UPenn receives an open letter from a Jewsh American calling on the university to remove professors that support Hamas. Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has ordered state-funded universities to disband groups that support Hamas. Is it right to censor, to market assassinate people who support Hamas? Is Free Speech only a right for those who say things we agree with?
An increasing number of individuals, especially those on the “right,” are now calling for those who support Hamas to face what is effectively the same type of “cancellation” that those who deny the values of the Woke, be it by opposing abortion or opposing the affirmation of homosexuality.
From jewishlinks.news:
Free speech is a cornerstone of our democracy, our culture, and our education in the United States. While diversity of thought is one of the elements that makes university life so colorful and enriching, the line must be drawn at speech which crosses into violence. It is precisely for this reason that incendiary speech, when it promotes violence and morphs into hate speech, cannot be tolerated. This boundary must be especially emphasized when dealing with educators, who are entrusted with the curious, malleable minds of vulnerable, impressionable students. Speech that promotes, advocates for, or supports terrorism and the murder of civilians cannot and should never be tolerated.
Advocating for a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, historical revisionism, and blatant lies run contrary to the values of the University of Pennsylvania. In recent years, UPenn has removed and sanctioned both professors and students condoning and sharing hate speech; anything less than a full application of this clear precedent is heinous discrimination and vicious antisemitism. As clearly stated in The Code of Conduct section II.C, the University has a binding, legal obligation to act against hate speech. This petition calls for UPenn to uphold its formal commitments, to once again exercise its authority, and remove the following three professors from campus for antisemitic hate speech.
This excerpt represents the heart of the argument I’ve seen from those supporting the cancelling of pro-Hamas supporters, which justifies the cancellation of college students from the marketplace for supporting Hamas.
They did it to us, so let’s hold them accountable to their own standards. They are advocating for terrorists, which goes beyond free speech rights as they are advocating violence.
Hamas is a bloodthirst death cult that deserves no praise or support from anyone, least of all Americans. There is no justification for intentionally targeting civilians for death, rape, torture, and kidnapping. Anyone openly calling on taking DIRECT violent action against others are engaging in speech not protected by the First Amendment.
People who support Palestine, who carry signs that say “Free Palestine” or even “From the River to the Sea,” (even though it articulates a policy in support of removing the Jews from what they would call Palestinian lands) should be considered free speech. People who support Hamas, a bloodthirsty death cult, have a First Amendment Right to do so. The moment they directly call on people to murder or assault others they have now moved into criminal speech, unprotected speech, but unless and until they do that, they have free speech rights to proclaim publicly what they will EVEN IF they wouldn’t extend the same rights to you.
When we treat others by the same standard they treat us, and those standards betray our own, we are affirming their standards. In the case of first amendment standards, this means contributing to the death of our republic. While it might be holding on by a fingernail, there is still a remnant of the spirit of America still alive in this land.
When the champions of American values like free speech now turn on those who engage in speech they don’t like, they are surrendering America to anti-Americanists. These very anti-Americans (as those who support Hamas often are) that you THINK you are hurting are being helped by your efforts to cancel them the way they’ve been cancelling you.
This writer continues to support an individual’s right to be wrong, and to be wrong in a public venue, without fear of state or corporate power being used to punish you for having “wrong think.” It is in defense of my own right to be publicly wrong without fear of “consequences” that go beyond hearing voices that oppose my views or individuals choosing to disassociate from me (not corporate or state associations choosing to ban me).
As much as I loathe the support for a bloodthirsty death cult like Hamas, especially one that is publicly displayed, I am yet more afraid of being “protected” by “hate speech” then I am of “dangerous liberty” and I ask you, the reader, to consider this as well. I do not support Hamas supporters, but, for my sake, I support their ongoing right to be wrong, for if I cannot be brave enough to allow others to steward their own preferences and believes, then I would be foolish to believe anyone should extend such a right to me.
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