Israel, South Africa and Free Speech at Harvard

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Since our conference "Apartheid's Are and the Palestinian Uprising: Making the Connections" has provoked debate in your pages, I would appreciate the opportunity to reply to Lori E. Fein's charge that our real aim is to "deceive" the audience (November 2, 1989).

The questions which the conference will explore are stated as follows in our brochure: "What is the nature of the connection between Israel and South Africa and why should it be of concern to Americans? Why is it important for the anti-apartheid movement and the peace movement to address this issue? What are its implications for an effective sanctions program, for the control of nuclear proliferation and for prospects for a just peace in the Middle East?"

These are issues which should be widely aired. At stake may be nothing less than our collective survival. The fact that these matters have up until now been taboo in the "marketplace of ideas" raises serious questions about the state of our first amendment freedoms.

Fein has several complaints about our conference. She says it is not "balanced," that the speakers lack "particular expertise" and that its effect will be to obscure "real debate on an already murky issue." Let me take each in turn.

Our objective is in fact to provide "balance" by giving information which has so far been denied a hearing in academic and other forums in the United States. An "opposing viewpoint" would consist of denying the facts--or celebrating them. By opening the conference to the general public, we fully expect both approaches to feature in audience discussion.

That brings me to her second point. professor Beit-Hallahmi of Haifa University in Israel is not, she asserts, an expert in the field of Israel's military connections with South Africa because he is a psychologist--no matter that he has been doing research into this area for twelve years. Would she prefer the expertise of the CIA? If so, let me refer her to the "NBC Nightly News" for October 25 through 27--which, incidentally, deemed Professor Beit-Hallahmi sufficiently expert to invite his comments.

Based on CIA documents, NBC described Israel's cooperation with South Africa in building and testing a nuclear-tipped missile in exchange for a steady supply of enriched uranium. On October 26th, its Pentagon Correspondent Fred Francis told Tom Brokaw that "privately, senior U.S. officials are confirming that Israel does have a secret relationship with South Africa to build Doomsday weapons. The sources tell NBC News that Israel ignored Washington's discrete protest and appears to be expanding the secret relationship."

Later on in the session Francis reported that "intelligence sources told NBC News that the CIA is prepared to lay out the evidence of the Jerusalem-Pretoria missile pact ot the appropriate committees of Congress. the sources said the evidence is irrefutable. Few military analysts in either Washington or Israel were surprised by news of the secret missile deal..."

NBC went on to describe the way military technology developed with billions of dollars of American aid had been transferred to South Africa by Israel and that "when the U.S. protested the technology transfer to South Africa, it was told to mind its own business."

Is it our business to inform ourselves about what is done with our tax dollars--in defiance of our own legislation? Would Fein have preferred that NBC steered clear of this critically important subject? I would suggest to her that in order to foster the "real debate" she claims to favor we first need the facts: and the "angry denials" reported by NBC to be Israel's reaction to its news report may indeed represent an "opposing viewpoint," but they hardly move the discussion forward in a factual way.

I find it regrettable that my alma mater has played host to the President of Zaire and extended an academic appointment to the Israeli General who supervised the killing of hundreds of unarmed Palestinians in the West Bank, while considering our conference beyond the sphere of permissable discourse. Trusting that many Harvard students are still motivated by the spirit of free enquiry, I invite them to join us on November 11th at Massachusetts College of Art's Tower Auditorium. Nancy Murray   Conference Organizer