On US Campuses, “Pro Palestinians” Cry Wolf While Practicing Their Own Form Of McCarthyism

In its article of December 13th, “Is a new McCarthyism punishing pro-Palestinian speech at US universities”, its contributors , Shadi Hamid, Brett Max Kaufman, Yusuf Munayyer, and Natasha Roth-Rowland, attempt to turn reality on its head. On campuses throughout the US, those, who, for some time now, have been prosecuting a McCarthy like campaign against Israel supporters and Jews, are now claiming to be victims of that which they have been so eagerly pursuing against any and all who dare to dissent.

When it comes to pro-Palestinian activity on campus, that university administrators are finally waking up to the folly in indulging anti-Israel protests comprising extremist elements, cannot be seen as restricting freedoms, rather as a highly necessary and long overdue move in the right direction to curb racism, hate speech, incitement, intimidation and even violence towards pro-Israel, and Jewish students and faculty members.  

As well as defending free speech, freedom of thought, of opinion and indeed the right to offend, universities are duty bound to ensure security and safety for all on campus, not just the chosen few, whether they agree with them or not!

In fairness the first panelist, Mr. Hamid points out, albeit the logic only works if you hold with the premise of the article, that the left has been “hoist by its own petard”, ergo, it is now falling victim to the McCarthy like cancel culture, intolerance, and thought policing it has been promoting on campuses for years.

Yet his claim, and the premise of this article is nothing more than a cynical ruse. The term pot kettle black comes to mind, indeed as my children used to say, “what you say is what you are”. Indeed, the reality on campuses today is that for those who support Israel, and by association most if not all Jewish students and faculty, anti -Jewish racism and harassment has reached epidemic levels not seen since the Second World War. It was bad before, but since the greatest and most sadistic slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust by Hamas on October 7th, so called pro-Palestinian activity has turned very nasty indeed, where Jewish students feel threatened and unsafe on campus.

Professors and lecturers fear airing their opinions, pro-Israel and Jewish voices are being silenced.  Recently, faculty members at New York University, the University of Southern California and Johns Hopkins University are among those who have been disciplined, even fired for their pro-Israel views.

And although some universities are beginning to act against pro-Palestinian extremists or supporters of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organization, extremist behavior on the part of so-called pro-Palestinians, who appear to be far more anti-Israel, and at times anti-Semitic, than pro-Palestinian (no, they are not the same thing) are indulged, and even encouraged.

On the other hand, Mr. Kaufman, perhaps errantly, makes the case against the premise of this article… He states, “The first Amendment and the principles of academic freedom require institutions of higher education to safeguard all protected speech – even when that speech is contentious or offensive.” 

He then goes on to say, “Neither the first amendment or principles of academic freedom protect speech that contains a serious or imminent threat of violence, an incitement to violence, or speech that pervasively harasses someone based on their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, national origin, or other protected characteristics.” 

Thank you, Mr. Kaufman. It is clear that anti-Israel (they call them pro-Palestinian, but that is a conversation for another time) protests and activities on campuses far and wide comprise pretty much all of the above, and that is why universities are clamping down. There is no “punishment of pro-Palestinian speech, quite the opposite, there is an overindulgence of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activity.

Universities have ignored and even refused to acknowledge the anti Semitism, and failed to support Jewish and pro-Israel students who feel unsafe. The cancelling and harassment of these students is the actual McCarthyism.  

And then we have Mr. Munayyer, with his conspiracy theories, and anti-Semitic tropes. According to a study published in 2022 by the National Association of Academics in the United States, from 2001 and 2021, Qatar donated a massive $4.7 billion to academic institutions in the United States.  

And that is just Qatar. One should point out that Qatar is also the main benefactor and funder of Hamas, a recognized terror group in the US, the UK and Europe. Of course, Qatar is not the only one. In its report, dated October 13th, 2023, the DOE reported that over 50% of $51 billion donated by foreign governments to US universities has come from “authoritarian and antidemocratic, Middle East governments”.

One can safely say that these entities are somewhat “pro-Palestinian”. So, are Qatar and its friends in the Middle East just generous, or could they possibly have an agenda?  The fact is there has been a carefully planned and brilliantly executed campaign by so called, pro-Palestinians to infiltrate and influence university campuses which has been extremely successful.

Take for example the annual hate fest, “Israel Apartheid Week” financed by these same entities and indulged by just about every university, ignoring the grave, disingenuous, extremist, anti-Semitic and threatening nature of the event. Mr. Munayyer’s problem appears to be that universities are at last, comprehend the true nature of “pro-Palestinian (anti-Israel) activity on campus. and are now willing to act (despite the billions from Qatar and others) to curb hate speech, incitement, intimidation, and violence.

His suggestion that Israel and its supporters seek to stifle debate about any aspect of the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories is both disingenuous and nonsensical. Today on campuses far and wide, it is supporters of Israel and Jews on campus who fear for their safety while actively seeking dialogue and honest open debate, so often rejected by the so-called pro-Palestinians.

Lastly, we have Ms. Roth Rowland…  There has not been, as she suggests a “concurrent rise in anti-Semitic, anti-Palestinian rhetoric and violence.”  There has been an explosion in antisemitic rhetoric and violence, much of it perpetrated by so called pro-Palestinian groups and individuals on campus.

According to an ADL survey some 73% of Jewish students have reported anti-Semitic incident.  Jewish students are scared to openly display their Judaism, Jewish students feel unsafe. That is simply not the case for the vast majority of so called pro-Palestinian students.  Ms. Roth-Rowland may indeed be right that there are Republican and right-wing organizations seeking to undermine left wing influence and activities on campuses. I am no supporter of the right in the US.

I am no fan of Elise Stefanik, but the reluctance or inability of three Presidents of elite universities to state clearly that the calling for genocide of Jews contravenes their code of conduct, revealed pretty much everything we need to know about the state of US campuses regarding Israel and the Palestinians, and indeed their regard for the safety of Jewish students.

Every action however has a reaction and right-wing activity is a predictable reaction to the McCarthy like practices of the “woke” and progressive left, their identity politics, cancel culture, and thought policing across campuses. Ms. Roth Rowland seeks to present Israel and Palestine as a partisan issue, which is most definitely. There are supporters of Israel on both sides of the house, many of them also sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians. It is important to note that you can be both.

The suggestion that “a new McCarthyism is punishing pro-Palestinian speech on campus is both disingenuous and risible. Pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel students and faculty are doing just fine. Indeed, they and their questionable methods and behavior are privileged to enjoy a level of tolerance on campus afforded to no other group of “activists”.  

It is only when their actions clearly cross way over the line, into blatant support for terrorism or antisemitism that they are sanctioned or punished. The only McCarthyism on campus today is that of the “woke” progressive left in the form of cancel culture, non-platforming, hate speech, harassment, incitement and even violence, which of late has been laser focused on Jewish and pro-Israel students and faculty.

For years, Pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel actors have been pouring billions into universities, building highly effective campaigns to drive their agenda across academia, Israel Apartheid week being a glaring example.  One might argue that it has always been the case, but since Hamas’ sadistic slaughter of Israelis, foreign workers and tourists on October 7th, and Israel’s consequent military response, pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity has exploded on campuses.

Universities are waking up to the extremist and anti-Semitic nature of much of this activity and are finally taking much overdue and much needed action.