Recent campus demonstrations regarding the Middle East conflict have prompted author Frances Fuller to offer analysis distinguishing these protests from Vietnam War-era student activism. Fuller, who lived in the Middle East for three decades and authored the award-winning memoir 'In Borrowed Houses,' addressed the issue in a post on her website, noting fundamental differences between the two protest movements.
"Student opposition to the war in the Middle East, except for method, is very different," Fuller wrote. "The issue behind it is more about taking sides. The participants claim a moral cause, objecting to American support for Israel, our financing and sending weapons and ammunition that are being used to kill Palestinians." She expressed surprise at the protests, noting that American support for Israel has historically been unwavering and that Hamas initiated the current conflict with a surprise attack.
Fuller's analysis, available in full at https://www.inborrowedhouseslebanon.com/are-we-prejudiced/, addresses accusations of prejudice and antisemitism arising from some protest materials. She distinguishes prejudice as pre-judging without considering facts from antisemitism, which she defines as opposition to Jewish people regardless of circumstances. "Since then, any opposition to Israel is likely to be interpreted as antisemitism," she noted, referencing the Holocaust.
The author identifies a central international problem: "The Jews established a country, 'a sovereign state' as they like to say, the state called Israel. This positioned them as a responsible member of the world community, subject to the give and take, the approval and disapproval of all the others. Yet opposition to anything this state does is likely to be interpreted, by them or others, as antisemitic." This dynamic, Fuller suggests, allows Israel to shield policies behind Jewish identity in ways other nations cannot.
Fuller's perspective is informed by her experiences documented in 'In Borrowed Houses,' which covers eight years of her Middle East residence during war involving Palestinian militias and Israel's invasion of Lebanon. The memoir has received multiple awards, including Best Non-fiction from Northern California Publishers and Authors and a bronze medal in the Illumination Book Awards. A free ebook sample is available at http://www.payhip.com/francesfuller.
The author has also written about aging in 'Helping Yourself Grow Old, Things I Said to Myself When I Was Almost 90,' which takes a personal approach distinct from academic works on aging like Atul Gawande's 'On Being Mortal' or Joan Chittister's 'The Gift of Years.' Fuller has made discussion questions for the book available at http://www.FrancesFullerAuthor.com. Her work provides insight into how personal experience shapes understanding of complex geopolitical issues, suggesting America's diversity helps it respond to world events with objectivity.
