Human Rights 101, Daily Brief April 29, 2024

Today, we’re going to start with a few basics. 

Peaceful protest is a human right. Freedom of speech is a human right. Freedom of expression is a human right.  

These are things you might learn in the first week of an introductory level “human rights 101” class at university. So, why is it that so many of those in charge of higher education in the US seem so unfamiliar with them? 

The response of some university authorities to pro-Palestine protests on campuses has been shocking. These are the people who are supposed to be fostering learning and debate, encouraging the next generation to defend their beliefs in an atmosphere that respects fundamental freedoms. 

Instead, they’ve responded with harsh crackdowns on students at institutions like Columbia University, the University of Texas, and Emory University. These include mass suspensions, evictions from university housing, and arrests of students, faculty, legal observers, and journalists covering the protests. 

Student groups have been protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 people over the past six and a half months, the majority of them women and children. The military onslaught has displaced more than a million people, and the Israeli military is using starvation as a weapon of war.  

Peaceful protest does not seem an unreasonable response to a situation as grave as this. Student protesters are demanding universities divest holdings in companies they believe are profiting from the assault on Gaza. 

But even if you disagree – if you think the situation in Gaza is not worth protesting about, or if you think divestment is not the appropriate remedy – you have to agree these people have a right to speak their minds and peacefully protest. Because we all have that right. 

And no one should be punished for exercising their rights.  

Now, private universities are not the government, of course. They can impose speech codes that are more restrictive than, say, the First Amendment of the US Constitution. And they also don’t have to allow students to set up an encampment indefinitely in the middle of campus.  

University authorities have been trying to justify their harsh crackdowns on protesters as a fight against antisemitism. There have, indeed, been reports of antisemitic incidents, for example, in and around Columbia University.  

But allegations of antisemitic acts and speech by individuals, as well as Islamophobia by individuals, should be investigated individually, assessed on a case-by-case basis. You can’t just deny people en masse their right to peacefully protest because some individuals at or near the protest have said vile things. 

University administrators also need to show they understand the difference between things like, criticism of Israeli government policies and calls for Palestinian rights, on the one hand, and antisemitism on the other. The former is legitimate, the latter is not.  

Let’s get back to human rights 101. Peaceful protest is a human right. Freedom of speech is a human right. Freedom of expression is a human right.  

There’s really no excuse for the higher-ups at these universities not to know these basics and respect them.