For this discussion board I want you guys to read and reread the Cathryn Prince’s editorial “US Colleges’ Double Standards” in Times of Israel (the link is posted to the syllabus). The essay is dense w/ facts and figures (as most scholarly sources are), thus requiring a bit more time to read and absorb. I’m not asking for essay responses, just paragraph length reflections on the driving issue of the editorial. Once you’ve completed your responses, provide feedback on at least two of your classmates’ responses.
1) In the first paragraph, briefly sum up the most pertinent facts of the article (excluding quotes). Explain the situation unfolding on elite university campuses across the nation as if I’m a fairly uninformed reader, w/ no stake in either side. I’ve heard something about the Hamas invasion on Israel in early Oct, and I know this has erupted in on-campus protests and demonstrations nationwide, but no real clue as to why, or why this should matter to me as an American Christian. As you summarize, help me understand the exigence, or relevance, of the overall issue.
2) In this paragraph I want you to incorporate a few key quotes or details from the essay that will pinpoint what is the main issue (or unresolvable conflict) at stake here, and the main claim (statement or series of statements pinpointing what should be done to fix this conflict). Be sure to address the perceived “double standard” between federally mandated protections for minority and LGBTQ students, except where this applies to Jews.
3) Why in light of the Holocaust that occurred within the past century, is this most current rise in antisemitism, in favor of pro-Palestinian rights, such a big deal? What kinds of protections SHOULD Jewish university students be entitled to by law? Incorporate key quotes from cited experts in the essay. According to what legal scholar and commentator David Lat, briefly explain the two overriding issues at stake in this ongoing wave of protests. If the Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech and the right to peaceably protest, why is this particular antisemitism/pro-Palestinian movement setting such a dangerous precedent?
4) Do you believe all these university presidents (like former Harvard prez Claudine Gay, forced out in part because of her patent refusal to protect Jewish campus pop, as well as her academic plagiarism) simply hate Jews, or are they finding themselves in the middle of a greater phenomenon that’s getting out of their control? In a cancel culture fanatically obsessed w/ political correctness, why do you think university administrators are having such a difficult time applying equal codes of safety and protection to their Jewish populations? (In this final response I’m asking for a hypothetical claim to one of these questions, based on what you learned in the essay, including 2-3 essay examples backing up your claim).
