One argument is to blame the victim. A number of speakers at an Oct. 23 rally sponsored by Harvard Students for Israel (HSI) accused the Palestinians of purposely sending their youth into the line of fire for propaganda purposes. As if Palestinians were animals who would sacrifice their children today for newspaper photos that will be forgotten tomorrow. As if teenagers protesting in their own neighbourhoods against violent occupation somehow forced Israel to use helicopter gunships against them. And even if this transparently absurd and inhumane argument were true, would that not simply underscore the desperation imposed by generations lived under occupation in dirty, overcrowded refugee camps?

A second argument is Israel's right to "self-defense." Of course Israel has the right to exist and defend itself. But defend against what? Nearly all of the so-called "violence in Israel" has actually taken place in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, not in Israel. Israel is thankfully not in danger of being wiped out any time soon. Anyone who thinks that rock-throwing protesters in the Occupied Territories threaten Israel's existence has a very low opinion of the Israeli army's capabilities.

A third argument is that the Palestinians irrationally rejected a "generous" peace offer. Everyone wants peace, but an unjust peace is both unfair and impractical.

The Palestinian state proposed by Israel was a truncated one, cut into several disjointed pieces and dependent on Israel for water, electricity and jobs. The plan on the table was not for a state, but for a glorified Indian reservation.

To some, my opinions make me "biased." "Bias" and "objectivity" are the two most damaging words in discussions of how we think about and discuss violence and justice. Let's face it: Objectivity is something nobody is ever believed to possess and bias is something eveybody else always seem to have.

Vaguely concerned Harvard students who express sympathy while hurriedly rushing by rallies and vigils are also victims of this tendency to erase inequality in the name of "objectivity."

The organizers of the HSI rally "deplored all deaths" but mentioned by name only two slain Israeli soldiers, erasing the fact that nearly all of those killed have been Palestinian civilians. The Harvard Society of Arab Students (SAS) maintained a silent, dignified presence near the rally. Several of SAS' most active members are Jews; numerous Jews and Israelis stood with SAS in making an explicit point to display the names of Palestinians, Israeli civilians and the two Israeli soldiers killed while under detention.