UMass Amherst Faced Frivolous Lawsuit Attempting to Silence Debate Over Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

I’m a Christian, I’m a Jew.  When it comes to the Israeli-Palestine conflict, I stand with Israel.  But, as an American, I side with free speech. Every time.

Late last month, a Massachusetts court heard initial arguments in a lawsuit filed by three anonymous students who wanted to compel the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to cancel an upcoming panel discussion concerning “the increasingly vitriolic debate over U.S. support for Israel.” 

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Educationhas more about the event:

The event, titled “Not Backing Down: Israel, Free Speech, and the Battle for Palestinian Human Rights,” is set to take place May 4 on UMass’ campus, and features speakers including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, political activist Linda Sarsour, Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill, and others. The event was organized by UMass professor Sut Jhally and co-sponsored by his Media Education Foundation as well as several academic departments. 

However, this lawsuit is the latest example of an attempt at campus censorship in the never-ending quest to avoid hurt feelings.  Usually, this is done by the left against conservatives. Since I strongly speak out against that on this blog, I wanted to take a moment to speak out against this frivolous law suit as well.

Dear conservative and liberal students: the answer to “bad speech” is always “better speech.”  

Thankfully, on May 2^nd, liberty prevailed:

… the judge denied the injunction on First Amendment grounds, as an injunction would amount to a prior restraint on speech. Rick Sobey of the Boston Herald quotes the judge: “I can’t enjoin a forum just because someone may say something at that forum that fits someone’s definition of anti-Semitism or racism or homophobia or anything else.”

Good.  It’s time to bring freedom back to American university campuses.

Hat Tip: FIRE

Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons