'Continua' sparks controversy after quiet debut

Though stacks of magazines were quietly left in front of dining halls, and there was no publicity beyond word of mouth, the inaugural issue of Continua, a student magazine about "politics, culture and all things radical," has already ruffled a few feathers on campus.

GETTY IMAGES The inaugural issue of 'Continua' has sparked controversy for its articles on the Arab-Israeli conflict. The founders said they welcome the debate.

Such controversy, however, has made its founders happy. Continua professes in its introduction an aim to be "a forum for dissent and critical dialogue in the Yale and New Haven communities." Even its name, according to the introduction, comes from the "Luso-phone revolutionary slogan, `A Luta Continua,' or `the struggle continues.'"

"We've been gratified by the responses, both positive and negative. People have objected to some of the material, critiqued it, expressed that they have different viewpoints," Co-founder Joshua Jelly-Scha- piro, CC '02, said.

The first issue, entitled "Palestine, Israel, and the Intifada," focused mainly on political issues and has received the most criticism for its coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict. "It was the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the new intifada at the same time as we were conceiving of the magazine," Co-founder Ali Wick, CC '02, explained. "It's a pressing issue contemporary to our [mission]."

When asked whether it was appropriate to focus on such issues so soon after the terrorist attacks, Jelly-Schapiro said, "On the contrary, this issue occupied a central place in discussions after Sept. 11.  In whatever small way we could, [we wanted to] encourage discussion."

But Sara Hirschhorn, JE '03, co-president of Yale Friends of Israel (YFI), found some of the statements in the magazine "offensive" and called one of the articles, "A K Street Guide to Middle East Policy," somewhat anti-Semitic.

YFI is planning an official reaction to the magazine, with an "information campaign that would take a look at some of the assumptions and judgments made in Continua," according to Hirschhorn. However, she added, "It's a different perspective that isn't offered by other publications.  There should be a forum for debate, and to that extent, I'm not unhappy that it came out."

The founders of Continua justify their stance by setting the magazine within "a certain ideological framework."

"We don't pretend to proclaim the ultimate truth," Wick said.  "The articles may [appear] pro-Palestinian, which I think they are, but I'm asking someone to bring up constructive criticisms."

"No one is saying that magazines don't have the right to publish anything they want to write," Sam Yebri, ES '03, co-president of YFI, said. "But when something new like this comes out, it loses all credibility when it sets forth an agenda that is so biased."

Yet the magazine's central committee believes that Continua will fill a void in campus journalism.  "We wanted to talk about issues that weren't being discussed," another Co-founder, Eric Brown, CC '02, said.

Continua was founded in September when a group of six friends—Alan Audi, DC '02, Griffith Baker, CC '02, Benjamin Landy, CC '02, Brown, Jelly-Schapiro, and Wick—obtained funding from the Calhoun College Class of '59 Fund and the Program of Ethnicity, Race and Migration. Continua is managed by these six friends, who compose the central committee.

Brown feels that the current campus attitude is one of "self-congratulatory liberalism." "We pick a few issuesand are very outspoken about them, but in a greater sense, we're not aware of what's going on in the world," he said. This "urge for action" has resulted in the journal, which Brown hopes "will help people make their own decisions on when to get involved."

"It's helping to create further critical consciousness in terms of thinking and talking about issues," Jelly-Schapiro said.  "It's a pre-condition for action."

Though Brown, Jelly-Schapiro, and Wick stressed the importance of receiving as many submissions, responses and critiques as possible, they had no specific goals for the magazine beyond furthering discussion. According to Continua's directors, future issues may deal with anything from the war on drugs to contemporary poetry. 

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