In an intriguing and very human response, two Berkeley profs--an Israeli and a Palestinian--got together to write a call for community. Though brief, I want publish the note from the Chancellor, Carol Christ and the two faculty.
October 12, 2023
Chancellor Carol Christ sent the following message to the Berkeley campus community Thursday afternoon.
We are increasingly concerned by the growing prevalence of online threats, doxxing and harassment connected to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. We decry any calls for violence in any form or support for terrorism as we continue to mourn the loss of innocent life. We understand this rhetoric is creating deep fear and concern among many members of our campus community. With that in mind, we want to share an extraordinary message, written by two of our faculty, one who is Palestinian and one who is Israeli:
To our students,
We are two professors on this campus who disagree, vehemently. But we have always treated one another with respect and dignity. We love this campus with its diverse communities and all of our students and are heartbroken to hear of incidents of near violence between students in recent days. We will not...
Dr. Hatem Bazian (Lecturer of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies)
Dr. Ron Hassner (Professor of Israel Studies)
By way of explanation, the brief note appeared in an article by a NYT writer, Soumya Karlamangla. The writer continues: At U.C. Berkeley, a campus famous for its political activism, students on both sides have reported that they’ve been threatened and doxxed. Many wear masks to protests for fear of being identified and harassed on social media.
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'After a conflict on U.C. Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza between Jewish students and students opposed to Israel’s actions, in which a campus rabbi even took a few blows, Ron Hassner, a professor of Israel studies, had an idea to try to encourage peace at the university. He emailed Hatem Bazian, a lecturer in Middle Eastern languages and cultures and Asian American and Asian diaspora studies, to ask if he would want to co-write a statement calling for students to treat one another with dignity and respect. |
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The two men teach in the same building and are cordial to each other, but they disagree vehemently on Israel and Palestine. They share no common ground — and that was exactly the point of coming together to collaborate, they told me.' |
It was especially meaningful to me, because I remember the Berkeley riots over the Vietnam War.