Divisive rhetoric condemned

To the Editors:

I am writing in response to the offensive graffiti and sticker problem we as a campus are currently experiencing. As a member of Students for a Free Palestine I find these statements a gross oversimplification of the current violent crisis in Israel/Palestine. As an activist against the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, I spend countless hours developing programs and events to help educate the campus community about the current situation.
Students for a Free Palestine encourages meaningful action against the occupation. The graffiti makes my work extremely difficult as I must spend time and energy convincing the campus community that members of my group are not writing such ridiculous and unnuanced statements.
If you insist “Zionism is Racism” you must also admit that “All Nationalist Projects Contain Racist Elements Against an Otherized People.” The statement “Zionism is Racism” comes from specific debates within the United Nations. These specific rhetorical conflicts were over and done with a long time ago. I suggest that the graffiti culprit looks up these debates if he/she is interested but I also remind him/her that in such a serious and rapidly escalating conflict it doesn’t make any sense to wield such antiquated and divisive language.
I am glad that the graffitier feels so deeply about this issue but I suggest that he/she spends a bit more time reading books and newspapers on the subject than running around campus with a magic marker in his/her hand making life difficult for those who must, literally and politically, clean up after him/her. There are at least four groups on this campus who work specifically with issues surrounding Israel/Palestine.
I encourage the graffiti culprit, and the rest of the college community, to attend an event we put together. I’m sure we will all learn something. I also call on anyone who is offended by the graffiti to cut out this letter and tape it next to the offensive statements. We can create a dialogue about this issue if we work together as a campus community.

—Shelley Goldman
College senior