Unlike eyes, nature did not design human ears to close. But American college students are evolving differently — for they are silencing voices that express ideas deemed unacceptable.
Especially when the ideas relate to Israel.
On Tuesday, Israeli professor Moshe Halbertal appeared at the University of Minnesota to deliver a lecture titled “Protecting Civilians: Moral Challenges of Asymmetric Warfare.”
Halbertal, who helped draft the Israeli army code of ethics — one of the most protective in the world — was going to argue that combatants should err on the side of safeguarding civilians from harm, even if it makes winning a war harder.
Never mind the message. Student activists condemned Halbertal as persona non grata because he is Israeli. Two dozen protesters shouted him down, delaying him a half hour, and making it impossible for the audience to hear a word even after police ejected the protesters from the hall.
The attempted censorship is yet another reason to urge widespread adoption of the University of Chicago’s free speech principles:
“The university’s fundamental commitment is to the principle that debate or deliberation may not be suppressed because the ideas put forth are thought by some or even by most members of the university community to be offensive, unwise, immoral or wrong-headed.” Amen.
