If universities in the United States want to help students develop solutions for the challenges facing the Middle East, then they must start by addressing a lack of academic integrity and antisemitism exhibited recently by a vocal group of students and faculty.
Read more:
At a university, the right to free speech should not extend to peddling falsehoods. For example, the right to free speech may provide a professor in the history department the right to state their view that slavery never existed in America, but I would expect that the university would remove this professor from the history department.
The right to free speech may provide a professor in the physics department the right to state their view that the earth is flat, but I would expect that the university would remove this professor from the physics department. Peddling in falsehoods at a university robs students of the education they require to become responsible citizens and successful professionals.
When professors or students claim that Israel is (1) full of colonialists, (2) An apartheid state, or (3) chant “from the river to the sea,” they are peddling similar falsehoods. In response to those three falsehoods, as you know,
(1) the Torah, New Testament, Koran as well as the historical chronicles from the Roman Empire record the presence of Jews in detail in what is today the State of Israel.
(2) While those claiming that Israel is an apartheid state have their duplicitous motivations to convince people that Israel is a homogeneous state of white European Jews, the fact is that Jews of European descent (who fled Europe to escape persecution) make up approximately 30% of Israel’s population.
The majority of Israel's population is comprised of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews who were expelled from their homes in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and Arab countries with only what they could carry, Ethiopian Jews who trace their lineage to the first expulsion of Jews from Israel thousands of year ago, Israeli Arabs, Druze (a people who have lived in Israel for centuries and choose to serve in the Israeli military), Bedouins, Armenian Christians who have their section of Jerusalem called the Armenian Quarter, and the Bahai (a pacifist religious order that fled persecution in Iran (their main temple is now in Haifa and their stunning architecture and gardens are open to all).
2 View gallery
A Pro-Palestine protester at the University of California
(Photo: Caroline Brehman / EPA)
(3) The chant, "from the river to the sea" signifies exterminating Jews and destroying Israel. Unfortunately, there is historical precedence for this. Babylonians expelled the Jews from Israel, the Romans expelled the Jews from Israel (the Arch of Titus in Rome was built by the Romans to depict their conquest of Israel and their taking of Jews back to Rome as slaves) and the Jews were expelled by the Crusaders. But over thousands of years, the Jewish people have always maintained a presence in Israel and have always strived to reestablish the historical State of Israel.
I support the eventual creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank that can co-exist peacefully with Israel. The Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey, controlled the entire region until 1917), Egypt (controlled Gaza until 1967), and Jordan (controlled the West Bank until 1967) chose not to create a Palestinian state when they controlled Gaza and the West Bank.
I bring up this historical fact because while many in the region claim to “support” a Palestinian state, none have provided the Palestinians with an independent state when they had the opportunity to do so. It clarifies the hypocrisy and complexity that the current geopolitical situation is rife with and why honest historical and political discourse at a university is so important to developing a solution.
The Palestinian people deserve more than slogans by professors and students who offer no ideas or solutions related to economic development or peaceful coexistence with Israel. The professors and students who march uninformed, spew hateful slogans towards Jews and then return to the comfort of their dorm room or university housing to congratulate themselves on social media stifle any aspiration for the Palestinians to achieve a safe and prosperous future.
Ron Gonen Photo: Closed Loop PartnersThey align themselves with the leaders of Hamas who choose to live in luxury in Qatar, hundreds of miles away from Palestinians in Gaza. Egypt and Israel have lived in peaceful coexistence across multiple political leaders and governments since 1978. Gaza sits between Egypt and Israel. Peaceful coexistence between Gaza and Israel can be achieved.
This is a moment in history when a university either defines itself as stuck in backward thinking or defines itself as a global leader in solving complex issues and graduating future leaders of government and business.
- Ron Gonen is the Founder/CEO of Closed Loop Partners.