Deborah Lipstadt speaks at the wOSU building on Wednesday. Credit: Reegan Davis | Lantern Reporter
Members of Staff and Faculty for Justice in Palestine have called for a university-sponsored forum on the war in Gaza after the Office of Academic Affairs hosted Holocaust expert Deborah Lipstadt to speak on antisemitism Wednesday.?
Pranav Jani, a professor of English, and Shannon Winnubst, a professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies, both members of SFJP, said in a statement that — in addition to discussing? anti-semitism — that the “Listen. Learn. Discuss.” program at Ohio State also discuss the war in Gaza.
“In the spirit of the ‘Learn. Listen. Discuss.’ commitment to open discussion of difficult topics, we call for a university-sponsored forum on the current genocide of Palestinians,” the statement said. “We call for a discussion of the historical dangers of genocidal rhetoric that threatens the end of civilizations. For several years now, OSU’s practice has been ‘Forget, Silence, Ignore.’ We are a university. This has to change now.”
Chris Booker, a university spokesperson, said in an email the programs are based on community input.
“The Listen. Learn. Discuss. initiative provides the university community with an opportunity to engage one another in respectful and thought-provoking conversations,” Booker said. “Interested members of the university community can learn more about Listen.Learn.Discuss and submit events for consideration here: https://listen-learn-discuss.osu.edu/events/submit.”
Jani and Winnubst also said in their statement that denial of the Holocaust and any form of antisemitism is unacceptable — and the current U.S. and Israeli war against Iran must be publicly addressed.
Lipstadt did not respond in time for publication.
A student and staff member were arrested at the Ohio Union after protesting a pro-Israel event on Tuesday. They are members of Students for Justice in Palestine and Staff and Faculty for Justice in Palestine, according to prior Lantern reporting. Winnubst was present for the protest in a supportive capacity.
“Compounded by the event with two IDF soldiers hosted by the Students for Support of Israel, this OAA-sponsored forum ensures that the campus climate for Palestinians, pro-Palestinian voices, and Muslims in general continues to be hostile and decidedly uncivil,” the statement said.?
This is a developing story, The Lantern will update the article when more information is obtained.
The article was updated on April 19 at 9:21 a.m. to added Chris Bookers statement.
