Response to the arrest of two anti-war activists

(This letter was submitted to the Big Rapids Pioneer by Barry Mehler, Director Institute for the Study of Academic Racism.)

The Real Sin of Sodom

Many people believe the sin of Sodom was sodomy, it wasn’t. The rabbis teach that the sin of Sodom was their inhospitality, their cruelty to strangers, their xenophobia. Strangers were never welcome in them parts. It was a lynch mob came for those strangers. And the innocent blood shed in that town cried out to God who sent an angel to destroy the city.

I have a modest proposal, but first, I would like to ask a question. Why is Ahlam Mohsen still in our jail? Max Kantar was released after it was acknowledged that the crime does not warrant a $250,000 bond. She pushed a pie into our Senator’s face. Ok, so charge her with assault with a pie and let her go already. She is not a threat to us. On the contrary, she is our scapegoat. We are punishing her for all the fears and anxieties we have about our future.

I don’t know the young lady other than what I have read and seen. She is a senior at MSU, a vegan and looks to me to be a very sweet young lady.  I bet her parents are very proud of her achievements and just a little uncomfortable with her intensity and passion. She spent a year in Palestine which is a sign of courage to me. I know, I’ve spent time in Palestine myself. In fact, I love the place, it is the land of my father Abraham. There is no place like it anywhere else on earth. It’s a little hard to understand why Jews, Christians and Moslems can’t get along in Jerusalem, of all places.

I know Max Kantar very well. He is the finest student I have ever taught. Max has amazing amounts of energy and is as sharp as they come. He combines a first rate mind with a passion for justice that no one around here can match. I’ve heard he is referred to as “Mad Max” around town, but to my mind, he is the one young man from this town that I am truly proud of.  I’m proud that he has been a student of mine, that he has worked on my archives and has taken my courses. Max did an independent study with me, I think it was last year. He spent a semester teaching me about Gandhi and non-violence.  We spent a lot of time talking about the virtues of non-violence. We watched a fabulous movie on the Baader-Meinhoff gang and discussed the terror cells of the radical left during the sixties and seventies. We looked at the results of their efforts and found them to be mostly negative. In the end, Max was solidly in the non-violent camp. He isn’t going to hurt anyone.  Neither will Ahlam.  She is a vegan and I’ll bet she is also a practitioner of non-violent political action. I don’t think she means us any harm.

So here is my proposal. We lower her bond as we did for Max. We schedule a date for Williams Auditorium, so everyone can come and we allow Max and Ahlam to answer all your nasty questions – as long as we keep it civil! No shouting and cursing.  Tell them why your angry and let them explain why they did what they did. At the end of the program, I will walk up to Ahlam and push a pie into her face. And then we will bring this travesty to an end. Before we are all ashamed of ourselves.