KANSAS CITY, Mo — A student group at the University of Kansas Medical Center hosted a discussion Tuesday afternoon that gained attention from members of the Kansas City Jewish community.
KU Medical Center said the school and its office of diversity, equity and inclusion did not host the event, but rather the Muslim Student Association.
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Viewers reached out to KSHB 41 News with concerns over the virtual discussion focusing on the Palestinian perspective on the war in Israel.
“It’s incredibly difficult and a very difficult topic in particular, but we have to allow for everyone to share their feelings in a way that is constructive, productive, and mature, and one that does not allow for the potential of sliding and slipping into overt hatred and antisemitism,” said Dr. Andrew Schlachter, a Kansas City-area physician and KU Medical Center alum.
Schlachter said his Jewish colleagues found an online event and immediately started asking questions.
The virtual discussion agenda, highlighting the Palestinian perspective, included discussions of Judaism and Zionism but didn’t have a Jewish panelist.
KSHB 41's Abby Dodge spoke with student organizers over the phone.
They said this panel came from frustrations over what they call inflammatory language used in a KU Medical Center sponsored event.
The group plans to continue hosting panels with varying perspectives and addressed concerns in Tuesday’s virtual discussion.
“Just because we host something that only represents our perspective at this moment in a short one hour, that does not mean we do not care about what other people feel,” a student moderator said while addressing community concerns. “We do not want anyone to feel endangered by our words, by what we do, by what our experiences are. Those two can coexist. They are not mutually exclusive.”
The University of Kansas Medical Center provided the following statement:
This event is organized and moderated by students and is taking place virtually. As an academic institution, it is our process to provide space and opportunity for students to gather and discuss a wide variety of issues. Any views expressed are those of the individual speakers and do not represent the institution.
In the past several weeks, two other community-wide discussions have taken place that provided additional information about the Israeli perspective. The students organizing this event believed that their perspectives were not included in those previous conversations.
Any group of students is welcome to organize additional discussions.
