Dear Editor,
Last Thursday, Elliott McCarthy wrote an op-ed in which he talked about the need for constructive dialogue about the Israel-Palestine conflict. I am deeply saddened that he has come to feel unwelcome in his own faith. However, I was perplexed when he went from stating that "the message from many Jews is clear: in order to be Jewish, you need to unconditionally support Israel" to "The Tufts Jewish community has adopted these principles as well."
I cannot deny Elliott's experience or how it has shaped his view of "the Tufts Jewish community." However, I personally find his labeling of the "Tufts Jewish community" as a community that encourages one to "question Israel but not outright disagree with it" problematic.
The Tufts Jewish community is not a monolithic community. There are a multitude of Jewish communities on this campus, and there is a wide variety of opinions among them. As Elliott says himself, most Jews did not respond to his views negatively, yet he lets the acts of a minority paint his entire opinion of the Jewish communities at Tufts.
Furthermore, he reduces the Jewish communities at Tufts to a single organization on campus, Tufts Hillel, by describing the national Hillel policy stating that campus Hillels will not co-sponsor events with organizations that support Boycott , Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) (and therefore, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)) as the best proof that the "Jewish community" has adopted the principle that Jews should not outright disagree with Israel. Besides the fact that one can disagree with both Israel and BDS, Tufts Hillel does not represent every Jewish community on campus.
More problematic than that is describing a single Hillel policy as proof of the position of any Jewish community at Tufts, including ones centered on Hillel. I am on Tufts Hillel's student executive board, yet I find the national Hillel policy regarding SJP unproductive and an affront to Jewish values that promote dialogue, and I have no problem stating so publicly.
Disagreeing with Israel is not anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish. Like Elliott, I have met people on this campus who fail to see this distinction. I have tried my best to have productive dialogues with them, yet I won't allow their opinions to paint my opinion of what it means to be a Jew. I am disgusted by the people who have called Elliot an anti-Semite and other derogatory terms. However, I invite Elliott and others who feel the same way to explore the many Jewish communities on campus, as there are many Jews on this campus who, despite their own opinions on the conflict, recognize that there is nothing more Jewish than being critical and having productive dialogues on complex issues, especially regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Sincerely,
Jordan Dashow
Class of 2014
