Recovered from the Wayback Machine.
According to an email I received from the editor, later this afternoon, the Jewish Bulletin of Northern California will have another article related to the Peace Rally at SFSU. You can look for it at the publication’s web site.
In the meantime, the publication did just post an article about an English class being taught at UC Berkeley (SF Gate also published an article on this class). The class, “Politics and Poetics of Palestinian Resistance”, generated a lot of controversy because the teacher, a pro-Palestinian graduate student stated in the course description:
“…This class takes as its starting point the right of Palestinians to fight for their own self-determination. Conservative thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections.”
When I first read this description, I was appalled. That a University known for free thinking would have a class with this disclaimer attached.
Should the class be pulled? If it focuses on the use of writing and rhetoric as it relates to the Middle East, then I don’t believe it should be pulled. A writing class of this nature would not only be interesting, it would be thought provoking as well as useful. However, this applies only if the class looks at the impact of writing and rhetoric from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Unfortunately, as the class is titled and according to the political affiliation of the teacher, it promises to be pro-Palestinian biased, and that’s inappropriate considering the venue.
These issues are never black & white, or uncomplicated, are they?
