TO THE EDITOR:
In Friday’s DTH there was a full-page advertisement called “Wall of Lies” taken out by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. It implicitly and explicitly makes assumptions about all Palestinians and one of our valued campus partners.
The ad paints all Palestinians as enemies of Israel and claims that the Muslim Student Association (MSA) “denies the existence of the Jewish state” which is simply not the case at UNC. While Hillel is deeply concerned about the delegitimization of Israel which the ad seeks to address, we flatly reject these assumptions.
There are two problems that need to be addressed. First, MSA is not a political organization, but a religious one. It has never taken the above stance or gone on record with any political statement.
Second, this ad inaccurately assumes that all students involved with MSA have the same opinion.
Hillel and MSA have worked hard to strengthen relationships between Jewish and Muslim students at Carolina and to foster productive dialogue. This week alone we are sponsoring two programs. Tonight at 6 p.m. in Hamilton 100 is the Interfaith Trialogue, presenting representatives from Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Tuesday at 8 p.m. is the bi-weekly meeting for the Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue Committee which includes students from both organizations.
Hillel and MSA have been working together productively at UNC for years, modeling true interfaith partnership. MSA is a key organization on this campus and deserves to be treated with respect. We are committed to creating meaningful relationships between Muslim and Jewish students and look forward to future collaborations.
Sheila Katz
Assistant Director
