HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR AGAINST ISRAEL AT U.C. BERKELEY

Hedy Epstein at U.C. Berkeley.
Hedy Epstein is an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor who tours the country giving speeches at universities and to nonprofit groups. Her scheduled appearance at UC Berkeley’s Student Union building on October 19, 2004 hardly seemed like the kind of event to stir up controversy.

But as soon as her visit was announced, waves of outrage and fears of an ideological confrontation echoed across campus. Why? In addition to her early history surviving the Holocaust, Hedy Epstein is more recently a member of the International Solidarity Movement, a group of activists who travel to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and do everything possible to “disrupt” Israel’s activities there. ISM’s detractors claim that the group willingly takes orders from Palestinian militants dedicated to the destruction of Israel, and that ISM members who (usually illegally) infiltrate conflict areas act as enemy combatants against the Jewish state. ISM supporters claim the group merely uses nonviolent tactics to stop the Israeli Defense Forces from harassing and attacking Palestinians. Recently, ISM’s efforts have been focused on the “wall,” the defensive barrier Israel is building to keep suicide bombers out of the country.

So, was Epstein coming to the Berkeley campus to lecture on the Holocaust — or on her ISM experiences? This is where the controversy comes in: She was to lecture on both topics simultaneously. In fact, according to a flyer advertising her appearance which had been posted around campus, she planned to compare the Israelis’ treatment of the Palestinians with the Nazis’ treatment of the Jews.