To the editor,

Recent press reports covering the proposed mural honoring Dr. Edward Said have failed to give a full and complete accounting of objections raised, and not adequately addressed, during the approval process.

In both public hearings, and private conversations, members of the university community expressed their specific opposition to two symbols featured in the mural design: the cartoon character Handala, which has been portrayed as a violent protagonist fighting against Israel, as well as a key, understood by many to represent the displacement of the State of Israel by Palestinians.

The Arts Committee — Palestinian Mural Project of the Student Center Governing Board chose not to deal substantively with these objections, thereby missing an important and valuable opportunity to use the approval process to bring all sides together to engage one another in constructive dialogue. Instead, it approved the project without regard for the serious objections raised.

We applaud President Corrigan for his principled stand in defense of our university’s commitment to diversity. We are a university community that should ensure a safe learning environment for all students. We should not place, as a permanent icon on our public buildings, images of political contingency and images that have been used to reflect and glorify violence. This is patently unjust to Jewish and Israeli campus community members. This is not how we should communicate our commitment to embrace difference, foster dialogue and engage in the highest critical levels of learning.

We are fortunate to study and to teach at SF State — thousands of miles away from the Middle East conflict — where we are afforded the valuable opportunity to learn about international crises in our classrooms, engage one another in analytic and civil debate and learn a variety of perspectives in a safe and secure intellectual environment.

Elements of the proposed mural design are unnecessarily divisive and adversarial. Let’s not use the walls of our Student Center building to turn against one another. Instead, let’s harness the strength of our university and its diversity to continue learning together.