Sorry, I don't think it's "cancel culture" to deport foreign nationals who express support for an officially recognized terrorist organization. It's common sense.
Philosophically, I agree. But practically, it's stupid.
First - the left in the US doesn't fear the right. They despise them. The only thing holding them back from engaging in planned and systematic violence to achieve their political goal of complete power is uncertainty about how much they "can get a way with". The boundaries are being tested continually, and the envelope of acceptability is rapidly expanding.
Second - The left in the US is not interested in co-existence. They consider all conservatives to be "right wing fascist terrorists". They want us jailed or reprogrammed if they can't eliminate enough to cow the remaining into submission.
Third - does anyone think even for one second, that if the "right is nice", the left will start to play nice. NFW - they will become even more extreme than they are now.
The game is already underway and the rules are set. Play it or get destroyed. Sometimes, "ya jus gotta throw down".
Pro-Hamas protesters are not asking for open dialogue leading to better outcomes. They explicitly call for the elimination of Israel and the extermination of its inhabitants. No other outcome is acceptable for them. They don't want to get along. So this statement doesn't make sense - "We could reach across the aisle with an olive branch and find common cause with our brothers and sisters across the political spectrum" in this situation. What words can you say to someone who tortures, rapes and kills and ALSO records it all with a bodycam. What conversation is there with those who support it?
On campus, if harassment is severe, persistent or pervasive and to limits or deny a student's ability to participate in or benefit from an educational program, then it violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Can a student feel safe, or expect fair treatment in a class, when instructors and their followers are shouting "From the river to the sea..."? It's not a violation of the First Amendment, in that case, to not tolerate it.
I'm glad to see FAIR sticking to its principals instead of letting anger win. The Hamas attacks were brutal and vicious. People praising them are ignoring that fact. But we need not be brutal and vicious in our response. We need not sink to that level.
I do not agree. There is a distinction between free speech and hate speech. Supporting terrorists who murdered innocent people with unspeakable cruelty is the ultimate hate speech and it needs to be condemned. US citizens are protected by the First Amendment, but that does not mean that private companies or educational institutions need to employ those who promulgate abhorrent views. In addition, there is no reason that foreign nationals who espouse the Islamist ideology which is inconsistent with our Constitution and our fundamental beliefs should be permitted to stay in the country. Those who defend these people on the grounds of free speech would never accept racist speech from a white nationalist group. Many of the protestors are explicitly in their racist antisemitism. If racist hate speech is considered impermissible in our society, the condemnation needs to be consistently applied.
Thank you for writing this. I would only change the headline - lead with moral priorities instead of posture.
We can disagree with people vehemently without punishing them for beliefs. But punishment should follow intimidation, vandalism of posters, and incitement to violence or other criminal acts.
While I support free speech, I'm concerned about tolerance of ideologies incompatible with Western democracy and human rights. Advocating for a caliphate is to support terrorism. The crowd's failure to condemn such ideas, and their celebration of violence, shows a disturbing cultural clash with our societal values in a modern free world. It's alarming that such actions go unpunished, highlighting a disregard for the universal principles of human rights and a lack of political will to police laws that protect us all. I these values should be non-negotiable in the West. If our laws and principles aren't enforced, allowing such public displays only signifies weakness and naivety.
I'm uncomfortable with groups publicly promoting ideas against a free society and acting in ways that go against showing dignity to all regardless of race sex creed, or democracy. The issue here isn't about restricting free speech, but rather the failure to properly confront hate speech and intolerance or anti democratic ideologies! Allowing it to masquerade as "cultural diversity" is the main problem. The culture of human rights should be universal and not bounded by any cultural limitations , extending equally to all groups (and expecting all people to adhere to them as the price of admittance). diverse "culture" in this area is not compatible the west already had its civil wars and witch hunts to understand the need of frees speech and democracy (and the deep need for citizens to adhere to compassionate democratic values regardless of religious or other belief). Once again... waiting for the government to stand and take action against those that would use and justify violence... but we live in a leadership vacuum
I think everything you wrote sounds lovely and reasonable. I also think to a good degree it is precisely what we have done to allow the fabric of country to change into something that is very authoritarian and ugly.
The reluctant hero always ends up finding his limit and has to fight back to save himself and family. It is time.
Freedom of speech produces some useful knowledge. When I went into my university last week, I walked by a demonstration that consisted of a bunch of white kids sitting on the ground like sheep, while being screamed at and ordered what to chant by a couple of Arab students. This is a pretty good illustration of All You Need to Know.
