Freedom of Speech—the new repression of First Amendment rights 

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America’s university students and faculty are expressing their loathing of Israel’s unrelenting murder of Palestinian civilians. Murder’s a strong word, but it’s the only one that fits.

Many of our leaders condemn these gatherings—especially when the audio’s turned up sufficiently to remind them of their own moral failure—aiming to stand for what is right instead of money. The fear of losing the Jewish vote is what has allowed America’s political power to turn a blind eye to the unfathomable suffering of the Palestinians. Shamefully, we’ve been holdouts in the international condemnation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s murderous campaign.

In short, U.S. involvement with Israel is a dirty business, and there’s good reason to protest.

The oldest and finest of our halls of higher learning are being besieged by both students and faculty members demanding change; they’re insisting that their schools dissociate from any involvement with the Israeli government; and they’re adamant that U.S. aid must not be available for Israel’s destruction of the Palestinian people.

At first it had been only a few voices. Now it’s turned into a movement, and it will not be silenced.

Immediately after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, Israel saw a world rallying to its aid. That included the same conscientious Americans who are protesting today.

Sadly, empathy for Israel has been quickly replaced by international revulsion over Netanyahu’s out-of-control inhumanity as he openly seeks to kill Palestinians and drive them from their homeland. The Zionist/Netanyahu strategy isn’t about retaliation—it’s about preserving Israel's apartheid policies and erasing its Arab population from the land. It’s a mini-Holocaust for Palestinians, and there’s no end in sight.

In a very real sense, if this doesn’t end soon, we may well see the eradication of a people—all under the pretext of rooting out Hamas and its rule of Gaza. Netanyahu has tried to prevent any international oversight; he’s made sure that all legitimate observers are carefully chaperoned by the IDF into what are merely public relations tours. He’s responsible for the deaths of almost 100 properly identified journalists. He’s allowed nearly 700 doctors and other health workers to die, and he bears ultimate responsibility for the deaths of over 200 properly-authorized humanitarian aid workers.

It is high time: the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and some of his lieutenants. (That means Lord Bibi may not be vacationing in any Caribbean resorts.) To make sure it’s not one sided, the ICC has also issued warrants for the Hamas operatives who’ve been responsible for war crimes.

I don’t know what’s happened to Americans, but it seems the idealism that dominated our country’s earlier years has been lost. No American should be able to sleep at night, knowing that the ammunition, fighters, drones and missiles at Netanyahu’s disposal are supplied by us. Interestingly, the recent Iran-based, 200-missile attack on Israel was not fended off by the Israeli military. It was the U.S. that—virtually singlehandedly—shot down the entire barrage.

It doesn’t seem to matter how much aid we give Israel; we know it will use our generous dollars to execute the program of ethnic cleansing, and to silence any Arabs who dare stand up to the virtual imprisonment of an entire nation. There’s also a very real risk that Israel will drag us into a war that may redefine the Middle East and surrounding regions.

Through the whole Gaza debacle, President Joe Biden has insisted, for obvious political reasons, that the U.S. will continue to furnish Israel with all its military needs—something that has hit a raw nerve in many Americans—Jews and Arabs alike. Now the idealists, particularly the young, are protesting the U.S.’s inexcusable involvement in the displacement and death of more than 34,000 Palestinians.

More are dying every day, and those who don’t die will return to a wasteland.

USC, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Emery, University of Texas at Austin and others have become reminiscent of the 60s, when peaceful demonstrations became spectacles involving students and law enforcement. Back then, it was the anti-Vietnam War “hippies,” infuriated by Pres. Johnson’s merciless B-52 bombings of Vietnam’s neutral neighbors. Sadly, some of those courageous cries for peace were met with violence and death, the most memorable of which was the National Guard killings of students at Kent State.

A red-herring use of the word “antisemitism” is being bandied about as a reason for universities to crack down on student activism. But solidarity with the plight of Palestinians is not the same as hating Jews. We must all respect the Jewish Religion and its followers, while at the same time, deeply loathing the inhumanities, murder and genocide for which Netanyahu has become the poster boy.

We must also keep a sensible perspective and remember history. One thing is very clear—the outcry of responsible Americans has been effective in the past. Johnson, simply one of America’s worst mass-murderers, yielded to public pressure and ended America’s carnage of Southeast Asia. Likewise, the highly visible, vocal demonstrations of the Civil Rights Movement brought a (legal) end to discrimination on the basis of race.

Those who oppose the current wave of university activism—and who condone the rubber bullets, tear gas and arrests—need to stop and consider if their attitudes clash with the Founding Fathers’ reverence for free speech and peaceful assembly. Those are, after all, the necessary and essential mechanisms of change. The students and academics who are risking their own wellbeing for the Palestinian cause are heroes, and no one should be criminally prosecuted for pushing against those things that are reprehensible and morally wrong.

While some of the universities have resolved to provide general amnesty for their campus activists, others seem determined to purge protesters from their ranks. Of all places, universities should be forums where responsible dissent is encouraged—not punished.

How can universities expect to assist in the process of creating great people if they quash the legitimate voices of student and faculty activists?

The rubber bullets and tear gas must end. Those who voice moral opinions on America’s wrongs should not face loss of employment, an end to their education or criminal consequences. After all, they are demonstrating their courage and integrity—to speak out against the murder of innocent human beings.

Anyone who has a heart should stand with them.

The author is a retired businessman, novelist, columnist and former Vietnam-era Army assistant public information officer. He resides in Riverton with his wife, Carol, and their adorable and ferocious dog “Poppy.” comments@cityweekly.net