Academic Freedom

JOKHAI | The Discussion on Palestine Challenges Free Speech on Cornell’s Campus

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This idea of perpetual discussion being a tool of oppression towards Palestinians was certainly not directed at anything specific. Like all discussions regarding human rights and their violations, the conversation is not localized, but global, affecting all people. The point struck incredibly close to home for me. Earlier in 2021, the Palestinian struggle gained global notoriety due to the eviction of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah, leading to a rally of Cornellians sympathetic to the cause, organized by Prof. Eric Cheyfitz and members of Students for Justice in Palestine, at which others and I gave speeches. Cornell’s response to our voices left much to be desired. 

Opinion

GUEST ROOM | A Jewish Case for Divestment

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Over the last few weeks, the debate surrounding Students for Justice in Palestine’s Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign has only grown more heated. Cornell Hillel and its filial groups, in opposition to most every other minority organization on campus, have positioned themselves as the loudest proponents of the State of Israel and detractors of the divestment campaign on campus. Hillel’s position as the largest Jewish organization on campus has made it yet more difficult to hear the already marginalized voices of anti-Zionist Jews. Despite that — or rather, because of that — we, as Jewish students, feel it is our responsibility to challenge the narrative Hillel has been constructing and explain to the Cornell community why we support the divestment campaign. We understand many of the positions our anti-divestment counterparts hold because we once held those very same positions ourselves.