The Observer, April 4, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 23
Israel debate requires rational perspective
To the Editor:
In a March 28 column in The Observer, Caleb Posner charges that there have been violent attacks on Jewish students on campus spurred by anti-Semitism. It is imperative that the individuals attacked contact the police immediately so that a thorough criminal investigation can be conducted.
Posner seems to tie these attacks to programs sponsored by Alice Bach. Posner says professor Bach brings in speakers who are "vile, intellectually corrupt, and dishonest brokers of hate" and that she also sponsors a student group which "takes advantage of the ignorance of American college youth to promote a deadly agenda." Posner's goal seems to be to prevent these speakers from appearing on the CWRU campus.
As a 1972 graduate (master's degree) of CWRU, I have attended nearly all the programs referenced by Posner. What he does not mention is that at least half of the speakers he so despises have been Jewish – admittedly in the "Jewish peace camp," or some would say on the political left. The non-Jewish speakers, while criticizing specific policies of the United States and Israel, have all gone out of their way to respect the rights of Jews and the state of Israel. Professors Mearsheimer and Walt (University of Chicago and Harvard) are singled out by Posner as purveyors of "well trafficked lies." They spoke here about their national bestseller The Israel Lobby. Though they criticize this lobby, they also say the United States should defend Israel if it is attacked, hardly an "anti-Semitic" position.
The conclusion I draw is that there exists a serious debate about U.S. foreign policy. Also there is a growing political schism within the American Jewish community. In Israel this debate has been out in the open for a long time. Newspapers in Israel such as Haaretz have displayed much more freedom of press than has been possible in the United States. Only when President Jimmy Carter and then Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa defined Israel's occupation of Palestine as "apartheid" was there a breakthrough in the U.S. media. Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun has defended Mearsheimer and Walt's thesis about the Israel Lobby. Lerner's credentials include his own book, The Socialism of Fools: Anti-Semtism on the Left. Nonetheless, the headline on the cover of his September 2007 issue of Tikkun magazine says that the Israel Lobby is "Bad for the U.S., Bad for Israel, Bad for the Jews."
Posner writes that open debate fosters intellectual growth for students in higher education. I agree. But we need to stick to the issues and eliminate the name-calling. Posner's passion for his cause can be admired, but when this passion overflows into personalized, verbal attacks, he is guilty of exactly the same bad behavior he says he deplores in others. Let's have the debate without the name-calling.
Thomas Kim Hill
CWRU '72
