A tutorial on free speech
There is no amendment in our constitution more integral to the concept of freedom than the freedom of speech. Yet, there is no freedom in our constitution more misunderstood than the freedom of speech. This comes up for obvious reasons. People on both sides of the Gaza debate are feeling the crunch. College campuses grapple with protestors and how much is too much. More importantly though, we are seeing an increasing heavy hand of government on both sides of the aisle on this issue as government officials circle the wagons in support of Israel.
That immediately pushes us towards the responsibilities portion of free speech, but I need to take a few giant steps back. Free speech has never meant freedom from responsibility. I would not be able to (hypothetically speaking) run into the superintendant’s office and call them a jackass without some repercussions.
Yet, millions of Americans would say they have an absolute right to do that without any negative impacts on their own professional or personal life. This is not a liberal or conservative problem necessarily. The Dixie Chicks famously badmouthed George W. Bush on stage during his presidency and lost fans possibly in the millions. It went down exactly as it should. They expressed their views and their fans expressed theirs. That’s how these things work.
The Chicks (as they are now called) were effectively canceled. I throw that term in here intentionally. The whole cancel culture craze is nothing more than people being upset over the fact that they are receiving negative consequences for their speech. That’s a large part of the marketplace of ideas. Some people won’t like them.
When we start arresting people for protesting the Israeli government then we have gone way too far. Employers certainly can take note of someone’s political activities and make a decision for themselves as to whether they want a particular individual to represent their company. That is fair. To make demonstrating illegal as Florida has done in certain circumstances is antithetical to the whole idea of what free speech is all about.
We do have one responsibility as it pertains to speech. We need to be accurate. Our responses need to be accurate. That means actually stopping for a second and listening to what the protesters are saying. I would say that most are not anti-Semitic. Some certainly are. However, the majority are just outraged over what Israel is doing in response to Hamas’ attack. Criticizing Israel doesn’t have to mean that you are supporting Hamas, but that is how this issue is being framed.
You can think that what Hamas did is awful. You can think Hamas needs to be eliminated. You can also think that what Israel is doing in Gaza and to Palestinians in general is abhorrent. These things can all be true at the same time. That viewpoint can also be wrong. People are free to disagree with it and poke holes in it all day long. That’s how these things should be debated. However, simply calling anyone that criticizes Israel as Anti-Semitic doesn’t promote free debate. It shuts it down.
Mind you, there are plenty of Anti-Semitic people out there. I would dare say that many are the same folks levying the charge against those that would criticize Israel. There is no defense like a good offense. All of this is to say that free speech has never truly been free. It costs plenty when it is levied irresponsibly and without respect for others. It also hurts overall when we don’t take the time to truly listen to what the other side is saying and why they are saying it. Sometimes it is racism and bigotry but often times it isn’t.
The children who get to learn from this very experienced teacher are lucky.
1THANK YOU!
2Thank you. Thank you
IIRC, that 1st amendment says the Congress shall make no law. It does not say anything about your momma, spouse or boss.
3Bingo.
4Yes, though status quo power structures typically dislike protests against them. They use the tools they have at their disposal to quash such protesters. Even peaceful protesters are targeted. Demonstrating power is more valued than listening to dissent.
Friday ‘toon:
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5If you make demands of Jews that you make of no one else, you are anti-semitic, Period. Full stop. End of story.
The people in those encampments are anti-semitic.
They are, of course, entitled to tell us who they are.
6I wish with all my heart that President Biden would read this word by word in a speech to the American people. It sums up with a laser focus, the situation we are currently experiencing with the Israel / Palestinian speech issue.
7Harry Eagar, please read this thoughtful article.
8https://www.commondreams.org/news/antisemitism-bill
My attitude about free speech has always been that everyone has the right to open mouth and see how far they can insert foot.
9Harry @6
10Technically the Palestinians are also a Semitic people.
The Semites are defined by their common geography and language. If you are against either Jews or Muslims you are anti-Semitic.
But you aren’t necessarily anti-Semitic speaking against Hamas or State of Israel politics.
And, for any free speech experts in the audience: Can I shout ‘movie’s in a crowded firehouse?
11Without getting into too much historical detail, the usual meaning of anti-semite in English is some variety of Jew-hater.
It does not pay to split the hairs so fine, because you soon find yourself with opposing categories: semite vs. Aryan, but at least one of those is entirely imaginary.
Nor does treating the supposed categories as religious, as few Muslims are semites.
While Aryan is an entirely fictitious category, semite may be as well. The Maltese, who are Catholics, speak semitic, while the Muslim Egyptians, who speak a semitic language, are not Arabs, and the Egyptians Christians are neither Arab nor do they speak semitic.
12Whatever you call each side, both continue to retaliate for atrocities with atrocities and insure there will never be peace in the middle east. Both are wrong, deadly wrong. IMHO
13Steve from Beaverton – SPOT ON! Watching this play out is like watching a family feud (both groups arising from the same area millennia ago) where at the end everyone is dead, Terribly tragic all around
14I will take the criticism from number six as a criticism of those protesting. As such it is still designed to shut down debate and that illustrates my whole point.
15Harry @6, while I agree 99% with your first sentence, Sentence 2 is horseshit.
16No one expects Israel to not defend itself.
But how much of the Palestinian population needs to be uprooted or killed has apparently become a factor in the equation.
Calling everyone demonstrating anti-Semitic is horseshit.
And lilly white Lindsey Graham thinks Isreal should, you know, just nuke everything and everyone in Gaza.
17P.P.@ 6
How much carnage? There are two schools of thought. The first, which is W.T. Sherman’s, is that war is hell and short, sharp, decisive campaigns are preferable. The other is that somehow war can be made without hurting anybody or destroying property.
I hold the third: do not start a war you are not going to win. And don’t blame the victim.
That the general population of Gaza is distinct from Hamas is supported by no evidence.
As for the claims of excessive Israeli force, I’ll withhold judgment till we have some evidence.
I will note that I have asked a number of anti-Israel protesters why they do not simultaneously make the same demands of Hamas. All replied the same way: that would not have any effect. A kind of backhanded compliment to tbe Israeils.
18Texas Expat @ 8
I oppose hate-speech laws, period (except in Germany, and even there perhaps they are not needed as much as they once were).
Is it possible to be anti-state of Israel without being an ati-semite? Sure. Do we encounter examples? Rarely.
The key words in my statement were ‘make demands.’ As far as am concerned, you can make all the demands you want of the Jews, so long as you make the exact same demands of everybody else. That has not happened in these encampments.
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