Both Summers and Sharon Resist Coercion

To the editors:

Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West ’74 recently compared Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (and University President Lawrence H. Summers) to a bull in a china shop. This analogy, at one level, is grossly incorrect and unfair: the disputed territories in Israel do not remotely resemble a shop that sells china. China does not demand appeasement through coercive violence as Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat demands from Ariel Sharon.

The comparison between Sharon and Summers, however, does have some legitimacy. West has tried to coerce Summers into submitting to his political agenda, like Arafat tries to coerce Sharon. West is like Arafat, although I would not call the former a terrorist. Thankfully, neither Summers or Sharon have submitted.

If West wants to pontificate at Princeton, where he will operate unquestioned and pampered by spineless administrators, that is his prerogative. While West may feel that his tiff with President Summers is as important as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is not. Any comparison between the two is deranged and incredibly self-centered and offensive. There is enough egotism at this school without you.

Ronen E. Mukamel ’05

April 16, 2002