Opinion: Is Cal class on Palestine an exercise in academia or politics?
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To the editor: The UC Berkeley student-led class on Palestine, presented “through the lens of settler colonialism,” to me shows why universities have become a joke.
When I was in college, classes were taught by professors, presumably experts in their field. We felt cheated if a teaching assistant grad student was covering.
( “Class on Palestine reinstated,” Sept. 20)
Does anyone really believe that this course is without a political agenda?
If this course really reflects “open-minded curiosity” maybe they would be willing take a week out of the semester to discuss what it is like to live in a city where a suicide-bomber may be at the table next to you in a pizza parlor.
David Goodwin, Los Angeles
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To the editor: It is encouraging that UC Berkeley has re-instated this class.
Why are pro-Israelis so worried about an open discussion of the state of Israel?
Everyone is entitled to participate because we are a nation predicated on the right of free speech.
Where better to practice that but in an academic environment?
Lillian Laskin, Los Angeles
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