'Zionist Propagandist': Dialogue or Demonization?

Noam Bedein
Sderot Media Center
02 November '10


October 2010 was my fifth tour of college campuses in the United States. This tour was facilitated by CAMERA and the ZOA.

It has been ten years since Kassam rockets started raining down on Sderot and the Western Negev, and almost five years since I moved to Sderot.

For the first time, a visit to U.S.has left me somewhat shaken.

The scene: A standard campus presentation at the University of Texas, in Austin.

I had never been to Austin before but had heard about the Texas State Capital and its blend of 19th and 21st Century architecture, Universities, high-tech industries, with rolling hills and forests surrounding the city that, according to a friend in Israel who once lived there, are remarkably similar to the hills and forests that I travel from Sderot to Gush Etzion and Hebron.

The campus event was titled ‘Iran in Sderot’s backyard’. The presentation focused on the human side of the story, relating the daily reality of living in Sderot under the constant threat of aerial attacks from Gaza.

My talk concentrated on the the two years since ‘Cast Lead’, the massive build up of bomb shelters, and the moral dilemma of fighting terrorists who launch their rockets from behind the collective human shield of Gaza's civilian population.

Stills from pro-Palestinian video showing Noam Bedein, Director of Sderot Media Center, transforming from a Human Being into a Jewish Demon

Entering the building on the Austin campus where the presentation was set, I was met by a number of pro-Palestinian protesters holding signs reading NO OCCUPATION = NO ROCKETS, How is Gaza not like Warsaw?, and 1417 Palestinian killed in Gaza vs 13 Israelis.

It isn't the first time I’ve encountered protesters demonstrating against me just because I’m Israeli Zionist. In Austin, the protesters would enter the auditorium and try to provoke me with demonizing questions and comments they attempted to disguise under the slogan "We want to open a dialogue".

I wish they had been sincere about wanting a fact-based discussion, but unfortunately this was not the case.

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