In the United States, you have a right to stomp on and burn the national flag. You have the absolute right to advocate for ending the US as a sovereign state. I recall back in the day, after the Rodney King verdict, participating in a a number of protests that included many calls to end the US and involved aforementioned flag burning. This all happened on the campus of a private university. No one in the administration dared even peep about consequences of such actions.
"A Massachusetts-based private university has banned a student chapter of the National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on its campus amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, becoming the first U.S.-based private university to do so. "
Banning a student organization based on political stands is discrimination. But this is a private university so it can do so, within limits. But that's not really the interesting part.
“SJP has called on its chapters to engage in conduct that supports Hamas in its call for the elimination of the only Jewish state in the world and its people,” the school’s spokesperson said in its statement to The Hill. “Such expression is not protected by Brandeis’ principles of free speech.”
“Students are welcome to express their support for Palestinians in a manner that complies with our rights and responsibilities,” the spokesperson concluded.
This wording is interesting because the university claims that the organization engages in conduct that supports Hamas in it's call for the elimination of the only Jewish state. Note that they did NOT say that said organization supported the means by which Hamas goes about it's "call". No, they said that the conduct supports the aim. The university has decided that any speech that does not support the state of Israel is "not protected".
That is mighty strange for a US university. I will remind the reader that it has been standard practice to protect all manner of anti-American speech on university campuses. Why is it that being anti not America, is somehow afforded less "protection"? If anything speech that is anti-American ought to be the "not protected" speech.
Lest you think I protest too much, note that the university goes on to state that THEY are the arbiter of what proper "support for Palestinians" entails.
Ahhh the university as speech police.
It's very interesting to see where alumni and administrations have drawn the line on speech, given they have coddled and even supported speech in it's DEI departments that call for the elimination of "whiteness" (wink, wink).
It would be nice if universities went back to the entire "so long as it is legal" standard when it comes to speech.