When I was a student in England, I'm pretty sure that getting involved in political demonstrations in my host country would have gotten me swiftly deported. This was in writing on my alien registration papers. I'm glad these international students are enjoying the freedoms they have here in the United States, which they likely don't have in their native lands. It would be awfully mean of Tom Cotton to toss them over the border but I have other things to worry about. They aren't citizens, their rights are exactly what we choose to give them.
Being maleducated in the history of their country, those protestors who are citizens would be surprised at the rights that they won't have, if this situation sparks off a big shooting war like they apparently want. They won't have learned anything about the constitutional suspensions in the Civil War, or the fifth section of the Espionage Act (still on the books!) or the alarming provisions of the Patriot Act. They'd have a very hard time explaining their social media feeds to an unsympathetic wartime judge. But I can't worry about their problems, I have others such as the well-being of my draft-age children. Just because you can say it, doesn't mean it's wise to do so.
I've discovered that my country has a lot of people in it, who are more committed to an ideological cause espoused by foreign enemies, than to their responsibilities as American citizens. If not for freedom of speech, I'd likely not know this. So I guess that's a plus.
Up front, cancel culture is revolting. I’m with you there. However...
One, Hamas is a prescribed terror group & clearly describes itself as one (for instance, saying that there will be more & more 10.7s. A clear terrorist act).
Two, chanting ‘death to the Jews’ or its equivalent (for instance, calling for an intifada).
Three, being a foreign student (and I’ve been one before) requires one to behave with respect to one’s host, tempering one’s own natural opinions & feelings. In fact, it is usually in one’s contract that one can be deported for any act contrary to the mores & laws of one’s host nation. Foreign students who misbehave, threaten mayhem or become politically involved in the affairs of the host nation SHOULD be deported. They have come to learn from their host nation &, if allowed, to respectfully share theirs. They are not there to be political activists. It’s in the word; they are students. The Latin origin of the word being ‘dedicate oneself to study’.
Well I think it’s pretty funny that all of a sudden universities which didn’t have any free speech are now embracing it. When Jews want something cancelled it’s all about free speech. And all lives matter. The hypocrisy stinks. And if someone is going to demonstrate for Hamas openly, or sign a letter, calling them out is not doxxing. Unless they hide their faces behind 10 kaffiyehs.
Freedom of association absolutely includes the right to boycott and "cancel". Any attempt to limit that right necessarily violates core principles of freedom, which leads inexorably to our present muddled view of ethics and morality (i.e. the Orwellian moments where "anti-racism" means discrimination against certain races, speech is considered violence, freedom and individual rights equate to slavery).
If employers want to fire an otherwise stellar employee for a microagression, I'm willing to bet that employee could find work elsewhere. An employee who claims Hamas are freedom fighters, wears a mask at a protest blocking traffic and setting fires, burns the US and Israeli flag, and even explicitly calls for the murder of innocent people? Yeah, I think THAT person may have a hard time finding work once it gets out. That they wear masks during these protests shows that they know it as well.
So the heart of the question is when is it JUSTIFIED to cancel someone? Getting fired for saying that all people of any race should be treated equal is not the same as getting fired for calling for the elimination of millions of human beings. The fact that that student may face life long consequences for such a view is simple justice.
The only wiggle room here is age, but I'd say at 18/19 plus this gap is quickly closing. Ultimately it should be left to individuals, both to employee, employer to make these distinctions. I can empathize with an 18 year old freshman who gets swept up in a campus protest. A 30 year old doesn't get that pass, and a Professor certainly knows what they're doing and owns what they say entirely.
When I first saw this, my response was if you were Jewish, you might think differently. I will acknowledge that there’s a difference between people infuriatingly and falsely accusing of Israel of committing genocide and apartheid, and those who recently distributed online, and apparently at rallies, a map of Jewish businesses in New York, to target for intifada. For the latter, I am fine with prosecuting citizens to the fullest extent of the law, and throwing any non-citizens participating the hell out of the country.
I’m sorry, but there is no “example” you can set for a crazed, leftist, Jew-hating mob that will be anything other than a waste of time. It’s too late for that.
Hoping to achieve "peace in our time," Mr Chamberlain? @neil kellen's comments here are correct. The left are terrorists (defined as "using whatever means, sometimes violence, to frighten the rest of us into silence") and you cannot negotiate with them. Pull their masks off. Forgiveness is always possible later once they renounce their BS, but not now.
Hamas is arguably worse than Nazis were. There has to be a line somewhere that should not be crossed; the Hamas terrorist organization that slaughters women and children is that line.
