Daniel Pipes, a New York Sun columnist who once argued that Muslim-Americans should be placed in internment camps, will bring his contentious views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Dartmouth Hall on Thursday. Pipes' presence on campus is provoking strong feelings among students and faculty on both sides of the issue.
Muslim students expressed concern about Pipes' speech, which is sponsored by Chabad, the Dartmouth Israel Public Awareness Committee, the Jewish studies department and the Ufurazra Campus Fund. They said his views are not credible.
"He has such a bias that it's hard for me to call him an expert," said Dale Correa '06, president of Al-Nur.
Correa said she felt Pipes' work has promoted "Islamophobia." She cited examples where Pipes allegedly referred to 10 to 15 percent of all Muslims as "potential killers."
A prize-winning columnist and a frequent guest on television broadcasts including CNN's "Crossfire," Pipes has earned praise and drawn ire for his extensive work in Middle-Eastern studies. After receiving his doctorate from Harvard University, Pipes has since devoted his career to studying the conflict in the Middle East.
"If Pipes's admonitions had been heeded, there might never have been a 9/11," Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote in a June 2003 article.
Jewish students defended the choice to bring Pipes to campus and add to the debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Everyone is entitled to their opinions, making this debate not one-sided, two-sided or even three-sided. It is important that Dartmouth as an academic institution showcase as many sides as possible," DIPAC president Michele Nudelman '05 said.
According to Chabad Rabbi Moeshe Gray, Pipes was an attractive candidate to speak on campus because of his credentials as the author of eleven books addressing the turmoil in the Middle East, four of which focus on Islam.
"Israel is one of the few places on earth that practically everybody in the world has an opinion about," Gray said. "Unfortunately, a lot of the time, their opinions are uninformed, and I hope Daniel Pipes will set the facts straight."
Many other Dartmouth students agreed.
"We don't support his views. For the sake of free speech, we think it's okay that he says what he needs to say, but the way that I look at it it's kind of like bringing someone who is a racist against blacks yet who has a Ph.D. in African-American studies to come talk," Sara Ludin '08 said.
Chabad president Ilya Feoktistiov '06, however, said he did not expect Pipes' talk to be tainted with ideology.
"It's more of a sober, realist look at the conflict. [He's] judging all the evidence before him in a serious way," Feoktistov said.
Feoktistov is a staff columnist for The Dartmouth.
The lecture is expected to include a lengthy question-and-answer section, giving students a chance to voice objections to Pipes' comments.
"I would encourage anyone that specifically disagrees with him to come and to question him, because that's why he's coming," Gray said, adding that even the sponsoring groups did not necessarily support all of Pipes' views.
"I think he'll be disappointed if no one is challenging him during the Q-and-A," Gray added.
