Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Cc: Marks, Stephen ; Ware, Jim (biostat)

Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 3:54 PM

Subject: A question for the Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies

I am a Research Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health. Recently, I was joined by two professors at the School in proposing to the School's Center for Health and Human Rights that it hold a symposium on "The ethnic state and human rights in Israel/Palestine." The Center's director (Stephen Marks) rejected the proposal on the grounds that the topic "seems to be more a topic for an exchange among historians and specialists in Jewish studies or Middle East studies." (The proposal and relevant email exchanges between the director and myself are posted at http://newdemocracyworld.org/Marks.htm .)

The School's Dean for Academic Affairs (Jim Ware) also rejected the idea of holding a symposium on this topic, on the grounds that "Though the issue may well be worthy of a public discussion, it is a political rather than a public health issue and the subject is not one in which our faculty can offer the best scholarship or expertise." (See http://newdemocracyworld.org/Ware.htm for the relevant exchange of emails between the School's Dean for Academic Affairs and myself.)

Hence my email to you -- you specifically because you included "Israel" among your interests on your Center's webpage and the other professors did not do so (although some mentioned "Israeli culture.") If there is another more appropriate professor at your Center to reply to this email, however, could you please forward it to him or her and let me know? Thank you.

My concern that there be such a symposium stems from the fact that, as Israel argues very rationally and logically, the human rights of Palestinians to return to their country, to not have property arbitrarily taken from them, and to have good health care (Articles 13, 17 and 25, respectively, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) must be denied to them (by the Israeli policies of refusing to grant Palestinians the Right of Return, refusing to compensate Palestinian refugees and "present absentees" inside Israel proper for property taken under cover of the Absentee Property Law of 1950 and other measures, and instituting closures, checkpoints and the Wall, etc. which notoriously conflict with good health for Palestinians in the occupied territories) if the Jewish state of Israel is to have security.

Therefore, the question of whether there ought to be a Jewish state in Palestine (meaning one that prevents non-Jews from becoming a majority of the population, and one whose government is responsible to "the Jews" rather than to all of its citizens) is central to any serious discussion of the Israel/Palestine conflict and the terrible situation of Palestinians under Israeli control. (A leaflet about this topic was distributed to everybody at the School of Public Health recently, and the online version is at http://newdemocracyworld.org/israel.htm .)

Dismissing opponents of a Jewish state in Palestine (who included Albert Einstein and Judah Magnes in the past) as "anti-Semites" (as Larry Summers has done, as well as the ADL) is intellectually dishonest; the fact that powerful people do this is an important reason for holding an intellectually honest symposium on the question.

Could you please tell me if the Center for Middle Eastern Studies has in the past, or intends (or might wish) in the future to hold such a symposium -- one that explicitly addresses the question of whether a Jewish state in Palestine is a good or a bad idea? Also, do you think that the CMES is the logical institution within Harvard University to hold such a symposium, and if not, which institution do you think would be the logical choice? (Surely at least one department or Center of Harvard University has a responsibility to explore this crucial question in depth.)

Sincerely,

John Spritzler, Sc.D.

Research Scientist

Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research

Harvard School of Public Health

From: Susan Kahn

To: John Spritzler

Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 4:11 PM

Subject: Re: A question for the Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Hi John,
I spoke to Steve Caton and it is not something that we wish to pursue at this time.

Good luck,

Susan Kahn

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 15:07:47 -0500
From: Susan Kahn <skahn@fas.harvard.edu>
To: spritz@sdac.harvard.edu, edavid@simnet.is
Subject: conference

Dear Sirs:

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies sponsors scholarly conferences on academic subjects, not on policy-oriented briefs of the sort that you have in mind. For example, we just had an Islamic historian, Professor Wadad Kadi, give a series of lectures and a master class on early Islamic thought and we have a large international conference coming up on The Thousand and One Nights, followed by a workshop on the study of gender and sexuality in the Middle East. What you propose is not the sort of activity we sponsor, regardless of what might be the political views of our members.

I am sorry if that news disappoints or disheartens you, but that's my decision.

Sincerely yours,

Steven C. Caton,
Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Harvard University

Dear Professors Kahn and Caton,

Since a symposium on the question of whether or not there ought to be a Jewish state in Palestine is not the sort of activity the Center for Middle Eastern Studies sponsors, would you please tell me if you believe the question is nonetheless both important and controversial and, if so, would you please tell me what school, department or center of Harvard University is the one that should promote intellectually honest discussion of this question. Surely such an important question falls with the purview of some entity of Harvard University, no?

Sincerely,

John Spritzler

Dear Mr. Spritzler:

I don't know whom to send you to. I'm sure there are individuals
who might be interested in discussing the issues you raise, but I don't know of specific agencies within the university that would be interested.

Regards,

Steven Caton

Dear Professor Caton,

Thank you for giving the question some thought.

Sincerely,

John Spritzler