Why We Shouldn't Cancel Pro-Hamas Protesters
Sorry, I don't think it's "cancel culture" to deport foreign nationals who express support for an officially recognized terrorist organization. It's common sense.
Philosophically, I agree. But practically, it's stupid.
First - the left in the US doesn't fear the right. They despise them. The only thing holding them back from engaging in planned and systematic violence to achieve their political goal of complete power is uncertainty about how much they "can get a way with". The boundaries are being tested continually, and the envelope of acceptability is rapidly expanding.
Second - The left in the US is not interested in co-existence. They consider all conservatives to be "right wing fascist terrorists". They want us jailed or reprogrammed if they can't eliminate enough to cow the remaining into submission.
Third - does anyone think even for one second, that if the "right is nice", the left will start to play nice. NFW - they will become even more extreme than they are now.
The game is already underway and the rules are set. Play it or get destroyed. Sometimes, "ya jus gotta throw down".
Pro-Hamas protesters are not asking for open dialogue leading to better outcomes. They explicitly call for the elimination of Israel and the extermination of its inhabitants. No other outcome is acceptable for them. They don't want to get along. So this statement doesn't make sense - "We could reach across the aisle with an olive branch and find common cause with our brothers and sisters across the political spectrum" in this situation. What words can you say to someone who tortures, rapes and kills and ALSO records it all with a bodycam. What conversation is there with those who support it?
On campus, if harassment is severe, persistent or pervasive and to limits or deny a student's ability to participate in or benefit from an educational program, then it violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Can a student feel safe, or expect fair treatment in a class, when instructors and their followers are shouting "From the river to the sea..."? It's not a violation of the First Amendment, in that case, to not tolerate it.
I'm glad to see FAIR sticking to its principals instead of letting anger win. The Hamas attacks were brutal and vicious. People praising them are ignoring that fact. But we need not be brutal and vicious in our response. We need not sink to that level.
I do not agree. There is a distinction between free speech and hate speech. Supporting terrorists who murdered innocent people with unspeakable cruelty is the ultimate hate speech and it needs to be condemned. US citizens are protected by the First Amendment, but that does not mean that private companies or educational institutions need to employ those who promulgate abhorrent views. In addition, there is no reason that foreign nationals who espouse the Islamist ideology which is inconsistent with our Constitution and our fundamental beliefs should be permitted to stay in the country. Those who defend these people on the grounds of free speech would never accept racist speech from a white nationalist group. Many of the protestors are explicitly in their racist antisemitism. If racist hate speech is considered impermissible in our society, the condemnation needs to be consistently applied.
Thank you for writing this. I would only change the headline - lead with moral priorities instead of posture.
We can disagree with people vehemently without punishing them for beliefs. But punishment should follow intimidation, vandalism of posters, and incitement to violence or other criminal acts.
While I support free speech, I'm concerned about tolerance of ideologies incompatible with Western democracy and human rights. Advocating for a caliphate is to support terrorism. The crowd's failure to condemn such ideas, and their celebration of violence, shows a disturbing cultural clash with our societal values in a modern free world. It's alarming that such actions go unpunished, highlighting a disregard for the universal principles of human rights and a lack of political will to police laws that protect us all. I these values should be non-negotiable in the West. If our laws and principles aren't enforced, allowing such public displays only signifies weakness and naivety.
I'm uncomfortable with groups publicly promoting ideas against a free society and acting in ways that go against showing dignity to all regardless of race sex creed, or democracy. The issue here isn't about restricting free speech, but rather the failure to properly confront hate speech and intolerance or anti democratic ideologies! Allowing it to masquerade as "cultural diversity" is the main problem. The culture of human rights should be universal and not bounded by any cultural limitations , extending equally to all groups (and expecting all people to adhere to them as the price of admittance). diverse "culture" in this area is not compatible the west already had its civil wars and witch hunts to understand the need of frees speech and democracy (and the deep need for citizens to adhere to compassionate democratic values regardless of religious or other belief). Once again... waiting for the government to stand and take action against those that would use and justify violence... but we live in a leadership vacuum
I think everything you wrote sounds lovely and reasonable. I also think to a good degree it is precisely what we have done to allow the fabric of country to change into something that is very authoritarian and ugly.
The reluctant hero always ends up finding his limit and has to fight back to save himself and family. It is time.
Freedom of speech produces some useful knowledge. When I went into my university last week, I walked by a demonstration that consisted of a bunch of white kids sitting on the ground like sheep, while being screamed at and ordered what to chant by a couple of Arab students. This is a pretty good illustration of All You Need to Know.
