EDITOR'S NOTE: A Justice investigation has found that two sections of this article include plagiarism.

The first plagiarized section reads: "On Nov. 15, 2013, a rally took place at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem. Demonstrators marched in support of Hamas, the terrorist organization governing the Gaza Strip, wearing dark military gear, holding large, fake weapons and conducting Nazi salutes. In a report issued to the Brandeis community on Dec. 9, 2013, the incident was described as including 'glorifying portrayals of hatred and violence that are antithetical to the institutional values of both Brandeis University and Al-Quds University.' After the demonstration, the partnership between Brandeis and Al-Quds was suspended until further notice." This excerpt comes from an Aug. 22, 2014 article in the Brandeis Hoot, titled "Suspension of Al-Quds partnership still a source of controversy."

The second plagiarized section reads: "In April 2006, a large poster was hung in one of the Al-Quds’ buildings to honor Sami Salim Hammad, a former Al-Quds student, who blew himself up in Tel Aviv, killing 11 people—including an American teenager, according to the Jewish Press. Further, Al-Quds has in the past offered a “Human Rights and Democracy” course named in honor of Wafa Idriss, the first Palestinian female homicide bomber. Additionally, Al-Quds is home to the Abu Jihad Museum. The museum is named for Khalil Al-Wazir, whose moniker, “Abu Jihad,” means “father of the holy war.” Abu Jihad is linked to several of the most horrific incidents of terror in modern memory—including the Munich Olympics attacks, in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered, and the Coastal Road Massacre, in which 38 were killed, including 13 children." This excerpt comes from a Nov. 19, 2013 article in Jewish Press, titled "Brandeis U Severs Ties with Al Quds over Defense of Pro-Nazi Demo."

We have chosen to keep this article online because the opinions and arguments presented are original work. The plagiarized sections are presenting empirical support for those opinions without rephrasing the information into the author's own words. The Justice condemns plagiarism in all formats.

For more information, please refer to this Letter from the Editor and this statement by the author. 

On Nov. 15, 2013, a rally took place at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem. Demonstrators marched in support of Hamas, the terrorist organization governing the Gaza Strip, wearing dark military gear, holding large, fake weapons and conducting Nazi salutes. In a report issued to the Brandeis community on Dec. 9, 2013, the incident was described as including “glorifying portrayals of hatred and violence that are antithetical to the institutional values of both Brandeis University and Al-Quds University.”

After the demonstration, the partnership between Brandeis and Al-Quds was suspended until further notice. 

Three days later, University President Lawrence also suspended Al-Quds University’s then president Sari Nusseibeh from the advisory board of the International Center of Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

Recently, there has been a growing voice on campus to reinstate the partnership between Brandeis and Al-Quds. Led by the Brandeis University-Al-Quds University Student Dialogue Initiative, these students have been vocal in their argument that the administration’s severing of the partnership between the two schools represents a breaching of Brandeis’ ideals of dialogue and inclusiveness.

The initiative’s argument ignores the true realities of the situation.

The partnership was not suspended due to the fascism but rather because of Nusseibeh’s statement in response to the situation. Nusseibeh issued a statement to his students about the demonstration in both Arabic and English, at Brandeis’ request. However, rather than an apology or a bland distancing of Al-Quds from the demonstration, Nusseibeh opted for inflammatory rhetoric and finger-pointing. In his statement, he blamed “Jewish extremists” with starting “vilification campaigns” in order to discredit the reputation of  Al-Quds University. 

While Al-Quds students were marching in support of a terror organization, it is in fact these students that, according to the published statement, are subjected to “extremism and violence.” Finally, Nusseibeh stated that the true problem of the “massacre of the Jewish people in Europe” (purposefully refraining from using the word ‘Holocaust’ as part of a larger culture of refusing to acknowledge the existence of the genocide) committed during the Holocaust is that it led to the “enduring Palestinian catastrophe.” 

