EDUCATIONAL MALPRACTICE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

I hold the position that university officials be circumspect in issuing statements about Matters of Public Import.  At the time, I noted, "Too often, those statements make the professional protest communities within the university comfortable with their prejudices."

It doesn't do us any better to have the deanlets or the senior administrators issuing statements that set off the professional protest communities.  Somebody within the diversity boondoggle at Northern Illinois University issued a Statement on Protesting and Messaging re: Israel and Palestine Conflict and we will see that nothing good came of it.

The university acknowledges that members of the NIU community with ties to Israel and/or Palestine are feeling immeasurable loss, pain and frustration as a result of the ongoing and deadly conflict. Whether we gather in community or in protest, the university appeals to all Huskies to use their voices and knowledge to drive change in ways that welcome people to listen, learn and support solutions that are positive and just.

NIU is committed to freedom of expression and open discussion in all matters of public interest. The university is further committed to assuring all members of the university community have the broad latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge and learn. Freedom of expression is everyone’s right and warrants great responsibility. While freedom of expression leaves space for all to engage without expectation of a changed mindset, it is our hope that individuals will recognize that activities that fuel division and conflict do not bring communities together or foster peace.

The first paragraph is the predictable Boilerplate Language of Concern.  Years ago the crew at Dartmouth Review put together an "Administrative Boilerplate" column in which you pick from among such words to compose such Perfect Liberal Verbiage.  The second paragraph is pathetic, there is still a free speech zone on campus, and the university once won the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education's Speech Code of the Month dishonor (and now, as the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, why is Northern Illinois not even even in the current roundup of speech policies, and what happened to the Free Speech widget?)

The statement gets worse from there.

While differences certainly exist, the university calls on all Huskies to use their voices in a civil and respectful way, as well as understand that hateful speech designed primarily to inflict damage or harm upon members of our shared community goes against NIU’s values and causes fear and anxiety for members of our community. This specifically includes graphics, social posts and chants that may call for the eradication of Jewish people (i.e., “from the river to the sea…”) or equally violent phrases against the people of Palestine. While this speech is considered protected speech, and the intent of the individuals using it is unclear, NIU firmly believes such phrases are abhorrent. Further, any form of racism and discrimination – Islamophobia, xenophobia, antisemitism etc. – is abhorrent and defies the university’s mission, vision and values.

More of that Verbiage of Concern.  Any time somebody starts throwing around those -isms and -phobias, that gets in the way of those rights to speak, to challenge, to learn?  Is it not more productive to speak of skepticism about some of the tenets of Zionism or Islam, rather than immediately go to that closing sentence?

It gets better, dear reader.  Perhaps whoever wrote that pathetic statement was afraid of being yelled at by Elise Stefanik and provided a specific context for that river to the sea.  That set off the professional protest communities, who, I suppose, secured the proper paperwork to use the commons in front of the library.  (I can't say "Library Mall," that's trademarked at Madison.)

“NIU you cannot hide, you’re supporting genocide,” was the new chant yelled throughout MLK Commons last Friday as Pro-Palestine protests continued against the war and the university.

Students protested in response to a university comment that condemned a controversial protest slogan that was printed on a sign from the previous student-held Pro-Palestine rally on Jan 25.

The statement, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” has seen global controversy for its mixed meaning. The Associated Press noted the phrase has become popular in protests around the world and is even being printed on things from “sweatshirts to candles.” Pro-Palestine protesters say the message is a call for peace and a rally towards Palestine reclaiming the land that has been occupied by Israel.

Controversy surrounds the statement where Jewish news outlets have said the phrase hints at anti-semitic views where “from the river to the sea,” does not leave “a single inch for Israel,” according to an open letter signed by 30 Jewish news outlets around the world in an Associated Press article.

I hold no brief for the fans of jihad. That they have pushed back on that "phrases are abhorrent" language, just as the Normals of the Dartmouth Review or the old Badger Herald would have it.

It's too bad there's no rhyming chant in the style of Ho-Ho-Ho-Chi-Minh any more, as the kids are getting spicy.

Nicholas McKay, student organizer and junior Japanese major, took over leading the protest after the high turnout from the previous protest motivated him to continue the platform.

McKay criticized the university’s misinterpretation of what he deemed a “call for liberation.”

“It’s again just a factually wrong statement and that is the kind of narrative that Israel and Zionists are pushing, that it is that kind of saying,” McKay said. “It’s a call for liberation, not a call for Jewish genocide, it’s very backwards, and again, I’m very disappointed that the university spread its falsehoods.”

Jackson Wheeler, a senior music major, had similar thoughts to share as they were one of the loudest speakers among the crowd chanting “When will it end? Genocide Joe?” and “Free, free, Palestine.”

“A free Palestine does not mean any sort of – that doesn’t mean any sort of harm against Jewish people, or Israeli people,” Wheeler said. “A free Palestine should be free for everyone to live there in peace and NIU is directly saying that, like, a free Palestine is – they’re saying that those two troops are incompatible.”

Passionate speeches and solidarity still took place as students and community members waved the Palestinian flag and held up posters in support of the nation.

It's more complicated than that.  The Friday rallies are likely to continue.

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