Thursday night one day before the conference opened, Dershowitz spoke to a full house at the Zellerbach Theater at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. His audience included people from the university and from the larger community.
Dershowitz' invitation to speak came from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Hillel of Greater Philadelphia and Penn Hillel.
David Cohen, Chairman of the Penn Board of Trustees, introduced Dershowitz with a message from University President Amy Gutmann, which included this pro-Israel sentiment: "We are unwavering in our support of Israel. We do not support the message or the goals of BDS."
Cohen is the chairman of the board of Comcast, which recently purchased the NBC television network, which includes MSNBC.
As faithful viewers are aware, MSNBC has a progressive stance. However, as Philip Weiss points out on his Mondoweiss website, the progressive MSNBC anchors do not reflect a progressive outlook in matters related to the Israel/Palestine issue. The lineup of Chis Matthews, Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell, are four of television's leading PEPs (Progressive Except on Palestine).
In his talk Thursday, Dershowitz praised the University for "championing free speech". He added, however, according to the news report, that If Penn had banned BDS. he would have been forced to defend them in the name of free speech, something he wouldn't want to do.
After that nod to free speech, Dershowitz told his appreciative audience, "We are going to win this encounter." Dershowitz was critical of Penn professors who support BDS, describing them are "complacent with evil."
Penn for Palestine co-president, sophomore Sarah Shihadah, explained that their BDS group opted to watch the live stream of the event instead of attending the event because of Dershowitz's "hostile rhetoric" against BDS supporters.
"[We] hope the balance of the two events" -- Dershowitz's talk and the BDS conference -- "will stimulate honest academic discourse," Shihadah said.
She added, however that she felt Dershowitz "misrepresented and omitted some of the human-rights issues faced by Palestinians, such as the millions of Palestinians living under occupation and millions more in diaspora whose rights Israel fails to uphold as recognized by the United Nations."
During his talk, Dershowitz' comment that the UN is a "house of hypocrisy" was greeted by loud cheers and applause. Also in his speech, Dershowitz charged: "BDS hypocrites [are] interested in de-legitimizing Israel."
Ali Abunimah earlier wrote in a guest column for the Philadelphia Inquirer:
"We are coming together to push forward an inclusive movement that supports nonviolent action to promote the human rights of the Palestinian people, because only full respect for these rights can lead to peace. Today, millions of Palestinians live without basic rights under Israeli rule. This intolerable situation is at the root of problems that affect the whole world"
This is a theme that will move forward as both secular and religious groups gather, step by determined step, to make the case for BDS.
Next up, the quadrennial General Conference of the United Methodist Church, which meets in Tampa, Florida, from April 24 through May 4, 2012. On the Conference agenda will be a resolution that would make it official church policy to divest United Methodist funds from three US corporations -- Caterpillar, Motorola and Hewlett Packard -- which the denomination has determined are using church investment funds to support the Occupation of Palestinian Territories.
Delegates who support the divestment resolution will be able to declare that United Methodists will not allow its funds to participate in the Occupation.
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