Antisemitism and Free Speech on Campus

Johanna Alonso
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: When a group of students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched a pro-Palestine magazine in the spring of 2024, they hoped it would serve as a platform for “revolutionary thought on campus,” according to its first issue: “We believe that writing and art are among the most powerful tools for conducting a revolution.” Housing artwork, literature and essays related to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, the publication, titled Written Revolution, began as a totally independent magazine before becoming an official student organization this fall.

The publication has ceased nearly all distribution in response to administrators’ demands, according to students affiliated with the organization, and Iyengar is facing disciplinary action.

Emma Camp
Reason Magazine

Excerpt: Last year, student-led protests over the Israel-Hamas war broke out at dozens of college campuses. With the new school year well underway, student demonstrations have begun again in earnest.

According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), attempts to deplatform speakers were surging by this April. Of the 67 attempts it had recorded from January to mid-April, 73 percent involved controversy surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So how did a year of raucous—and occasionally disruptive and destructive—protest affect student opinions on free speech?

Jessica Blake
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: Republicans are primed to ratchet up their efforts to hold colleges accountable after securing a majority in the House and Senate.

With President-elect Donald Trump in the White House, the table is set for the GOP to make significant progress on a higher ed wish list that includes granting federal aid to nontraditional programs, increasing taxes on wealthy colleges, cracking down on campus antisemitism and busting the current model for accreditation, experts say.

George Leef
National Review

Excerpt: As events of the last year have shown so clearly, there is a lot of tension on American campuses (particularly at our “elite” institutions) between the value of freedom of speech and the dis-value of speech that’s loaded with hatred. On many campuses, antisemitism has been rampant, with vicious verbal attacks on Jews — even those who aren’t necessarily pro-Israel.

How should we resolve the tension? That’s the question University of Illinois professor Cary Nelson addresses in his book Hate Speech and Academic Freedom, which I review here for the Martin Center.

Jessica Blake
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: House Republicans lambasted private elite colleges and some state flagship universities for how they’ve handled pro-Palestinian protests in a new report in which they argue that antisemitism has engulfed college campuses and administrators prioritized “terrorist sympathizers” over the Jewish community.

In the scathing 325-page report released Thursday, Republicans on House Education and Workforce Committee detailed the findings of their yearlong investigation into antisemitism at 11 colleges. Most of the findings reiterated many of the same points they’ve been making publicly since Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Sophia Wotman and Sam Levine
The Brown Daily Herald

Excerpt: The University temporarily suspended Brown’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine pending an external investigation into conduct violations at a pro-divestment protest held earlier this month.

“Given the severity of alleged threatening, intimidating and harassing actions during an event on campus, Brown University has initiated a review of the event and required the Brown chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine to cease all organization activities pending full review of the matter,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark told The Herald.