oints of view

Guest Column

Hate Speech Is Not Academic Freedom

L

et us start with some questions:
Would any U.S. university
hire a professor, regardless of
the subject, who denies that slavery
ever happened?
Would any U.S. university offer a job
to a professor who made disparaging
remarks about gays?
Or, would any U.S. university recruit
a faculty member who criticized the
competency of women?
There is little doubt that the answer
is "no" to each question because no
university would be able to withstand,
and rightly so, the pressure created by
the negative publicity and the media.
The questions come to mind because
not only do some universities employ
professors who are Holocaust deniers
but also because we have yet another
example of the double-standard that
all too often afflicts Jews/Zionism/
Israel on U.S. campuses.
The most recent case, as reported by
the Forward, involves the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC),
which hired a Palestinian American
professor, Steven G. Salaita, but later
voided his contract after discovering
Salaita's ugly tweets about Israel.
The case, which has not received
any national coverage, brings to the
fore the usual arguments about free-
dom of speech and academic freedom.
The problem is that these defenses

Dry Bones

would never be raised if blacks, gays
being."
or women were involved.
"If [Israel Prime Minister Benjamin]
No one would come to the defense
Netanyahu appeared on TV with a
of a professor who claimed that slav-
necklace made from the teeth of
ery never happened but was an inven-
Palestinian children, would anybody be
tion of blacks, or someone who con-
surprised?"
sidered homosexuality a "perversion"
"Zionist uplift in America: Every lit-
or who claimed women did not have
tle Jewish boy and girl in America can
the intellectual capacity
grow up to be the leader of a
of men. (Visit the case of
murderous colonial regime."
former Harvard President
Salaita claimed he sent the
Larry Summers who cre-
tweets after witnessing the
ated a firestorm and was
high death toll of civilians dur-
forced to resign when he
ing the Israeli-Hamas conflict
hypothesized why women
in Gaza. Even if that were
scientists are under-repre-
true — and it is not because he
sented at universities.)
sent some of them before the
The UIUC campus is
conflict began — his views are
embroiled in a debate
reprehensible, particularly for
whether to reinstate
someone who wants to teach.
Berl Faulbaum
Salaita, a scholar in Native
He also maintains that the
American history, who was
tweets were "misunderstood"
teaching at Virginia Tech when he was
and taken out of context. One is afraid
hired by UIUC. The administration, in
to ask him to supply the proper con-
effect, fired him after it discovered
text.
the tweets concerning Israel and Gaza
The question has nothing to do with
that can only be described as bigoted
freedom of speech. True, Salaita has
and reprehensible. As reported by the
a constitutional right to preach his
Forward, the tweets included the fol-
hatred, but that does not mean he
lowing:
should he hired to the faculty of a uni-
"Zionists, take responsibility. If your
versity. Even academic freedom is not
dream of an ethnocratic Israel is worth
absolute.
the murder of children, just f ***ing
An institution of higher learning is,
own it already. If you're defending
indeed, a place where the exchange
Israel right now, you're an awful human
and debate of ideas should be encour-

EXE i RTS

aged and free of limitations. But, it
should also insist that the scholastic
environment be free of hatred, bigotry
and reflect a degree of civility.
As the Forward said in its editorial,
"Salaita's tweets are part of the public
record, a reflection of his character
... It's not censorship to suggest that
faculty avoid offensive statements
that could make the classroom toxic
to students and dishonor their roles as
public intellectuals."
Salaita, by virtue of his position, is a
public figure with substantial influence
on the students he teaches. His stu-
dents may also fear retribution if they
do not share his anti-Israel views.
But the major point of the Salaita
case is how, again, condemnation of
Israel and Jews finds a place on U.S.
campuses and is defended under the
banners of freedom of speech and aca-
demic freedom.
But, why are these banners waved
in academia only when the issue
involves hate directed at Jews and
Israel? The Salaita case appears
headed for the courts. Unfortunately,
that question won't be answered by
jurisprudence.

❑

A veteran West Bloomfield journalist and

author, Berl Falbaum, was an adjunct

faculty member of Wayne State University's

journalism department for 45 years.

Common Core Math Problem

IT'S EASY TO SEE
THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN HAMAS
AND ISIS.

VERY VERY
CLOSE.

www.drybonesblog.com

October 9 • 2014

29