The kids are not alright.
At college campuses across the country, students are rallying in support of the Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel and are openly calling for more violence against Israelis.
Here’s footage from George Mason University.
These chants are referencing the Hamas terrorists who flew hang gliders across the Gaza border and carried out terrorist attacks, including an attack on a concert that left at least 260 innocent people dead. It wasn’t an attack on the Israeli government or military. It was a massacre of civilians… and these leftist college students are celebrating it as some brave act of resistance.
They’re not the only ones.
On the campus of UCLA, students openly called for “intifada” — referencing past Palestinian uprisings that included killing Israeli civilians. In the second “intifada,” 1,000 Israelis were killed and thousands were injured.
That’s right: that’s what they’re chanting for.
Here’s the University of Washington:
Think about this for a second. Campus leftists, the same ones who ironically argue for “safe spaces” are now responding to a massive terrorist attack targeting innocents by… rallying in support of the efforts and calling for more violence.
Something is broken.
The historical conflict between Israel and Palestine is incredibly complex, and, while I do firmly believe Israel is the more moral actor in the conflict, neither side has clean hands. People of good faith can come down either side of this intense debate. But no one of good faith can ever celebrate or endorse acts of violence that target innocent civilians in pursuit of a political cause: that’s the definition of terrorism. And no cause, no matter how much you sympathize with it, ever justifies terrorism.
There’s no such thing as doing evil in the name of good.
I will say that even though I find what they are saying despicable, these students have a right to express their vile opinions. Even these pro-terrorism protests are still First Amendment protected speech.
Yes, there is an exception to the First Amendment for “incitement to violence,” but that only applies to speech that is inciting imminent lawless action. General calls for violence halfway around the world, while vile, do not meet this criteria. So, the vile things they are saying are still First Amendment protected, and, on public college campuses, cannot be shut down by campus authorities or the government.
It’s easy to defend free speech when it’s just normal everyday ideas being expressed. But the test of a true free speech supporter is supporting it even when it’s our utmost enemies saying vile things. Because if we undermine it now, even in these extreme cases, we undermine the rights that ensure we are able to speak our minds.
Of course, we’re still free to call these people out for their horrific beliefs. And these college students might think they’re standing up for the rights of an oppressed people, but even if they believe that, they should still condemn, not celebrate, Hamas’s violence against innocent people.
Anything less is a betrayal of our common humanity and a disgrace to the progressive movement.
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