rift

A UC Irvine forum on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last month exposed a rare rift over academic freedom within the normally collaborative Orange County Jewish community.

The four selected panelists at the Oct. 9 program were critiqued as a \”pro-violence platform\” by the Fullerton-based Middle East Reporting in Truth (MERIT), a grass-roots group organized to counter media bias. MERIT urged its members to press public officials for an investigation of the forum\’s sponsors and funding, describing the participants, who at that time had not yet been identified, as \”Palestinians who justify suicide bombers\” and calling the event \”propaganda\” for lacking mainstream speakers.