Campus Watch is not at all surprised to hear that a “teach-in on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” co-sponsored by Brown University’s Middle East studies program and moderated by its director, Beshara Doumani (about whom we’ve written since his time at UC Berkeley), resulted in an Israel-bashing sideshow. According to the Brown Daily Herald, it wasn’t until the audience was allowed to participate, that the real “teach-in” began:
In the question-and-answer session that followed, Adam Bennett ’16 said the panel lacked representation of and support for Israel, garnering claps and shouts from the audience, some of whom yelled that the panel was biased. Bennett also questioned whether the role of the panel was to foster “an objective conversation” about the conflict or to serve as a forum for the Middle East Studies program.
When the panel members moved on to address the next question, some audience members said the panel was “a stacked deck.” Doumani reiterated that the panel would only address four questions at a time, prompting two audience members to exit the room.
. . . Matt Dang ’16 said he was “surprised, to say the least” at the abrupt change in tone during the question-and-answer session. It was interesting to see the clear divide in strong opinions in the auditorium, as the open discussion became more of an argument, he said.
