Re: Brown University teach-in panel (Sept. 26)

I would like to add a few points to Marty Cooper’s report on the forum held at Brown on the Gaza war. 

I was one of the speakers on the panel. Marty referred to tension in the room but neglected to mention its source. The one moment of disruptive behavior at the forum was provided by an older couple, who began yelling at the moderator from their seats in the second row. They demanded an immediate answer to a question, even though the format was to collect four questions from the audience, then turn back to the panel. When told that the question would be answered in turn, but not immediately, they escalated their yelling, then stood up, announced loudly they were leaving, and stalked out of the auditorium. It almost had the feeling of being staged. It is true that they did not get an answer to their question; they did not stay to hear it.

As a faculty member at Brown, where we have been grappling with free speech issues recently, I was glad that the only bad behavior at the event came from adults in the community (who should have known better).  As a member of the Jewish community, however, I was sad that it was Jewish adults who put on this display of immature behavior for my students (and for my colleagues, who asked me later with dismay who these people were).

As a result of this disruption, at the next event on Israel-Palestine, a talk by the PLO ambassador sponsored by Jewish students and Hillel, only students were allowed to pose questions during the Q&A period. It went off very smoothly. 

Nina Tannenwald

Director, International Relations Program

Watson Institute for International Studies

Brown University

Providence, R.I.