On December 5, while university presidents walked into Congress, I walked into a room of approximately 100 Yale students. Three chairs facing the students were reserved for three faculty: Dean Pericles Lewis, the moderator; Emma Sky, lecturer at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs; and Ross Douthat, senior fellow at the Yale Jackson School. The discussion was part of an ongoing series of “Dean’s Dialogues” created by Dean Lewis. It was designed to model productive conversation and then give students a space to talk openly about the Israel–Hamas war. Dean Lewis turned to the students after about 30 minutes: time for Q&A.
One student’s hand shot up immediately. He asked — or perhaps accused — the speakers, “How can we trust what you say about Israel and Gaza when you supported invading Iraq and Afghanistan?” Before Douthat or Sky could respond, one-third of the students applauded, stood up in unison, wrapped keffiyehs (scarves symbolizing Palestinian nationalism and popularized by Yasser Arafat) around their necks, and marched out of the room.
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