More BLSA

To the Editors of the Crimson:

We read with great discomfort the BLSA letter on the PLO "teach-in", submitted to the Crimson on April 28. As two students who viewed the entire "teach-in", we would like to clarify some inaccuracies.

First, in recounting the chain of events at this year's PLO visit, the BLSA letter claims that Prof. Alan Dershowitz "attempted to disrupt the event by raising a procedural question." True, Prof. Dershowitz wished to ask a question pertaining to moderator Mohammed Kenyatta's five minute explanation of "house rules." Dershowitz raised his hand and waited until Kenyatta looked over to him. When Kenyatta had finished his sentence, Dershowitz inquired, "May I ask a procedural question?" Kenyatta responded flatly, "NO," and continued his address. Dershowitz left quietly without saying another word.

Second, regarding the question and answer controversy, the majority of non BLSA/TWC students left the meeting after Kenyatta chose not to call on any one of 20 to 30 white hands raised, while at the same time not one BLSA/TWC student was raising his hand. After scanning the entire audience, Kenyatta turned to a Black student who did not have his hand raised, and asked him "Didn't you have your hand up before?" At that point, it became obvious that Kenyatta would not accept questions from the HJLSA or its supporters, and that the forum would not be conductive to the open exchange of ideas. After the majority of non-BLSA/TWC students had left the room, we remained as two of four or five non-BLSA/TWC students in the room. Although we raised our hands at the appropriate times, we were not called upon. In addition, we did not see Kenyatta call upon any other Jewish students.

We wonder how the BLSA might feel if a white student group invited a representative from the KKK to speak at Harvard? And how would it feel if in the third consecutive year of the KKK visit, Black students were invited only to observe and not to participate in a KKK "teach-in"? The point here is not to draw an exact analogy between the KKK and the PLO, but to underscore the importance of fairness and freedom of speech in the context of a controversial and emotionally-charged issue.

Persuant to the BLSA's feeling it is "sensitive to Jewish concerns", we would like to offer a suggestion. If the BLSA decides to invite a representative from the PLO to speak again at Harvard, we urge its members to sit down with members of the HJLSA to discuss a format that will avoid potential acrimony and will encourage open discussion.

Finally, we fervently hope that in these last few weeks of the academic year, we Jews and Blacks will meet each other halfway in confronting the ugliness that has gripped our community. Only through direct Black-Jewish dialogue will we be able to understand each other's concerns and move forward in addressing them. Brace Diker '84   David Sultan '84