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0 pointsanonymars8mo ago0 comments

Probably not going to find this one encouraging:

> A Columbia genocide scholar says she may leave over university’s new definition of antisemitism

> ... Hirsch, the daughter of two Holocaust survivors, is now thinking of leaving the classroom altogether.

https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-antisemitism-...

Tangentially related, I never understood how the anti-BDS laws square with the first amendment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws#Anti-BDS_laws_in...)

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anonfordays8mo ago

Leftists spent years trying to pass "hate speech" laws and now that right is trying to pass "hate speech" laws leftists are clutching their pearls. It came back to bite.

anonymarsOP8mo ago

Agreed, I think at the far end "left" and "right" turn more into a circle than a line: "people shouldn't be allowed to think this way!"

But, the trouble is, there's no right answer, only trade-offs. Personally I do prefer dialogue over "canceling." But I also recognize that can also basically allow for an intellectual "denial of service," so to speak. AKA "flooding the zone"

That said, seems voters on both left and right oppose these laws more than support them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws#Public_opinions_...

zahlman8mo ago

> Tangentially related, I never understood how the anti-BDS laws square with the first amendment

At my university, a portion of my dues went to funding BDS efforts (what expenses do they even have?) and I had no clear means to object to this. This was in Canada, but it seems to me perfectly fair to oppose that. That said:

> Most anti-BDS laws have taken one of two forms: contract-focused laws requiring government contractors to promise that they are not boycotting Israel; and investment-focused laws, mandating public investment funds to avoid entities boycotting Israel.

Substitute, for example, any domestic racial minority for "Israel"; does your opinion change?

anonymarsOP8mo ago

> At my university, a portion of my dues went to funding BDS efforts

Surely you can protest that at the university and it is not a government-enforced policy?

> Substitute, for example, any domestic racial minority for "Israel"

Is "Israel" a race or a country? Should a Canadian not be allowed to boycott the US?

zahlman8mo ago

> Is "Israel" a race or a country? Should a Canadian not be allowed to boycott the US?

The legislation described does not prevent boycotts, except by government contractors who have a duty to government policy and thus do not necessarily enjoy those protections (https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R47986):

> Speech restrictions imposed by private entities, and government limits on its own speech, usually do not implicate the First Amendment.

As for public investment funds: you'll need to explain to me how saying that X may not invest in Y because Y is refusing to buy things from Z, causes Y to stop being able to refuse to buy things from Z (i.e., compels Y to buy things from Z).

If you want to not buy things from Israel, then... just don't. You don't need my money, or a private investment firm's, in order to achieve that.

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anonfordays8mo ago

Leftists spent years trying to pass "hate speech" laws and now that right is trying to pass "hate speech" laws leftists are clutching their pearls. It came back to bite.

anonymarsOP8mo ago

Agreed, I think at the far end "left" and "right" turn more into a circle than a line: "people shouldn't be allowed to think this way!"

That said, seems voters on both left and right oppose these laws more than support them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws#Public_opinions_...

zahlman8mo ago

> Tangentially related, I never understood how the anti-BDS laws square with the first amendment

Substitute, for example, any domestic racial minority for "Israel"; does your opinion change?

anonymarsOP8mo ago

> At my university, a portion of my dues went to funding BDS efforts

Surely you can protest that at the university and it is not a government-enforced policy?

> Substitute, for example, any domestic racial minority for "Israel"

Is "Israel" a race or a country? Should a Canadian not be allowed to boycott the US?

zahlman8mo ago

> Is "Israel" a race or a country? Should a Canadian not be allowed to boycott the US?

> Speech restrictions imposed by private entities, and government limits on its own speech, usually do not implicate the First Amendment.

If you want to not buy things from Israel, then... just don't. You don't need my money, or a private investment firm's, in order to achieve that.

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