The Daily Orange has received Letters to the Editor in response to the nationwide encampments as well as the start of Syracuse University’s encampment Monday. Some of these submissions are featured here.

As members of our community continue to send Letters to the Editor, we will continue to update this page.

The AAUP stands with SU students’ right to protest

May 1, 2024

Syracuse University’s AAUP Executive Committee supports and defends students’ rights to free speech, free assembly and free expression in creating a peaceful Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the Shaw Quadrangle at SU. We realize that members of our university have varying positions on the wider issues in the Palestine-Israel conflict, but regardless of differences across campus, we are overwhelmingly united in defending the rights of students to speak, assemble and protest, especially in the face of the threats of police and state violence, political interference and suppression of free speech on other campuses across the United States. We are particularly impressed that the protestors at SU have placed protecting academic freedom at the core of their demands, as the AAUP believes this vital principle, so central to university life, is under attack both at SU and across the nation. We stand in solidarity with the April 24 press release “In Defense of the Right to Free Speech and Peaceful Protest on University Campuses” signed by many AAUP chapters across the country.

We urge the administration to adhere to the recommendations put forth by the American Civil Liberties Union in its Open Letter to College Universities and Presidents on Student Protests, which calls on universities not to “single out particular viewpoints — however offensive they may be to some members of the community — for censorship, discipline, or disproportionate punishment.” We support the ACLU in defining “harassment” narrowly so as to avoid viewpoint censorship — it is unacceptable for the university to wield unfounded charges of harassment against protestors as a silencing tactic. We also call on the administration, in keeping with the ACLU’s statement, not to involve the police in matters of student protest “except as a last resort.”

SU AAUP Executive Committee,
Matt Huber – President
Joanna Spitzner – Vice President
Diane Grimes – Treasurer
Matthew Mulvaney – Secretary
Ivy Kleinbart – Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Representative
Eileen E. Schell – Member-at-Large
Crystal Bartolovich – Past President

This Letter to the Editor was written by multiple members of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Executive Committee. They can be reached at mthuber@syr.edu

Syracuse University needs more respectful, accurate dialogue

First and foremost, I must remind us all that amid the meaningful activism taking place on American college campuses, it’s crucial not to lose sight of the pressing international issues that demand our attention. We cannot afford to shift our focus entirely inward from what is occurring in the Gaza Strip. Instead, we must continue lobbying for real change with a strong, united front to push for an immediate ceasefire as our number one priority. The toll on civilians living in Gaza is immeasurable, including the spread of infectious diseases, a dangerous lack of sanitation and dire malnutrition, stressing the critical need for humanitarian aid to be dispersed without being manipulated as leverage for military strategies and political gains. It’s imperative that we prioritize peace and the safety of innocent lives above all else. Let this serve as a reminder to continue to engage in dialogue, spread awareness about recent critical events unfolding in the region and further our own understandings to the best of our ability, because as Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

As a student at Syracuse University, the recent encampments have sparked a lot of reflection – parts of me are extremely prideful, while other parts of me are extremely apprehensive. As most empathetic individuals would, I too share the desire for a more just and peaceful resolution to this unfolding tragedy.

As much as I respect the right for students to peacefully protest and the right of assembly and free speech, I also find it crucial that we approach the demand list being presented to SU’s administration with a critical eye understanding what is truly feasible and how best to achieve meaningful progress.

The recent encampments on campus have ignited a conversation that, while necessary, risks becoming a shouting match if not treated with delicacy and respect. While the grievances voiced deserve attention, the methods employed and some of the demands themselves create a barrier to real progress. This isn’t about silencing voices – it’s about fostering an environment where reason and diplomacy can prevail.

Firstly, let’s address the elephant in the room. The presence of an individual part of an organizing group with a documented history of antisemitism and incitement of violence is deeply troubling. Removing her from the premises was, in my opinion, a moral obligation of the organizers, as hate speech has no place on our campus and such rhetoric only serves to poison the well of productive dialogue. True activism thrives on open discourse, not inflammatory and violent attacks on peoples’ identities.

