Mr. Assaf’s opus

This week a reader called and asked the editors of this newspaper why last week’s issue included a letter to the editor written by Aref Assaf, president of the New Jersey chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. The reader asked how printing a letter from an “Arab anti-Israel propagandist” is consistent with our “Publisher’s Statement,” which appears on this page.

The answer is that NJ Jewish News feels readers need information from all sides of the debate if they are to make sense of, and be prepared to engage in, the arguments surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To print Mr. Assaf’s comments is not to endorse them, only to let our readers and leaders know the rhetorical strategy of a prominent and frequent commentator on Mideast issues from the Palestinian perspective.

We need to pay attention to Assaf in this regard specifically because he for the most part avoids the rhetorical excess that characterizes many pro-Palestinian activists. For example, in his letter he raises a number of ideas that are being discussed within the mainstream in Israel. More than one Jewish Israeli commentator — including critics within the settler movement — has asked if the timing of the prime minister’s announcement of a withdrawal of Jewish settlements from Gaza had anything to do with his legal troubles. Assaf also raises the question of what Israel intends to do with the settlements’ infrastructure should the withdrawal be carried out. If Sharon’s legal battles and the fate of the infrastructure are going to become new rhetorical gambits among pro-Palestinian activists, it’s important that they be aired here.

Printing Assaf’s letter also reflects well on the Jewish community. We often complain that there is no one to dialogue with in the Palestinian community. Letting a Palestinian air his or her views in our publications is a challenge to the other side that our commentators be allowed to respond in kind. That the Palestinian side often fails to meet this challenge only strengthens our position.

Airing a wide range of voices works to the benefit of individuals across the ideological spectrum. As the Publisher’s Statement puts it, NJJN serves as “a forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions in the Jewish community.” Some of those ideas and opinions may make us uncomfortable but nevertheless strengthen our ability to defend our interests.