Pro-Palestinian individuals at a New York liberal arts college had organized a “boycott” of a Jewish writer’s groups this quarter over his pro-Israel public comments.
The Sarah Lawrence College Divestment Coalition just made a statement on social media that its people would call on classmates to ban Professor Samuel Abrams ‘ groups. The protesters also personally contacted kids on the GroupMe software as part of their plan.
Sam Abrams is a permanent teacher at Sarah Lawrence College. He is also a happy Zionist who advocates for Israel’s right to self-defense in the midst of a genocide”, the speech reads in part.
After that, the team then criticized Abrams for collaborating with the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think reservoir, and attacking DEI initiatives, before urging students to completely prevent Abrams this fall.
We ask that you stop watching Sam Abrams this season. Do not file for his classes. Do not enter his seminars”, the party stated. ” Support us all as a group to convey to our leaders that racial, cruel, and murderous rhetoric is not a necessary component of a liberal arts education.”
Abrams criticized the organization behind the work in a speech to The College Fix on Wednesday, calling it clearly racist and a plot to silence pro-Israeli university.
He wrote in an email that “boycott” these students “demonstrates a serious loss of the College to instill the principles of learning through change and viewpoint diversity.”
” From what I can tell, I have not encountered any of these individuals who are supporting a “boycott” and engaged in defamatory actions. They are attacking my opinions and my support for Israel, he said, more than approaching me and talking about my differences of opinion, he said.
They have never learned that when discussing differences and working through disagreements in a collegiate environment, we do not advocate for silence, Abrams added.
People of SLC Divest personally messaged kids on the chat app GroupMe to urge them to break away from Abrams, in addition to uploading to Instagram encouraging a boycott of Abrams ‘ classes.
One information sent to a scholar encouraging the ban of Abrams stated that “he is a staunch advocate of Israel’s right to personal security, even when it includes the death of tens of thousands of Arab civilians,” while criticizing him for comparing Hamas to ISIS.
The College Fix contacted The Sarah Lawrence College Divestment Coalition and the Sarah Lawrence College media interests department for comment this year, but neither organization has responded.
William Bryan Paul, an expert on higher education for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, criticized Abrams ‘ decision to boycott him and praised Abrams ‘ commitment to academic freedom.
The tragedy is that SamuelAbramsAEI is the kind of teacher who would be most willing to talk to these individuals openly if they took his classes in great faith. His support for diverse viewpoints earned him the honor of” Hero of Intellectual Freedom” from goACTA, Paul wrote on X.
Abrams argued in Minding the Campus that the anti-McGraw plan is a “dangerous development of withdraw culture.”
What has happened at Sarah Lawrence poses a serious risk to college students and the wider principle of stance diversity, he wrote, “despite the mistaken and extreme views that the learners who attempted to withdraw me for being a Zionist Jew hold.”
Individuals may actually damage their contemporaries by denying them opportunities to learn and discover and by reducing their chances of receiving a liberal education. This will be a true challenge to overcome and will be more difficult to stop than just halting illegal presentations and preventing organized crime.
Abrams is not the only pro-Israel teacher who has received criticism for his opinions on Israel.
After a group of anti-Israel individuals organized an encampment to demand a boycott of Israel, Columbia doctor Shai Davidai was prevented from entering the university’s school in April. The college claimed this was necessary to preserve the health of Davidai and pro-Israel pupils, who were planning a relaxing counter-demonstration.
” Earlier today, @Columbia University refused to permit me onto college. Why? because they cannot guarantee my health as a Jewish doctor. This is 1938″, Davidai posted on Twitter following the incident.
In November, Jewish USC Professor John Strauss faced more than 10 official complaints from individuals after he said that” Hamas are killers” while walking by an anti-Israel school show. The school closed the case against him in June 2024 without filing a formal disciplinary complaint.
Further: More than 1, 000 researchers sign complaint against AAUP for supporting academic strikes
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