The proposed Antisemitism Awareness Act is "profoundly misguided,"argue Christopher F. Rufo and Jenin Younes. The bill would allow federal education bureaucrats to apply a broad definition of anti-Jewish "hate speech" to civil rights complaints and deny funding to colleges that tolerate it.
That could include “claiming the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis,” and “accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel,” they write.
That's a terrible idea, write Rufo, who's on the right, and Younes, who's on the left.
Colleges should enforce "existing laws against trespassing, violence, and property destruction," as well as "campus codes of conduct, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, religion, and ethnicity," they write. Expanding "special protections for favored minorities" to Jewish Americans is not the answer. All Americans deserve the same protections, including the right to free speech.
Sixty-eight percent of college students said free speech rights include threats of violence in a Harris Poll conducted in February. Only 43 percent of non-students agreed.
Speech that's deeply upsetting should be protected, said 77 percent of college students. A large majority -- 86 percent -- said "their institutions should make them feel safe sharing their opinions on tense social issues and global conflicts, and be a safe haven for free speech for the student body."