Nuesseibeh’s statement was completely inappropriate. Instead of taking responsibility for the vile display that occurred at his university, he decided to engage in an anti-Semitic act of blaming a Jewish conspiracy attempting to ruin Al-Quds’ reputation. His pronouncement that the Holocaust’s real tragedy is that it led to the Palestinian “catastrophe” is immensely insulting, especially due to the fact that Brandeis is a Jewish-founded and sponsored school and thus a significant portion of the Jewish students that make up near half of its student population are related to Holocaust victims and survivors. Thus, Lawrence was correct in asserting that the language that Nusseibeh’s letter contained was “unacceptable and inflammatory” in suspending the relationship between the two schools.

Further, if students at Al-Quds are indeed as moderate and willing to engage in dialogue as members of the initiative state, why was there a rally in support of terrorism and fascism in the first place? Why was there no group of students who publicly opposed this heinous display of hatred? 

And if there are moderate students protesting against those supporting terrorism, why are they not as large a presence on campus? Why is nothing being heard about them? If these students are indeed moderate, why was there a second march in support of Hamas on March 24, 2014, after which President Nusseibeh resigned?

There are a litany of further examples evincing that Al-Quds is not the supposedly moderate beacon of enlightenment some would have you believe. In April 2006, a large poster was hung in one of the Al-Quds’ buildings to honor Sami Salim Hammad, a former Al-Quds student, who blew himself up in Tel Aviv, killing 11 people—including an American teenager, according to the Jewish Press.

Further, Al-Quds has in the past offered a “Human Rights and Democracy” course named in honor of Wafa Idriss, the first Palestinian female homicide bomber.

Additionally, Al-Quds is home to the Abu Jihad Museum. The museum is named for Khalil Al-Wazir, whose moniker, “Abu Jihad,” means “father of the holy war.” Abu Jihad is linked to several of the most horrific incidents of terror in modern memory—including the Munich Olympics attacks, in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered, and the Coastal Road Massacre, in which 38 were killed, including 13 children. 

In November 2014, four days after Palestinian terrorist Ibrahim Al-Akari killed two and injured more than 13 Israelis in Jerusalem, Al-Quds honored Al-Akari by naming a tournament after him. Ahmad Al-Khawaja, in charge of the physical education faculty of the Al-Quds, which organized the tournament, explained that “the Martyr (Shahid) Ibrahim Al-Akari Tournament ... was a national activity held in honor and appreciation of the soul of the heroic Martyr Ibrahim Al-Akari.”

More recently, in June 2014, Al-Quds Professor Mohammed Dajani resigned after intimidation, death threats, and campus riots, all because Dajani took his students to visit the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.

Instead of releasing a statement in support of the trip and emphasizing the university’s promotion of dialogue and mutual understanding, the Al-Quds Staff Union voted to fire Professor Dajani for his actions, and the Student Union distributed leaflets “condemning the visit to Auschwitz.” Those who decry the ending of the partnership as depriving of free speech should first attune themselves to the level of dialogue that exists within Al-Quds itself.

Dialogue between Palestinians and a Jewish-sponsored institution is a worthy goal, but it is one that can only be maintained when both sides are willing to support peace and understanding. 

Dialogue is pointless when one side continues to call into question the literal existence of the other and has shown no official signs of changing its views.

In reality, it is not the Brandeis administration holding the partnership back. Nor is it Jewish students completely opposed to engaging in communication with Palestinian counterparts. Rather, both Al-Quds and its student population, through engaging in hateful acts and promoting anti-Semitism, prevent Brandeis from restarting its partnership with them. Academia is meant to be a place of mutual respect, objectivity and open-mindedness. As it stands, Al-Quds does not meet that requirement, and Brandeis, which truly stands for those ideals, should not feel pressured to engage with Al-Quds.

Lawrence has come under fire during his tenure for several different actions and stances. The decision to sever the partnership with Al-Quds should not be one of them. 

Lawrence was willing to give Al-Quds the benefit of the doubt after the rally, but Nusseibeh’s statement proved that Al-Quds is not a desirable partner for Brandeis. Further actions by the new administration fail to present any shift in attitudes. 

The partnership should not be reestablished until Al-Quds sincerely apologizes for the events that occurred, the school repudiates Nusseibeh’s highly unacceptable and anti-Semitic rhetoric and the university delineates a clear plan for ensuring that such hateful actions will not be tolerated and that incitement against Israel and the Jewish people will be officially denounced.

— Dor Cohen ’16 is the co-president of Brandeis Conservatives.