Canceling Brown University’s study abroad program in Israel would only create “political animus” and make divisions worse, according to an opinion piece in the student newspaper.
Student Maya Rosenberg responded to a new campaign from Students for Justice in Palestine to cancel the school’s “five study abroad programs in Israel.” These are programs that have historically been approved, although Brown officials have paused them due to the October 2023 terrorist attack.
“[I]ts decision to keep these programs underscores an important distinction: temporarily restricting travel for safety reasons is not the same as permanently eliminating educational opportunities through an institutional boycott,” Rosenberg wrote in the Brown Daily Herald.
She argues students need to learn about complex political issues, but being barred from studying in Israel would make this more difficult.
“Studying abroad should encourage students to confront complexities rather than avoid them,” she wrote on Oct. 18. “Eliminating opportunities for students to study in Israel would not make those complexities disappear, but remove an excellent avenue for students to begin to understand what is happening.”
Rosenberg shared how her own experience interning in Israel helped shape her views.
She called on the school to keep “institutional neutrality” when it comes to Israel.
“No student should be compelled by Brown to study anywhere, and likewise, no student’s academic options should be limited by the University taking sides in an international conflict. Brown’s voice is powerful,” she wrote. “It should be used to protect an intellectual environment where competing viewpoints and respectful debate is valued, not subject to intimidation.”
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