Editor’s note: Letters to the Editor and open letters reflect the opinions, concerns and views of University of Wisconsin-Madison students and community. As such, the information presented may or may not be accurate. Letters to the Editor and open letters do not reflect the editorial views or opinions of The Daily Cardinal.
The undersigned members of the Board of Visitors of the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies are writing concerning a Letter to the Editor of The Daily Cardinal from Jewish UW Faculty and Students published by the Cardinal on May 2, 2024 (“May 2nd Letter”).
The May 2nd letter was written in support of a document styled “Statement in Solidarity with Student Protest from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Community” (“Statement in Support of Student Protest”). We are deeply concerned with, and disturbed by, the erroneous nature of allegations contained in the two documents; the lack of scholarship that underpins those allegations that is unworthy of professors at our great university; and that notwithstanding a recognition of the pernicious effects of antisemitism, that the allegations expressed in the May 2nd Letter promote antisemitism and put Jewish students at risk. It also is startling that nowhere in the May 2nd Letter or the Statement in Support of Student Protest is there any condemnation of Hamas for the barbaric atrocities it committed on October 7th. And nowhere in those documents is there any call for Hamas to release hostages.
Among a number of erroneous and inflammatory statements, the May 2nd Letter and Statement on Solidarity of Student Protest allege that Israel is engaged in genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. That allegation is patently false.
The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as an “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” The United Nations explains that the term was developed “partly in response to the Nazi policies of systematic murder of Jewish people during the Holocaust . . . .” Consistent with the 1948 Convention, the United States Code defines genocide as “violent attacks with the specific intentto destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group” (emphasis added).
That Jewish professors, including professors who are part of the Center for Jewish Studies, would equate Israel’s actions in Gaza with the actions of Nazi Germany is appalling and demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the term “genocide.” Since the UN was founded in 1948, it has declared three genocides: Rwanda in 1994, Bosnia in 1995 and Cambodia in 1975 to 1979. Needless to say, the greatest genocide of all time of course was the Holocaust when 2/3 of the Jewish population in Europe was exterminated.
War is ugly and innocent people get killed. However, Israel has no specific intent to kill civilians. Yes, there has been massive destruction and significant loss of life in Gaza (although a number of publications have shown that the Gaza Health Ministry’s quantification of deaths is unreliable, likely wrong, and in any event fails to distinguish between civilians and militants). However, what is the cause of the destruction and loss of life? Israel has produced evidence, corroborated by the United States and even the UN, that Hamas shelters its fighters in residential neighborhoods and stores weapons in schools, hospitals and UN facilities, all of which constitute war crimes. So Israel’s choice was to allow Hamas to continue as a viable threat to repeat the atrocities of October 7th in which it killed over 1200 innocent Israeli citizens, raped Israeli women, defiled and mutilated the remains of Israelis it had killed, decapitated babies, and took over 250 hostages, or Israel could have undertaken actions to try to eliminate Hamas as a threat to Israeli citizens. Did Hamas understand that Israel would retaliate as a result of the horrific acts of October 7th? Not only did Hamas expect retaliation, it welcomed it! Just days ago its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, declared “We have the Israelis right where we want them,” and he deemed the deaths of Gaza’s citizens “necessary sacrifices.”
Against this backdrop Israel has taken extraordinary measures to avoid inflicting harm on innocent civilians often at great risk to its own troops. In particular, it has taken measures to move hundreds of thousands of Gazans out of harm’s way by warning them of the location of impending military operations. Such warnings, while far from perfect, are in excess of efforts ever previously undertaken by any military to protect innocent civilians.
The allegation that Israel is engaged in genocide to kill Palestinians in Gaza thus is contradicted by the facts and has no support under the U.S. and UN definitions of “genocide.” It is a stain on our university that professors would demonstrate such a lack of understanding in launching their scurrilous allegation to the contrary.
Beyond the false claim of genocide, the May 2nd Letter also asserts that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. Zionism simply is support for a homeland for the Jewish people. Therefore, anti-Zionism is a belief that Jews have no right to their own homeland. Anti-Zionism is at the heart of Hamas’ charter which calls for the elimination of the State of Israel and for the killing of Jews. The goal of completely obliterating the State of Israel and killing Jews is encompassed within chants such as “from the river to the sea” and “back to ’48.” It frankly is incomprehensible that university professors, particularly Jewish university professors, do not understand this.
Further, the demand in the two documents that the University “divest from Israel” is right out of the Nazi handbook when Germany banned its citizens from patronizing Jewish owned establishments.
In addition, the claim that Israel is an occupying force ignores or shows a complete lack of understanding of the history of the region. Since 1948, the Palestinians have been presented with eight separate land for peace offers: one from the UN, one from the U.S. and six from Israel. In at least two of those, Israel offered to withdraw from all of Gaza and virtually all of the West Bank. Palestinians rejected all eight offers without a single responsible counteroffer. Thus, it is indisputable that Israel has offered terms to cease operating in any way as an occupying force so that it could coexist peacefully along side a Palestinian state but it has been the Palestinians that time and time again have rejected those efforts.
There are other assertions in the two documents that are similarly false and misleading, but the point adequately is made from the discussion above. To peddle these false allegations supports a terrorist organization and its agenda and creates an atmosphere of hate leading to the alarming increase in antisemitism as we have seen during the months since October 7th.
We are supportive of academic freedom but with academic freedom comes responsibility for intellectual honesty and scholarly teaching. Neither of those responsibilities is remotely satisfied by the May 2nd Letter. This causes us great concern in terms of what is being taught by the signatories in their class rooms. We urge the administration to undertake measures to assure that no such dishonesty and lack of scholarship has invaded, or will invade, the classroom.
James H. Hilb, B.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1968, M.B.A., University of Cincinnati, 1972
Warren Kozak, B.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison 1973
Kenneth Latimer B.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison 1966, J.D. George Washington University, 1969
Richard L. Roberts B.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison 1966, J.D. Wayne University 1969
Michael J. Stern B.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison 1965, M.S.J. Northwestern University 1967
Cheryl Temkin B.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison 1970, M.A. Brandeis University 1975
Julie A. Weil, B.A. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 1984, J.D. Northwestern University 1987
Peter M. Weil, B.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison 1970, M.A. University of California-Berkeley 1971, J.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison 1974
Kenneth L. Wiseman B.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison 1971, J.D. Catholic University of America 1977
