Dershowitz counters Chomsky in Newton
By Kristin Erekson
The Jewish Advocate
June 12, 2007
Student event at NSHS draws 140 for Iraq-Israel talk
Local attorney and noted Israel advocate Alan Dershowitz took the stage at Newton South High School on June 5 in an effort to counter the recent visit of reputedly anti-Zionist scholar Noam Chomsky.
With the help of The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston and the New England Region of the Anti-Defamation League, Newton South's Jewish Student Union extended an invitation to Dershowitz to give a lecture on "The Israel/Palestinian Conflict and the Impact the Iraq War has had on it."
The talk was organized in response to Chomsky's visit on April 11, in which the student-run Social Awareness Club asked the professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge to speak about "A Unique Perspective of U.S. Foreign Policy: Finding Peace." Chomsky is a known vitriolic critic of Israel and has reportedly supported the arming of the terrorist group Hezbollah.
"It's critical to give students at Newton South a perspective other than Chomsky's for balance and for a factual understanding of what is happening in the Middle East," said Andrew H. Tarsy, ADL New England regional director. "Bringing in the Dershowitz perspective is a key educational move."
With a turnout of approximately 140 students and 14 parents at the lunchtime discussion, Dershowitz opened his speech with a brief history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, saying that the Jewish state has offered numerous peaceful solutions that have repeatedly been rejected by the Palestinians, according to attendees. After speaking for nearly 10 minutes, Dershowitz then began the question-and-answer period. The event was closed to the media.
"I definitely think this talk was necessary," said Newton South junior Sara Massarsky, 17, who attended the discussion. "I'm glad that people who aren't Jewish got to hear what he had to say."
Principal Brian L. Salzer, who began his tenure at the school this year, said he thought Dershowitz's presentation was "excellent, engaging and feisty."
"The kids asked excellent questions and Dershowitz pulled no punches when sharing his thoughts and perspectives," added Salzer, who noted that the school does not have a controversial speakers policy. "His discussion wasn't necessarily a response to Chomsky's, but rather a chance for an intelligent and informed professor to speak with kids. Chomsky's speech was also informative and intellectual – it was just his presence that became the center of the controversy."
In marked contrast to Chomsky's appearance at Newton South, there were no protestors or police outside the high school when Dershowitz spoke.
Rabbi Shmuel Miller, New England regional director of the National Conference of Synagogue Youth, said Dershowitz's speech reaffirmed that "Israel has always been the one to offer many opportunities for coexistence."
