ARTS Page 19
FORUM Criticize Spacey’s actions 12 SPORTS Women’s soccer ties NYU 1-1 16
‘THE SPARROW’ HEATHER SCHILLER/the Justice
The Independent Student Newspaper
the
of
B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9
Justice
Volume LXX, Number 10
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
‘ALL THE RIVERS’
COMMUNITY
Playwright responds to media regarding play’s cancellation ■ Michael Weller ’65 spoke to
WBUR about the University’s handling and cancellation of his play “Buyer Beware.” By ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE EDITOR
The University recently opted to cancel a production of Michael Weller’s ’65 controversial play “Buyer Beware,” a decision administrators said was reached following discussions between faculty and the playwright himself. Contrary to that narrative, however, Weller claimed in a Nov. 2 WBUR interview that he has not heard from the Theater Department since delivering the play. The play was originally slated to premiere on campus this academic year. However, “the challenging issues that the play raises prompted a reconsideration of that scheduling,” Senior Vice President of
NATALIA WIATER/the Justice
LOVE STORY: Dorit Rabinyan spoke about her book to a University audience at Rapaporte Treasure Hall on Wednesday evening.
Author discusses banned novel depicting a love story ■ Dorit Rabinyan spoke about
her book “All the Rivers,” a love story between and Israeli woman and Palestinan man. By ELIANA PADWA JUSTICE EDITORial assistant
Author Dorit Rabinyan’s “All the Rivers” was banned by the Israeli Ministry of Education for its love story between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man. During her Wednesday lecture, Rabinyan chose to focus again and again on the need to establish a human connection with others, to bond. Connection between Middle Easterners of various backgrounds became personally important to Rabinyan in 2002, during a winter she spent in New York. That winter, she met a group of Palestinian artists living in Brooklyn, and in the freezing temperatures, they became “much more … related to the ground that [they were] accustomed to.” They had “grown up under the same sun,” and in New York, the joy of recognizing each other as fellow Middle Easterners overpowered the
political divides they’d been raised under. Rabinyan described herself as being the most religious of the group and explained that that experience was new to her. She enjoyed being teased and seen as the “primitive” one of the group by her secular friends. Rabinyan was aware that as an Israeli, she enjoyed freedoms denied to her Palestinian friends, and that it was necessary to have an equalizer. “All the Rivers” is based on Rabinyan’s romance that winter, and she dedicated the book to her then-lover, Hassan Hourani. She said hearing Hassan’s perspective of their “contradictory, disputed, dual” piece of land showed her how fortunate she was to have a homeland and a passport to go back. She wrote the story after Hassan’s death, she said, to continue the dialogue they had in New York. “All the Rivers” was originally titled “A Rescue Act,” and Rabinyan explained that writing the book was her way of bringing Hassan back to life. She first wrote it in Hebrew and said that she sees Hebrew as a language that gave her liberty and privilege but has caused Hassan’s Palestinian family difficulties. Res-
Communications and External Relations Ira Jackson wrote in a Nov. 2 email to students, faculty and staff. In the last several months, students and alumni took to social media to protest the play, which featured a white character repeatedly using the N-word. However, Weller told WBUR that the protestors “just don’t know how to read a play,” adding that in “Buyer Beware,” he was trying to show a broad cross-section of people under a lot of pressure.” Weller did not respond to request for comment as of press time. In his email, Jackson wrote that the decision to premiere the play off campus and instead “engage with the play and the issues it raises within the context of a rigorous, team-taught course next semester” was made following conversations between Weller and creative arts faculty. Theater faculty also discussed the decision with some stu-
See WELLER, 7 ☛
CAMPUS SPEAKERS
urrecting him in Hebrew felt like correcting that, she said. Rabinyan has been told by Palestinian readers that Hilmi, Hassan’s character, is just like them. To Rabinyan, that’s the best compliment an Israeli writer can get. Rabinyan’s focus on dual Israeli and Palestinian narratives emerged again during the Q&A session. When asked if “All the Rivers” was available in Arabic, she said that it isn’t but told a story about two letters she received about the book from people who lived only six miles apart. One was a student at a Palestinian university who had to hide the book because “those Zionist fingers [had] written it,” and the other lived in a Jewish settlement and hid the book because it was too left-wing. Both authors cited the same passage and said they were impacted by “the love for humanity. They felt they could cross . . . their own immediate loyalty,” Rabinyan said. When asked, Rabinyan explained the Ministry of Education’s reason for banning the book from Israeli high schools: “[It] is dangerous to the Jewish identity of the young readers in Israel because
See LOVE STORY, 7 ☛
Scholars address sexual violence ethics ■ A panel of professors
discussed the intersection of race, ethnicity and religion in resolving sexual violence. By MAURICE WINDLEY JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Around the world, the conversation on how to properly address sexual assault is still ongoing. In a panel on Friday, the University’s Feminist and Sexual Ethics Project sought to highlight ways that race, ethnicity and religion can intersect and shape perspectives in approaching sexual violence. Moderated by Prof. ChaeRan Freeze (NEJS), the panel included Prof. Bernadette Brooten (REL) and Sarah Deer, a Native American lawyer who played a role in the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
Brooten, the Robert and Myra Kraft and Jacob Hyatt professor of Christian studies and a member of the Brandeis Task Force on Sexual Assault began the discussion by explaining that “sexual violence happens in all communities, but differently in each.” Accordingly, she sought to highlight some of the ways culture affects society’s perspective on the crime. “Only by addressing culture, religion, economics, politics and different actions to legal protection,” Brooten explained, “can we dismantle specific rape cultures.” By viewing sexual assault with regard to all of these factors, society can address each sexual assault in culturally appropriate ways, she asserted. She also noted that, while the material can be triggering to some individuals, “economic and political circumstances can determine a survivor’s access to protection and other
See ETHICS, 7 ☛
‘Wasted’
Ready for Playoffs
‘Home Within’
A recent documentary tries to solve the crisis of food waste.
The men’s soccer team will begin its exciting playoff run this Saturday.
An artist and musician depict the emotions behind the Syrian crisis through a visual concert.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
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FEATURES 8
INDEX
SPORTS 16
LUCY FRENKEL/the Justice
ARTS SPORTS
17 13
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 OPINION 8 POLICE LOG
10 2
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