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Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Going further with Tom Paulin, reader Alan Golsmith sends in a letter arguing that:Paulin, unlike Netanyahu, rejoiced in the deaths of Israeli settlers and
seethed with vicious anti-Israel AND anti-Jewish sentiment. To make the case for Zionism independent of anti-Semitism in his case, unlike Baraka's, is almost illogical. This is essentially the same argument that everyone else is making. To it I pose two questions:
1) Where is this proof that Paulin is an anti-Semite? It appears that the most common proof cited for this is his statemen that Brooklyn-born settlers "should be shot". Now, what he's advocating is a war crime, but so are those who give blanket support to Israeli policy, and it certainly does not on its own indicate anti-Semitism.
2) Whether or not one assumes anti-Semitism on the part of Paulin, exactly where are people proposing a line be drawn for speech on campus? This is a particularly ironic topic to be discussing in this context, given right-wing wailing about speech codes on campus, but I do entertain the idea that professors can and likely should be reprimanded for creating an improper atmosphere for learning within the classroom (that final caveat is the most important one). Are we drawing a line for hateful people in general? And are we drawing a line for all manner of speech? What is being proposed. Feel free to add your thoughts.
Steven I. Weiss 9:53:00 PM
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