The situation at Columbia University and on campuses across the country should come as no surprise. This didn’t occur overnight.
Compared to other types of discrimination, universities have long tolerated anti-Semitism. The demonstrations of the last three weeks are only the most recent example of what is occurring within the leadership gap between taking a firm stance and attempting to appease each side. Tensions are increasing. Words grow to be actions. Threats turn into violence.
There is correct and fallacious. Protesting passionately and lawfully is a gorgeous exercise of freedom of expression. It is a view of supporting the Palestinians within the fight for independence. Demanding divestment of your university from Israel is one option.
Terrorization, intimidation and calls for anti-Semitic measures against Jews and the destruction of Israel are usually not a view. It’s not freedom of speech. It’s not an indication. It is fallacious. And it’s dangerous.
This happens when anti-Semitic behavior and anti-Semitic rhetoric are left unchecked and even encouraged for an prolonged time frame. Inaction, tolerance and ambiguity leave room for hatred, intimidation and terror. Universities must take a really clear stance and reveal a zero-tolerance policy towards anti-Semitism, just as there must be zero tolerance towards racism, Islamophobia, discrimination based on sexual orientation or another type of bigotry. There is not any other possibility.
The protesters have violated and threatened the suitable to safety of law-abiding students, fundamental rights that Columbia President Minouche Shafik and all university leaders are committed to making sure. In-person classes have been canceled. Many students, feeling unsafe and facing threats and harassment amid aggressive and loud protests, have left the campus and this unbearable atmosphere just when students must be studying for exams and preparing for graduation.
No one has the suitable to significantly disrupt campus operations, threaten or intimidate students, or damage or destroy property – neither students nor faculty and definitely not outsiders to the colleges. Would similar statements against Black or LGBTQ communities (or other minorities) be tolerated?
There is nothing complicated about what is happening at Columbia, UCLA and college campuses across the country. The right to protest doesn’t equate to the suitable to cause chaos, a sentiment shared by President Joe Biden in his address to the nation last night, calling it a “moment of clarity… Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is.”
Shafiks current statement Before Congress, she set a robust example of leadership, surpassing that of her colleagues at Harvard, Penn, and MIT. She was unequivocally clear that calls for genocide against the Jews could be a violation Columbia Student Codes of Conduct. I applaud Columbia for announcing its latest interim university policy for secure demonstrations in February. But does it work?
For some time, it felt just like the day of the alternative at Columbia University: those bystanders were put “in jail” for their very own protection, and the perpetrators were allowed to roam free on campus while the university administration made do with their transgressions. Police have been called and arrests have been made on campuses across the country, but what’s the tip result?
Strong words from university leaders won’t end calls for the killing of Jews or curb the harassment that drives students and school off campus out of fear for his or her safety. University Presidents: Your Jewish students and school need your leadership. Act. Clearly. Take a really clear stance and reveal a zero-tolerance policy towards hate, intimidation and terror. And to consistently implement these guidelines.
These escalations have grow to be dangerous and are affecting public safety and order. But it had to come back to this. This is a moment of reckoning. It’s time to return to basics and do the suitable thing: protect the security of scholars and school; preserve the spaces now we have for education and discourse; make clear the principles of freedom of expression; Set expectations about what actions won’t be tolerated and implement them consistently.
Understand that the one technique to achieve that is to attract a line within the sand and set very clear guidelines for racist, violent and illegal behavior. Update policies and codes of conduct to specifically address anti-Semitism. Congress is examining Laws that might expand the definition of anti-Semitism– This is a great start. Require all students and school members to sign acknowledging what constitutes free speech, passionate protest, and unacceptable behavior that crosses a line and leads to consequences.
Allowing these protests on college campuses just isn’t about free speech — and there must be no doubt about whether or not they must be stopped. There is correct and fallacious, and the excellence may be very clear here.
Enough is enough.
Gil Mandelzis, a native of Israel, is the founder and CEO of Capitol, a financial technology company with offices in New York, Tel Aviv and London. He believes that everybody counts.
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