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The op-ed by professor Elizabeth Shakman Hurd expresses great concern about the alleged suppression of student disagreement with Israel (“How the US is making it illegal for students to disagree with Israel,” Dec. 5). What I find disturbing is nowhere does she express concern that on some campuses, those expressions of “disagreement” were so physically threatening to Jewish students that they had to lock themselves in buildings.
She also has no comments about the leadership of elite universities failing to condemn Hamas for brutally slaughtering Israeli civilians, taking hundreds of innocent civilians hostage and using Palestinian civilians as human shields. She fails to acknowledge the slogan “From the river to the sea” advocates total destruction of Israel, and she expresses no concern about increasing antisemitism on campuses.
She is a professor of religious studies and political science, and I expect she is well aware of the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and would better serve her students and Tribune readers with a balanced discussion.
— Douglas Nyhus, Frankfort
Op-ed does major disservice
I was dismayed by professor Elizabeth Shakman Hurd’s op-ed. Her op-ed purports to argue for free speech on campuses, but it falsely states that students and others on campus are penalized for simply criticizing the actions of the Israeli government. In conflating policies of private universities, statements of a few Republican politicians and a mischaracterization of U.S. policy, it wrongly argues that the “the US is making it illegal for students to disagree with Israel.”
Hurd further suggests that anti-Zionism is no more than opposition to actions of the current Israeli government and that most Jews and some politicians view any criticism of Israeli policy as antisemitic. Nothing could be further from the truth.
American Jews, like Israelis, often criticize the Israeli government — for example, the fierce and widespread opposition to proposed judicial “reforms.” What has occurred on many campuses is not mere opposition to Israeli policies. It is opposition to Israel as a state of Jewish self-determination. Even more sinisterly, it is often opposition to Israeli and Jewish lives. Witness the violence-encouraging chants by aggressive crowds: “Decolonization is not a metaphor,” “By any means necessary,” “From the river to the sea” and the dehumanization of Israeli lives with the canard “settler-colonist.”
Students and faculty have bullied Jews and Israelis, celebrated killers and rapists, and not simply walked out of class but disrupted classrooms and universities, preventing learning, in violation of university policies. And predictably, anti-Zionism is morphing into explicit anti-Jewish actions.
Hurd argues that “American politicians often merge Judaism as a tradition or faith community with the government of Israel as a political entity.” This statement betrays errors at the core of her argument. Judaism is not simply a religion, nor does the present government equal the state. History, tradition and modern scholarship are clear that we Jews are a people and a nation, with national self-determination a right enshrined in international law. Criticisms of Israel that deny this right, as distinct from opposing specific governments or policies, are more likely than not antisemitism.
Whether or not the acts of antisemitic people violate university policies or federal laws, they should, like any other form of racism and bigotry, be condemned by decent society and its leaders and teachers.
— Mark Segal, Oak Park
Permanent cease-fire needed
After barely a week of a cease-fire that saw hostages released and desperately needed humanitarian aid flow into Gaza, war and violence have returned unabated. Rockets and bombs once again fill the air. Aid will no doubt slow to a trickle. And hostages will remain exactly where they are.
It need not be this way. There was positive momentum building toward a permanent cease-fire, something everyone must agree is urgently needed.
The cease-fire negotiations, aid deliveries and release of hostages show the power of dialogue. Weapons did not bring them about. Far from it. If Israel and the Palestinians want peace — real, lasting peace — they need to talk to one another. Not shoot at each other.
More war is not the answer. In truth, there is no military solution to this crisis. It’s critical that U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth join fellow Sen. Dick Durbin in publicly calling for a cease-fire to finally bring an end to the violence. Only once the shooting stops for good can we address the root causes of the conflict.
Without that, there is only more war in the future.
— Rachel Vouvalis, Chicago
Trump’s health care agenda
Despite it being settled law, Donald Trump is once again threatening to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) if elected to a second term. The last time Trump tried to kill the Affordable Care Act, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office did a detailed analysis of Republicans’ alternative and discovered that by 2026, the Republican plan would cause 32 million people to lose health insurance and that premiums paid by individuals buying their own insurance would double.
Trump didn’t have a real plan then and doesn’t have a real plan now. Despite repeated assurances and promises from Trump before and during his 2016 election campaign to replace the ACA with a superior health care plan, no such plan ever materialized. Over the years, he consistently pledged to unveil a comprehensive and cost-effective health care proposal, but each time, the promise remained unfulfilled. The situation reached a point of irony when, in July 2020, Trump claimed a “full and complete” plan would be ready within two weeks, only to repeatedly delay its release with vague assurances.
Even in a “60 Minutes” interview in October 2020, he insisted that the health care plan was “fully developed” and would be revealed “very soon.” Now, three years later, there’s no plan.
The ACA has improved millions of lives, and Trump’s threats now should be a reminder of how much is at stake in the November election. A vote for Trump is a vote to take away health care and preexisting condition protections from tens of millions of Americans.
— Lynne Hoyer, Wheeling
Pompeii offers modern lesson
Chicago Tribune Opinion
In 2003, my wife and I bought into a two-week tour of Italy. Most memorable was Pompeii. While a guide escorted our group down the main cobblestone street, he stopped for a moment, pointed to a pedestal-type object about 3 to 4 feet tall next to the curb and asked if any of us could identify what it was. One gentleman promptly answered it looked like a drinking fountain. Yes! Then the guide pointed out there was no valve on the fountain. Hmm, wonder why?
The guide responded to our silent curiosity by stating that when Rome built aqueducts to transfer water from the mountains into the city, they discovered that the lead piping they fabricated caused illness. They also determined that if the water was allowed to keep flowing, the illness diminished. I just had to ask: “If the Romans knew that lead was poisonous 2,000 years ago, why are we battling the lead piping in 2003?” The guide answered simply: “The barbarians burned all the books!”
Lessons to be learned: Lead in water is dangerous, and banning books is even more dangerous.
— Phil Smith, Plainfield
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