One concern is the communication around the demands. As much as I support open dialogue, some of the points seem unclear or based on misinformation. For instance, the demands to “disclose all funds to Israel” or “divest from companies that support the situation in Gaza” don’t quite reflect SU’s reality. Our university is a non-profit, and its investments are likely focused on generating returns to support our education as students and further academic research, not influence international politics. However, transparency is important, and the university has made it clear that they have a review process in place for social responsibility concerns. As students, we have seven Student Representatives to the Board of Trustees, in which students can directly voice their concerns with a direct channel to university administration. If concerns raised are put in writing to the Chancellor, Senior Vice President and CFO, a thorough review will be conducted that can involve the Investment and Endowment Committee. Based on the assessment of the review, potential outcomes include communication with the external party, shareholder resolutions, proxy voting or disassociation from the external party, including divestment of the university’s investment in the external party. It is important that we voice our concerns out loud, but we must also document them thoroughly and follow established procedures to ensure they are heard and addressed effectively.

Similarly, calls to terminate all “study abroad programs to Israel” seem counterproductive to the demand of “protecting academic freedom.” Study abroad programs, even those in Israel, can provide learning experiences and opportunities for open dialogue and better intercultural understanding. Even in a political climate that I do not morally agree with, I believe that having multicultural ties as an academic institution is fundamental to equipping students with the knowledge and understanding to navigate a complex world.

The demand for reform within the Department of Public Safety to address racism and bias is one of the core functions of our existing Community Review Board. The CRB is responsible for reviewing appeals of civilian complaints regarding DPS officer conduct, reviewing and commenting on prospective new DPS policies, procedures and training and reviewing key community-facing functions of DPS. Thus far, not a single civilian complaint of this nature has reached the board this semester. While this doesn’t negate the possibility of incidents of this nature occurring, what it does tell me is that we should all be actively encouraging the reporting, and proper documentation, of discriminatory behavior by DPS officers in order for it to be addressed properly.

There are, however, very feasible and attainable demands from the organizers of the encampment that I strongly agree deserve a platform. The university must advocate for a ceasefire and allow the formation of a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, upholding the principle of freedom of association, as long as the tenets and mission of the organization follow the Code of Conduct. The university can advocate for peace while ensuring freedom of association. The key to this lies in open communication between the organizers, the university and the entire student body.

As students, we yearn for a campus environment where our voices are heard and the Palestinian narrative is acknowledged, but we must do so in an effective and respectful manner. History is full of examples of diplomacy leading to positive change, from the resolution of the Cold War to the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa. Peaceful protest remains a right, but it should be accompanied by a willingness to listen and learn from different perspectives, because we must all be honest, avoiding conversation gets us nowhere. Shutting down opposing viewpoints, even those we find offensive, only deepens the divide. Imagine a world where every time we disagreed, we demanded the abolishment of the opposing group. That is a recipe for perpetual conflict, not progress.

Here at SU, we have a unique opportunity to set an example of building bridges, not walls. Let us foster a space where diverse voices can be heard, where facts are valued over inflammatory rhetoric, where reason guides our actions.

This Letter to the Editor was written by an anonymous SU student.

Anti-Zionism is antisemitism

Courtesy of Ianne Veta

Last week, I sat down at my family’s Passover seder. At the end of the seder, my family and I said what our ancestors and Jews around the world say: “לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בִּירוּשָלָיִם” (L’Shana Haba’ah B’Yerushalayim) meaning “next year in Jerusalem.” Next year, in our ancestral homeland, in our holy land.

Judaism and Israel are intimately connected. Zion – the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem – is mentioned in the Torah over 150 times. We pray facing Jerusalem. Our holiest site, the Western Wall, lies in Jerusalem. We have holidays based around Israel’s agricultural cycle.

The Jewish people pray and yearn for their safe return to the land of Israel. One is considered “spiritually raised,” by returning to the holy land. The list goes on and on.

