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Wednesday Feb 25, 2009
Double Standard Watch: Hampshire has now done the right thing
Posted by Alan Dershowitz
Comments: 7
    
Hampshire has now done the right thing. It has made it unequivocally clear that it did not and will not divest from Israel. Indeed, it will continue to hold stock in companies that do business with Israel as well as with Israeli companies, so long as these companies meet the general standards that Hampshire applies to all of its holdings. As I previously wrote to President Hexter, if Hampshire did the right thing and made its position crystal clear I would urge contributors to continue to contribute to this fine school. I now do so. Indeed, I plan myself to make a contribution to Hampshire and to urge that my contribution, and perhaps others, be used to start a fund to encourage the presentation of all reasonable views regarding the Middle East to the college community. Debate about the Middle East is essential and criticism of any of the parties, when warranted, is healthy. What I condemned and continue to condemn is the singling out of Israel for divestment, unwarranted condemnation or any other sanction. I look forward to working together with Hampshire to assure that the marketplace of ideas remains open to all reasonable views on this important issue, and that students feel comfortable expressing views that may not represent the majority view on the campus.
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Hampshire Parent NY,
Wednesday Feb 25, 2009
Hampshire wanted students to believe it had divested to pacify the virulently anti-Israel Students for Justice in Palestine & their many supporters on campus. Only the public outcry, led by Prof. Dershowitz, resulted in their "recanting." The SJP students who harass and intimidate others, & whom HC claims lied about divestment, are not known to have been disciplined. It's an unwelcoming campus for identifying Jews, with administration and faculty that actively speak out against Israeli existence. Jewish parents/students should know this, and should not attend or support Hampshire.
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Mark Zamcheck - Massachusetts,
Wednesday Feb 25, 2009
Thank you Mr. Dershowitz. You helped Hampshire and the truth come forth on this issue, and you honored your pledge. This truth still needs a hard push into the world at large, however, since the falsehoods certainly received way-too-easy press and traction.
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W Charnes,
Wednesday Feb 25, 2009
Recently, Hampshire Jewish students felt so unsafe that the campus Rabbi called a closed meeting so they could express and explore their opinions and emotions without fear of harassment and intimidation. At this same time, 65 faculty and administrators, including the Vice President and Dean of Faculty AND the Special Presidential Assistant for Diversity and Multicultural Education, who hears bias complaints signed a letter supporting the Students for Justice in Palestine. ( [ Link to page ] ).
Hampshire merely fears bad PR. It still has NOT done the right thing.
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Jo Ellen Davey Cohen Oak Park, Illinois,
Wednesday Feb 25, 2009
Professor Dershowitz: regarding the Hamshire College pledge: the agreement is subject to review.
I believe Hexter's decision was a tactical one; he feared Alan Dershowitz, the 'army of one,' and his rancorous garrison far more than he feared the student rabble-rousers.
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Jon, Berkeley, CA,
Wednesday Feb 25, 2009
Professor Dershowitz is on the right track. Punish institutions that improperly single out Israel for condemnation, and reward institutions that do the right thing and resist pressure to divest from Israeli companies. Perhaps a fund should be created to which individuals who support Israel and support higher education could donate. This fund could then support institutions like Hampshire that resist efforts to improperly single out Israel for condemnation, and withhold funds from institutions that are anti-Israel.
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Hampshire Parent NY,
Thursday Feb 26, 2009
to Jon in Berkeley, Ca
Hampshire did not "resist pressure to divest". Had it not been for the outcry against it, it would have allowed the Students for Justice in Palestine to issue press releases claiming disinvestment, and likely have continued to do so. The present situation is still up for review. Supporters of Israel on campus have been called "genocidal" and "racist" and harassed with the tacit support of faculty and administrators. The students whom the college claims "lied" and harass have not been disciplined and Jewish students still feel afraid to state their opinions freely.
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Hampshire Parent,
Thursday Feb 26, 2009
Hampshire's Dean of Faculty and VP wrote: I lived in Israel ..two years..I was active in a left-wing political party (..a faction of the Israeli communist party)
At Hampshire, my ..teaching centered on history of Zionism. ..[then] shifted to the history of ..Palestinian nationalism. I have recently received a huge number of phone calls and emails about Israel, Palestine & our investments. Many clearly are the product of ..the pro-Israel lobby
outside attacks on the college.. will soon cease. The world is full of crises and attention spans are short.
Hampshires change? Just PR.
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