Since Oct. 7, we’ve witnessed countless shells of pro-Hamas and pro-Palestine students protesting on campus all over the country. Many of these rallies have been quasi- harsh. That is, they are not truly relaxing. They contain a threat of violence.
Those would include demonstrations where students may occupy crucial school spaces, like the entrance foyers, forcing Jews and others to turn round and walk in the opposite direction to reach classrooms. They include the protests in school libraries, which interrupt the critical student work of studying, when happened several places, including Harvard. They definitely include breaking glass windows and doors, and threatening the talk of invited school educators, let alone beating up Israeli students who were organizing the event, while happened at UC Berkeley in February.
Although all of these cases have significant antisemitic elements, the out-of-control protests can be evaluated using another lens because they are considered bad behavior even without being associated with antisemitism.
These actions have passed under the banner of “free speech”, which is a questionable designation. Speech should only be used as a starting point, and it should not include the threat or actuality of violent action. When a speech prevents the free speech of others who have assembled in a designated space, it makes no sense to call it “free speech.” Whatever you call it, it falls outside of what ought to be considered pure speech on campus.
After all, we live in a moment when not using someone’s preferred pronouns counts as violence.
In short, the scripts are getting old. People are getting tired of this disruption. Why, a reporter must ask, is nothing ever done to change the outcome? Why do the protesters never fear punishment enough to actually protest politely and back down when necessary after making their point?
The answer is obvious. They do n’t back off because they do n’t have to. And they do n’t have to because historically, there have n’t been any penalties for the disruption and threat of violence to date.
Some colleges appear to be finally cracking down, but it’s still to be seen.
At a board of trustees meeting in early March, a group of 12 University of Pennsylvania students called Freedom School for Palestine protested. Reports vary, but they shut it down in about four minutes. The acting president of the university, according to The College Fix, lacked the time to welcome the trustees.
In addition to the heady power of pure disruption, Freedom School had some demands.
The organization’s statement read,” We condemn the board of trustees ‘ support for the genocidal Israeli state, and we call on the Penn administration to support Palestinian students, drop disciplinary charges against pro-Palestine demonstrators, and divest from genocide,” the statement read.
Penn denies that it is investing in Israel. In essence, the Palestinian students are requesting that the university drop the well-deserved disciplinary charges against them for their actions.
Two pro-Palestinian tenured professors have filed a lawsuit against UPenn that prevent them from providing internal documents to the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Work Force, which is looking into antisemitism on campus. The professors are concerned that the names of the students and faculty members who have taken active part in the demonstrations will be made public. They are calling the committee’s actions” McCarthyite”.
Interesting that they are uneasy about having their names written all over their actions. These professors should follow their principles, just like the students who are protesting that they are being punished for their actions, rather than filing lawsuits to make sure that their actions have no repercussions.
Interestingly, Columbia University, which has a long- standing tradition of antisemitism, is the one Ivy that really did punish pro- Palestinian groups for breaking rules about protesting. Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace were both suspended and defunded in November after they both broke school rules. So far so good. However, the organizations are suing Columbia as of the week before last for tampering with their rights. We’ll see if schools are permitted to have and enforce actual rules.
UC Berkeley is another instance that is worth watching to see if punishment ever occurs. The school’s president announced in early March that the organization would file criminal charges against protesters who halted Israeli lawyer Ran Bar-Yoshafat on February 26. The protesters broke doors and windows, physically attacked two Jewish students, and shut down the speech. They fomented a riot. This week’s speech was changed for the time.
It remains to be seen whether Berkeley does, in fact, pursue criminal charges. The only way to stop the most egregious violent behavior on campus is to do so, and to restore the kind of order that all students, not just Jewish students, require. If a few students choose to engage in political protests during their college years rather than a war, the majority of students should not be required to agree with it.
MORE: UC Berkeley commits to criminal prosecution of pro-Palestine protesters who disrupt events
IMAGE: BG On the scene / Twitter
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