UNC and Duke to Host Biased Conference Against the Only Jewish State

To all parties concerned,

I write to you as a UNC-CH alumna, the daughter and sister of Duke alumni, and most importantly, a Jewish woman and mother, native to and living in the Triangle.

I’m extremely disappointed in your decision to host the upcoming Conference on Gaza. This event, thinly and inadequately veiled as a scholarly dialogue, is in fact a one-sided campaign to continue to malign the only Jewish state in the world, and the only Democracy in the Middle East.

Several of your speakers have actively and publicly promoted terrorism against my people. You’ve included no speakers to educate on the reality of Gaza, no one to speak of the terror experienced by those Israelis living on the border. I agree wholeheartedly that Gaza must be freed. It’s people must be freed from Hamas, the terrorist ruling body in Gaza, which forces citizens at gun point to join violent protests at the border, which educates preschool children to kill Jews, which assassinates any Muslim suspected of selling property to a Jew, which throws homosexuals off of rooftops to their death.

You’ve effectively contributed to a hostile environment for Jewish students, and you will be held accountable. As you may be aware, there are several lawsuits filed against the City of Durham and it’s Mayor and Council members along similar lines. What you’re doing falls squarely under religious and ethnic discrimination, and you will be made to answer for it.

I’m beyond disappointed, frankly disgusted, by your decision. I would hope you re-evaluate your stance.

Regards,

Elizabeth J. Kardon
UNC-CH Class of 1991