein apologizing for? Even worse, he apologizes for making “statements that erase the history of the Palestinian people.” Yet they are a people that has no history, and are purely a propaganda invention, as The Palestinian Delusion proves.
Benjamin Gerstein looks to have been well and truly brainwashed, thoroughly and efficiently propagandized, at the University of Michigan. His is a cautionary tale of how our universities and colleges today are not institutions of higher learning at all, but factories of Leftist indoctrination.
“Jewish Student Leader’s Past Criticisms of Palestinians Censured at University of Michigan,” by Jackson Richman, JNS.org, March 10, 2020 (thanks to Elder of Ziyon):
JNS.org – The student government at the University of Michigan has passed a resolution condemning its president for remarks critical of the Palestinians he made as a high school senior.
The final vote of the Feb. 25 resolution rebuking Central Student Government president Ben Gerstein was 25 in favor, zero against and four abstentions.
“There should be a test for what type of people deserve a state and what type of people don’t. I think the Palestinian people, with rejecting constant peace deals, with their financing of terror, with their raising kids to hate people purely because of their religion,” said Gerstein on the TV show “North Town News Magazine” in 2017. “I don’t think that people deserve a state at this point in time. Until we see a significant change in the Palestinian mentality and a significant change in the Palestinian leadership, I don’t think they deserve a state at this point.”
On Feb. 19, Gerstein apologized in a public Facebook post.
“In this video as well as an op-ed, I made statements that erase the history of the Palestinian people. I made racist statements, including the denial of the right to self-determination, that were ignorant of Palestinians’ struggle under occupation,” he wrote. “I am sorry beyond words—both for my actions as well as not coming forward with the video sooner and seeking remedy for it. I accept total and complete responsibility for the harmfulness of my language, the offensiveness of my words and the active role I played in the silencing of Palestinian voices.”
“I have grown considerably since I made those statements, and the repulsive views I expressed in the video no longer reflect my current understanding,” he continued. “I am devastated to see them reappear and be defended today. I know an apology is never enough, and I am complicit in the oppression of Palestinians through my past actions.”
Gerstein went on to say that before arriving at the University of Michigan, he had only been exposed to pro-Israel viewpoints, but was “committed” to “learning new perspectives and being empathetic to the Palestinian community.”
“I feel my deeper understanding of history and multiple narratives now allows me to work as a stronger ally to others to dismantle the systems of oppression that perpetuate the suffering of the Palestinian people—but I also know that I have much more learning to do and am committed to continuing that work,” he wrote.
The resolution stated that Gerstein’s 2017 comments are “Islamaphobic and racist, and we formally condemn these comments,” and “we recognize the international plight of the Palestinian people, some of whom are constituents of this government.” It also stated: “We recognize that more work needs to be done to uproot racism and Islamophobia at the University of Michigan.”…