12 | APRIL 4 • 2024 
J
N

continued on page 14

Roeper of
 cials work with ADL for solutions 
to ease tensions regarding Israel-Hamas war.

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

Opening a Dialogue

T

he Roeper Upper School 
began to take positive 
steps forward to open 
dialogue and discussion and 
ease tensions between students 
after it was revealed to the JN
that a group of students began 
creating inflammatory posters 
about the Hamas-Israel war. 
The posters — which were 
hung around Feb. 10 and quick-
ly removed by school adminis-
trators — falsely accused Israel 
of genocide, said 
that anti-Zionism 
did not equate 
to antisemitism 
and encouraged 
students to join 
pro-Palestinian 
organizations. 
The posters 
caused some 
altercations in 
the hallway and 
made several 
Jewish students 
feel unsafe. 

Roeper officials 
have been work-
ing with the Anti-

Defamation League (ADL) on 
some solutions. The school also 
reached out and invited Wayne 
State University faculty mem-
bers Howard Lupovitch, pro-
fessor of history and director of 
the Cohn-Haddow Center for 
Judaic Studies, and Saeed Khan, 
associate professor of teach-
ing in Near Eastern Studies, 
to speak on the 
complex topic of 
the war. 
The two have 
long worked 
together in fos-
tering dialogue 
and making 
media appearanc-
es about Middle 
East conflicts 
at Wayne State University and 
throughout Metro Detroit. 
Lupovitch said school offi-
cials began reaching out to him 
and Khan around the last week 
of February through a series of 
emails and then an email invi-
tation that went out on March 6
formally inviting them to come 
to speak to students about the 

Israel-Hamas war. 
Lupovitch said he had an 
inkling that some tensions were 
going on surrounding the war, 
but neither he nor Khan was 
aware of the presence of the 
posters. 
“I assumed there was agita-
tion and strong opinions that 
led straight into anger and even 
vulgarity, and at 
some point, feel-
ings were hurt as 
things tend to go 
in a high school 
setting,
” Lupovitch 
said during an 
interview he and 
Khan had togeth-
er with the JN. 
Khan added: 
“We were not clear on the 
backstory as to why we were 
invited in an email, but as we 
often do in other instances, we 
gladly accepted the invitation to 
speak.
”
The professors said before 
the assembly, they received 
“well-thought-out” and “fair” 
questions in advance from the 

students. Questions included 
“What is Hamas?”
, “Why can’t 
Israel get rid of Hamas with-
out hurting Palestinians?” and 
“What is Zionism?” 

Following the event, Khan 
said the students were “amaz-
ingly attentive and enrapt with 
the conversation.
” 
“If nothing else, I think we 
were able to motivate them to 
think about the conflict in a 
more complex and critical way,
” 
added Lupovitch. 

“The largest message we 
wanted to leave with the stu-
dents is that it is possible to 
disagree,
” Lupovitch said. “Even 
if you disagree, you can do so 
respectfully and constructively. 
The goal should not be to win 
or change another person’s 
opinion but to learn from other 
people through discussion.
” 

STUDENTS AND 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Upon examining photos of the 
posters, Khan said this was the 
students’ approach to taking on 
student activism by using sound 

The Roeper 
School

BY USER: REILLYDREW, WIKIMEDIA

Professor 
Howard 
Lupovitch

Professor 
Saeed 
Khan

