When I graduated from Northwestern University in 1964, most of my fellow students were supporting Barry Goldwater for President. Now my old school is capitulating to anti-Israel activists. The university agreed to consider divesting from Israel and subsidize more Palestinian faculty and students.
I’m disappointed but not surprised. Antisemitism has been growing in academia for decades, starting decades ago with the Palestinian-led movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel. Critical race theory curriculum defines Jews as white oppressors, Palestinians as an oppressed minority and Israel as a colonist state.
In addition, Middle Eastern autocracies have been donating billions of dollars to U.S. universities in recent decades. This has funded departments of Middle Eastern studies, Muslim faculty and a surge in Middle Eastern students. Northwestern already maintains a campus in Qatar (where graduates with the same journalism degree I hold may be churning out propaganda for Al Jazeera).
Fortunately, I stopped being a loyal alum after Northwestern sent me a collection letter demanding payment on my student loan when I was serving in Vietnam.
Some are pointing out the eerie similarity between today’s academic antisemitism and the German universities’ embrace of Nazism in the 1920s. Particularly when the emphasis of campus protests has shifted from concern for civilians in Gaza to openly calling for the destruction of Israel and threatening their Jewish classmates. Chants of “from the river to the sea” (Israel will no longer exist) have been supplemented by “Intifada” (war on non-Muslims everywhere), “Death to Israel” and occasionally “Death to the USA.” A few protest leaders are saying the quiet part out loud by claiming that “Zionists” do not deserve to live.
The sudden emergence of an anti-Israel voting block has neutered the Democratic party’s leadership, is influencing U.S. foreign policy and may cost Democrats the election. The only bright spot is that it’s more difficult for Democrats to portray Trump as Hitler when mobs of their voters are calling for the elimination of the Jewish state.
Regardless of how this plays out politically, the radical takeover of universities is likely to force an overdue reckoning for higher education. Tuition costs have been rising dramatically as colleges have padded their bloated bureaucracies. This now affects every American because the Biden administration is forcing all taxpayers to foot the bill for student loans. So when the TV news shows a keffiyeh-clad student spouting hate slogans, every viewer has to ask: Why am I paying for this idiot?
Colleges already were under fire for racism in admissions and hiring, suppression of free speech, trans-athletic controversies, plagiarism scandals and denial of due process to students. Some employers are refusing to hire recent graduates because they are unprepared for the workforce. Because of high costs and demographic trends, fewer students are entering colleges and some schools are closing.
Even though the Hamas wannabes represent a tiny minority of college students, their aggressive stupidity is the new face of higher education. Universities were founded to educate new generations of leaders and thinkers and their degrees were marks of distinction. We’re now learning that our most prestigious schools are producing useful idiots who are easily led, ignorant of history, unable to articulate why they’re protesting and unwilling to show their faces. And the leaders of many of those institutions are capitulating to the mob.
We have seen campus unrest before but this time it’s different. This is not principled opposition to the Vietnam war, support for racial justice or a desire to make America better. Today’s campus protests quickly evolved from concern for the Palestinians to a degree of Jew-hatred and anti-Americanism never before seen in this country. The professional organization, terrorist sympathies and cult-like behavior of the protesters strike many Americans as sinister. The inability of so many schools to exercise adult supervision is alarming.
This raises a fundamental question: Does America need schools like Columbia, UCLA and, yes, Northwestern? Why should they receive government subsidies and tax breaks? Will any employer risk hiring their graduates? Will parents want to send their children there? Will anyone mourn if some formerly elite universities simply close?
The pushback is beginning as the 80% of Americans who favor Israel are getting involved. We’re beginning to see pro-Israel counterdemonstrations. Major donors are withdrawing their contributions from Ivy League schools. We may see lawsuits from parents whose kids have been blocked from classes and graduation ceremonies.
Congress is getting involved. There are bills opposing antisemitism and federal funding to universities probably will be at risk. We are likely to see investigations focusing on Middle Eastern influence and the ease with which outside organizers have been able to infiltrate campuses and lead protests.
The result is likely to be a shake-out in higher education. Universities that have kept the protests confined will survive. Some states have begun reforming their universities. But more colleges will close and major universities will see their reputations diminished.
The challenge for our politicians is to preserve and clarify the right to peacefully protest and utter hate speech while making colleges a safe space for everyone. A bigger challenge will be to restore academic excellence to the American university system.
Germany’s example is not encouraging. Before they adopted Nazi ideology the country’s universities were among the best in the world. After World War II German universities never regained their former standing.
