Yeah, I can’t imagine why Jewish students wouldn’t feel completely at ease finding a place to study at one of these tables in the library, where they can look up and see the banner and these fliers Ridiculous that the administration allowed these protests to continue during finals and in a quiet place designated for reading and studying. Jews should take their place, in between the stacks and study there
The clear intent was to continue the intimidation.
It may be unlikely to see a white supremacy equivalent on Harvard’s campus, but nonetheless the hypocrisy cannot be ignored that if students were calling for the genocide of Blacks, Gays or Trans, the response would be immediate and deafening.
For a moment let’s imagine there is a hypothetical person, who (correctly or not) thinks not enough is done to protect innocent lives of a particular people, and wants to give it a voice in this country - would attaching a flyer to their laptop be acceptable, even attaching a flyer to a fixture, or even being as forward as handing out a flyer?
Are those acts considered an aggression, because we imply that there can’t possibly be anyone motivated by that cause.
Maybe the allegations of plagiarism are not going to go away. Opinion piece in the WSJ by Carol Swain, one of the authors President Gay is accused of plagiarizing. Article should be unlocked.
I have not seen the flyer that was handed out at the Harvard library protest. It is possible that it may have had antisemitic content. However, the wording, “No Normalcy During Genocide—Justice for Palestine” isn’t specifically antisemitic, and doesn’t seem to me to be intended to intimidate Jewish students or call for the genocide of Jews.
I do think it’s better to keep any type of political protest out of the library where students are studying. These protests and signs should be outdoors.
It’s not as if instances of racism and antisemitism have never occurred at tippy-top colleges. It’s easy enough to plant a noose or shove flyers containing Nazi material under doors anonymously. These things typically do trigger a rapid response from the school hierarchy. But very few of them have prepared anything resembling a “best practice” in the face of groups of students referencing ongoing, emotionally charged events in public, in places commonly shared by all students of the university. I don’t think this issue has been revisited since the earliest days of the Free-Speech movement at Berkeley when allowing students to make anti-American statements on Sproul Plaza was considered especially transgressive just because - “People will see you!”.
My apologies - you were tagged because I had quoted your quote of the article – but I was reacting to the characterization below.
I will try to fix my post.
The quoted fliers were not calling for genocide of any group. They were advocating against genocide. Unclear how that relates to your hypothetical examples.
Gift list to an article from the front page of the WSJ today.
Profiles a couple multigenerational US Jewish families, including a current Princeton student, dealing with conflicting views on the conflict. The students profiled condemn the Hamas terrorist attacks but also condemn how the Palestinians are and have been treated. They have been called self-hating and traitors by members of their own extended families. They are not ignorant of the history. They are taking informed, principled positions from their POV against ethnonationalism.
I think that after everything I have seen, I think that the best system is for Universities to implement a Chicago-style free speech policy, but, and here is the key, also have appropriate time, place and manner restrictions that are enforced on a content-neutral basis.
So yes, even hate speech would be permitted on the quad, as long as no one’s passage was being impeded. But there would be no megaphones overnight next to residence halls, and no signs or fliers of any sort in the library.
But this especially hard for the colleges who have been hypocrites all along in terms of the speech that is permitted and not silenced.
I am not Jewish, but I can understand the isolation that many feel even if the protests/materials on their face are about the plight of Palestinians and are not directly about harming Jews or even eradicating the state of Israel. While there are plenty of non-anti-Semites who are protesting the actions of the Israeli government, some of the protests/protesters’ words are clearly code for anti-Semitism, and Jewish people justifiably can perceive it as threatening.
The issue I have is the inconsistent treatment of what constitutes acceptable speech/actions on campus. This is not a 1st Amendment free speech issue, but one of speech/conduct in the use of common space. IMO, unless it is conduct, threat or support of conduct that involves physical harm of a person or group, the message should not matter and it is only a question of safety and infringement of others’ use of that common space. Unfortunately many colleges have blurred that line to include speech anywhere that might be offensive to the most sensitive of listener, especially when it comes to certain favored “protected” groups. If that is the line, Jewish people have every right to want to limit speech that offends them. I disagree with that line, and I think the colleges need to reassess their policies on acceptable speech if they still want to foster an environment where all opinions can be shared without fear of ostracization.
I mean maybe the fliers were advertising a poetry slam . We can continue to split hairs on the stuff that’s happened on campuses around the country and specifically at Harvard but again, we have 10 weeks of hate speech, protesting, property damage, expressions of support to Hamas, ripping down of posters, etc., etc. as a point of reference.
It’s hard to believe that the group(s) who have been making Jewish students feel uncomfortable at Harvard for the past 10 weeks suddenly had a change of heart and that the protest in the library was not intended to further their anti-Israel agenda.
Unless, there was no change of heart, because your underlying assumption about their anti-semetic motives are not correct.
After all, the staff and faculty and fellow students who are there today, are the same people who were there October 1 - when everyone “felt comfortable” around them!
So, what changed is the perception that any college student who might be questioning Israel’s actions, allegedly also bears ill feelings about their fellow Americans (who happen to be of certain religion or ethnicity).
Which is the concern:
(Venue aside,) if flyers on laptops are okay, flyers attached to fixtures are okay, and handing a flyer is okay – then what suddenly makes it a taboo, is the topic of “Gaza”.
I think the more one topic is unilaterally declared “off limits” for students, the more likely some young people will want to circle that wagon.
Calling for genocide is always wrong - regardless if people in Israel are the intended target, or some other people.
But, it’s also wrong to suppress opinions (even if I don’t share) of Genocide currently happening.
Trust me, most Jewish students (carve-out for JVP) will never look at their classmates who screamed “one solution, intifada revolution” and blamed Israel “for all unfolding violence” in the days following the Hamas massacre, before Israel even began responding, the same way, ever again. It doesn’t matter how they try to explain their words away now.
…When I moved to this country a quarter century ago, I hoped my future kids’ genetic memory would never receive a refresher like this.
But, alas, the story we read every year in the Passover Haggadah, remains ever relevant.
“In every generation, they rise up to destroy us…”
My kid there said that they realized that some of their friends… were not their friends. They will never feel the same about the school, and their classmates.
It is inaccurate and offensive for you label everyone who dares to criticize Israel and/or support Palestinians as an antisemitic threat to Jewish students.
I asked my college student about protests on campus - he’s not at an “elite” school which always seems to be the focus, but I figured something was probably going on. He said peaceful gatherings for Israel and also for Palestinians. Some F Hamas graffiti. Amongst his friend group the sentiment seems to be that the entire situation is horrible, but they don’t talk about it because there is a definite discomfort of saying the wrong thing.
Ridiculous that the administration allowed these protests to continue during finals and in a quiet place designated for reading and studying. Jews should take their place, in between the stacks and study there 
. We can continue to split hairs on the stuff that’s happened on campuses around the country and specifically at Harvard but again, we have 10 weeks of hate speech, protesting, property damage, expressions of support to Hamas, ripping down of posters, etc., etc. as a point of reference.