When I was a student in England, I'm pretty sure that getting involved in political demonstrations in my host country would have gotten me swiftly deported. This was in writing on my alien registration papers. I'm glad these international students are enjoying the freedoms they have here in the United States, which they likely don't have in their native lands. It would be awfully mean of Tom Cotton to toss them over the border but I have other things to worry about. They aren't citizens, their rights are exactly what we choose to give them.
Being maleducated in the history of their country, those protestors who are citizens would be surprised at the rights that they won't have, if this situation sparks off a big shooting war like they apparently want. They won't have learned anything about the constitutional suspensions in the Civil War, or the fifth section of the Espionage Act (still on the books!) or the alarming provisions of the Patriot Act. They'd have a very hard time explaining their social media feeds to an unsympathetic wartime judge. But I can't worry about their problems, I have others such as the well-being of my draft-age children. Just because you can say it, doesn't mean it's wise to do so.
I've discovered that my country has a lot of people in it, who are more committed to an ideological cause espoused by foreign enemies, than to their responsibilities as American citizens. If not for freedom of speech, I'd likely not know this. So I guess that's a plus.
Up front, cancel culture is revolting. I’m with you there. However...
One, Hamas is a prescribed terror group & clearly describes itself as one (for instance, saying that there will be more & more 10.7s. A clear terrorist act).
Two, chanting ‘death to the Jews’ or its equivalent (for instance, calling for an intifada).
Three, being a foreign student (and I’ve been one before) requires one to behave with respect to one’s host, tempering one’s own natural opinions & feelings. In fact, it is usually in one’s contract that one can be deported for any act contrary to the mores & laws of one’s host nation. Foreign students who misbehave, threaten mayhem or become politically involved in the affairs of the host nation SHOULD be deported. They have come to learn from their host nation &, if allowed, to respectfully share theirs. They are not there to be political activists. It’s in the word; they are students. The Latin origin of the word being ‘dedicate oneself to study’.
Well I think it’s pretty funny that all of a sudden universities which didn’t have any free speech are now embracing it. When Jews want something cancelled it’s all about free speech. And all lives matter. The hypocrisy stinks. And if someone is going to demonstrate for Hamas openly, or sign a letter, calling them out is not doxxing. Unless they hide their faces behind 10 kaffiyehs.
Freedom of association absolutely includes the right to boycott and "cancel". Any attempt to limit that right necessarily violates core principles of freedom, which leads inexorably to our present muddled view of ethics and morality (i.e. the Orwellian moments where "anti-racism" means discrimination against certain races, speech is considered violence, freedom and individual rights equate to slavery).
If employers want to fire an otherwise stellar employee for a microagression, I'm willing to bet that employee could find work elsewhere. An employee who claims Hamas are freedom fighters, wears a mask at a protest blocking traffic and setting fires, burns the US and Israeli flag, and even explicitly calls for the murder of innocent people? Yeah, I think THAT person may have a hard time finding work once it gets out. That they wear masks during these protests shows that they know it as well.
So the heart of the question is when is it JUSTIFIED to cancel someone? Getting fired for saying that all people of any race should be treated equal is not the same as getting fired for calling for the elimination of millions of human beings. The fact that that student may face life long consequences for such a view is simple justice.
The only wiggle room here is age, but I'd say at 18/19 plus this gap is quickly closing. Ultimately it should be left to individuals, both to employee, employer to make these distinctions. I can empathize with an 18 year old freshman who gets swept up in a campus protest. A 30 year old doesn't get that pass, and a Professor certainly knows what they're doing and owns what they say entirely.
When I first saw this, my response was if you were Jewish, you might think differently. I will acknowledge that there’s a difference between people infuriatingly and falsely accusing of Israel of committing genocide and apartheid, and those who recently distributed online, and apparently at rallies, a map of Jewish businesses in New York, to target for intifada. For the latter, I am fine with prosecuting citizens to the fullest extent of the law, and throwing any non-citizens participating the hell out of the country.
I’m sorry, but there is no “example” you can set for a crazed, leftist, Jew-hating mob that will be anything other than a waste of time. It’s too late for that.
Hoping to achieve "peace in our time," Mr Chamberlain? @neil kellen's comments here are correct. The left are terrorists (defined as "using whatever means, sometimes violence, to frighten the rest of us into silence") and you cannot negotiate with them. Pull their masks off. Forgiveness is always possible later once they renounce their BS, but not now.
Hamas is arguably worse than Nazis were. There has to be a line somewhere that should not be crossed; the Hamas terrorist organization that slaughters women and children is that line.