Anyone who has a beating heart and is astute enough should be conscious of the fact that debates over free speech, cultural appropriation, intolerance, and numerous other controversies covered by the umbrella term “cancel culture” have woven themselves firmly into the fabric of our current culture over the past few years.
By now, most Americans who are plugged into the media cycle are aware of the case of Mahmoud Khalil and his wife, Noor Abdalla, and how federal officers followed the couple into the lobby of their university-owned apartment building and stopped them. “The officer then proceeded to say ‘We are with the police; you have to come with us,’” Noor Abdalla said. “The officer told Mahmoud to give me the apartment keys and that I could go upstairs. When I refused, afraid to leave my husband, the officer stated, ‘I will arrest you, too.’ The officers later barricaded Mahmoud from me.”
“This is the first arrest of many to come,” Donald Trump posted on Truth Social. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it.”
To be sure, anti-Semitism is one of the oldest social cancers in history. It is vile, despicable, and abominable, and it must be attacked and challenged with the force of a hurricane. That being said, as former veteran political pundit and current nationally syndicated columnist, Susan Estrich, who is Jewish herself, stated in one of her latest columns, the Trump administration is disingenuously exploiting anti-Semitism in an effort to further enact a right-wing agenda that is largely characterized by anti-Semitism.
Khalil’s arrest comes against the backdrop of the administration’s decision to pull some $400 million in support from Columbia because of its supposed anti-Semitism, including much-needed funding for Jewish researchers doing medical research. It also comes as the Office of Civil Rights is sending a letter to some 60 colleges and universities informing them that they are under investigation for not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism on campus.
Clinical trials being canceled in the name of fighting anti-Semitism is just what Jews need least. This “Blame the Jews” rhetoric is from an administration whose top aides have to keep explaining that they are not giving Nazi salutes even though that is exactly what they look like.
Estrich further comments, “I sympathize with Jewish students who, especially last year, felt vulnerable and unprotected on their campuses. Many colleges should have done better. They did not enforce their own rules guaranteeing students secure access to classes and activities. But we don’t need ICE to solve that problem.” I concur with Estrich and other Jewish people like Congressmen Jamie Raskin (D-MD) who have denounced specific right-wing Republican politicians for their disingenuous and dishonest behavior. Moreover, Trump is the same president who, in his first term, referred to the Nazis who marched and rioted in Charlottesville “as very fine people.”
Even as Republicans and the political right have declared themselves to be the arbiters and the party of free speech, Donald Trump is stating in no uncertain terms that anyone who disagrees with or harbors any dissenting views from him will be silenced. This includes college students who protest the war in Gaza and other issues at odds with the administration. In a Truth Social post on March 11, Trump threatened to pull federal funding from universities that allow “illegal protests” and vowed to arrest, expel, and/or deport so-called agitators.
Student protests, like other forms of expression, are crucial to American democracy. Young college students have the right to express their feelings about issues within the confines of and outside college campuses. We should be shuddering about the potential negative results for our First Amendment rights as a nation if institutions of higher education give in to Trump’s draconian demands. People are allowed to disagree with the federal government’s manner of doing things and to protest against wars they do not want. The same applies to protests against Trump, gun violence, racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, xenophobia, and so on.
College campuses are supposed to be citadels for the rational examination and exchange of ideas among people with diverse, pluralistic views. In these important spaces, individuals can become intensely immersed in various forms of inquiry. This intellectual universe is deeply embedded in the American social and cultural imagination. However, the current Middle East conflict has resulted in numerous universities morphing into battlegrounds where politics and ideas have been weaponized in a manner that has become increasingly acrimonious, leading to an increasingly bellicose inquisition.
The Trump years have constituted one of the most acrimonious, mean-spirited, and ideologically divisive eras in recent memory. This is particularly true regarding rhetoric and ideology. Political, social, cultural, and other websites and blogs routinely provide commentaries that are, in some cases, tailored and embellished to make them palatable to their specific audiences. Consequently, the intense humidity that has been infused in the already overheated public discourse during the past few years has made things so torrid and uncomfortable that more than a few rational, open-minded people are understandably feeling unsettled.
The indisputable truth is that certain politicians (including President Trump), pundits, talk radio hosts, journalists, academics, and other provocateurs across the political spectrum find themselves in an echo chamber where they must rabidly denounce, dissect, and discredit their opponents as being intolerant of diverse voices and opinions. In fact, they almost live to invite this sort of reaction from the opposition. Each such fiery exchange provides them with ample ammunition to vilify their opponents and entities whom they despise and, in some cases, fear and view with a jaundiced eye as the “other.”
Such drama is occurring during a tenure when public opinion of higher education – routinely ambiguous at best, especially among conservatives – has reached new depths. The sector has come under increased scrutiny from many quarters: politicians, students, college graduates themselves, and the public at large from across the political spectrum.
There is no doubt that such a dramatic drop is the result of a constant barrage of criticism regarding the increasing cost of a college education as well as merciless attacks from right-wing pundits, politicians, neoliberals, and, in some cases, individuals lacking a college degree.
While there are some progressive individuals who welcome the diversity of groups that have been allowed to exercise their First Amendment rights (which were historically legally denied to them), many others fear, detest, and outright resent the loss of their closely guarded power to influence the public debate and have hardly been bashful about their resentment. Thus, the real issue is the loss of power to dictate the narrative.
Free speech is crucial to our democracy. Either you have it, or you do not. It is important to remember that when you attempt to curtail the civil rights of others, it may be only a matter of time before yours are stifled in turn, if not outright canceled.