Flag of Israel

Flag of Israel

Do you think that the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS) is anti-Semitic?  Does it matter whether BDS is aimed at Israel’s activities in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria, or whether it is aimed at the entire country?  Is this a meaningful distinction?  A lively discussion is proceeding on the Brandeis Center’s popular Facebook page, which now welcomes over 3,000 fans.  Please share your opinions there.  We want to know what you think.  (And please help us to maintain a civil tone.  Haters of all kind are encouraged to express themselves elsewhere.)

My second of three posts for the Brandeis Center examines the use of “hate speech” policies on college and university campuses. Specifically, I want to focus on several cases in which these policies have been used to censor or punish students and faculty for expressing speech even mildly critical of Islam. These cases demonstrate that “hate speech” policies, even if well-intentioned, are selectively applied in favor of Islam.

I’ll begin with a largely forgotten case that revolves around the story told in the video below, Portraits of Terror. The video tells the story of the artist, Joshua Stulman, whose exhibit of the same name was censored at Penn State University in 2006 by the university at the behest of two professors who claimed that the art violated Penn State’s policy against “hate speech.” (more…)