A Bad Sign at Brandeis

This evening I went to Brandeis University to join my roommate Christopher Kain who had a poetry feature on campus.

When we entered one of the campus buildings I saw this sign:

FREE GILAD SHALIT

AND THE 6,011 PALESTINIANS BEING HELD

IN ISRAELI JAILS

What jumped out at me was how small Corporal Shalit's name was and how large the lettering was for the 6,011 Palestinians. It was as if Shalit was less important because he is an IDF soldier.

Let us also remember that Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas. The sign implies Israel wantonly kidnapped six thousand plus Palestinians. The linkage is specious. The fact that young Jews are perpetuating this speciousness is most troublesome.