What Ever Happened to Free Speech on College Campuses?
Last March, Itamar Marcus [pictured], the director of Palestinian Media Watch, spoke at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was one in a series of speakers brought to the university by a small group of university faculty, students and community members seeking to redress the imbalance of ideas about Israel and the Jews. Making use of tapes from Palestinian television, music videos and news media, Marcus presented ample evidence that the Palestinian Authority is calling for the murder of Jews in Israel and around the world, and indoctrinating Palestinian children to become “Shahadas” (martyrs/suicide bombers).
The days leading up to Marcus’ talk were filled with controversy. Hundreds of advertisements for the talk, posted on bus stops and bulletin boards around campus, were removed or defaced with slogans such as “Occupation is Murder” and “Zionism is Racism.” A Jewish student organizer actually witnessed a professor ripping the fliers down. A faculty member of the Community Studies Department, this professor sits on the steering committee of The Center for Justice, Tolerance and Community, and, ironically, is herself a free speech advocate. When questioned by a Judicial Affairs officer about why she violated a university policy which protects everyone’s First Amendment rights, she said she found the flier “offensive”: the flyer featured an actual photograph, discovered in the family album of a Palestinian terrorist in Hebron, of a baby dressed up as a suicide bomber.
For the professor and those who share her views, the offensiveness of the “baby bomber” photograph lies in its negative portrayal of the Palestinians, without regard to the anti-Semitic reality behind it. In fact, by tearing down the offending flier, the professor is deliberately suppressing the murderous truth in order to preserve the disingenuous image of the Palestinians as righteous victims.
That a university professor would deliberately suppress the truth in order to perpetuate a politically-motivated lie makes her behavior an egregious breach of academic integrity. That her actions serve to further the brutal aims of the Palestinian Authority makes her behavior anti-Semitic in effect, if not in intent. Unfortunately, this is but one more example of how the university denies students access to vital information about Jews and Israel.
Two previous speakers also addressed the issue of anti-Semitism: Professor Khaleel Mohammed of San Diego State University discussed the religious roots of Islamist Jew hatred, and Professor Richard Landes of Boston University explored modern Jihadism as an Islamic apocalyptic movement, whose goals include the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews. Several university departments, colleges and research groups which had previously co-sponsored talks and events vilifying Israel were asked to co-sponsor these talks. Not one agreed.
The unwillingness of individual faculty members and academic units to openly and fairly address issues that directly affect the safety and well-being of Jews creates an atmosphere on campus, both inside and outside the classroom, which many students find intellectually and emotionally hostile. Jewish students have reported that professors and students express unfair antipathy towards Israel and her supporters, and they feel uncomfortable sharing a pro-Israel perspective. Some have concerns about the academic consequences of expressing their ideas, fearing their grades might be negatively affected.
For example, a Jewish freshman complained about the anti-Israel bias in the curriculum of a mandatory core course. One of the assigned books was Palestine by Joe Sacco, a comic-strip account of day-to-day Palestinian life, written from an unabashedly anti-Israel perspective. The student was upset by the book and one-sided classroom discussion it generated. She was also afraid to express her feelings for fear of being publicly ostracized and penalized on her course grade.
Another recounted that a sympathetic professor advised him to give up his idea of a senior thesis on the topic of “terrorism in Israel” because the “taboo” topic might earn him a failing grade. This student, from the former Soviet Union, had struggled with ideological oppression and anti-Semitism in communist Russia. He couldn’t help but see the irony of the fact that here in America, at one of the most open and liberal universities in the world, he couldn’t write a paper on terrorism in Israel without jeopardizing his career.
Outside of the classroom, Jewish students find that many of their peers are openly hostile to Jewish concerns. Rallies and talks sponsored by student organizations, which cast Israel’s existential struggle as “colonialism”, “racism” and “imperialism”, are frequent. Phrases such as “the brutal Israeli occupation” and “Israel’s apartheid wall” fill the air in any discussion about the Middle East, making it difficult for Jewish students to learn or argue the truth.
Although University of California, Santa Cruz has a reputation for far-Left extremism, the struggle of Jewish students here is similar to most other college campuses. Professors who suppress the truth, students who learn from their professors and an administration that turns a blind eye create a hostile, anti-Semitic environment in which Jewish students feel unwelcome and unsafe.
It is critical for the Jewish community to respond to what is happening on college campuses. As parents, alumni, donors and taxpayers, it is necessary to speak out loudly and clearly against this discrimination.
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin is a lecturer in Hebrew at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Source: www.standwithus.com
