To the Editor:
As the organizer of the upcoming conference "Israelis and Palestinians: Working Together for a Better Future," I am compelled to correct some errors in a column ("Shalom-Salaam: dialogue as distraction or dialogue as action?" March 7).
The conference I have organized and Brown-RISD Hillel's Israeli-Palestinian Peace Week are separate projects that were developed independently of each other. While I have expressed my support for the Hillel project, the student organizers of that project should be the ones to respond to the criticism of it by the author. In addition, the Watson Institute for International Studies is only one of several co-sponsors of the conference. A complete list of the co-sponsors may be found at the web link for the conference.
In general, the author argues that those, like myself, who seek to expose the Brown campus to cooperative ventures between Palestinians and Israelis — which is what the conference is all about — are trying to cover up the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Nothing could be further from the truth. I invite the author and members of the Brown community to attend the conference and hear what these Israeli and Palestinian partners actually do together. I can guarantee you that every one of the speakers at the conference is as outraged about the issues the author raises as is the author. Indeed, it is because of their opposition to the suffering experienced on both sides of the conflict that the speakers at the conference bravely challenge the status quo by finding ways to work together for the mutual benefit of both peoples. The author's argument is based on a false dichotomy between protest against injustice and the search for peace. Both paths are necessary if there is ever to be a final resolution of this conflict.
David Jacobson
Professor of Judaic Studies
