In case you were worried that the antisemites at America’s universities had run out of things to protest, fear not. Students at Yale are kicking off a fresh round of accusations and demands. It turns out that a smaller group of students called Law Students for Israel had invited a soldier from the Israeli Defense Force to come address them on campus. The usual suspects from the local chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) were immediately up in arms. They took to social media and began plastering the law school with posters demanding the cancellation of the event. They claimed that having such a person anywhere on campus would make them “unsafe.” (Free Beacon)
Yale Law School’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, the group that celebrated the murder of 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7 and praised the architects of the attack as “martyrs,” is calling on the school to cancel an event with a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, arguing that his presence on campus will make students unsafe.
“We implore the administration to take seriously the implications of this militarization of campus,” Yale Law Students for Justice in Palestine wrote in a Feb. 1 Instagram post. “The platforming of an IDF combatant recently returned from Israel’s atrocities in Gaza makes many of us—especially Palestinian Arab, Muslim, Black, and brown students—feel physically and psychologically unsafe and unwelcome in our own school.”
This crew seriously sounds like a collection of snowflakes. I could not find an exact figure for the total membership of SJP at Yale, but they have hundreds of followers on their Facebook page. We’re talking about one soldier here. And I seriously doubt they let him bring his rifle or any grenades or anything on the plane with him. Are you seriously telling me that you couldn’t handle one guy? And that he makes you feel “unsafe?”
SJP is crying over the “militarization of campus.” Do they similarly complain if US military recruiters visit the school? Nevermind… they probably do. But the point is, there is no military activity taking place. The guy probably won’t even be in uniform, though I suppose it’s possible. Nobody is being forced to attend the event. You probably won’t even know that he’s there.
If we’re going to be worrying about the safety of anyone here, it should probably be the Israeli soldier. If you click through to the linked report you can view pictures of some of the posters that have been hung up. They have no idea who this soldier even is but they’re already describing him as a “war criminal” and saying that he’s “not welcome.” Would it really be all that shocking if these SJP activists decided to physically attack him when he arrived?
Hen Mazzig asks the right question about the SJP protest.
Yale Law School’s Students for Justice in Palestine are demanding the school cancel an event with a former IDF soldier (the Israeli army is compulsory so most Israelis have served in the army).
Their argument? That their presence on campus will make students feel unsafe.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) February 5, 2024
One of the SJP organizers, Rosalyn Leban, has been helping to distribute literature and schedule counterprogramming events. They hosted a lunch event where students could learn about the “Israeli army’s genocide in Gaza.” (Vegan and gluten-free options were available, of course.) In her spare time, Ms. Leban also “explores the impacts of capitalism and environmental racism on immigrant communities, indigenous communities, and communities of color.”
She sounds awfully busy. Does she ever find time to take any classes about actual law? For that matter, are any of these protesters showing up for classes, or are they all too busy defending the right of Hamas to slaughter people? This same group also informs us that referring to Hamas as a terrorist organization is “not only factually incorrect but relies on dangerous Islamophobic and racist tropes.”
I see. We’ll certainly try to keep that in mind in the future. In the meantime, would you care if we checked in with your parents to see if they think the tuition money they’re sending to Yale Law School ($59,920) is being well spent?