My friend and colleague Ken Marcus has written another excellent piece on the anti-Semitic speech issues on university campuses. The article is cross-posted from New Jersey Jewish News. Mr Marcus is the former head of the Office of Civil Rights within the Dept. of Education. In this article, Marcus shows the difference between Israel-bashing speech on university campuses, which is protected (and popular) even if it crosses the line into anti-Semitism and what happens when pro-Israel speakers attempt to speak on campus, for example, at Kent State and UC-Irvine.
http://njjewishnews.com/article/op-eds/invoking-academic-freedom-to-silence-debate
Marcus is spot on. In my experience at UC-Irvine, I have personally witnessed anti-Israel speakers cross the line into Jew-bashing over the past several years. Their verbal outrages have been tolerated in the name of free speech. Yet, last year, when the Israeli ambassador to the US came to speak at UCI, he was repeatedly shouted down by the Muslim Student Union in an orchestrated attempt to shut him down. To this day, the entire University of California system has failed to come to grips with anti-Semitism on their campuses.
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And "when the Israeli ambassador to the US came to speak at UCI" and "was repeatedly shouted down by the Muslim Student Union in an orchestrated attempt to shut him down," the UCI administration awarded medals to all the MSU members involved, while the Orange County District Attorney's Office smugly declined to prosecute because "that Jew probably had it coming."
Right?
The fact that people indulge in such antics is significant. The fact that they were in fact apprehended and penalized is also significant. This is not a rerun of the Dreyfuss affair, when the entire army high command (a bunch of conservatives, like most anti-Semites in those days) upheld a false conviction as a matter of "personal honor" and journalists who wrote about it were sentenced to prison.
Silencing debate?
Siarlys,
Believe it or not, the UCI Cross Cultural Center (a bastion of political corretness that has ducked the issue of anti-Semitism at UCI) did give an award to the MSU last year.
There has been a back and forth articles and letters on Oren's speech in the Daily Bruin, the main paper at UCLA.
http://tinyurl.com/cz99aqc
I shouldn't get worked up about random people on the Internet but its disturbing how many people on the Internet think like the last two people do in their responses. They feel that Israelis should not be allowed to speak at Universities. The guy who wrote last response was particularly in need of some logic. While arguing that Israel is out to destroy the US, the guy writes against the principles of the 1st Amendment.
That is a voluntary student organization, entitled to its own free speech and freedom of association, right? It may receive some student funds, but it does not have any coercive powers, it is not a state entity, it is not legislative, judicial, or executive in its functions, right? It doesn't even have the unofficial status of the SA, by alliance with the ruling party as its official party militia, does it?
You issue Fousesquawk Jerk of the Year awards. Does anyone complain that they are being denied their constitutional rights or academic freedoms? No, because you don't have the power to hire or fire based on who did or did not get recognition as jerk of the year. It makes a huge difference.
I don't follow you Siarlys. I am not sure what you are saying.
I wasn't clear in my post so maybe that confused you.
In the second part of my post I was talking about Maha Said-Shariff and Insaniah in the link.
Insaniah can say what he/she thinks and I am saying he/she is wrong. The people who invited Ambassador Oren to speak should not be prosecuted.
I wasn't responding to you Anonymous, your comment wasn't even visible when I last offered mine. I was responding to Gary. I agree on the First Amendment all the way down the line.
I'm open to some demonstrative interruptions to make the point that "we're not all with you," (Mic check), but not shouting someone down so they can never say a word to a willing audience who wants to hear them. Of course we all have the right to say that the content of someone else's exercise of free speech is wrong.
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