Criticism of Israel on UC Campuses
August 4, 2012 6:13 PM Subscribe
Will UC ban "hate speech"? The state's attempt to shut up inflammatory Israel protests at universities clearly violates the First Amendment "Does the University of California forbid the expression of some disfavored political views on its campuses? Not yet. But if the UC’s Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture, and Inclusion has its way, it might start. Last month, that council issued its 'Jewish Student Campus Climate Fact-Finding Team Report & Recommendations.' Through that report, the council recommends that the UC system adopt ill-defined hate speech codes and prohibit 'hate organizations' from speaking on UC campuses. Those policies would inevitably trigger litigation against the cash-strapped UC, but the council is full of the sort of you-can-take-that-guy bravado-by-proxy that inebriated friends display in late-night bar fights: 'The Team recognizes that changes to UC hate speech policies may result in legal challenge, but offer [sic] that UC accept the challenge.' What was the impetus for such a sweeping recommendation? The council, tasked to explore how the UC could be made more inclusive and welcoming for Jewish students, found that many were distressed by the rhetoric emerging from campus debates about Israel and its policies."
This post was deleted for the following reason: This reads a little more like something you'd want to post on your blog than like a Metafilter post. -- cortex
but the council is full of the sort of you-can-take-that-guy bravado-by-proxy that inebriated friends display in late-night bar fights
What?
posted by zippy at 6:23 PM on August 4, 2012
What?
posted by zippy at 6:23 PM on August 4, 2012
You really should finish quoting that paragraph:
Seriously, if the university is failing to protect students from assaults, that's not a free speech issue, and it should be addressed as such and not as a free speech issue.
The First Amendment doesn't protect people from hearing things they don't want to hear. It protects people from being forbidden saying things others may find troublesome.
If the university caves in the name of "protecting students from pain and offense through speech of others" [not a direct quote from anything, but uses words from the article to name a potential action by UC], they are giving in to exactly the same elements which claim that Chick-fil-a or evangelical christian groups are discriminated against when their anti-gay rhetoric is shouted down as bigoted.
Anyway, this ends up ultimately being an I/P post, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
IMO, if pro-Palastine factions are assaulting Jewish students, that's a factor completely apart from free speech issues, and should be dealt with accordingly.
posted by hippybear at 6:24 PM on August 4, 2012
What was the impetus for such a sweeping recommendation? The council, tasked to explore how the UC could be made more inclusive and welcoming for Jewish students, found that many were distressed by the rhetoric emerging from campus debates about Israel and its policies. Organized events like “Israeli Apartheid Week” have become increasingly contentious and fraught with incendiary language, particularly at UC Irvine and UC Berkeley, where such protests led to a lawsuit asserting that the university failed to protect Jewish students from assaults by violent anti-Israel protesters.(emphasis mine, unquoted portion of paragraph)
Seriously, if the university is failing to protect students from assaults, that's not a free speech issue, and it should be addressed as such and not as a free speech issue.
The First Amendment doesn't protect people from hearing things they don't want to hear. It protects people from being forbidden saying things others may find troublesome.
If the university caves in the name of "protecting students from pain and offense through speech of others" [not a direct quote from anything, but uses words from the article to name a potential action by UC], they are giving in to exactly the same elements which claim that Chick-fil-a or evangelical christian groups are discriminated against when their anti-gay rhetoric is shouted down as bigoted.
Anyway, this ends up ultimately being an I/P post, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
IMO, if pro-Palastine factions are assaulting Jewish students, that's a factor completely apart from free speech issues, and should be dealt with accordingly.
posted by hippybear at 6:24 PM on August 4, 2012
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posted by clockzero at 6:21 PM on August 4, 2012