Tilghman should have signed AJC ad decrying anti-Semitism
The 'Prince' article on Monday, Oct. 7, informing the campus that President Tilghman had not signed a statement decrying anti-Semitism shocked many members of Princeton's Jewish community, including myself. How could President Tilghman turn her back on our Jewish community as it faces the most radical rise in campus anti-Semitic conduct in the past few decades? Even more troublesome was her reason, that the statement was "not inclusive enough." Does that mean that our college president will only decry discrimination and hatred when it confronts all the minorities on campus instead of one significant group?
Unfortunately, Princeton needs to go the extra mile to show that we are a tolerant campus for Jewish students. For most of this university's life, Jews were not admitted. We have a Dean of Admissions who has managed to reduce the number of Jews on this campus by over 50 percent during his tenure. We have a very active 'Divest From Israel' campaign that is clearly motivated by anti-Semitism. President Tilghman should be taking steps to ensure that Princeton will not tolerate intimidation and hatred against Zionists, which was the only message of the American Jewish Committee ad in The New York Times.
Harvard's President has expressed his concern, and now 300 others have. Where was President Tilghman when we needed her? Jarrod Grover '04
Expressing yourself while respecting the rights of others
Around 12:30 p.m. this afternoon, students parading a rainbow flag were holding and kissing other students on the path that leads into the Frist Campus Center and to many other buildings. Whether I am a supporter of homosexuality as a behavior or not is beside the point. What I found highly disturbing was that these students felt the need to violate all standards of common decency and respect for fellow students, children, campus visitors, and all those who may have found the kissing that was being engaged in offensive and inappropriate (be it heterosexual or homosexual).
If the goal of common respect for all is what these demonstrators seek to achieve, let them start by respecting the rights of those around them. The "in your face" attitude adopted by the students today lacked purpose and constituted an embarrassment to the university community. No real message was conveyed to passer-bys. The students showed no regard for the moral sensibilities or religious beliefs on campus. Discussion, debate, and dialogue should be promoted. But the use of graphic posters and a flaunted irreverence for others does not advance any cause but rather, turns people off. Pornographic posters put up were removed last week by facilities staff. Today, new posters were put up saying: "Have a problem with gay sex? Keep it to yourself!" In much the same way, if you want to engage in a 'kiss-in', have the respect to find a place to do it elsewhere than as a obstruction in the path of fellow students, young children and university staff. A general sense of decency should be sought, regardless of widely differing opinions. The imposition of suggestive behavior on others, and the generally approved notion that none should be offended at this was disquieting to many. Marthe-Marie Casey '04
Students should take the lead from high school students
It was exciting to read about the Montgomery High School students who stood outside Starbucks on Saturday, demonstrating their support for Fair Trade coffee during a national week of action. Among other things, they pointed out the fact that it is not enough for large corporations to offer Fair Trade coffee as an occasional option; they should offer it more often, and make it a goal to use it across the board.
Coffee is the second most heavily traded commodity on the market (after petroleum), and U.S. consumers drink one-fifth of it. But we seldom consider where the coffee we drink in such abundance comes from. This is reflected by the fact that coffee growers in much of the world continue to receive far less money for their product than it costs them to grow it, creating a destructive cycle of poverty.
Corporations – especially market leaders like Starbucks – have a responsibility to the farmers who grow the coffee they sell, to pay them a reasonable price for their work and enable them to live according to a decent standard. And consumer pressure has been influential in the decision by large coffee suppliers to purchase and sell a Fair Trade Certified product, which assures growers of receiving that adequate compensation.
However, you don't have to be a multinational corporation to make a difference by choosing to use Fair Trade coffee. The purchasing decisions made by universities, for example, can have as much of an impact as those made by any corporation.
As a result of student interest, beginning in early October, the retail establishments here at Princeton will be offering Seattle's Best Fair Trade coffee. The product will be sold first at Cafe Vivian, then move into the Woodrow Wilson cafe and New South and, when it's finished, to Chancellor Green.
This is an incredible first step, but the predicament mentioned above exists here, too: Fair Trade will be an option, not the default. What we should be looking toward is serving exclusively Fair Trade coffee: Fair Trade coffee in the dining halls, Fair Trade coffee in the eating clubs, Fair Trade coffee, as in the large corporations, across the board.
To continue this process of conscientious purchasing, we need to show Dining Services that Fair Trade coffee – and the ethical chain of production, distribution, and consumption that it entails – is what we want as a university community. Dining Services responded to student demand, but it's up to us to show enthusiasm about the product at Cafe Vivian, to make it known that we aren't just interested in token availability.
By buying just 100 cups of Fair Trade coffee per day at Vivian, students, staff, and faculty can make a strong statement in favor of socially just, responsible relationships between companies and workers.
Like the high school students, we can remind our coffee supplier that a once-a-month strategy is only a symbolic gesture, and that we're interested in making a tangible difference in peoples' lives – by making the switch completely.
