Hey guys, Hopefully this will be the end of the madness. Please send me an email to let me know what you think of this. It’s pretty benign. I just have some vindicating to do. Thanks- Emily Keeler

In defense of my letter to the editor (Conflict not for paper) to which Maria N. Strouzas responded (Discuss Opinions Freely, Feb. 12), I must actually confirm and agree with her. The Mideast conflict and its various effects and tensions on our diverse and Tier 1-directed community should be discussed, and what better a venue than the Northeastern News. Never did I say that the conflict shouldn’t be discussed and nor would I say that, given I did, in fact, write on my own views in my term as a columnist. How fitting that Ms. Strouzas remembers that.

To clarify, I will restate what the actual main point was in my letter: “I admire the attempt that Joe Goldberg attempted in his last column (Two Views, One Conflict, Jan. 15), but not the way it was done.” In other words, his points, though I may not agree with them, are valid as long as they are addressed with validity. The whole Middle East conflict, while I maintain that it is too big an issue for the editorials and too often handled by the overly vindictive, should nonetheless be welcomed in the intellectual forum.

“Stating that he [Goldberg] somehow profits through the suffering of others is a serious accusation,” and indeed, Maria, it is. But that is nearly what Goldberg did when he applied a made-up, self-legitimizing dialogue to a real-life opponent, without consent to write about her. Goldberg’s arguments, this time and in the past, have made presuppositions and unfounded judgments about issues inside one part of the conflict, and these conflicts are with which I take issue. I would have preferred not to write, but his defamation of a peer in this manner was a bad journalistic decision that needed to be called. If “The News should be a venue for all members of the community with a serious point,” then some of Goldberg’s statements are going to need a new home.

I certainly did not intend a personal attack on the writer; as a writer I’ve enjoyed personal attacks as much as I’ve enjoyed my words taken out of context. I wish to extend my honest apologies to those who misunderstood my point or found disrespect in my message. And my sincerest regret goes out to anyone’s intelligence I may have insulted, and to you, Maria Strouzas.

Emily Keeler Junior English, Philosophy and Religion