It is the start of my third year at Brown, but every morning at around 1 a.m., I still find excitement in opening the latest Morning Mail. There is something liberating about having so many lectures, events and performances to choose from in the day ahead. Lately, however, my usual sense of comfort and freedom has been constricted.
Morning after morning, I see the events offered by the Middle East Studies program: film screenings, panel discussions and guest speakers attempting to limit my academic choice to one narrative. There is the panel on “Why Gaza Matters,” the movie series “1948: Once Upon a Palestine” and an upcoming luncheon on inequality resulting from the Second Intifada. These perspectives are important. But as a pro-Israel student on campus, I’m left wondering about the other perspectives — speakers, films and luncheons addressing “Why Israel Matters.”
In its mission, the Middle East Studies program claims that it “promotes knowledge, understanding and informed discussion about the Middle East, Islam and Muslim societies through research, teaching and public engagement.” Perhaps the program’s name, then, is a bit of a misnomer. Rather than studying the Middle East, the program aims to explore only Islam and Muslim societies that live in the region. This is a laudable mission. Just as the Program in Judaic Studies explores the literature, research and themes critical to Jewish study, there should be a program to offer a deeper focus and field of study on the Muslim world.
But this program is not Middle East Studies. Call it “Islamic Studies,” name it “Studies of Muslim Societies,” but to insist that what is being taught is representative of the Middle East is misleading. Because when I think of the Middle East, I don’t think of a place that is exclusively Muslim — I also think of the vibrant Baha’i, Christian and Yazidi communities that live throughout the region. And I also think of the state of Israel.
Since the protest of the planned lecture by former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly last fall, there has been a lot of discussion on campus about constructive dialogue and meaningful conversation. How do we listen to the ideas to which we do not adhere, and how can we engage in perspectives that are different from our own? In the words of President Christina Paxson in her Convocation remarks just last week, the “social and intellectual diversity of our community, which we cherish, is certain to produce strongly held and often divergent points of view.” It is this diverse exchange of ideas, perceptions and understandings that begins to piece together a larger examination of any given issue — be it stop-and-frisk or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Only by hearing from others with whom we disagree, by exploring the talking points with our own chosen initiative, can we build a genuine pedestal for our beliefs. Without this exposure, our opinions remain under-developed.
For me, the University — and the departments that represent it — should strive for this exposure, challenging students of all views and backgrounds. The Department of Political Science should have professors representing different ideological leanings. The Department of Religious Studies should offer courses in a wide range of belief and non-belief systems. The Middle East Studies program should be no exception when it comes to studying different perspectives.
In my travel over the past several years, I have volunteered and gained nuanced exposure in Israel. With these experiences, I know that Israel — like its neighbors Lebanon, Jordan and Syria — is an important part of the greater region. Yet when I see upcoming events through Brown’s Middle East Studies program, it is not easy to find support for this reality. Israel is left out of the mix.
Though small, Israel has its own identity in the region, an identity that is simply not represented by the Middle East Studies program. The expulsion of the Jewish people from Middle Eastern countries in 1948 is not taught. There is little mention of Zionism as a legitimate expression of self-determination. Modern Israeli advances in agriculture, medicine and technology are not shared. These are understandings that are strongly held for many. They are upheld with passion similar to that of many Palestinian understandings regarding the same land. But within the Middle East Studies program, one of these forms of passion seems to be taught over the other.
As someone interested in studying the Middle East, I find it hard to gain comfort in the program offered at Brown. With the events of this summer and the seven-week Israel-Gaza war, I saw numerous demonstrations and heard many protests for both Israel and a Palestinian state. One chant, though, always created discord in my mind: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” That is, a liberated Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea will become a free and independent state.
As a supporter of Palestinian sovereignty and of a Palestinian state thriving side by side with Israel, I find this chant troubling. Much like the Middle East Studies program, it excludes an entire narrative and reduces a history of plight to nothing. To me, it suggests the elimination and replacement of the Jewish state, which is currently located on land between the river and the sea. While I do not think the Middle East Studies program encourages this idea in any way, I do not think it does enough to balance it.
If we learned anything from the events of this summer, it is that the Middle East is an increasingly complex region. From the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, large populations are fighting over entirely different understandings and from exclusively distinct backgrounds. Here on College Hill, we have an opportunity to bring some of these pieces together, to begin to break down our worn convictions and rebuild our pedestal of beliefs with stronger perceptions. Here at Brown, the Middle East Studies program should lead the way. Include new narratives. Create points of tension. Allow us to come together as students should.
Jason Ginsberg ’16 can be reached at jason_ginsberg@brown.edu to talk more about the need for balanced conversation on campus.
ADVERTISEMENT
