Often I write in order to present an opinion I feel strongly about; one that I feel has been silenced or even demonized on our campus. Other times I write in order to get people thinking outside the box; I may be slightly satirical, but I am also advocating for the diabolic and encourage diverse viewpoints.

Today, however, I write with the hope of effecting real change. I write with the hope to attract others to demand this paper and our university as a whole stop feeding us the same one sided, bias-laden bullshit. The Middle East dialogue on this campus has become so blatantly anti-Israel that it can’t even really be called a dialogue anymore.

On March 25, this paper embarrassed itself by not even attempting to disguise the clearly and undeniable anti-Israel bias in an article titled, “Scholars discuss ‘truth’ behind ongoing Gaza conflict.” While the panel itself was comprised of some of the most well-known anti-Israel voices on our campus, the article simply described them as scholars. I’m glad the paper put truth in quotations; it is just unfortunate that they didn’t do it with scholars as well. It speaks numbers about these scholars that Jennifer Lowenstein, the one who in the article calls for the media to be less biased, called Israel in her blog, a “westernized colony for white supremacists seeking ways to discreetly dispose of its nigger population … the most well-funded terrorist organization outside the mainland United States.” If you think that was one isolated quote, sit in on her Introduction to the Modern Middle East lecture and you will undoubtedly find that Lowenstein is not only biased, she is more interested in blaming Israel than discovering the truth (and for those of you who think I am just bitter, I got an A in the class). Had that coverage of the panel been just a one-time story I would have been able to stomach it; unfortunately it was part of a week-long anti-Israel event.

Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law professor, said, “I am pro-Israel because I am a civil libertarian, because I have devoted my life to fighting for human rights, because I am a feminist, because I am an environmentalist, because I am a gay rights supporter, and because I am a lover of peace.” I wholeheartedly echo the words of Dershowitz. Moreover, I feel the need for the world, and for the United Nations, to demand an end to the human rights violations taking place in Gaza today. We must stop Hamas. We must not allow them to brainwash young children with shows that portray Mickey Mouse-like figures as Jew-killing heroes. We must not allow them to convince young men that there is merit in being a suicide bomber. And we must not allow them to continue to use innocent civilians as human shields. If we are generally interested in peace, we don’t need to stop Israel; we need to stop the organization that calls for its obliteration.

In a March 24 piece, Samir Jaber suggests that if we want to be the change, we should encourage our school to follow Hampshire College’s divestment from Israel. I guess Samir didn’t realize that Hampshire never did such a thing. In a “Statement of Clarification” Sigmund Roos, chair of the board of trustees said, “We write to correct numerous reports …it did not pertain to a political movement and it was not made in reference to Israel.” I guess the biased media accidentally left that out. I’m sure divesting from Israel would be great: Divest from Shai Agassi, divest from EZKlien, divest from the Intel microchip and microprocessor. The notion of divesting from Israe is ridiculous and there is a reason that it has never (not even in Hampshire’s case, sorry guys) been done before.

If you want to affect real change, encourage peaceful dialogue, not hate-filled rhetoric. Thank the American government for protesting Durban II and refusing to support a convention whose noble intentions were blurred by hate and bigotry. I am not calling on everyone to have the same views as I do, but I am calling on this campus to not accept such bias. From “Eyes on Palestine” to Noam Chomsky, it’s time to call for some sort of equality.

Jordan Soffer ([email protected]) is a sophomore with an undecided major.