This Video Is So Shocking I Can’t Even Believe It. The Deans of Harvard, Penn, and MIT Refuse To Agree That Calling For the Murder Of All Jews Is Against Their Code of Conduct
https://t.co/muoJZeqpD2
Several folks have tagged me and DM'd me about my affiliation with NYU and commented on my support for my Jewish friends and Israel in the face of the anti-Israel/antisemitism that has surfaced on US campuses nation wide.
Here is my response:
The protests are disgusting. Both for their shockingly overt antisemitism and their complete ignorance of recent Middle East history. It is embarrassing and shameful that these people do not understand more about a region that has played such an important part of US history in the last 20 years and will play such a significant role in the next 50 years.
As I have said, I fear no college student or anyone else "tearing me apart" because I support Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism.
I also support a two state solution and despise Netanyahu. I believe the only future for Israel is for it to forge a peaceful coexistence with it's neighbors. But that is impossible given the situation that has existed in the region since the 2000 Camp David talks collapsed and Arafat rejected a path for peace.
The history of the region is complex and no single book can explain the nuances of the region. But I recommend Dennis Ross' "The Missing Peace" as starting point.
As for today, the crisis unfolding in Israel and Gaza represents an existential crisis for Israel. Hamas has spent 15+ yrs and hundreds of millions of dollars fortifying Gaza at the expense of supporting the Palestinians they claim to represent. Hamas has built a war machine, hidden below hospitals, schools, and religious buildings designed with the specific intent of maximizing civilian casualties when Israel defends itself against direct attacks.
And understand, civilian casualties are Hamas' objective. Just as Al Quada's attacks on 9/11 were intended to draw the US into a pursuit of Al Quada and escalate into a Middle Eastern war, Hamas' attacks on 10/7 represented an escalation intended to draw Israel into Gaza which would ignite into a regional conflict with it's neighbors. Hamas understood Israel would have no choice but to pursue them in close quarter combat in Gaza which would result in significant civilian casualties and the images of this would spark outrage in the region. They have been preparing for this for more than a decade.
And what is happening in Gaza is horrible. The civilians trapped in Gaza to not deserve this. The images are sickening and the obvious devastation is heart breaking. But Hamas carries the burden of this outcome. Not Israel.
As we sit here today, we are close to a wider conflict happening. This should terrify all of us. Hamas' attack was not intended to topple Israel or "free Palestine." It was intended to spark a Western World conflict in the Middle East.
Israel is not blameless. Like every country in history, they have made many mistakes. But the fact remains, Israel cannot exist with Hamas parked across its borders and thousands of rockets lobbed at their cities and terrorists willing to savagely murder innocent men, women, children and infants.
I hope that peace comes soon.