For more information on fair trade certification, see www.transfairusa.org. Karen Wolfgang President of SPEAC
Striking a balance in Israel will take multi-national effort
In "Proclaiming Israel's Right to Defend Itself," Elliott Marc Davis correctly calls Vincent Lloyd on a technicality of the Fourth Geneva convention, declaring that the government of Israel is not forcibly relocating settlers to its settlements. After consulting the complete text of Article 49 of the Convention, I cannot argue against Mr. Davis' point (though I will not give up Mr. Lloyd's argument for him).
Indeed, it seems likely that the Israeli government would not openly violate an agreement that it signed, when other methods are available. For example, it has a longstanding policy of "easy development loans and even grants" (Yuval Ne'eman, Israeli Minister of Science and Development 1982- 84 and 1990-92) to encourage industry and development in the occupied territories. Concentrating on technicalities cannot obscure the fact that the Israeli Government — with financial support from the United States — is trying to maintain its post-1967 occupation, an aggressive policy that many Israelis and Zionists themselves do not support.
Arafat stated one of several times, in 1978, that "The PLO will accept an independent Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank and Gaza, with connecting corridor, and in that circumstance will renounce any and all violent means" Granted, the liberation of these territories is only a step to silencing the most violent terrorist factions, but it is the necessary step nonetheless.
In order to achieve this agreement that non-radical Palestinians and some Israelis alike find amenable, the United States must take the initiative and stop supplying the Israeli government with funds that can be and are being used to promote settlement in the occupied territories. We must be responsible in choosing a policy of divestment so as to avoid inadvertently using it as a harmful sanction. However, it is reasonable to divest from those specific companies that provide the Israeli government with means to support its occupations, as well as companies such as Caterpillar, which builds the bulldozers used to destroy Palestinian homes on little and specious evidence of terrorist affiliation. The symbolic, carefully thought-out divestment of Princeton and college campuses around the United States can put pressure on our government to withdraw funds that can make a difference, and be more careful and honest in ensuring that the money it does provide does not go to the maintenance of the occupation.
Technicalities are beside the point. Do you (any reader) support Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza? If so, you will not consider divestment; it is a proposal whose goal is peace. If you do not support the occupation, perhaps you will consider careful divestment a good action to take. Jon Kennedy '03
Understanding the difference between Israeli groups
Israel's arrogant disregard of UN resolutions without protest by the United States, the five-times-higher death toll and much higher multiple of injured Palestinians vs. Jews, the massive aiding and abetting by the United States of Israel's oppression of the Palestinians with U.S. money and arms . . . all this should be constantly and vigorously protested, in any intellectually and morally honest response to the ongoing horrors in the Middle East.
It does Israel, Israelis, America and Jewish Americans no good to have almost all of the protesting and allegations of anti-Semitism being voiced by Jewish Americans.
I wish both observant and nonobservant Jews who are American citizens could consider themselves, and be referred to as, Jewish Americans.
The Zionist cause is not the cause of all Jews, nor of all those who support the right of the State of Israel to exist. European Zionism and America's guilt because of its indifference to the Holocaust begat Israel, also have spawned the tragedy of Israel's current situation, and are shaping Israel's fate. Charlton Price '48
Read More
Princeton, practice what you preach: SPIA graduate students on protest and dialogue
Guest Contributors"As policy students, we are appalled by the blatant hypocrisy of the University administration, which has relied on fear-mongering and false narratives to discredit student protestors. We are increasingly disillusioned with the dissonance of what we are taught in our classrooms and the University’s actions."
"As policy students, we are appalled by the blatant hypocrisy of the University administration, which has relied on fear-mongering and false narratives to discredit student protestors. We are increasingly disillusioned with the dissonance of what we are taught in our classrooms and the University’s actions."
Faculty call on the Board of Trustees to act in face of hunger strike
Guest Contributors“The Princeton University administration should understand that the law loses its moral force when it becomes so detached from ethics and basic human decency. The administration is sacrificing its moral sense and its purported affiliation to human decency in the name of upholding arbitrarily designed and implemented campus rules and regulations.”
“The Princeton University administration should understand that the law loses its moral force when it becomes so detached from ethics and basic human decency. The administration is sacrificing its moral sense and its purported affiliation to human decency in the name of upholding arbitrarily designed and implemented campus rules and regulations.”
Letter to the Editor: The gross manufacturing of narrative
Sarah Sakha"The Gaza Solidarity Encampment, a space we have created together, is an unwavering testament to community and care in the face of apathy, keeping each other safe by growing large, impenetrable, and powerful. And we have done so in spite of a larger apparatus working against students."
"The Gaza Solidarity Encampment, a space we have created together, is an unwavering testament to community and care in the face of apathy, keeping each other safe by growing large, impenetrable, and powerful. And we have done so in spite of a larger apparatus working against students."
