Dear Dean Ellwood:
Phone: 617-495-1122
Fax: 617-495-9118
Email: david_ellwood@Harvard.Edu
I am an avid supporter of free speech but must call it out when the intent is to dismantle the Jewish state of Israel. A conference scheduled at HKS on March 3 – 4 is planning to do just that.
The anti-Israel groups representing the “One State Conference” are none other than Justice for Palestine, the Palestine Caucus, the Arab Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, and the Association for Justice in the Middle East.
Justice for Palestine has long promoted a boycott of Israel, and compares Israel to South Africa Apartheid. Bizarre comparisons are baseless when the real apartheid is seen daily in Gaza and other Arab countries. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria treat homosexuality as a crime punishable by imprisonment, flogging, stoning, hanging or beheading. Ditto for Gaza. This doesn’t even begin to touch how Sharia law reduces rights of women in Islamic countries to the same equivalent as minors in Western countries. Yet, I haven’t seen HKS hold any similar conferences against honor killings, child brides, gender inequality, or crimes against gender or religion that occur in many Arab countries. Unless you’re planning to host conferences that wage war on all the atrocities in Arab countries that occur daily, then I would assume you would rethink hosting a conference full of well-known Israel-haters that deny any Jewish ties to Israel.
The scheduled “One-State” hate fest goal is to eradicate the State of Israel – the ONLY true democracy in the Middle East, the only country with TRUE freedom of religion and sexual orientation in the Middle East, and the United States’ greatest ally IN THE WORLD.
If you allow this event on campus, here are just some of the “experts” you will be hosting include:
Ali Abuminah – Supports a “One State Solution” in which Israel as we know it is eliminated. Openly supports suicide bombers, missile strikes on innocent civilians, and has publicly suggested last years’ murder of the Fogel Family was justifiable.
Ahmed Moor – whose pro-terrorism rhetoric and anti-American views should not be tolerated let alone rage on your campus. Moor compares American talk show host Glen Beck to American-born al Qaeda terrorist, American-born Al Qaeda operative Anwar Al-Awlaki.
Leila Farsakh – an avid anti-Israel advocate whose positive spins on Islamic women and “their equality” couldn’t be further from the truth. A quote from Farsakh demonstrates just that: “We would like to show that Islam is a dynamic field of culture in which women play a dominant role.”
Their arguments, like your other speakers, are based on a distortion of history and a manipulation of facts based on years of propaganda generated by terrorists and despotic leaders. This is certainly NOT what Harvard teaches or stands for.
I ask you to ban the event from the University and take a stand for historical truth and against hatred. Failing to do so is a condemnation to over 7 million Israelis, including 1.5 million + Arabs who enjoy rights that include freedom of speech, religion, orientation & so on while those in neighboring countries do not.
Act For Israel calls on you along with all Harvard alumni, donors and concerned citizens to oppose and protest such a vile and hate-filled event. Should this event go on as planned, I will ask all alumni funding to the University to cease. I will also be forced to call into question the University’s mission and motivations, and will most certainly air those concerns more publicly.
Best,
Jennifer Hanin
Act For Israel Founder & Executive Editor
Jennifer Hanin must love Israel. She spends her days advocating for the Jewish State she has never stepped foot in. Besides her passion for Israel and its people, she is an award-winning writer, influential blogger, and critically acclaimed author of What to Do When You Can’t Get Pregnant: the Complete Guide to All the Technologies for Couples Facing Fertility Problems (Da Capo, 2005). Newsweek (July 4, 2005) recommended Jennifer’s book as one to buy when undergoing fertility treatments.
Jennifer’s most recent highly acclaimed book is Becoming Jewish: The Challenges, Rewards and Paths to Conversion (Rowman & Littlefield, September 2011).
JTA ranked Jennifer @jennhanin as #38 on their 100 Most Influential Jewish Twitter Users for 2010, and #10 in the category of Politics and Policy. She also won Shorty Awards in the categories of Religion and Judaism in 2009.
She has appeared on television and radio to discuss her book and blog, and her blog has generated interest from every continent except Antarctica. Editors have translated her work into Dutch, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish, French and Arabic.
