Israel Week Aims To Educate Students

In an effort to educate community members about the historical roots of the current Mideast conflict, Harvard Students for Israel (HSI) has inaugurated a series of speakers, displays and events, dubbed “Israel Week,” that will continue through tomorrow.

A full-color exhibit by HSI in the Science Center—tracing the Israeli conflict from its earliest beginnings in Zionism to the 1967 Six Day War to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords—has been on display throughout the week, and HSI will host a series of speakers and movies scheduled for tonight and tomorrow.

HSI President Avram D. Heilman ’03 said he hoped this week’s events will “educate what I think is a very significant segment of the student population [who are interested in Israel].”

Heilman said HSI intended to balance out any anti-Israel biases.

“[Students] have been hearing very loud answers from the other people involved,” Heilman said, and HSI has tried to put together an “appropriate” response for the week.

The coordinated series of displays, talks and movies is drawing mixed reviews from community members, some of whom are charging HSI with perpetuating biased information.

Heilman said he had received “almost exclusively positive feedback” about the approach of the Science Center display.

“People have been very happy,” he said.

Yesterday, however, passers-by registered mixed reactions to the Science Center exhibit.

Graduate student Andrew M. Neitzke objected to what he called the display’s “obvious agenda.”

“If the idea is to educate me about Israel, [HSI’s] bias undercuts that,” Neitzke said.

Harvard Law School student Matthew Bobys, who sits on the executive board of the Jewish Law Students Association, said he appreciated the historical depth of the display.

“A lot of times, the Israeli media, the Arab media or the American media portrays what’s going on this minute. So it’s very good to get the historical perspective,” Bobys said.

Some Arab students expressed doubt that HSI would present a balanced view of the Middle East conflict.

“Given [HSI’s] ideological bias, I don’t have any strong hopes for what comes out of Israel Week,” said Zayed M. Yasin ’02, who is a member of the Harvard Islamic Society and the Society of Arab Students.

Israel Week events will continue today.

A senior Israeli official from the Kennedy School of Government is set to speak on the current Israeli and Palestinian conflict this afternoon in the Winthrop Junior Common Room, and tomorrow afternoon an Israeli Arab and an Israeli Jew are scheduled to speak on Arab-Jewish relations.

In addition, the 1963 Israeli comedy “Sallah” will be screened tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Carpenter Center room 401.

This is the first Israel Week HSI has sponsored, although Heilman says the group hopes to hold another similar event next semester.