USA – An Antisemitic Article in a University Newspaper

On 18^th October
2004, a controversial editorial appeared in The Chronicle, the daily newspaper of
Duke
University in

North Carolina. The contents of the editorial written by Philip Kurian aroused strong criticism by various groups, especially among the Jewish students. Kurian wrote the article in reaction to the request by the Jewish students to cancel the Fourth Palestinian Solidarity Movement Conference held on 16^th October at Duke on the grounds that the PSM does not condemn Palestinian terrorism. In the editorial Kurian accused the Jews of limiting freedom of speech, of being over privileged in the

United States, of having overrepresentation in prestigious institutions of higher learning, of exploiting the “Holocaust industry” in order to garner profit and accumulate power, and so forth. The Jewish students were joined by the Duke University President in sharply criticizing the article.