New York University students who speak out against Zionism will now risk violating the school’s nondiscrimination policies.
By Natasha Lennard, The Intercept
As students and faculty in the U.S. return to campuses for the fall semester, there are innumerable reasons to continue demonstrating against institutional complicity with Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The need for those protests is as urgent as it’s ever been.
University and college administrations, however, are not only signaling plans to treat pro-Palestinian speech with intellectual dishonesty, they’re making clear they plan to use their specious logic to inflict evermore repressive intolerance.
New York University led by troubling example when the school shared an updated code of student conduct last week. Ostensibly aimed at curtailing bigotry, the new language instead shuts down dissent by threatening to silence criticism of Zionism on campus. Students who speak out against Zionism — an ethno-nationalist political ideology founded in the late 19th century — will now risk violating the school’s nondiscrimination policies.
The corporatized industry of American higher education is hardly a site of social justice and liberatory knowledge production. There is, however, something particularly ghoulish in NYU’s actions here.
Recent Posts
Mayor Mamdani’s First Day, A Zero Hour Conversation With Richard Wolff
Take Action Now If elected, what would Mayor Mamdani do on his first day in City Hall? How would a democratic socialist govern as a big-city mayor?……
The U.S. Is Funding A Bloodbath At Gaza Aid Centers
Take Action Now The admin just gave $30M to GHF, the organization at the center of charges that Israel is weaponizing assistance and shooting at…
Feeding The Warfare State
Take Action Now We Lose, the Weapons Makers WinBy William D. Hartung, Tom Dispatch The Senate is on the verge of passing the distinctly misnamed…
The Rage Of Billionaires And The Frenzy To Stop Zohran Mamdani From Becoming New York’s Mayor
Take Action Now The constellation of forces now regrouping with a vengeance includes titans of Wall Street, enormous real estate interests,…