As you would guess, this didn’t go over so well with those in attendance.
CORONADO, Calif. – Some parents of the Coronado High School class of 2014 left the school’s June graduation ceremony scratching their heads, while others were downright ticked off after a local Israeli peace activist took advantage of his keynote speech to go on a political rant against his homeland and America.
“I, as an Israeli, grew up much like you, privileged and unaware of the inequalities the injustices imposed upon Palestinians by country. And because the country is so segregated, I as an Israeli, never met Palestinians. In fact, I was taught that Palestinians are my enemies. Only to discover, many years later, that actually they’re not,” said Miko Peled, author of the book The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine. […]
“I was also taught to fear and distrust Arabs and Muslims because they too hate me. And it turns out, they too, do not. In fact, it turns out there is no such thing as they.
“So I would say to you, based on my experience, to question your country and question your government, but to trust in people. And fear not people who wear a headcover or a beard. Fear not people who call God by a different name, people who have a different skin color or whose eyes are shaped different than yours.
Peled went on to encourage graduates to shun any type of war or violence as a means to solve problems. He talked against racism and injustice, which provided a smooth transition into a screed against the U.S.
“I call on you to demand more of your country and to ask tough questions of your leaders, and to demand that they does more for you, as well as for others. Ask for example why is it that here in the US, which makes up only 5 percent of the world population and claims to be the land of the free, we have 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. Why is it that almost half of the 2.5 million prisoners in the U.S. are African Americans, though they only make up 12 percent of the population?
“Why is it that after kidnapping millions of Africans and enslaving them for centuries and forcing them to live under racist laws and segregation as though they are less than human, why are their children and grandchildren not compensated for the holocaust that was inflicted upon their ancestors, but instead are incarcerated in disproportionate numbers.