Campus politics in America witnessed a significant shift this week when student groups advocating for justice for Palestinians aligned themselves with war crimes. Last Saturday, armed individuals launched a violent attack on Israel, targeting Jews with the intention of causing as much harm as possible. Their actions resembled past pogroms carried out by groups like the Cossacks and the Nazis; they killed innocent civilians in their homes, massacred young people at a music festival, and even kidnapped children.
The response to these atrocities from millions of individuals across America, regardless of their stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, was clear: deliberately targeting and killing civilians, as well as abducting children, is morally repugnant. It was disheartening, then, to learn that numerous student organizations on various campuses attempted to absolve the perpetrators of all responsibility.
For example, multiple student organizations at Harvard issued a letter stating that they held the Israeli regime solely responsible for the violence. However, some of these groups later withdrew their endorsement. At the University of Virginia, the chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine expressed unconditional support for Palestinian liberation and the right to use any means necessary to resist occupation. This endorsement disregards the fact that the recent actions by Hamas demonstrated a willingness to commit murder, even against innocent civilians, including children.
George Washington University’s Students for Justice in Palestine also rejected the Geneva Conventions regarding noncombatants and proclaimed that they reject the distinction between “civilian” and “militant” as well as “settler” and “soldier.” According to them, every Palestinian is a civilian and every settler is an aggressor, regardless of the circumstances. Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine called for solidarity with oppressed people and criticized those who view resistance as uncivilized, without acknowledging that the majority of people condemn the killing of civilians and abduction of children, regardless of the perpetrators’ identity.
I can understand why some advocates for the Palestinian cause might choose to remain silent, just as many supporters of Israel have done after abuses against Palestinians. It’s possible that they skip straight to denouncing potential retaliatory attacks to prevent further innocent deaths. I can also understand the sentiment that Muslim innocents receive less attention in the West. I’ve seen firsthand how little impact my condemnation of America’s drone strikes had. When Senator Lindsey Graham suggests leveling Gaza, a place filled with innocent children, it appalls me.
What I cannot comprehend is endorsing, validating, or showing solidarity with war crimes. The fact that so many student organizations did so is shocking. It puts them at odds not only with conservatives, but also with left-leaning liberals and progressives, some of whom are just starting to realize a fundamental difference in core values.
The issue at hand is not support for Palestinians, who deserve better advocates than those who endorse violent acts. As Eric Levitz pointed out in New York magazine, Hamas’s project goes against the foundational values of the left, including secularism, universalism, and egalitarianism. Furthermore, their actions undermine the progressive vision of Palestinian liberation, hindering the possibility of a one-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians enjoy democratic equality. Instead, Hamas’s atrocities lend credence to the notion that a one-state solution would lead to perpetual civil war, further derailing the left’s project in Palestine.
While it is true that Israel has been accused of targeting civilians or not taking enough precautions to spare innocent lives, deliberately killing or kidnapping civilians is inherently wrong. Partisans of Israel who endorse such actions forfeit their moral standing. Additionally, assigning collective responsibility to Palestinians, as President Isaac Herzog and others have done, is an unjust form of punishment.
The endorsement of Hamas’s atrocities poses a political dilemma for the broad coalition of left-leaning activist organizations that have shaped social justice on campus. Until now, the influential radical elements within this coalition were given the benefit of the doubt as their progressive allies believed their intentions were virtuous, even if their methods were extreme. But cheering for what Hamas did and showing solidarity with campaigns of civilian slaughter positions these groups in direct opposition to liberal humanists, progressive wonks, and advocates for international human rights and the beloved community.
This episode will undoubtedly impact ongoing debates on free speech, cancel culture, and the relationship between college administrators and events happening on campuses. Even the most deplorable and hateful statements from student organizations are protected by the First Amendment. I will defend their right to free speech, just as I have defended advocates of the BDS movement in the past.
However, how will those who previously claimed that hate speech is not protected react? What will advocates of “safe spaces” say to students who feel threatened by rhetoric that suggests their lives are not worth living? The therapeutic university model will struggle to survive these tensions.
The contours of cancel culture are shifting as individuals appalled by the statements put out by student organizations attempt to uncover the identities of those involved, publicize their names and faces, and potentially impact their future employment prospects. While I remain skeptical of cancel culture, these efforts will likely proceed with the same arbitrariness and lack of due process as before. Principled critics of cancel culture will continue to speak out against its injustices and unintended consequences. However, with the changing ideologies most susceptible to cancel culture’s excesses, it is expected that some within the left…
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