On Nov. 10, Northwestern students joined individuals from across Chicagoland to attend a lecture by Gil Hoffman, chief political correspondent for the Jerusalem Post. About half an hour into the event, roughly 30 students walked out. In response to misinformation as to what transpired and what motivated the participants, we provide clarification.
Prior to the event, students were well-informed of Hoffman’s work and felt affording him a platform to speak was a disservice to the university. More specifically, it was Hoffman’s conflict of interest, serving as both a high-profile journalist and reservist for the Israel Defense Forces, and his biased assertions that struck students as unacceptable.
Hoffman consistently minimizes Israel’s misdeeds in the region, such as construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian land. He reprimands President Barack Obama for using settlements as a negotiating tool and claims they do not impede the peace process. Furthermore, he has made Islamophobic comments by tying the legitimate Palestinian struggle for rights to violent Islamic fundamentalism.
During the lecture, Hoffman’s comments regarding the Israeli-Palestinian prisoner exchange prompted the walkout. Hoffman asserted that Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was welcomed back to Israel with a regal reception while hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were greeted with guns and raging crowds calling for more Israeli captives. In reality, Palestinian prisoners received the same joyous welcome as Shalit after decades of imprisonment. Furthermore, Hoffman contrasted the brutal captivity of Shalit with the exceptional treatment of Palestinian prisoners, conveniently failing to mention overwhelming evidence of torture in Israeli prisons as presented by human rights groups.
Without impeding Hoffman’s speech, the students expressed their discontent with both the speaker and his assertions by silently leaving. While the majority left, some stayed until the end of the presentation to question Hoffman. Audience members submitted questions to event organizers, who forwarded them to Hoffman. Two-thirds of the questions submitted went unanswered, despite the fact the audience witnessed Hoffman read those questions, mumble them into the microphone, and then place them aside, claiming that there were no further questions for him to entertain.
The objective of the walkout was to protest the disrespect to NU created by hosting a narrow-minded speaker who claims to be unbiased and clearly violates that ideal. Despite Hoffman’s poor track record, protesters displayed the courtesy to participate in dialogue as some students stayed for the entire duration of the event.
As a student group whose primary objective is to raise awareness of the Palestinian struggle, we encourage debate and seek active discussion across campus regarding the condition of the Palestinians. Surely, this walkout is only the starting point of many debates to come.
Ala Salameh, Colette Ghunim, Cory Behroozi, Natasha Singh, Nouha Boundaoui, Salma Salah, Sara Fadlalla, Soad Mana
Members of Students for Justice in Palestine
