To the editor:
We appreciate the opportunity to express our concerns about “The Fabric of Resistance,” published in the Spring 2024 issue.
The Jewish Faculty & Staff Council consists of university employees who are Jewish and/or are concerned about Jewish issues. Several of our members are Israeli.
We do not dispute the First Amendment right of the woman profiled to express her views, or of Garnet & Black to publish them. But several statements in the article asserted as facts are actually misrepresentations. The article also that ignores important context and caveats that are essential to understanding the situation in Israel and Gaza.
For example, the article states that “tensions came to a head around October 2023”, without acknowledging that they arose because of the horrific attack on Israel of Oct. 7, which included the killing of approximately 1,200 people and the kidnapping of about 250. An illustration accompanying the article shows what is described as “jewelry in the shape of the Palestinian state,” including all of the territory internationally recognized as Israel: an inaccurate representation. The article also does not discuss the long history of violent and abusive attacks and counterattacks in the region.
These statements and others in the article misrepresent the situation and are a lost opportunity to educate the University community on the difficult history and circumstances in the Middle East.
Our hope in expressing our concerns is to more fully educate students, faculty, staff and others about the situation in the Middle East and the importance of discussing it in the media and elsewhere with a better understanding of the context and causes of the current hostilities.
Sincerely,
Jewish Faculty & Staff Council
Note: Letters to the Editor are published at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief in an effort to encourage dialogue between Garnet & Black and the community it serves. Opinions in Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Garnet & Black, Garnet Media Group, or the University of South Carolina.
