Hillel at Brown U. Acquiesces to MSA

I just fired off an irate letter to the New York Post in response to the mealy-mouthed letter to the editor from Yael Richardson, president of Hillel at Brown University. This letter was in response to Adam Brodsky’s op-ed Dissent Crushed, about Hillel’s decision to cancel guest speaker, Nonie Darwish after protests from the Muslim Students Association (MSA). Complaining that she was “too controversial,” Muslim students objected to Darwish’s planned appearance and Hillel timidly complied, not wanting to “upset its ‘beautiful relationship’ with the Muslim community” although no one seemed to mind the hate speech emanating from Brown’s anti-Israel events during “Palestinian Solidarity Week.” Fortuitously, I am proud to have met a more gutsy and defiant Hillel president here in New York, Michael Abdurakhmanov a student at Pace University. I recently posted his report of the censorship and viewpoint discrimination he is facing from MSA and Pace administrators, who are intent on banning the film “Obsession” that Hillel had planned to show at a recent event.

Here is Yael Richardson’s letter:

I was disappointed to read Brodsky's inaccurate portrayal of Brown Hillel and Brown's campus community.

After reviewing input from both the Jewish and Muslim communities, the Hillel student board chose not to sponsor Darwish's lecture. The Hillel student board made a thoughtful decision, and I stand by it.

Darwish has a fascinating life story and would have brought an interesting perspective to campus. But it is not Hillel's place to sponsor a speaker who has made statements which denigrate Islamic observance.

Hillel certainly has a responsibility to provide an outlet for a variety of views on Israel, but it also has an obligation to do so in a considerate and respectful way. If that makes us "Jewish enablers," then I am proud to be one.

Yael Richardson
Student President
Brown Hillel
Providence, R.I.

Here is my reply:

Shame on Yael Richardson, president of Hillel at Brown University for acquiescing to the intimidation from the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and no doubt, from Brown administrators who protect anti-Israel hate speech in the name of academic freedom. She should at least not be so disingenuous as to frame Nonie Darwish as someone who denigrates Islam, which Mrs. Darwish has never done. Rather in numerous interviews and articles she praises the beauty of Muslims who practice Islam correctly while speaking out against terrorism and the violent radical strain that has commandeered their religion. Hers is a voice that needs to be heard, rather than bowing to the loud mouth threats of MSA, the campus recruiting arm of Wahhabi Islam, which is the puritanical anti-Western sect at the heart of radical Islam.