Picketing Classes Not the Answer

To the editors:

The students protesting Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz’s recent article on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were not the only ones standing outside Science Center B yesterday (News, “Students Confront Dershowitz Over Article,” March 20). I was there, too, standing opposite the group with a counter-protest of my own. To make sure that both sides of the argument were represented, I wrote two signs of my own: “End Suicide Bombings” and (in response to the protesters’ “What if Cambridge were Bulldozed?”) my own “What if Tommy’s Were Blown Up?” I stood across from the students, occasionally reminding passersby to look in both directions, since my hastily prepared display was not as readily visible as that of my opponents.

Yesterday’s grisly suicide bombing by Islamic Jihad, clearly intended to disrupt the current security talks that are hoped to lead to a cease-fire within the next few days, shows that Israel’s current measures have not been adequate. Islamic Jihad continues to operate unchecked within the Palestinian territories, and the Palestinian Authority, despite its words, has done very little to combat the terrorists.

I do not deny that Dershowitz’s proposal is open to a great deal of controversy, as well it should be. There is no easy answer to this horrible situation, and any solution is bound to have bad consequences for someone. Picketing and disrupting Dershowitz’s class, however, is not the answer. The only route to a good solution is orderly discussion, to which Dershowitz publicly invited the protesters. For me the most significant and meaningful part of yesterday’s events was the brief conversation that I had with one of the protesters after we had both put down our signs. We disagreed about most of the issues, and neither of us persuaded the other to change, but at least we were able to drop our inflammatory rhetoric and discuss our differences openly. I would encourage those who disagree with Dershowitz to do the same; I know from experience that it is much more rewarding than holding signs outside a classroom.

Adam S. Levine ’05

March 20, 2002