Unit 15 A Letter to American Jews (and Other Friends of Isreal)

1. Unit 15 A Letter to American Jews(and Other Friends of Isreal) Contemporary College English Book IV

2. Contents Warm-up 1 Background Information 2 Text Appreciation 3 Language Study 4 Extension 5

3. Give a two-minute talk on one of the following questions. What do you know about the Passover? What do you know about the Six Day War? Do the following ring any bell with you? What do you know about them? Golda Meir PLO and Arafat Moshe Dayan the Sinai Peninsula Ariel Sharon Zionists Shimon Peres the Golan Heights IDF the War of Lebanon Warm-up 1

4. 1. The Author Assaf Oron is one of about 500 “refuseniks”-reservists in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) who refuse the order to serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. An American Jewish group called “Tikkun” placed in March 2002 a New York Times ad supporting the “refuseniks.” Background Information 2

5. Overwhelmed by the hostile response from other American Jews, Tikkun leaders asked refuseniks to help byexplaining their cause directly. The letter here is an abridged version of the original that was written on March 26, 2002, in response to this request. (Taken from The Resourceful Reader 6th edition by Suzanna Strobeck Webb and Lou Ann Thompson.) Background Information 2

6. 2. the Six Day War (para.4) The Six Day War, also known as the Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The war began with Israel launching surprise air strikes. The outcome was a swift and decisive Israeli victory. Background Information 2

7. Israel took the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. It was claimed to be a preemptive strike of a defensive nature by Israel, but many countries considered it an act of aggression. Background Information 2

8. Text Structure: Introduction (1-3) The writer’s conversion from a believer of the fallacy to a refusenik (4-10) Rebuttal of “the fighting against terror” fallacy (11-14) Exposure of the establishment’s persecution of refuseniks and their support for advocators of Nazi ideas (15-19) Conclusion: Appeal to the Isreali public to stop sitting on the fence (20-22) Text Appreciation 3

9. II. The writer’s conversion from a believer of the fallacy to a refusenik (4-10) The 1973 war at the age of 7 (4) Participation in protest against the withdrawal from Sinai as a teenager (5) The invasion of Lebanon—a tunring point for him (6) The impact of Israeli crimes in the so-called “Security Zone” and “Occpied Terroristies” （7-10） His complete conversion (10) Text Appreciation 3

10. III. Rebuttal of “the fighting against terror” fallacy (11-14) Israeli aggressive actions against Palestinians (11) Israeli terror being responsible for Palestinians’ counter-attack (12) Palestinians not being treated like human beings (13) Two types of Israeli terror: violent acts and the terror of occupation (14) Text Appreciation 3

11. IV. Exposure of the establishment’s persecution of refuseniks and their support for advocators of Nazi ideas (15-19) Persecution of refuseniks and the establishment’s justification (15-16) Denunciation of Jose Saramago for likening the Occupied Terrorists to the Nazi concentration camp (17) The establishment conniving at those who advocate Nazi concepts (18-19) Text Appreciation 3

12. Sentence Paraphrase: 1. …we must lay morality and conscience to sleep, shut up and fight to kill—or else, the Palestinians will throw us into the sea. (para. 3) Text Appreciation 3 lay morality and conscience to sleep： to put morality and conscience to sleep; to forget about them, not to let them bother us

13. 2. …those throw-us-into-the-sea Arabs came to talk with us, and in exchange for all of Sinai they would sign a full peace. (para. 5) Text Appreciation 3 The author is referring to Sadat, the Egyptian President who agreed to make peace with Israel on those terms.

14. 3. I did and witnessed…deeds that I’m ashamed to remember to this day. (para. 9) Text Appreciation 3 I did and saw things that I am ashamed to remember. Note that we normally should avoid such collocations as “do a deed, dream a dream, die a death, etc.” unless the objects are preceded by an adjective to make it specific, i.e., “ do a heroic deed, dream a terrible dream, die a natural death, etc.” But even so, it would be more natural to say “did sth heroically, had a terrible dream, died naturally, etc.”

15. 4. …violent acts of killing and destruction, those which some people still try to explain away as “surgical acts of defense”. (para. 14) Text Appreciation 3 explain away: to give a reason for an action so that you will not be blamed for it surgical acts of defense: This is often used as a euphemism of brutal war action or aggression.

16. Phrases and Expressions: 1. come out with sth. (para. 2) to say or express sth. such as an idea, or a pledge openly sprout up （para. 2） to appear suddenly and in large numbers Language Study 4

17. 2. talk oneself into doing sth (para. 6) to persuade oneself to do sth. that he thinks he has good reasons to 3. pull out of (para. 7) to withdraw from Language Study 4

18. 4. in relief (para. 10) feeling relaxed and happy because your idea has been proved 5. answer the need (para. 11) meet the need; satisfy the need 6. pounce upon sb. (para. 20) (figurative) jump suddenly upon sb. Language Study 4

19. Identify the figures of speech or rhetorical devices used in the following sentences, and comment on them. It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. (Mark Twain) Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she laid an asteroid. (Mark Twain) If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. (Derek Bok) No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it. (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) Extension 5

20. Thank You!