Perhaps Alan Dershowitz Should Not Be the Arbiter of Who Speaks on American University Campuses
By Brooklyn College’s Department of Political Science, the home department of Corey Robin among others, is under attack for inviting speakers such as Judith Butler and Omar Barghouti to speak on the subject of the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement against Israel.
Right-wing fake outrage is building, a topic which I know well. Alan Dershowitz is leading the charge and now the New York Daily News is on the case with an editorial basically accusing the department of anti-Semitism. The campaign is on to shut this event down.
Regardless of how you feel about the issue (personally, I support this movement until Israel tears down the settlements and removes its citizens to the 1967 boundaries), what’s important here is that academics be allowed to host public forums on important political, social, and economic issues, even if they challenge the status quo. This is another attempt to silence voices critical of power structures that ensure inequality and injustice.
Contact Info for Brooklyn College administrators:
President Karen Gould (718.951.5671; [email protected]);
Provost William Tramontano (718.951.5864; [email protected]);
Director of Communications and Public Relations Jeremy Thompson (718.951.5882; [email protected]).
Do what you can do.
…Says Scott in the comments about the linked article:
Seriously, talk about yer classic moments in passive-aggressive weasel wording:
Do all support welcoming to campus an event that will verge on anti-Semitism?
“We won’t actually call the speakers anti-Semitic. But they might do something other than criticize the Likud platform for being insufficiently dismissive of Palestinian rights, so close enough.”
Indeed.