The Oct. 28 Daily article about the new student organization, the Tufts chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), seems to highlight the notion of perspective. In the piece, this new student organization is portrayed as a student group hoping to bring to Tufts a balanced view on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As the Daily reported, the president of the chapter wants "to bring in a perspective that Tufts generally doesn't see." The question is, what is this new perspective they hope to bring to the forefront of dialogue about the Middle East on our campus?
SJP's first organized campus event was a screening of the film "Occupation 101" (2006). Like SJP, the movie attempts to bring a new perspective to American viewing audiences about the effects of the occupation on Palestinian life. Among the commentators interviewed in the film, many of whom are renowned scholars in their respective fields, is a lesser-known figure, the Rev. William Baker. Baker is brought in to stress the historic connection between the Palestinian people and Christianity. While Baker's comments are seemingly innocuous, a brief foray into his background reveals an interesting fact that SJP doesn't seem to be publicizing.
Baker is the founder of Christians and Muslims for Peace, which, according to its website, is a "nonprofit organization, comprised of Christian and Muslim men and women, dedicated to the promotion of peace, justice, and the reconciliation of all men and nations." But before he founded this group, Baker co-chaired the 1984 Populist Party along with Willis Carto, an advocate of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. In fact, the 1984 Populist convention Baker helped organize called for laws that would "not permit any racial minority, through control of the media, culture distortion or revolutionary activity, to divide or factionalize the majority of the society-nation in which the minority lives," a thinly veiled allusion to the anti-Semitic stereotype that Jews control the media. When it was made public that Baker had associated with Carto and his ideologies, Baker was expelled from the Crystal Cathedral, a Protestant church in Orange County, Calif. Although Baker denies these allegations, his anti-Semitism has been well documented. Describing a trip to New York, Baker commented, "God help me. Why? 'Cause the first people I meet when I get off the plane are pushy, belligerent American Jews."
There are two ways to look at SJP's use of a movie that cites the opinions of a neo-Nazi sympathizer. (And let us not mince words, Baker fits this label.) It is simple — either group members knew what they were doing, or they didn't; either they knew that "Occupation 101" featured the voice of someone who associated himself with neo-Nazis, or they did not. Of the two possibilities, I must hope that the former is true. Citing the opinions of someone who is obviously biased and in no position to give an opinion is an understandable tactic. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and there are few better enemies of the existence of a Jewish state than those who sympathize with the beliefs of Hitler and the Nazi Party. Siding with these voices gives easy access to persuasive arguments from impassioned speakers with a clear imperative to discredit the state of Israel.
Rather, it is the second possibility, that members of SJP were not aware of Baker's background, that is most worrisome. The idea that there is a body of students on campus so adamant in its goals as to not verify the credibility of their sources is what scares me the most. It did not take much research to access this information; a brief Google search will yield the same data that I found.
So if it is true that SJP members were unaware of what they were passing off as a "balanced" viewpoint, then I fear what perspective this group will be bringing to Tufts. It is easy to find sources to back your cause, and in the case of voices against Israel, it is even easier. There will always be citations for SJP to use and ideologues for its members to quote. But if they hope in any way to begin a meaningful dialogue — not one entrenched in biases and ad hominem arguments — then SJP members will have to prove that they reach not for the loudest protesters but, rather, for those whose beliefs and backgrounds can contribute constructively to the Israeli-Palestinian conversation.
It is more of this constructive perspective that we need on campus — not one that legitimized the voices of William Baker and his ilk. Only with time will we see which of these perspectives SJP truly hopes to bring to Tufts.
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Itai Thaler is a freshman who has not yet declared a major.