University of Intifada
When I graduated from Northwestern University in 1964, most of my fellow students were supporting Barry Goldwater for President. Now my old school is capitulating to anti-Israel activists. The university agreed to consider divesting from Israel and subsidize more Palestinian faculty and students.
I’m disappointed but not surprised. Antisemitism has been growing in academia for decades, starting decades ago with the Palestinian-led movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel. Critical race theory curriculum defines Jews as white oppressors, Palestinians as an oppressed minority and Israel as a colonist state.
In addition, Middle Eastern autocracies have been donating billions of dollars to U.S. universities in recent decades. This has funded departments of Middle Eastern studies, Muslim faculty and a surge in Middle Eastern students. Northwestern already maintains a campus in Qatar (where graduates with the same journalism degree I hold may be churning out propaganda for Al Jazeera).
Fortunately, I stopped being a loyal alum after Northwestern sent me a collection letter demanding payment on my student loan when I was serving in Vietnam.
Some are pointing out the eerie similarity between today’s academic antisemitism and the German universities’ embrace of Nazism in the 1920s. Particularly when the emphasis of campus protests has shifted from concern for civilians in Gaza to openly calling for the destruction of Israel and threatening their Jewish classmates. Chants of “from the river to the sea” (Israel will no longer exist) have been supplemented by “Intifada” (war on non-Muslims everywhere), “Death to Israel” and occasionally “Death to the USA.” A few protest leaders are saying the quiet part out loud by claiming that “Zionists” do not deserve to live.
The sudden emergence of an anti-Israel voting block has neutered the Democratic party’s leadership, is influencing U.S. foreign policy and may cost Democrats the election. The only bright spot is that it’s more difficult for Democrats to portray Trump as Hitler when mobs of their voters are calling for the elimination of the Jewish state.
Regardless of how this plays out politically, the radical takeover of universities is likely to force an overdue reckoning for higher education. Tuition costs have been rising dramatically as colleges have padded their bloated bureaucracies. This now affects every American because the Biden administration is forcing all taxpayers to foot the bill for student loans. So when the TV news shows a keffiyeh-clad student spouting hate slogans, every viewer has to ask: Why am I paying for this idiot?
Colleges already were under fire for racism in admissions and hiring, suppression of free speech, trans-athletic controversies, plagiarism scandals and denial of due process to students. Some employers are refusing to hire recent graduates because they are unprepared for the workforce. Because of high costs and demographic trends, fewer students are entering colleges and some schools are closing.
Even though the Hamas wannabes represent a tiny minority of college students, their aggressive stupidity is the new face of higher education. Universities were founded to educate new generations of leaders and thinkers and their degrees were marks of distinction. We’re now learning that our most prestigious schools are producing useful idiots who are easily led, ignorant of history, unable to articulate why they’re protesting and unwilling to show their faces. And the leaders of many of those institutions are capitulating to the mob.
We have seen campus unrest before but this time it’s different. This is not principled opposition to the Vietnam war, support for racial justice or a desire to make America better. Today’s campus protests quickly evolved from concern for the Palestinians to a degree of Jew-hatred and anti-Americanism never before seen in this country. The professional organization, terrorist sympathies and cult-like behavior of the protesters strike many Americans as sinister. The inability of so many schools to exercise adult supervision is alarming.
This raises a fundamental question: Does America need schools like Columbia, UCLA and, yes, Northwestern? Why should they receive government subsidies and tax breaks? Will any employer risk hiring their graduates? Will parents want to send their children there? Will anyone mourn if some formerly elite universities simply close?
The pushback is beginning as the 80% of Americans who favor Israel are getting involved. We’re beginning to see pro-Israel counterdemonstrations. Major donors are withdrawing their contributions from Ivy League schools. We may see lawsuits from parents whose kids have been blocked from classes and graduation ceremonies.
Congress is getting involved. There are bills opposing antisemitism and federal funding to universities probably will be at risk. We are likely to see investigations focusing on Middle Eastern influence and the ease with which outside organizers have been able to infiltrate campuses and lead protests.
The result is likely to be a shake-out in higher education. Universities that have kept the protests confined will survive. Some states have begun reforming their universities. But more colleges will close and major universities will see their reputations diminished.
The challenge for our politicians is to preserve and clarify the right to peacefully protest and utter hate speech while making colleges a safe space for everyone. A bigger challenge will be to restore academic excellence to the American university system.
Germany’s example is not encouraging. Before they adopted Nazi ideology the country’s universities were among the best in the world. After World War II German universities never regained their former standing.
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