Glad that Zaid is picking up this theme. Watching the ongoing assault on freedom of speech for students who support Palestinian rights has made it clear just how few people actually care about this freedom in any kind of principled way. The constituency for the first amendment is just impossibly small, and the enemies of freedom of speech are constantly angling for a new line of attack. Cracking down on certain ideas because it is 'unprofessional' to express them is going to be the next battle, and it's amazing that few people can see this coming.
The only reason people like me complain about protests for so called "Palestinian Rights" is because on these same campuses, if ANYONE dared to shout "Trans women are not women" or "Black Lives Matter is a Grift" or "the HIjab is oppressive" every student involved would be expelled and any faculty who participated would be fired.
It's the racist double standard applied to Jews that we complain about.
If it's okay to proclaim "Exterminate the Jews" on college campuses, it should be equally to proclaim "Exterminate the Muslims".
But Jews are being treated as lesser humans on almost all of our Ivy League campuses.
First of all, the central claim your making here is obviously false- the very article you’re commenting on is about a woman who did say basically all of those types of things and only recently got around to experiencing some kind of professional censure- which, while I don’t agree with it, fell well short of being fired. More to the point, the Palestinian rights protests were supported by the majority of Jews on most campuses; the idea that anyone is calling for “extermination” is just completely unhinged fantasy.
But even if that were true, instead of trying to coopt the anti free speech rhetorical tendencies of people you detest, wouldn’t it be better to advocate for freedom of speech for everyone? At a certain point someone has to stand on principle- why not you?
I don’t see anyone shilling for Hamas losing their right to speak. It’s losing their right to physically keep Jews or Israel supporters from walking freely on campuses. Or hear g speakers who speak out for Israel.
Academic freedom should be paramount. But it seems there's maybe a bit more selective picking of stats by Wax to play provocateur than identifying the issues.
The mistake Amy Wax made is that she dehumanized the wrong people.
If she had said she thinks the United States may be better off with “fewer Zionists and less Jewish immigration,” because they are "evil imperialist colonizers"; or that “Zionist couples are not fit to raise children"; or that “Zionist men are more likely to assault women" or that "She believes that the United States might be better off with more Palestinians and fewer Zionists” she would be the most celebrated and protected academic in the country.
On college campuses, students and faculty are free to dehumanize the world's only Jewish state, where over half the world's surviving Jews live, but don't you dare dehumanize any actual humans. That's crossing a line.
Meanwhile, Russel Rickford, who said he was exhilarated by the sadistic pogrom on 10/7, is still happily employed at Cornell and free to continue teaching hatred against Jews (but only the "bad Jews" who think Israel has a right to exist).
Me, a liberal progressive, on seeing an overt assault on freedom of expression in universities against Palestinian protestors: "maybe the spirit of liberty does not beat in the breast of conservatives."
Are you two joking? Try marching around a college campus with a sign declaring"Trans women are NOT women". Or better yet, with a sign declaring "Am Yisrael Chai". Lefty hypocrisy regarding Free Speech is absolutely repulsive.
There are massive rallies in favor of Israel's government, apartheid and at all, at Columbia University, the endless persecution complex is not interesting as an argument. Don't live your life as a victim Penny.
We’ve got high school teachers registering their students to vote as Democrats while a grade school teacher is off creating “Kamala Harris” day, where her students are encouraged to wear Kamala Harris swag and pledge fealty to the mindless imbecile currently vying for President. This pales in comparison to any of that.
In order to make this generation of students think critically they need to be shocked into a mode of thinking that takes them outside of the FAQ answers from their liberal indoctrination packets. That’s what I think Wax is actually doing. The easiest way to confirm this is to see what her course material and world view was like 5/10/15/20+ years ago. My guess is that she’s become far more provocative in the last 5 years.
A lot of what she says would be considered racist crackpottery even by most of my Republican friends and neighbors. That's the whole point of having to defend her freedom of speech -- it's truly unpopular speech. If she was so banal and boring there would be no need.
But she teaches also. And I can make a credible claim that she has made it difficult for students of various races and ethnicities to be comfortable in her classes. It’s unprofessional and she is not suited to teaching.
As Evelyn Beatrice Hall said, "‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". I disagree with Jilani on many things, but on free speech he is absolutely correct.
Also, what a boring world we would live in if everyone agreed on everything all the time. How would society ever progress if we didn't hear people with differing opinions and force ourselves to defend our own? And sometimes one or the other of us might change our minds.
Why do I have to define it? I already did, and any normal person will find her comments quite off-putting if not downright stupid. But as an academic she should have freedom of expression.
Glad that Zaid is picking up this theme. Watching the ongoing assault on freedom of speech for students who support Palestinian rights has made it clear just how few people actually care about this freedom in any kind of principled way. The constituency for the first amendment is just impossibly small, and the enemies of freedom of speech are constantly angling for a new line of attack. Cracking down on certain ideas because it is 'unprofessional' to express them is going to be the next battle, and it's amazing that few people can see this coming.
