6 Editor's Letter Isolation, Incitement 0 n his way to class at the Wayne State University Law the Detroit Council for World Affairs, an arm of the WSU School, Jonathan Schwartz was taken aback when he College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Center for Peace & spotted a chalk-scrawled sidewalk message, "Stop Conflict Studies. Khalidi, the Edward Said professor of Arab the Israeli Apartheid," promoting an anti-Israel rally. The third- Studies at Columbia University in New York City, spoke on his year law student from Farmington Hills also spotted racist and new book, The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian anti-Israel flyers posted around the building and elsewhere. Struggle for Statehood. Philosophically, he blames Israel's The same day that Schwartz encountered the propaganda, a occupation and settlements for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Columbia University scholar known while being an apologist for Palestinian terror and its chief for anti-Zionist ardor appeared on architect, the late Yasser Arafat. It would have been more Wayne State's Detroit campus. palpable had the Center for Peace & Conflict Studies invited "I and others have decided that Khalidi and a respected pro-Israel advocate to debate. That enough is enough," Schwartz, 23, told could have advanced dialogue through varied perspectives. me on Oct. 11. So he and other Jewish students arranged a counter rally for A Factual Component the same time as the "Divest from The Anti-Racist Action group also organized the Oct. 12 rally Israel!" rally at noon on Oct. 12. urging WSU to stop investing in companies that do business" The divestment rally culminated a with Israel. The ARA brands Israel an ethnocracy, a colonial buildup of hostilities toward pro-Israel settler state and the frontline of the U.S. Empire in the Middle students stretching back to the start East. Shocking to me but evidently not out of character, an of the school year. "The campaign ARA flyer defamed Wayne State President Irvin Reid and the to delegitimize Israel is notable for its early and organized board of governors as first defenders of white supremacy and intensity, the likes of which have not been seen on the cam- the Empire. What nonsense. pus for years," Students for Israel President When StandWithUs fears that the anti-Israel move- Ari Drissman of West Bloomfield told ment on campus is just revving up, Detroit Jewry can't StandWithUs/Michigan, a pro-Israel advo- sit idly. We must lean harder on watchdog groups like the cacy and educational group. Jewish Community Council, Anti-Defamation League Students for Israel members report and American Jewish Committee to keep us informed intimidation and feeling isolated among and equipped to negate the inane rhetoric. the Muslim and Arab students and Dr. Reid is a friend of Israel and the local Jewish com- Palestinian sympathizers who demonize munity. He champions the cultural diversity at WSU. In Israel. That campus administrators don't an Oct. 12 letter hand-delivered to the JN, he affirmed sense this disconnect underscores the need Wayne State's opposition to divestiture, saying the uni- for the Detroit Jewish community to better versity "has no intention of divesting itself of stocks in support the 500-plus Jewish students there. companies doing business with Israel or any other legiti- Jonathan Schwar tz Flyers greeting students arriving in mate state?' September proclaimed,"Israel=White Supremacy" and "Why Christians Should Pray and Struggle for the Liberation of Palestine." The flyers were published and posted by the Anti-Racist Action group, a coalition not recognized as an official WSU student organization, according to a Web listing of the Dean of Students office, StandWithUs reported. Wayne State policy, however, appar- ently allows non-registered groups to hold rallies on campus Reid added, "Accusations, acrimony and demands such as though not use university buildings. divestiture are counter to the traditions of intelligent dialogue StandWithUs describes the campus climate as untenable and free discourse for which this university stands?' for Jewish students. I'm torn by the anti-Semitic overtones on I applaud Reid's continued support against divestment. He a campus built and sustained in no small measure by Jewish didn't address ARA-inciting agitation on a publicly funded leadership and support and by the right of others to take campus other than to say: "We encourage our students to use Israel to task under the cherished freedom of expression. their right to free speech, their right of peaceable assembly I didn't object when the student newspaper, the South End, and their right to petition for the redress of grievances?' published dueling commentaries: one backing divestment We, as a community, must heed the April call by the and one opposed to it. Such unfettered debate has value. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for universities to protect students from campus anti-Semitism. Because the ARA is Beneath The Surface allowed to spew its invective under the veil of free speech, the The problem runs deeper. What disturbs me most is when Jewish community must seize the opportunity to challenge the university itself is linked to the ugly hyperbole within the group and be primed to set the record straight. range of the administration and board. For example, Rashid Such counterbalance is essential to productive political ten- Khalidi, who once called for a memorial to the Palestinian sion on any university campus. Li "catastrophe" of 1948 modeled after the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, spoke on Oct. 11 under the auspices of President Reid's letter: page 21. JCCouncil Israel advocacy: page 30. That campus administrators don't sense this disconnect underscores the need for the Detroit Jewish community to better support the 500-plus Jewish students there. ALESSANDRO DELL'ACQUA 271 WEST MAPLE DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM 248.258.0212 SUNDAY 12-5 MONDAY—SATURDAY 10-6 THURSDAY EVENINGS 'TIL 9 October 19 a 2006 5