Guest speakers are a regular part of campus life, and this week saw the ripples of controversial speakers on two campuses in the northeast. First up was an only mildly controversial event at Boston College. The Heights has a full article on the event, billed as “Understanding Christian Support for Israel,” in which speaker JoAnn Magnuson attempted to explain her support for Israel as a Christian Zionist. It was a small, relatively tame event until the question & answer period:

The majority of questions targeted Magnuson’s presentation. The audience members who spoke were all extremely passionate about their views, prompting a guarded response from Magnuspm. Cunningham responded to most of the questions, as Magnuson was visibly uncomfortable after the questions began…

A woman from Lebanon, whose husband is a Palestinian, challenged Magnuson’s support of Christian Zionism as means of achieving justice, saying instead that it ‘taught hatred of Islam.’

‘As a Jew, as a lover of Israel, the coalition of Christian Zionists, the Christian right, and the Israeli right has a very devastating potential for Jews and Israel,’ said Martin R. Federman, the co-chair of the Boston chapter of the Jewish Voice for Peace.

About 300 miles away at the University of Pennsylvania, divisions have cropped up regarding the school’s choice for a commencement speaker:

The University’s decision to bring James Baker to speak at this year’s Commencement may be raising concerns among pro-Israel and Jewish students… The Penn Israel Coalition has taken issue with the decision to bring the former U.S. cabinet member and co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group who famously clashed with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in the past and is alleged to have made anti-Semitic remarks.

PIC President and Wharton and College junior Max Schapiro said it is ‘inappropriate’ for Penn to bring in an individual who is ’so offensive to so many in this community.’

This comes on the same day that prolific author and lawyer Alan Dershowitz (always good for a quote) spoke on campus. “Although slated to speak on global terrorism, the talk focused instead on the alarming rise of anti-semitism and what Dershowitz described as growing ‘delegitimization’ of Israel.” The event featured “a brief outburst during the question-and-answer session that required security guards to remove a disruptive audience member.”

The quote of the night probably came from Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chair of the Congress of Jewish Presidents and Dershowitz’s opening speaker: “It’s not politically correct to attack a Jew openly,” Hoenlein said. “So they attack the state that represents them.”