The Conflict Over the Conflict: The Israel/Palestine Campus Debate

Recommended by Archon Fung, director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and the Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government

If there is one sure way to lose all your friends and influence, it is to say that we need to listen to everyone in the debate about the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Written well before Oct. 7, 2023, Stern — who worked for a decade and half at the American Jewish Committee — chronicles his many years of fighting for free speech and constructive debate around the Arab-Israeli conflict on many campuses. He seems to have lost many friends along the way, but we benefit from the lessons and recommendations of his rich experience. Those of us on campuses may need to rely on such wisdom if the spring 2024 campus upheavals return in the fall.