Zionism, at its core, is the belief that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. To deny the connection between the Jewish people and Israel is to deny a fundamental aspect of Judaism.

Since the beginning of the diaspora – the dispersion of Jewish people outside of Israel – endless persecution and massacres have littered Jewish history. Whether it’s the Babylonians, the Roman Empire, across Europe, Morocco, Iran, Libya, Syria or Nazi Germany, antisemitism is one of the oldest forms of hatred.

Watching Jewish families endlessly flee has painstakingly and repeatedly proven that the Jewish people are not safe in the diaspora. The state of Israel acts as the single place on Earth with a guarantee that this government, these systems and these people will not turn on us — a safety all people deserve. To deny the Jewish need for Israel is to deny centuries of persecution and minimize the endless atrocities committed against the Jewish people.

Today, antisemitism has run rampant across universities in America. In support of Columbia University’s encampment, protestors at the University’s gates proclaimed outward support of Hamas, chanting “Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets too,” and “Hamas you make us proud.” Hamas is a recognized terrorist organization whose founding documents outline its goal to kill all Jews. They perpetrated the butchering, sexual assaults and massacre of Oct. 7.

On campus at Columbia University, an individual pointed a sign toward Jewish students reading “Al-Qassam’s next targets.” Al-Qassam is Hamas’s military wing. A Jewish student was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag and went to the hospital. A sign reading “Oh Qassam, oh beloved, we want to burn Tel Aviv” was written in chalk on UCLA’s campus. On campuses such as the University of Washington St. Louis and the University of Michigan, students chanted “long live the Intifada.”

Protests like these are erupting all over college campuses and have been condoned by Hamas and the Islamic Republic of Iran themselves. We, as Jews, see the violence and extreme acts of antisemitism associated with these protests; yet, they are labeled “peaceful,” we are dismissed as “overdramatic” and told “it’s not antisemitic, just anti-Zionist.”

Students have claimed that Syracuse University should stand in solidarity with Columbia University, with the people who have committed and encouraged many of these atrocious and malicious acts of antisemitism.

SU Jewish Israeli student Kfir Shoham stated this is “disheartening, angering and worrisome. Standing with the protest at Columbia University is supporting protests that have actively put Jewish students and faculty at risk for their safety.”

Why, during wars with far greater losses, in the Congo, Sudan or the genocide in China, did these same students, who claim to care so deeply about human rights, say nothing? It is a blatant double standard watching these students remain utterly silent for every global atrocity until it is the single Jewish country on the planet defending its right to exist.

The correlation between pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus and antisemitic incidents is undeniable and in direct causation of one another. Former Columbia University student Khymani James, the spokesperson and leader of the Columbia University encampments, now expelled, has said the following: “Zionists don’t deserve to live comfortably, let alone Zionists don’t deserve to live,” continuing, “I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, calling for those people (Zionists) to die.”

Across college campuses, we hear chants, “Say it loud and say it clear, we don’t want no Zionists here.” Yet, 8-in-10 American Jews state that “caring about Israel is an essential or important part of what being Jewish means to them.” The term “Zionist” is synonymous with an overwhelming majority of Jews. To advocate for the death, exclusion or removal of an overwhelming majority of any minority group is unequivocally discrimination.

The encampments at SU, backed by our Student Association, have called to “enforce bans on student organizations fundraising to support genocide and war crimes,” according to a public statement posted on Instagram by the SU Encampment Group. This is a call to ban student organizations that have raised money for Israel, including Jewish communities such as Hillel, Chabad and every other Jewish space on campus.

The encampment speaker, Aziza Zahran, has repeatedly praised Hitler and called for the death of Jews. This does not promote peace nor encourage dialogue.

Demanding to ban all Jewish spaces and promoting a known Nazi sympathizer is irrefutably antisemitic. The embarrassing need to justify why only proves that too many are blind to their own biases.

