And it's Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., that may have become the first institution to fire a tenured professor over his or her speech or teaching on the conflict. Maura Finkelstein, who is Jewish, had reposted on Instagram a quote that Zionists shouldn't be welcomed "in your spaces" and that people shouldn't "normalize Zionists taking up space." The Education Department investigated multiple student and staff complaints against Finkelstein and released a letter and resolution agreement with the college last week, in which the department demands the results of the investigation into Finkelstein.
The American Anthropological Association issued a statement Friday saying it was "horrified" by what happened to Finkelstein, an anthropologist. It said her termination "is reverberating through academic institutions throughout the U.S., and rightfully so, as it raises serious concerns about academic freedom everywhere."
How is it possible to interpret that as anything other than encouraging people to harass "Zionists", arguably violently? I'm generally in favor of free speech, but actual unambiguous incitements like this seem like exactly the scenarios where free speech crosses into harassment and a firing offense.
So what are you supposed to do if a Zionist is "taking up space"? At best you're supposed to harass them until they decide to leave, that's the only nonviolent interpretation that I can see. I think it's more likely that she thinks that making them feel like they are in danger if they let themselves be known which is still a call to violence.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
How is it possible to interpret that as anything other than encouraging people to harass "Zionists", arguably violently? I'm generally in favor of free speech, but actual unambiguous incitements like this seem like exactly the scenarios where free speech crosses into harassment and a firing offense.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
That person is an r-slur but their words don't come anywhere close to incitement of violence
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
So what are you supposed to do if a Zionist is "taking up space"? At best you're supposed to harass them until they decide to leave, that's the only nonviolent interpretation that I can see. I think it's more likely that she thinks that making them feel like they are in danger if they let themselves be known which is still a call to violence.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Words aren't violence
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Correct. Hence why we're discussing "incitement of violence"
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Incitement of mean words isn't incitement of violence
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context