Hillel brings controversial speaker to Pittsburgh

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published: Thu, 4 Feb, 2010

Before you could see them, you could hear them.

Shouts of “Free Palestine! Free Palestine!” rang out on Forbes Avenue for at least three blocks last night when members of the community and Pitt students protested an Israeli speaker who came to the Hillel Jewish University Center.

Inside the center, Effie Eitam, a former Knesset member, sat in quiet introspection. The din of the audience inside blocked the sound of about 25 protesters who lined up along the sidewalk.

But when the crowd quieted as Eitam prepared to speak, their voices became clear.

Eitam was scheduled to speak at Hillel on the threat of a nuclear Iran. By the time he began his speech, he had added another topic to the agenda — the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Beginning with the issue of Iran, Eitam discussed the country’s weapons technology.

“Nothing about [the Iranian nuclear] threat has been overexaggerated,” Eitam said. “It is real. It is serious.”

During the following 20 minutes, Eitam pleaded with the audience to break what he called a “silence” over the topic of Iran’s capacity to create a nuclear weapon. He said Iran has been testing missile technology with the capacity to launch a nuclear weapon.

Eitam said the threat of a nuclear Iran is not only a problem for Israel — it presents an issue to the world. He contends that a nuclear Iran would share its technology with terrorist organizations. These organizations would in turn have the capacity to blackmail the United States.

Eitam said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should not be as high of a priority on the international agenda as is the Iranian nuclear threat.

“Those that put it on the same scale help to create a smoke curtain that helps the Iranians cross that line,” he said.
He continued to defend Israel against allegations of the country’s unwillingness to make peace with the Palestinians. He noted that Israel has made peace agreements in the past with Egypt and Jordan.

He reminded the audience of Israel’s past withdrawals from territories, including Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
“We withdrew from Gaza up to the last drop of sand. It is not an issue of withdrawing …” Eitam said.

At these words, sarcastic cries of “kill the cancerous Arabs” erupted from the back of the room. Several protesters heckled Eitam with this phrase because an Israel news publication, Ha’aretz, quoted Eitam calling Arab-Israelis a “cancer.” After the event, Eitam said the publication misquoted him.

Many audience members responded to the protesters with a resounding “Get out!”

Eitam announced from his podium that he would take the protesters’ questions at the end of the speech — but requested they wait until then and not interrupt his speech.

A Hillel supervisor had allowed the protesters to come inside for the lecture, but asked them to remain quiet until after the event, when they could ask questions.

Such interruptions occurred for the rest of the speech. Eitam dismissed the cries of protesters, saying they were “propaganda.” This only led to an increase in protester outbursts.

Hillel staff asked some of the protesters to leave the building.

“Shame on Hillel! Shame!” one protester screamed as he was escorted out of the building.

Most of the audience kept their backs turned to the protesters during such moments, while some continued to scream “Get out!”

Toward the end of the speech, Eitam caused a slight stir in the audience when he confidently announced he believes there one day will be peace between Israel and Palestine.

“It will take a long time of transition,” Eitam said. “Changing their minds, changing their leadership.”

Eitam later in the question-answer session revealed that he also believes that a Palestinian state will be the first democracy in the Middle East.

During the session, Eitam answered questions about morality and war and issues currently facing Gaza.

He said even the U.S., “most civilized of countries,” has dropped atomic bombs — something Israel never did.

Before they went inside for the lecture, some protesters explained why they believed bringing Eitam to Pittsburgh was a problem.

Kevin Foley, a sophomore at Pitt, works as a business manager for Students for Justice in Palestine, which helped organize the protest along with members of the Thomas Merton Center.

“We don’t need this kind of hate speech,” Foley said, referring to Eitam’s alleged “cancer” comment. “It’s reactionary — it’s a move backwards.”

Alex Lotorto, 23, said bringing Eitam has also been controversial within the Jewish community. He said he felt the protest was successful, and hoped it could “at least marginalize” the speech.