Gretchen Eick

Overview

Gretchen Eick has demonized Israel and defended anti-Israel activists.

As of July 2019, Eick’s LinkedIn page said she was a “Visiting Professor at University Džemal Bijedić Mostar.” It also said Eick was a “Professor of History Emerita” at Friends University (Friends) in Wichita, Kansas.

As of the same date, Eick was listed as an Adjunct Faculty in Academic Affairs at Friends.

Demonizing Israel

On January 29, 2014, Eick wrote a letter to the Wichita Eagle titled: “South Africa and Israel” in which she criticized a previous letter to the editor that was titled: "Not apartheid."In her letter, Eick compared Israel to Apartheid South Africa. 

She concluded her comparison by writing “This is government policy in Israel, and the U.S. government has not effectively challenged it, as it continues sending billions of dollars to Israel every year. This is apartheid.”

On July 24, 2014, Eick wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Wichita Eagle, titled: “Israel Engaged in Ethnic Cleansing.” 

In the letter, Eick charged Israel with “Constant bombing, drone attacks, tanks and ships firing on hospitals, children at play and whole families huddling together in their homes.”

She ended the letter by stating that “Israel is committing war crimes while our Congress and president cheer it on and send more of our tax money.”

Defending Anti-Israel Activists

Drake signed a 2017 letter condemning a decision by Fordham University’s dean to block the establishment of a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter on campus. The letter was authored by the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) organization.

In 2016, Fordham reportedly blocked the formation of a Fordham SJP chapter “based on the reported behavior of other [SJP] chapters on other campuses,” indicating that “the establishment of a local branch could be ‘polarizing’ and pose a safety concern to students and faculty.”

Signatories demanded that Fordham “immediately rescind the rejection of SJP as a student group on campus, apologize to the students affected by this harmful decision, and reaffirm Fordham’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom.” 

The petitioners also highlighted SJP’s Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) activity, characterizing SJP’s efforts to promote anti-Israel boycott as part of “a time-honored non-violent mode of political expression.”The petition accused Fordham’s administration of a “fundamental misunderstanding of what boycotts are, the purpose of a university, and the goals of SJP.”

Social Media and Weblinks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-eick-0a2a2411/

University Website:https://www.friends.edu/staff/8996/