Letters to the Editor

To the Daily:

In his letter, (Anti-Arab discrimination is unfair
propaganda, 03/11/04) Adi Peshkess wrote that he was
“appalled” to see the advertisement concerning the
Middle East in Tuesday’s Daily. I was appalled, too, but for
entirely different reasons. First of all, Mr. Peshkess complains
that the ad is anti-Arab propaganda. While the authors of the ad
are a bit harsh and present a view slanted to the right, they are
correct about Arab hostility toward Israel. The ad leaves no room
for any positive message, however. Although anti-Israel sentiment
and anti-Semitism are endemic in the Middle East, it doesn’t
mean that every Arab harbors such hateful feelings. Among the main
culprits are the totalitarian Arab governments that encourage
anti-Semitism and anti-Western sentiment among their citizens. In
addition, presenting Israel’s need to defend itself
isn’t even comparable to religious fundamentalist
homophobia.

But let’s get to the point. The main issue is that the
publishers of the article had no place getting involved in our
campus politics. Pro-Israel students and faculty members have the
responsibility of countering anti-Israel propaganda on campus by
presenting a unified voice in support of Israel and democratic
institutions, a responsibility shared by neither David Horowitz nor
Ronald Stackler. Fortunately, the University hosts an excellent
pro-Israel movement on campus, and there is a sufficient level of
knowledge about Middle Eastern politics on campus, in general. To
suggest that the pro-Israel students need outside help in
presenting their case or that other students are in such dire need
of the view given in the ad is nothing but a slap in all of our
faces. While the article does contain truths, the key facts of the
Arab-Israeli conflict can be so easily articulated by the
pro-Israel students here, instead of being presented in such a
negative and unintelligent manner. The only thing that
Horowitz’s poorly written ad accomplishes is undermining
student attempts at Israel advocacy and giving the pro-Israel, as
well as conservative groups on campus, a bad name. How some
middle-aged guy who is unaffiliated with the University has any
business writing responses to the Daily’s editorialists or
telling us pro-Israel students how to do our job is beyond me.

Matthew Wolfe

LSA freshman