Florman, Velona and Caplan: Jewish Alumni Stand with Student Protesters
We, the undersigned Jewish alumni of Dartmouth College, write to condemn the unnecessary and irrational decision to disrupt campus life by arresting 90 peaceful individuals at a Palestinian solidarity event on May 1. We reject College President Sian Leah Beilock’s assertion in a May 2 community-wide email that such protests are “exclusionary at best” and “can turn quickly into hateful intimidation where Jewish students feel unsafe” at worst. We agree with English and creative writing professor Jeff Sharlet — a Jewish faculty member at the College — in affirming in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that this week’s events were not “Jews versus protesters.” We were horrified at the images of a significant police force marching across the Green and physically assaulting a beloved Jewish professor. The College’s decision to allow and then defend state violence on campus is shameful and needlessly provocative.