Alvin Chow

Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein?s remarks stirred controversy.

Announcements billing the talk, put up around campus by event organizers last week, juxtaposed an image of Jews in Nazi Germany with an image of Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints.

The flier appalled members of Stanford’s Jewish community and prompted the Stanford Israel Alliance and the Jewish Leadership Council to send letters to MSAN, CJME and several administrators including Vice Provost John Bravman.

The letter argued that any comparison between Israelis and Nazis “could risk offending Jews and inciting others against them.”

Sensing a potential controversy, CJME co-president Omar Shakir, a sophomore, prefaced his introduction of Epstein by assuring the audience that no direct comparison between Israelis and Nazis was intended by the posters or would be expressed by Epstein in her remarks.

Epstein insisted that she “did not compare situations” and restrained from making direct comparisons between Nazis and Israelis. She largely avoided discussing her own background as a Holocaust survivor — she left Germany through the Kindertransport when she was eight years old — and focused instead on her experiences protesting in Israel.

Epstein said she had been shot at with live ammunition and tear-gas canisters by Israeli soldiers.

On a recent trip to Israel, airport security guards informed her that based on her history as an activist she was considered a terrorist threat. She was subsequently stripped and cavity-searched.

She concluded her remarks by sharing a thought she had while standing in the shadow of Israel’s new security fence.

“When I stood next to that wall, I remembered what the motto of Holocaust survivors was: ‘Never again,’” she said. Epstein shook her head and continued, “We Jews are doing this.”

Several times during the talk, Epstein was interrupted by the shouting of outraged audience members, many of whom were associated with off-campus Jewish groups. One man threatened “legal action.” Another yelled that the speech was “just too much.”

Epstein cited the outbursts as “a good example of how Israelis speak to Palestinians.”

San Jose resident Darlene Wallach, co-founder of the group Justice for Palestinians, jumped hurriedly to her feet and yelled “Shame on you!” at Epstein’s detractors.

By the end of the speech, the tension in the room warranted the arrival of two Public Safety officers, who quietly moved closer to Epstein.

Junior Adam Isen, co-president of the Stanford Israel Alliance, criticized Epstein for what he perceived as her selective interpretation of the conflict.

“She totally ignores the fact that Israel was willing to offer the Palestinians a state,” he said.

In an effort to undermine her credibility, unidentified protesters circulated fliers claiming that the International Solidarity Movement, to which Epstein has ties, has been known to “advocate terrorist violence, excuse suicide bombings and advocate cutting holes in Israel’s fence.”

At the end of the question-and-answer session, Epstein was asked what she hoped her audience would remember from the evening.

“I hope you remember the members of the audience who were respectful,” she said, adding, “I am very sorry and very appalled that my fellow Jews behaved so abysmally.”