The 100-year-old annual honors convocation at the University of Michigan is typically a decorous affair, with a pipe organ accompanying golf-clap applause. This year’s event was anything but. Protesters rose from their seats, and unfurled banners with “Free Palestine” written in red paint. They shouted, “You are funding genocide!” Unable to continue with the ceremony, […]
Read More
As the Israel-Hamas war has escalated, many universities have been caught in an often vitriolic debate over how to handle pro-Palestinian student protests. Many Jewish students and alumni have been alarmed, saying that the demonstrations can veer into antisemitism. Supporters of academic freedom and students and faculty critical of Israel’s policy toward Palestinians have responded […]
Read More
The dean of Berkeley’s law school is known as a staunch supporter of free speech, but things became personal for him when pro-Palestinian students disrupted a celebratory dinner party for some 60 students at his home. In a viral video, Erwin Chemerinsky, a noted constitutional scholar, can be seen shouting “Please leave our house! You […]
Read More
President Biden said on Wednesday that the United States was considering dropping its prosecution of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who has been jailed in London for years while fighting extradition to face U.S. charges related to his publication of classified documents. Mr. Biden made the comment on the case of the embattled publisher, who […]
Read More
At New York University, the spring semester began with a poetry reading. Students and faculty gathered in the atrium of Bobst Library. At that time, about 26,000 Palestinians had already been killed in Israel’s horrific war on Gaza; the reading was a collective act of bearing witness. The last poem read aloud was titled “If […]
Read More
A judge in Atlanta on Thursday rejected an effort by former President Donald J. Trump and his co-defendants to have the Georgia criminal case against them dismissed on grounds that it was based on comments that were protected by the First Amendment. The case charges Mr. Trump and 14 of his supporters with taking part […]
Read More
A sweeping law targeting hate speech went into effect in Scotland on Monday, promising protection against threats and abuse but drawing criticism that it could have a chilling effect on free speech. The law, which was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2021, expands protections for marginalized groups and creates a new charge of “stirring […]
Read More
Last month, the House passed a bill that would require TikTok’s parent company to sell its U.S. business to a company without ties to the Chinese government, or face a ban of the TikTok app in the United States. In Washington, which has become increasingly hawkish toward the Chinese government, worries and fears about the […]
Read More