William McGurn
WSJ, Nov. 27, 2023
“… If colleges abandon their final cause, which is truth, their formal cause, which is civil discourse, soon breaks down into bullying, canceling, and extortion.”
As Israel began exchanging Palestinian prisoners for Israeli moms and children, Harvard was dealing with its own ultimatum.
A week ago pro-Palestinian students gave university President Claudine Gay until Monday to respond to three demands. They were: that Harvard divest from any investments in “illegal settlements in Palestine”; that the university reinstate a proctor suspended for taking part in a mob that surrounded and harassed a Jewish student; and—of course—a promise from Harvard that “pro-Palestinian students and workers engaging in non-violent protest” would face no disciplinary action.
There you have it. The ethos of our modern best and brightest in a nutshell: We are taking a brave stand—but we demand that we pay no price for it.
In fairness, Harvard is no worse than most other universities here. Then again, that’s the scandal: It ought to be. Today the places that are supposed to be exemplars of how a civilized community behaves have become prone to loutish behavior as well as incoherent in their responses.
The ordinary citizen, by contrast, has little trouble recognizing that targeting innocent civilians instead of soldiers makes you a war criminal, not a soldier. Americans are consequently appalled by the pro-Hamas sentiment they see on so many campuses. The confusion has two parts.
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