Andrew Tarsy

The "Wheels of Justice" controversy has nothing to do with freedom of speech. We all know that principals and teachers have wide discretion to determine what material to present to students and how to present it. This controversy is really about whether Wheels of Justice is an appropriate teaching resource for high school education on the Middle East conflict.

Like Hamas and Hezbolah, Wheels of Justice advocates want the State of Israel wiped off the map. Sound familiar? This is also the viewpoint of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, whose most recent accomplishment is sponsoring an international conference denying the Holocaust.

Neither Wheels of Justice nor its local supporters accepts the right of the democratic State of Israel to exist, and argues that the sole cause of the Middle East conflict is the presence in the region of a Jewish state. Both refuse to acknowledge that any Palestinians engage in terrorism and equate Israel alternately with apartheid South Africa and Nazi Germany.

These extreme views ought to have raised red flags for the school. The right of Israel to exist is not up for debate. Moderates on all sides of the Middle East conflict long ago recognized the necessity of a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. High schools hardly have enough time to teach the fundamentals of the conflict and struggle for peace and security in the Middle East. Indulging the fantasies of anti-Israel extremists undermines real efforts at education on this complex topic.

Is Wheels of Justice entitled to a captive audience of social studies classes? Hardly.

This cry of "you are denying my rights" is the cynical strategy of a failing cause. Only bullies whose biases leave them outside a responsible educational framework resort to intimidation and threats. We ought to be deeply concerned whenever the political expression of teachers becomes more important than maintaining a safe and productive learning environment for students.

Also deeply troubling is the plainly spoken allegation of Wheels proponents that the only reason they have been hassled at all is that area Jews are stereotypically flexing their muscles to stifle debate. To think that this naked appeal to the insidious anti-Semitic canard of Jewish control might thrive in Andover is the greatest shame of all in this episode.

Our highest calling as a community is not to let Wheels of Justice and its local activists lead us into division and mistrust of one another. Let the propagandists get back on their bus and leave to Andover the hard work of building community and responsibly educating our next generation of leaders.

Andrew Tarsy is the director of the Anti-Defamation League's New England region.