Dear Dr. Fain and Dean Caulder,

We, the undersigned, wish to convey our objection to the speaker Norman Goda having a platform on campus. We are students, teachers, and members of the Wilmington Community, and we demand to be heard and responded to. Goda has shown through his writings a complete disregard for the suffering of the Palestinian people in favor of his Zionist agenda, as well as an arguably racist characterization of pro-Palestinian support.

He tries to write away the death and destruction that has taken place in Gaza over the past 15 months as “noxious holdovers from the middle ages.” The current death toll is over 60,000, of which, 17,000 have been children. To try and paint these devastating losses of life as old tropes is inconceivable. We are truly at a loss for how one does such a thing.

Goda's assertion that criticism of Israel and Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism is lazy at best and dangerous at worst. We live in a time where actual anti-Semitism is on the rise by neo-Nazis, right wing militias, and other groups that spread racist white supremacy ideology. We, the undersigned, condemn all racist hatred.

We do not wish to write more arguments dissecting Goda’s writings. Throughout his writings are clear examples of his erroneous depictions of our reality. He even decries “woke-ism” which is a tired example of a dog whistle for excusing racist rhetoric. While he seems to be an excellent scholar of the Holocaust, we do not believe that should waive his current stances and mishandlings of our current reality. It almost screams out as an example from Pedagogy of the Oppressed. “The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors.”

UNCW has an obligation to care for the well being of its students. Allowing someone to speak on a topic that is quite literally so close to home for some of its students should be weighed considerably. The speaker has a long history of written articles that belittle Palestinian suffering. Consider what kind of message this sends to your Palestinian and Arab students, especially the ones who can not return home because of Israeli government.

Others have already heard the speech that will be repeated on Thursday, and have written their valid criticisms. Anyone who desires to hear Goda’s rhetoric can through a number of the platforms it is already available. In the spirit of scholarly exploration, an oppositional voice being present is the very minimum for honest discourse.

If you choose to let Goda speak without any dissenting voice to his ideologies we, the people who make up your community, demand to know why. Otherwise, UNCW is allowing harmful, disingenuous rhetoric to be spoken without any sort of discussion or pushback.

We, the undersigned, find that abhorrent.