Living in America, there are some things that I probably take for granted. Reliable utilities, limitless flavors of ice cream, and so forth. But whenever I take a step back and consider the other 96% of Earth’s population, I realize how incredibly fortunate we are to enjoy such a safe and free society. The right to free speech is a vital part of any Democracy, and lately has become one of the most contentious debates playing out on college campuses all over the country.
American journalists can practice free speech by writing truthfully without fear of reprisal; in China they can be thrown in a labor camp, and in Russia they might be thrown out of a high window. But free speech also can look like a group of college students protesting an important topic in a public space, carrying signs with catchy slogans and chanting through a megaphone. Any freedom has limitations, however, and free speech on college campuses should not prevent other students and teachers from safely attending class, and it should not ruin graduation ceremonies or trash school property.
By now we all have seen the terrible footage of Gaza being leveled by the Israeli armed forces. Any loss of innocent life is a tragedy, especially when children are involved. But when looking closer at the tactics used by the Palestinian leaders in Hamas, they actively use their own civilians as human shields, hiding their military headquarters beneath hospitals. Israel is the only real Democracy in the Middle East, an important American ally, and for years they have endured rocket attacks launched from civilian areas by Hamas militants. Last October, Hamas executed a brutal, coordinated assault on Israeli civilians living in peaceful villages along the Palestinian border. These were the Israelis who were most sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, employing Palestinian workers and driving them to hospitals when needed, and yet the Hamas fighters broke an existing cease-fire to commit unspeakable atrocities against women and children. And afterwards, they celebrated.
Normal people would never commit the gruesome acts of October 7th. These are the actions of religious fanatics who actively seek martyrdom in pursuit of the total destruction of Israeli society. Of course not all Islamic countries are to blame, and in April both Jordan and Saudi Arabia actually helped Israel repel a massive drone attack launched by Iran. But many Palestinian civilians, and now apparently some American university students and faculty, have come under the sway of waves of misinformation spreading on social media, originating from places like Russia, China and Iran as a way of destabilizing democracies.
The rise of social media has allowed lies to spread like wildfire, on any topic from climate science to medical advice, and the problem exists on either side of the political aisle. On the far right, we can find people laundering Russian propaganda on topics from Ukraine to renewable energy; on the far left, even at our most prestigious institutions, are these groups of misinformed students repeating the same slogans used by Hamas extremists. Spreading algorithmically-amplified lies on social media is not free speech, and the tech companies need to do a better job of managing it. But some student protesters also are being enabled by their own administrations, and the Universities need to do a better job managing the spread of misinformation on their campuses.
When I watch the footage of American college students exercising their free speech rights to protest against Israel, and damaging their campuses in the process, I’m left wondering what it would be like to have a face to face conversation with them. What would they think about the $4.5 Billion in aid supplied to Gaza from 2014-2020 alone? How would they explain the use of these funds, not to improve the lives of Palestinian citizens through infrastructure projects, but rather to build military hideouts beneath their children’s schools? What would these students think about the longstanding relationship between Hamas and the oppressive regime in Iran?
Has the Israeli leadership made colossal mistakes in their Gaza campaign? Absolutely. But despite being only 2% of the population, American Jews have suffered 50% of the hate crimes, and those statistics can be tracked all over the globe. Israeli actions in Gaza should not be compared with what Jews have been dealing with for thousands of years, and practicing free speech should not include the destruction of the school library.
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Chris Werle of Lamar County is Mississippi state coordinator for Citizens’ Climate Education. Write him at chriswerle@cclvolunteer.org.
