Brown-John: Setting limits to free speech and university protest camps

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By: Lloyd Brown-John

Notable about the student protests currently plaguing universities, at least in Canada, is the absence of the type of obscenities and Trump-ish style rhetoric characteristic of the Ambassador Bridge blockade or the Ottawa occupation insanities.

Also, notable among many current university demonstrations is that leadership seems to be largely female.

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Protests against Israel’s population decimation in Gaza are certainly in order. Collateral damage explanations may be offered by Israeli military spokespersons but it is difficult for any human with a scintilla of compassion not to be affected by seemingly endless deaths of children, women and civilians in general as Israel seeks to eliminate a crowd of fanatics known as Hamas.

Yet, it should never be forgotten that Hamas launched this current war with an unprovoked and horrible assault upon youths and other Israeli citizens. It was the apparently brain-dead Hamas fanatics who brutally murdered civilians. They now reap their rewards from the whirlwind war Israel has pursued.

I have little doubt that Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu is at heart as much a revenge seeker as are so many other Middle East political actors. Apparently, he is pushed and supported by extremists to his political right.

Revenge has long been a feature of Middle Eastern politics. And while the wars of ancient caliphates may have disappeared, the digital world has offered immense opportunities for extremists involved with ISIS and Al-Qaeda to exploit fury with Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

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There are new jihadist groups springing up across the Middle East and Central Africa. Digital space offers plentiful room for dispersion of jihadist videos, tracts and rants by Islamic fanatics and the launching of suicide bombers.

How much student activism at universities is spawned by real emotional concern for Palestinians and how much of it is inspired by digital rubbish?

Universities are faced with multiple dilemmas in dealing with encamped protesters. Theoretically, universities are supposed to be citadels of free speech.

During years of protests against the Vietnam War the line between free speech and law and order was frequently obscured as U.S. police and National Guard seemed to relish bashing student heads and dragging many to jail. At Kent State University in Ohio students were massacred.

That cannot be allowed to happen with current tented protesters no matter how misinformed some may be.

But freedom of speech cannot be a licence for protesters to invade buildings and destroy property. If students expect their protests to be respected they, in turn, must appreciate that respect goes both ways.

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Furthermore, free speech should include the right to accuse Israel of apartheid or Hamas of murder.

Even bad ideas have a right to be expressed and heard if free speech is to be understood. Mouthing diatribes from digital fanatics may strain our usual sense of freedom of speech but even some of that must be tolerated.

Although the Palestinian ‘river-to-sea’ chant is essentially a political statement, implying the elimination of Israel does stretch free speech borders rather significantly.

The problem faced by university administrations is that students seeking to have their demands met appear to have vague ideas of what is plausible from the university’s perspective.

I don’t track University of Windsor finances beyond my regular look over annual budgets. My general sense is that our local university is most certainly not overloaded with cash. Indeed, this budgetary year I believe it dipped into reserves.

This then leads me to ask protesters: If the university is strapped for cash, wherein are the investments which may or may not be in support of Israel? Do these students really have insight into the finances of the University of Windsor, or are they simply parroting the words they’ve picked up from other sources such as digital world disinformation?

And if protesters are demanding that the University of Windsor acknowledge the existence of a Palestinian state, does that really fall within the purview of a university president?

Methinks it is about time to fold the tents and get back to studies.

Lloyd Brown-John is a University of Windsor professor emeritus of political science and director of Canterbury ElderCollege. He can be reached at lbj@uwindsor.ca.

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