Re: A look at new collaborations between Dartmouth and Israeli institutions
Reading Professor Daniel Rockmore explain that Kalaniyot is an “apolitical” program was astounding. It seemed pretty clear when I first heard of the program that the goal was to try and restore Israel’s reputation after the campus protests taking place over the last few years. Basic research confirms this. The founders have gone on the record stating that the program arose as a response to pro-Palestinian protests at MIT and other universities; protestors are “the other side”, to quote co-founder Ernest Fraenkel.
Kalaniyot’s mission statement, claiming it to be an apolitical program, doesn’t change the fact that the organization was conceived for a very specific purpose: to boost Israel’s national image on American college campuses after a period of very bad publicity. Why else are they so desperate to “deepen ties” with Israel at this particular moment, when so many students are calling for divestment?
Rockmore’s comments in this piece clearly confirm this purpose. His bold claim at the start of the article that Israel is a country “known for its amazing science” rather than for its genocide in Gaza — as many students know it for today — is a stark testament to the alternative reality that Kalaniyot is trying to sell Dartmouth students. Given findings by various UN bodies and international human rights organizations documenting discriminatory racial politics within Israel, and the well-documented marginalization of its Palestinian Arab minority within its institutions of higher education, it’s disingenuous to pretend that Israeli universities share Dartmouth’s values.
Ultimately, I’m uncomfortable with any program on campus that is so desperate to hide its political overtones behind a pretext of academic neutrality, and you should be, too. Kalaniyot should declare its political character openly rather than try to ignore the elephant in the room.
Letters to the Editor represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
