A panel on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel (BDS) was hosted at Brooklyn College on February 7, 2013. The BDS movement views Israel’s very existence as a Jewish state as illegitimate. Activists call for undermining Israel —…
read moreI was made aware of the SJP event, “Judith Butler & Omar Barghouti – BDS Movement for Palestinian Rights,” in early January. I was appalled that Brooklyn College’s Political Science Department was co-sponsoring the event, because I did not feel…
read moreThe controversy over a “panel discussion” at Brooklyn College has little to do with free speech, and everything to do with politicization of the academia — in this case, by disingenuous anti-Israel ideologues. Back in December, the political science department…
read moreOne of the biggest challenges facing modern democracies is how to deal with anti-democratic movements that use the institutions of civil society to advance their cause. People responsible for governing these institutions find themselves in a bind when confronted with…
read moreThe Jewish professionals at campus Hillel organizations, the Israel Action Network and the Israel on Campus Coalition say the evidence is unequivocal: When Israel’s supporters learn about an upcoming event organized by those who would delegitimize the Jewish state, focusing…
read moreThe co-sponsorship by the Brooklyn College political science department of an anti-Israel hate fest, from which pro-Israel students were excluded, may have violated the First Amendment. Had the event been sponsored only by student and outside private groups, their decision…
read moreBDS—the “boycott, divestment, sanctions” movement—styles itself a “global movement against Israeli apartheid.” The group promotes economic sanctions against Israeli businesses, cultural institutions, and universities in the name of what it calls Palestinian equality. According to BDS founding member Omar Bhargouti,…
read morePutting the free speech issues aside, the liberals who cheered the denunciations of the Jewish State at the Brooklyn College BDS panel fail to understand that demonizing Israel undermines liberals in Israel—and encourages the radicals of the right. Accusations that…
read moreDebates about academic freedom almost always begin in confusion and end in confusion, but the recent controversy at Brooklyn College is a welcome exception to that rule. When the dust settled, the right thing had happened, the right things had…
read moreSo much for academic freedom at Brooklyn College. There was no place at an anti-Israel, anti-Semitic campus program for four students who attempted to attend with the goal of expressing contrary views. At the order of a representative of Students…
read more
