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October 25, 2018 - Image 14

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2018-10-25

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

jews in the d

‘From Goebbels’
Playbook’

Second slide from controversial
U-M lecture comes to light.

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14

October 25 • 2018

jn

FACEBOOK, ALEXA SMITH

A

lecture at the University of Michigan several weeks ago that
featured a slide comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler included another offensive
image, according to JNS.org.
Student Alexa Smith captured the images from the slideshow,
given by former Black Panther leader Emory Douglas, and posted
them on social media.
Regarding the additional image, Smith said: “These images come
from the playbook of Hitler
and Goebbels. They invoke
the most classical — and
most genocidal — anti-Se-
mitic conspiracy theories.”
The University of
Michigan defended the
lecture. “The image that
offended a number of our
students was on a single
slide among nearly 200
other slides that were pre-
sented over the course of
an hour,” said University
President Mark Schlissel. “It
juxtaposed photos of Israel’s
prime minister and Hitler.
“Israel was not singled out
here as imagery critical of
many other political leaders was also a part of the talk,” he contin-
ued. “This was the point of the talk itself — that imagery can be a
powerful component of movements aimed at social justice.”
Schlissel’s response evoked a strong reaction from Smith.
“It is perverse and profoundly offensive for President Schlissel to
play down the seriousness of our community’s concerns by declar-
ing that the slide equating the prime minister of Israel to Hitler
was ‘one of nearly 200 slides’ as if, in context, this was ‘no big deal,’”
Smith said.
“President Schlissel is not recognizing the unequivocally
anti-Semitic content of this entire lecture, or the effect it had and
continues to have on U-M’s Jewish students, some of whom were
REQUIRED [emphasis hers] to sit through it in order to obtain our
degrees,” Smith continued.
“President Schlissel said the ‘point of the talk itself ’ was ‘that
imagery can be a powerful component of movements aimed at
social justice,’” she added. “Perhaps he has forgotten that imagery
can also be a powerful component of mass genocide. The lecture
dehumanized an entire people and, in the context of other incidents
happening on this campus, it must be considered one of many
examples of a hostile and unsafe environment for my classmates
and me.” ■

JNS.org

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