Pariahs, Martyrs—and Fighters Back

AT the start of the last school year, activists at DePaul University set up a pair of tables along a student thoroughfare and distributed literature to passers-by. They caught the eye of faculty member Thomas Klocek, who took one of their handouts and read about Israel’s “brutal and murderous occupation” of “Palestine” as well as its “apartheid violence” in the West Bank and Gaza. This was provocative stuff-but nothing out of the ordinary for the two groups behind it all, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and United Muslims Moving Ahead (UMMA).

Engaging the students in a discussion about their claims, “I reminded them that there were multiple perspectives involved here, including Christian ones,” Klocek says. “I also said that using the term ‘Palestinian’ is problematic because it was once a generic term referring to Jews, Muslims, and Christians who lived in the area rather than to a single ethnicity.” One of the students said that she was a Palestinian and that his remarks insulted her. “I told her it was nothing personal and that she could call herself whatever she wanted,” he says.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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AT the start of the last school year, activists at DePaul University set up a pair of tables along a student thoroughfare and distributed literature to passers-by. They caught the eye of faculty member Thomas Klocek, who took one of their handouts and read about Israel’s “brutal and murderous occupation” of “Palestine” as well as its “apartheid violence” in the West Bank and Gaza. This was provocative stuff-but nothing out of the ordinary for the two groups behind it all, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and United Muslims Moving Ahead (UMMA).

Engaging the students in a discussion about their claims, “I reminded them that there were multiple perspectives involved here, including Christian ones,” Klocek says. “I also said that using the term ‘Palestinian’ is problematic because it was once a generic term referring to Jews, Muslims, and Christians who lived in the area rather than to a single ethnicity.” One of the students said that she was a Palestinian and that his remarks insulted her. “I told her it was nothing personal and that she could call herself whatever she wanted,” he says.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.