Columnist's views miss the point

In his Oct. 18 column, Philip Kurian made a great many specious claims about the pro-Israel and Jewish community at Duke. Perhaps most glaringly, his central point that the Jewish “establishment” becomes a dark and malignant opponent of free speech whenever its own views are challenged could not be farther from the truth. He cites pseudo-historians and borderline holocaust-deniers like Norman Finkelstein to support his claims.

The objections to the Palestine Solidarity Movement stem not from a desire to stifle open debate; they stem from the need to oppose a group which by its own charter seeks to include and support those that endorse the deliberate murder of civilians, including children, as a method to achieve its goals.

This is simply inexcusable.

What seems to bother Kurian most however, is the “overrepresentation” of Jewish people, particularly in centers of higher learning. Perhaps Kurian would prefer an openly discriminatory policy whereby Jews (or any other group) might be limited to proportional representation regardless of their merits? I for one am proud to be counted among a group whose members came in great numbers to this country, with little more than the clothes on their back, a belief in hard work and a relentless pursuit of education and self-improvement and have succeeded in raising themselves up and achieving in staggering numbers.

Essentially, Kurian’s thesis is that the strength of a claim comes not from logic or force of argument but rather from the claimant’s ability to establish itself as the “victim” par excellance. As a “privileged” group, he would rather Jewish people ignore the biblical injunction “Do not stand idly by while the blood of your brother is being spilled” and evaluate the opposing view not on the merit of its argument or in light of the deplorable tactics it supports, but rather on its ability to establish itself as a victim. Such a view could not be more counterproductive, and although Kurian seems to have missed the point entirely, I trust the readers of The Chronicle will not.

Joshua Danziger

Trinity ’02