These protests across campuses are a breeding ground for rampant antisemitism, villainizing the only Jewish country, encouraging violence under the guise of social activism and dehumanizing Jewish students through the word “Zionist.” When an overwhelming majority of Jewish students report feeling unsafe on campus, there is unequivocally a problem on college campuses.

Whether it’s Columbia University or here at SU, modeling a protest movement after an individual who is blatantly antisemitic and actively endorses violence should not surprise anyone when antisemitic incidents occur on campus. It is possible to advocate for Palestinians and criticize the Israeli government without threatening the safety of Jewish students.

For thousands of years, Jews were told to adhere to a certain standard in order to be accepted into society. We must worship idols. We must give up our traditions. We must hide our identity. Today’s antisemitism is no different as our peers demand that Jews must renounce our connection with the land of Israel.

Those who do so are tokenized and embraced. Those who refuse to give up this fundamental aspect of Judaism are labeled “Zionists.” Say what you mean. You mean Jews that don’t adhere to your standard.

You do not determine which aspects of my religion are good enough. You do not declare which aspects I should discard. I am the only person who dictates how I practice my Judaism. I will not give up my connection with Israel or Jerusalem, nor will I let your gross misinterpretation and mutilation of Zionism define what it means to me.

Zionism: the right for the Jewish people to have self-determination in their ancestral homeland. Zion: The land of Israel, the city of Jerusalem.

I say what generations of Jewish people have said before me, what Jewish people around the world say now and what future generations will say, “עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי” (Am Yisrael Chai), “The people of Israel live.”

This Letter to the Editor was written by Ianne Veta on behalf of the Israeli Culture Club. They can be reached at ilveta@syr.edu

Politician commentary amid encampments fuels agitation

Three things happened on April 29.

First: Two-hundred and six days into the Israel-Hamas War, at Syracuse University’s Shaw Quadrangle, a few dozen students gathered with chairs and tents in solidarity with student protests happening across the United States.

Second: In response to the protest at Syracuse University, Representative Brandon Williams took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and declared:

Demands? I don’t care what your demands are. Get the hell out of our community and never come back.

Those are my demands.

And the clock is ticking. https://t.co/NXdal2xD8o

— Rep. Brandon Williams (@RepWilliams) April 29, 2024

Third: Thousands of miles away, the State of Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared, “There are no half measures. (The Gazan cities of) Rafah, Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat – total annihilation. You will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”

I was immediately taken aback. “Get the hell out of our community”? Who is he talking about? My students? Me? These reckless comments are declarations that authorize violence – Williams asks us to set our neighbors apart as outsiders while Smotrich connects modern Palestinian cities to a commandment to obliterate a biblical foe. We find ourselves among politicians who, at best, don’t understand the gravity of their shouting, or at worst, don’t care who gets hurt.

Even if it feels right, even if it’s what we heard on television or read while scrolling, we don’t have to go along with it.

I won’t get into the facts of this present moment. If you really want to know about the history of the conflict, you can seek out resources that aren’t reckless soundbites meant to activate partisan fault lines. If you really want to understand the perspectives on the conflict right now, you can click through jpost.com, haaretz.com and 972mag.com to read reporting that spans the political gamut.

What is clear is that Smotrich’s words are unabashedly calls for violence, meant to activate far-right and fundamentalist interests while attempting to allay the pain of this tremendous crisis for Jewish Israelis. This is the moment Smotrich and his allies have been waiting for. In March 2023, in response to Smotrich’s call to “wipe out” the West Bank village of Huwara, Jewish Voice for Peace wrote, “If (Joe) Biden fails to take action at this moment, the U.S. will be fully complicit in the violence that comes next.”

Students across this country are stopping. They are stopping to educate themselves, seek facts, consider complex histories, dream of more just tomorrows, mourn. I hope those who feel energized by Williams’ comments will stop to consider why.

Nicholas Croce is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Maxwell School. He can be reached at njcroce@syr.edu.

Published on April 30, 2024 at 11:13 pm