Palestine and the moral bankruptcy of universities

 

“True peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice.”

– Martin Luther King Jr.

With Israel unilaterally breaking the fragile ceasefire in Gaza and increasing targeting of protesters in the U.S., it is a chance to take stock of how Western universities have (mis)handled the student-led Palestine solidarity movement. The University of New Brunswick has taken a heavy-handed approach, as reported by the NB Media Co-op.

More protests can be expected as Israel ratchets up its repression in the West Bank, and as President Donald Trump makes provocative statements about the U.S. potentially annexing Gaza. Will university leadership and University of New Brunswick president Paul Mazerolle reconsider their approach?

Mazerolle privileges UNB’s alleged commitment to neutrality above anything else. The Chicago Principles and the Kalven Report, which he cites to explain his administration’s position, recommends that the university remain neutral on social and political issues. The report was written in 1967 in response to students protesting the Vietnam War. 

Neutrality is a myth now, as it was then. This myth relies on a fallacy that deflects responsibility: that supporting and maintaining the status quo is apolitical. Furthermore, the argument that these principles support academic freedom and unrestricted debate on campuses is flawed; academic freedom is already protected in Canadian universities.  (more...)

Palestine and the moral bankruptcy of universities