The only reason people like me complain about protests for so called "Palestinian Rights" is because on these same campuses, if ANYONE dared to shout "Trans women are not women" or "Black Lives Matter is a Grift" or "the HIjab is oppressive" every student involved would be expelled and any faculty who participated would be fired.
It's the racist double standard applied to Jews that we complain about.
If it's okay to proclaim "Exterminate the Jews" on college campuses, it should be equally to proclaim "Exterminate the Muslims".
But Jews are being treated as lesser humans on almost all of our Ivy League campuses.
First of all, the central claim your making here is obviously false- the very article you’re commenting on is about a woman who did say basically all of those types of things and only recently got around to experiencing some kind of professional censure- which, while I don’t agree with it, fell well short of being fired. More to the point, the Palestinian rights protests were supported by the majority of Jews on most campuses; the idea that anyone is calling for “extermination” is just completely unhinged fantasy.
But even if that were true, instead of trying to coopt the anti free speech rhetorical tendencies of people you detest, wouldn’t it be better to advocate for freedom of speech for everyone? At a certain point someone has to stand on principle- why not you?
The reason she didn’t get fired was because Penn started caring about free speech on October 8, 2023.
I don’t see anyone shilling for Hamas losing their right to speak. It’s losing their right to physically keep Jews or Israel supporters from walking freely on campuses. Or hear g speakers who speak out for Israel.
Academic freedom should be paramount. But it seems there's maybe a bit more selective picking of stats by Wax to play provocateur than identifying the issues.
The truth is an offense but not a sin.
The mistake Amy Wax made is that she dehumanized the wrong people.
If she had said she thinks the United States may be better off with “fewer Zionists and less Jewish immigration,” because they are "evil imperialist colonizers"; or that “Zionist couples are not fit to raise children"; or that “Zionist men are more likely to assault women" or that "She believes that the United States might be better off with more Palestinians and fewer Zionists” she would be the most celebrated and protected academic in the country.
On college campuses, students and faculty are free to dehumanize the world's only Jewish state, where over half the world's surviving Jews live, but don't you dare dehumanize any actual humans. That's crossing a line.
Meanwhile, Russel Rickford, who said he was exhilarated by the sadistic pogrom on 10/7, is still happily employed at Cornell and free to continue teaching hatred against Jews (but only the "bad Jews" who think Israel has a right to exist).
🤡
Me, a liberal progressive, on seeing an overt assault on freedom of expression in universities against Palestinian protestors: "maybe the spirit of liberty does not beat in the breast of conservatives."
Certainly not always
Are you two joking? Try marching around a college campus with a sign declaring"Trans women are NOT women". Or better yet, with a sign declaring "Am Yisrael Chai". Lefty hypocrisy regarding Free Speech is absolutely repulsive.
There are massive rallies in favor of Israel's government, apartheid and at all, at Columbia University, the endless persecution complex is not interesting as an argument. Don't live your life as a victim Penny.
What would happen if a bunch of pro Israel students marched and chanted “globalize the ‘occupation’” at an Eid al fitr celebration?
Absolutely nothing, the same students have 80 percent of Congress on their side, lol.
But not faculty and administrators
We’ve got high school teachers registering their students to vote as Democrats while a grade school teacher is off creating “Kamala Harris” day, where her students are encouraged to wear Kamala Harris swag and pledge fealty to the mindless imbecile currently vying for President. This pales in comparison to any of that.
In order to make this generation of students think critically they need to be shocked into a mode of thinking that takes them outside of the FAQ answers from their liberal indoctrination packets. That’s what I think Wax is actually doing. The easiest way to confirm this is to see what her course material and world view was like 5/10/15/20+ years ago. My guess is that she’s become far more provocative in the last 5 years.
A lot of what she says would be considered racist crackpottery even by most of my Republican friends and neighbors. That's the whole point of having to defend her freedom of speech -- it's truly unpopular speech. If she was so banal and boring there would be no need.
But she teaches also. And I can make a credible claim that she has made it difficult for students of various races and ethnicities to be comfortable in her classes. It’s unprofessional and she is not suited to teaching.
As Evelyn Beatrice Hall said, "‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". I disagree with Jilani on many things, but on free speech he is absolutely correct.
Also, what a boring world we would live in if everyone agreed on everything all the time. How would society ever progress if we didn't hear people with differing opinions and force ourselves to defend our own? And sometimes one or the other of us might change our minds.
No. Exposure to hateful ideas is how hate spreads 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
Define odious. Will the academics in the audience please speak out. Just say anything on your mind. Stop self censoring.
Why do I have to define it? I already did, and any normal person will find her comments quite off-putting if not downright stupid. But as an academic she should have freedom of expression.