The University is bracing for protests next week, and officials are mobilizing every aspect of the security and communication departments in anticipation of the potential violence that administrators hope will remain in the theoretical realm.
The University is bracing for protests next week, and officials are mobilizing every aspect of the security and communication departments in anticipation of the potential violence that administrators hope will remain in the theoretical realm.
As many as 100 security officers from the Duke University Police Department and other sources will secure the campus Oct. 14 to 17, when the annual conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement and a slew of events sponsored by pro-Israeli groups will take place on campus. A team of student affairs administrators and faculty, similar to the “A-team” that patrols basketball bonfires, will serve as a first line of defense for any conflicts that may occur.
The University is dictating—and paying for—security at events held by both PSM and the Joint Israel Initiative, a coalition of groups sponsoring the majority of the pro-Israeli programming. An estimate for the total cost is not yet available because the actual level of security will depend on the way the weekend plays out.
“We have thought about this a lot,” said Executive Vice President Tallman Trask, who coordinates all safety departments on campus.
At last year’s PSM conference at Ohio State University, several busloads of people descended upon the campus to protest the conference during the weekend. Duke officials are preparing for any protests that may arise.
“We do know that these [protests] could be potentially controversial,” DUPD Chief Clarence Birkhead said. “The magnitude of this conference is really pulling the security forces of the campus together.”
Jewish groups on campus have encouraged their members not to protest PSM events directly, but national opposition to the conference has been growing. An online petition encouraging President Richard Brodhead to reject the conference had more than 82,000 signatures Wednesday night.
The Jewish Defense Organization, whose website declares that it is “training Jews to defend themselves against Nazi terror,” is mobilizing people as well. Multiple people who contacted The Chronicle but refused to give their names said the group held a meeting Tuesday blasting Duke’s decision to allow the conference and chastising campus Jewish groups for not organizing protests.
A telephone recording on the organization’s official phone number encouraged people not to donate to Duke and to contact the University to protest what the recording called “an Arab terror meeting.”
JDO has claimed responsibility for at least one act of vandalism against French right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen, according to the website of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that combats anti-Semitism and seeks “justice and fair treatment.”
The Anti-Defamation League has not condemned Duke’s decision, but it has cautioned that the University must foster an atmosphere of open debate rather than a hostile environment.
The majority of PSM events will occur on main West Campus, while most of the pro-Israeli events will be held at the Freeman Center for Jewish Life on Campus Drive.
Birkhead said the geographical separation was a coincidence but will make the events easier to control.
Metal detectors will be used at both PSM and pro-Israeli events. University officials decided to require the screening for the conference after they received an e-mail threat; organizers from Joint Israel Initiative requested the additional security for their events.
“Anyone is welcome to come in,” said senior Adam Yoffie, president of Duke Friends of Israel. “The security is an extra precaution, but it’s not any means to block tape recorders or any other non-violent devices.”
PSM organizers were initially worried that metal detectors would make the conference appear secretive and its attendees seem violent, said Rann Bar-on, local spokesperson for PSM and a graduate student in mathematics.
“There has never been a threat realized,” he said. “We don’t consider it necessary to have metal detectors.” Since the pro-Israeli events will use the same security measures, unequal perceptions are less of a concern, Bar-on said.
He denied rumors that the metal detectors would be used to prevent recording equipment. The entire conference is open to all who register, whether they are members of PSM or just visitors to the conference. Some of the weekend events, such as the workshops and strategy meetings, are closed to the press.
Tape recorders and other recording devices are permitted at all the open sessions, Bar-on said, but the closed sessions are all off-the-record to “enable free speech.”
He noted that reporters could theoretically enter the closed sessions as long as they do not record quotes or interrupt the flow of discussion. “If people in a given workshop feel they’re being disruptive, they can be asked to leave according to the code of conduct,” Bar-on said.
In addition, metal detectors will likely be used at a Thursday night speech by pro-Israeli activist Daniel Pipes. The Duke Conservative Union, which is sponsoring the event, said it has requested University security, but it has not yet finalized the details.
At a “Students Against Terror” concert and rally Thursday night, security presence will be “one notch higher” than it would be for an ordinary outdoor concert, Birkhead said. Although the concert is technically not part of the pro-Israeli events of the weekend, several student groups have seen it as directed against the PSM conference because PSM refused to sign a statement that condemns terrorism.
Bar-on said the organization’s policies prevent it from commenting on any means of resistance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hiwar, the student group hosting the conference, has said it condemns terrorism but did not sponsor the concert. “I think it’s specifically a counter-concert to the PSM conference,” said junior Emily Antoon, president of Hiwar. “I think it’s implicitly endorsing state terrorism.”
A variety of other campus groups ranging from political organizations to cultural centers have also chosen not to endorse the concert for a variety of reasons.
The Office of News and Communications has put together an expanded team of public relations experts drawn from all areas of the University. In addition to disseminating general information about the event, the news office has set up a “rumor control” team in an attempt to prevent misinformation about the conference from leaking.
“”We want to try to share the facts as broadly as we can before false information takes on a life of its own,” said David Jarmul, associate vice president of news and communications. The University will continually update its website throughout the weekend.
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