April 20, 2016 — Boston, Massachusetts
AJC Boston praised Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow for her compelling response to a student’s crude verbal attack on Israeli Knesset Member Tzipi Livni.
The incident occurred during a question and answer period following a panel discussion at the law school in which a third year student called Livni, a former Israeli Foreign Minister and one of the panelists, “smelly” in an apparent effort to insult her in front of an audience of more than 150 people.
“This kind of ad hominem attack has been a feature of antisemitic thinking for more than two centuries, during which the suggestion that Jews smelled was used to suggest that they are an inferior people, who are worthy of contempt,” said AJC Boston Regional Director Robert Leikind. “We are witnessing a decline in civility and an incapacity of some to engage in serious discourse about difficult ideas. We were heartened, however, to see Dean Minow’s clear response to this unfortunate incident. Whether we are concerned with debates regarding the Middle East or events in Washington, DC, we all lose when the capacity for serious discourse is undermined by the shrillest voices.”
Dean Minow called the student’s comment “offensive,” adding that “many perceive it as antisemitic.”
Minow urged all members of the Harvard Law School community “to treat all others as they wish to be treated themselves, and to respect the dignity and feelings of all, even those with whom they disagree most strongly on any given issue. The legal profession expects nothing less of its future members.”
AJC Boston is the local gateway to AJC’s global advocacy network that works to safeguard Israel and Jews around the world, and promote democratic values for all.
