Matthew Cohen, president of Harvard Students for Israel, said Eitam focused on his experience during the raid on Entebbe and a discussion of the Iranian nuclear threat. Those who heard him speak - at Buffalo and on other campuses - said Eitam steered clear of any controversial remarks. People who are demonizing the State of Israel will try to stifle free speech," he said. "It doesn't matter if you brought in Yossi Beilin or Ehud Barak. He said the protest was an eye-opening experience. "When we found out about the controversy we decided to go ahead with the reception afterward because it would be a good opportunity for Effie to represent himself to individuals." "When we first planned this program, we had no concept that it would be controversial," Davis said. "After discussing it with members of the community and the students, we decided to go ahead with it."ĭuring the speech, between 30 and 40 protesters demonstrated outside an auditorium where nearly 300 gathered to hear Eitam speak.Īfterward, protesters took photos of attendees and posted them on Facebook along with intimidating captions. "There are several professors at the university, and Holstun is one of them, who are involved in anything that's anti-Israel, anti-US," he added. Several days before the event, Holstun and Students for Justice in Palestine asked Hillel to cancel the event, citing a series of quotes attributed to Eitam that "were taken out of context," Davis said. Joe Davis, director of Buffalo's Hillel, said he and others were not fully aware of the controversy surrounding Eitam. "It is irresponsible of a campus group to host a racist speaker and to then apologize and say innocently 'oops,'" wrote Nicolas Kabat, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine at SUNY Buffalo, in the November 6 edition of the student newspaper, The Spectrum.īut JNF and Hillel officials said such criticism lacked context. Several years ago, Holstun was lambasted by the Buffalo Jewish community for inviting Norman Finkelstein to campus. He's proposed disenfranchising Israeli Palestinians," said Jim Holstun, a professor at SUNY Buffalo, who said he urged Hillel to reconsider the invitation. "He's an explicit advocate of ethnic cleansing. "We had no specific concerns because we depend on the will of the Israel voters" who elected him to office.Ĭriticism of the events, he said, had nothing to do with Eitam but the broader challenge of anti-Israeli rhetoric and activities on college campuses.īut at SUNY Buffalo, some students and faculty members disagreed. "What really unites all of our speakers is that they speak the truth," he said. to remove the Israeli Arabs from the political system," Eitam said during a memorial service for a soldier killed in fighting with Hizbullah in southern Lebanon.Įric Lankin, chief of institutional advancement and education at JNF, said the organization was not concerned those statements would compromise his effectiveness as an advocate for Israel. "We will have to expel most of the Judea and Samaria Arabs from here. We really wanted to bring another pro-Israel voice, someone who's articulate, who's thoughtful, someone who could inspire students to ask questions," said Rebecca Kahn, JNF's campus programs manager.Įitam, known for controversial political views, made headlines in 2006 when he called for the expulsion of Arabs from the West Bank and the Knesset. "There's a tremendous amount of anti-Israel activity on campus. In the past, Caravan for Democracy has brought President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, government spokesman Mark Regev and Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky to speak to US college students. Caravan plans to host him twice more this spring. He spoke at a dozen colleges and several high schools during this trip, telling The Jerusalem Post that he spoke for the Israeli consensus. In a series of lectures organized by Caravan for Democracy, a project of Media Watch International and the Jewish National Fund, Eitam traversed the US Northeast during a two and a half week US tour, from October 28 to November 15. NOTE! Consider delaying until first div on pageĪgainst the backdrop of Israel's sometimes-fragile image, an organization seeking to promote dialogue about Israel and the Middle East has brought former MK Effie Eitam to US college campuses to advocate for Israel.īut Eitam, who is known for right-wing politics and past controversial remarks about evicting Arabs from Israel, conjured the opposite effect at some schools, including SUNY's University of Buffalo, where protesters criticized his presence. If (slot) slot.addService(googletag.pubads()) (function (a, d, o, r, i, c, u, p, w, m) Effie Eitam's US campus speaking tour draws plaudits.
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