Thursday, Oct. 14, 1,500 Duke students united to take a stand against terrorism. Not often are Duke students vocal about a cause outside the Duke bubble, yet last Thursday night, they rallied for a commendable one. The Students Against Terror rally achieved its goal: Duke students affirmed that terrorism is never justified. That message rang loud and clear.
At every rally, speakers deviate from the talking points provided, and it is not the rally organizers’ fault. The organizers of this event wanted victims of terrorism or survivors of victims to relate their experiences. We did not pre-approve speeches, as we believe in free speech and the power of personal accounts.
Had we known Brigitte Gabriel’s speech would have been as inflammatory and offensive as it was, we would have unhesitatingly removed her from the speaker list. Despite her detestable aberration, the message of the concert and rally still came through, and The Chronicle failed to portray that adequately.
Students Against Terror objects to Tracy Ke’s unfair critique of Quitter John’s lyrics and of Mohammed Yahya’s reference to Jews in her Oct. 15 article. Yahya made the exact same reference to Christians and Muslims, identifying all three groups as his “brothers.” The Chronicle failed to cover the other speakers’ stories, which exemplified the message of the concert. Where was the mention of Shawn Hall’s moving story of losing his father during Sept. 11 and searching hospitals with only the slimmest glimmer of hope? Or Tzippy Cohen’s recollection of the deafening silence that comes after a suicide bomber destroys a café? And there was no mention of the bracelets we sold to raise hundreds of dollars for families of victims of terrorism across the globe.
This rally was about condemning the pervasive and worldwide problem of terrorism. This rally was a huge success. Most of our speakers were wonderful and called for peace, as Hall stated, “We all just need to be nicer to each other.”
The Chronicle is supposed to be objective and is supposed to report on events, not speak from reporters’ own agendas. Ke misrepresented the rally’s goals and the sentiments of those students in the audience, including those watching the rally on webcast around the world. Her criticism was disproportionate and failed to acknowledge any of the event’s many successes.
The Chronicle chose to address political issues that were outside the mission of the event, clearly having an agenda.
Over 25 Duke organizations united for what they believe in, and in these times, we rarely find examples of such showings of conviction. We are proud to have worked to bring that coalition together and to have an event of this caliber to affirm to the world that we care. It is unfortunate that this showing of powerful student unity was not accurately relayed to the community.
The coverage in The Chronicle was misleading. We should expect more from our student newspaper, especially when Duke students can come together for a greater cause.
Gayle Argon, Mollie Lurey
Students Against Terror, Co-coordinators
Rachael Solomon
Student president
Freeman Center for Jewish Life
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