I firmly believe that the Middle East conflict is an appropriate topic of discussion for The Northeastern News editorial page. Regarding this matter of The News and appropriate content, Keeler wrote a letter to the editor, “Conflict not for Paper.” (Jan. 22) Neither her call to end Middle East discussion in The News, nor her personal attack on Columnist Joe Goldberg, were warranted.

Northeastern – a major urban university of international reputation – is the perfect place to discuss all issues of global significance. As the school’s primary media, The News is a place for students to express serious views on current events. If we allow our media to degenerate into a convenient outlet for personal musings or a cesspool of personal attacks, we do not deserve to be rated in the top 100 schools.

Keeler’s piece was very disturbing on several fronts. It’s content was accusatory, cynical and hypocritical. Though I do not know Emily, and do not want to attack her personally, she left her own journalistic record open to scrutiny when she spoke out against Goldberg.

Keeler’s push to end the Middle East conversation in The News is a clear-cut case of hypocrisy. Though she believes it inappropriate for Goldberg to discuss the Middle East conflict in his column, Keeler apparently believes that her own pen is worthy of the task. Though The News’ online archives do not date back to Keeler’s tenure as a columnist, it is indisputable fact that she opinioned on the Arab-Israeli conflict on at least one occasion.

Keeler’s omission of her own record, while attacking Goldberg’s, suggests two possible scenarios. The first is that she simply changed her mind, deciding it’s wrong to write about the conflict, and now expects others to abide by her personal decision. The second is that Keeler fancies herself too good for her own advice, figuring no one will notice her flip-flop anyway. In either case, we don’t need this type of snobbery in our paper. The News should be a venue for all members of the community with a serious point. It should not be a journalistic test-lab in which writers are sheltered from having to account for their previous statements.

Keeler’s piece states that Joe Goldberg “capitalizes” on the Middle East conflict. Is she implying that he is making money on all this? Stating that he somehow profits through the suffering of others is a serious accusation. Not only is it irresponsible to make such a statement without proper evidence, but also it is unethical to discredit an opponent’s character in order to make up for one’s own poor argument.

We need less of the accusations, cynicism and hypocrisy that infest Emily Keeler’s writing, and more of the serious conversation that can be found in Joe Goldberg’s.

Though I am in no position to argue that Jews should feel one way or another about the Middle East conflict, I admire Goldberg for taking a risk and sharing his views with the world.

Her claim that the Middle East issue is just too big – the main point of her piece – is simply not sound. Is she saying that students’ views on the matter are not valuable? Would she prefer that we use The News to discuss the potholes on Forsyth Street? Her statement that “most students don’t care” not only insults the intelligence of the student body, but also damages the reputation of the school. Our students do care and those of them that don’t really need to open their eyes and see that in the big picture, this conflict affects us all. We can not sit here and pretend that we live in a perfect world and that this is not going on in the Middle East.

If we do not utilize the editorial pages of The News to discuss important world events, then we are wasting a valuable resource.

Let us never forget that this is OUR paper and that it is here for all of us.

– Maria N. Strouzas is a senior journalism and English major.