Violence at non-violent protest merits apology

Editor,

As director of the Peace Studies Program here at UNM, I write to express my great concern about the violent turn of events that occurred on our campus on Thursday night, Feb. 23.

On that evening, the UNM Israel Alliance hosted a speech by Nonie Darwish. Many informed individuals in the progressive Jewish, Arab and other communities have expressed serious reservations about the opinions that Ms. Darwish has voiced in the past.

Her comments have been characterized as Islamophobic, and she is seen to be allied with the extreme right-wing pro-Zionist lobby in this country and in Israel. Obviously a person who has established such a reputation is controversial, and it would probably surprise few people that protests would inevitably occur at events on college campuses that feature her presentations.

Here at UNM, members of the (un)Occupy movement and the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) carried out a nonviolent disruption of Ms. Darwish’s presentation, in which they stood up and collectively voiced their opposition to her views.

Several older, male audience members — perhaps none of them undergraduates — charged at the student protesters, hitting them, punching them, and even throwing one the students to the ground, before forcibly ejecting them from the room. Many of those attacked were young women. These events were recorded and posted on YouTube, going viral in hours. In fact, before I arrived on campus the following morning, I received word about what had occurred from colleagues in the Middle East. So far as I know, no charges have been made against the attackers.

This kind of violent behavior is completely unacceptable. There is indeed a tremendous need to talk about the issues in Israel and Palestine, and to acknowledge and affirm disagreement and passionate differences of opinion.

That discourse excludes violent attacks on those with whom we disagree. I believe the first step in addressing the events of last Thursday and advancing a better dialogue is for the Israel Alliance to issue an apology to the students who were violently attacked at this event.

Sincerely,

Les W. Field
Director, UNM Peace Studies Program