More than six months have passed since the Hamas attacks on Israel, and the debate over anti-Semitism continues to poison American universities and raise serious questions about free speech in a country where the slightest restriction violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Last Wednesday, Columbia University President Minous Shafiq, who has been accused of failing to adequately protect Jewish students and suspending the activities of pro-Palestinian groups on campus, was called to testify before Congress.
Some denounced her for anti-Semitism, others for restricting freedom of expression. Still fresh in the memories of the legal depositions of her colleagues from Harvard and MIT, who were forced to resign, Shafiq’s appearance before Congress was decidedly more decisive and bold. He was away on a business trip last December, so he had the necessary time to prepare and avoid the landmine questions that tripped up other foundation presidents. However, he found it difficult to answer whether the slogan is anti-Semitic “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” (from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free), choosing the adjective “painful”. On Thursday night, Shafiq called the New York police to tear down the tents that had been set up by students at Columbia to protest the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, and a hundred of them were arrested. The events evoked memories of 1968 and the violent police suppression of protests against American policy in Vietnam. As then, so this time the presence of the security forces only strengthened the resolve of the activists. A few hours after the operation, new scenes appeared yesterday morning on campus, proving that the protests will not stop quickly.
Also this week, the University of Southern California (USC) canceled Muslim honors student Asna Tabasum’s graduation speech, citing “security reasons.” Tabashum denounced a campaign to silence her after her critics “combed” her Instagram account and found references to a website that criticizes Israel and calls for its complete abolition, advocating “the one-state solution, in which Arabs and Jews will coexist.” The same website claims that “Zionism is a racist colonialist ideology that advocates a Jewish nation-state built on Palestinian land.” “By canceling my speech, USC is pandering to fear and rewarding hate,” Thabasum commented.
Social media stalkers
According to a recent report by the Washington Post, StopAntisemitism, a non-profit organization that aims to combat anti-Semitism, has succeeded in getting nearly thirty people in the US fired or suspended after it has labeled them as anti-Semitic.
After the Hamas attacks, a type of digital activism has sprung up on social media and has invested resources and energy in identifying “suspicious sites” from users. Diffusion campaigns are aggressive and have serious “real world” effects, the American newspaper points out. One of the examples he presents is that of 32-year-old non-binary person Danny Marzouka, who was targeted for saying “deep solidarity with Palestine means not apologizing for Hamas”.
His Instagram clip quickly garnered a million views, and the organization began calling Marzouka a “Hamas supporter” and calling on his employer, whom he had branded, to take action. “Do you have anti-Semites like him working for you?” was one of the questions the page administrators bombarded his company with. Within a day, Marzouka was removed and the employer’s decision was announced on the StopAntisemitism account on the X platform.
At Harvard, Columbia and Princeton universities, trucks appeared with illuminated signs inscribed with names and photos of those expressing solidarity with the Palestinians.
The campaign to expel those who expressed pro-Palestinian views also started from American universities a few weeks after the attack by Hamas. Trucks with illuminated signs appeared at Harvard, Columbia and Princeton universities displaying names and photos of students and faculty expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people. At the same time, they called on future employers of the students not to hire them, effectively undermining any professional prospects.
The current
But as Israel’s military response to Hamas escalated and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsened, pro-Palestinian activism began to expand and exert suffocating political pressure on President Joe Biden as well. Gradually support for the Palestinians, centered on elite university campuses and surrounding communities, grew and expanded into a serious protest movement in American society. In the progressive part of public opinion the war in Gaza raises awareness as much as climate change, migration and homelessness.
Bringing the war from American universities to the wider society also poses a political problem for Biden, who is trying to strike a balance between the two sides, fearing that his unconditional support for Israel could cost him the votes of young voters and those who they belong to the left wing of the Democratic Party. The main concern is that this portion of the electorate could shy away from the November showdown, costing him victory.
The shocking thing about the case is that anti-Semitic incidents in the US have indeed more than doubled in the last year, increasing by 140% by 2022, according to the latest report by the Anti-Defamation League, which was founded in 1913 to stop defamation. of the Jewish people. A total of 6,535 cases of harassment with anti-Semitic slurs, anti-Jewish stereotypes and conspiracy theories were recorded, as well as 2,177 cases of vandalism and 161 assaults. Of these incidents, 5,204 were recorded between October 7 and December 31, after the Hamas attacks in Israel.
And in Germany
The issue tends to take on similar dimensions in several European countries, the most important of which is Germany, which for historical reasons finds it difficult to maintain a balanced policy towards Israel. Anti-Semitic attacks in the country have increased by 320% since the deadly raids in Israel, which proves that the policy followed by the official authorities has failed.
Often, as in the US, restrictions on freedom of expression reach extremes, with victims ranging from MeRA25 president Yanis Varoufakis, who was banned from any activity and participation in a conference on Palestine in Berlin, to non-binary person Masha Gessen, journalist and a writer who received the Hannah Arendt Prize, but at a low-key ceremony, for comparing Gaza to Jewish ghettos under Nazism.
Germany’s memory culture (Erinnerungskultur) urgently calls for redefinition and reframing after the attacks by Hamas, since the values on which it was founded post-war are strongly contested.
The timeline of the effervescence in US universities
September 19, 2023
Thirty-six University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) staff co-sign a letter supporting the Palestinian Literature Festival. They express their concern about an announcement by president Liz Magill, in which she distances herself because of the presence of speakers with an anti-Semitic background.
October 10, 2023
Immediately after the Hamas attack, a student union at Harvard in an open letter called “the Israeli regime solely responsible for the ongoing violence.” Despite the outcry, the foundation’s president, Claudine Gay, does not strongly condemn the Hamas attack.
October 12, 2023
Hundreds of protesters gather at Columbia University to participate in opposing pro- and anti-Israel marches, forcing the administration to close the campus to the public.
October 12, 2023
Major funders of America’s elite universities are threatening to withdraw their endowments and call for the resignations of their presidents if they do not address the issue of anti-Semitism on campuses.
October 18, 2023
Referral of students who signed the anti-Israel letter. Their names are written on a light board and future employers are told not to hire them.
October 27, 2023
Student protests spread to Northwestern, George Washington, Brown and Michigan universities.
December 5, 2023
Climax of drama with the testimony of the three presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania before Congress on the handling of incidents of anti-Semitism. Their legalistic, cold answers spark angry reactions. The two of them resign.
December 17, 2023
Restrictions and bans on pro-Palestinian events at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Vermont, Columbia and elsewhere.
April 15, 2024
University of Southern California cancels graduation speech by honors student who is Muslim, citing security concerns. Two days later, the president of Columbia testifies before Congress, trying to avoid the “mines” that forced two of her colleagues to resign.
Tags: Americas battlefields campuses
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