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WANTED AT HARVARD: DAN HALUTZ
An extreme leftist group at the prestigious U.S. university distributed "Wanted" posters against the former Chief of Staff around the campus * The "accusation": war crimes * One of the organizers, an Israeli student: "They won't stop us" * Ben Caspit, p.10
[Ma'ariv is one of the largest daily newspapers in Israel; original here]
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"Academic hunt" for Halutz
A group of students at Harvard, including Jews and Israelis, calls for the Chief of Staff to be tried for war crimes
By Ben Caspit
(Ma'ariv newspaper, May 15, 2007)
Even at Harvard University the former Chief of Staff, Dan Halutz, can't find peace; a group of radical and pro-Palestinian students and lecturers, among them Jews and Israelis, is "hunting" for him. As a part of this "hunt," the students, starting today, intend to hang posters of Halutz under the headline "Wanted for War Crimes" above a photograph of Halutz in uniform as Chief of Staff. Next to the photo is written, "General Dan Halutz was last seen at Harvard Business School, May 2007."
Beneath is a detailed "indictment" against the former Chief of Staff stating, "Dan Halutz ordered the indiscriminate shelling of Lebanon last summer, in which more than 1,000 civilians were killed. Military planes under his command exploded homes and hospitals, ambulances and airports."
The declaration continues: "The atrocities committed under his authority have been condemned around the world as war crimes. Halutz resigned from his position as Chief of Staff in January. Now he is hiding and padding his resume at Harvard Business School." The end of the letter, in larger letters, reads: "If you find him, please contact the International War Crimes Court."
An accompanying notice on the organization's website indicates that, "War criminal Halutz is moving around freely at Harvard." The mediatized "hunt" for Halutz is being organized by an organization called "the Alliance for Justice in the Middle East," whose members, in addition to pro-Palestinian students and lecturers, include a number of leftist activists, among them,
as noted earlier, Jews and even some Israeli students, some of whom are from very well-known families in the country.
Can't get to Halutz
They are organizing protests against IDF officers who come to study at the prestigious Harvard Business School. Incidentally, they are already aware of the anticipated arrival of the Deputy Chief of Staff, General Moshe Kaplinsky, to the university this coming July and are planning a warm welcome for him as well. Their website details the "crimes" of every IDF officer coming to the university, his connections, the school in which he is coming to study, and how to reach him and irritate him.
Yesterday members of the forum created a new group on the website Facebook, which is essentially a social site within the university, and invited users to join. Facebook is one of the most popular sites among students worldwide. Members include lecturers, students, and faculty from Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, and others.
The "manhunt" against Halutz, which involves hanging "Wanted" posters around the university and publicity on the internet, was supposed to begin yesterday. One of the organizers of the protest is Naor Ben-Yehoyada, who told Ma'ariv last night in a telephone conversation: "We distributed flyers to students on campus, but a security officer from the Business School,
where he is studying, immediately approached us. He brought his superior, who asked -- just like a Border Patrol officer -- who is responsible for the group. He asked to see a permit to distribute flyers and ordered us to stop. This is not a deterrent; tomorrow we'll continue distributing flyers."
Ben-Yehoyada added: "We've already received one piece of hate mail in response, which says 'Your protest is the gayest thing I've seen on the internet. I'm shocked that douch-bags like you even got in to Harvard.'"
[Ben-]Yehoyada further explains: "We thought of trying to get to Halutz himself, but he is studying in a closed area that includes classrooms and a hotel, and no student has access to that area."
