Pro-Palestinian activists at Harvard are showing great hypocrisy, freaking out over a loss of funds which they deem as “censorship of free speech.”I guess they’ve forgotten about their favorite tactic: boycott, divestment, and sanctions.
Milbank, an international law firm, had pledged $1 million to Harvard Law School’s student groups and conferences, which was to be donated over a five year period. They changed their minds, however, upon the discovery that some $2,000 were allocated to Pro-Palestine student groups, like Harvard’s Justice for Palestine.
The event which sparked the Harvard controversy was about “suppression of Palestinian advocacy rights in the United States.”
Instead of understanding that Milibank also has a right to free speech - which includes where it donates its money - the Palestinian students are invoking another one of their favorite activism tactics, the victim card.
“We are also disappointed, though not particularly surprised, that at Harvard Law School, too, there exists such an exception to free speech when it comes to Palestine,” a letter to the Harvard Law Record states.
The firm, quite understandably, has zero interest in associating with the radical political leanings.
When Pro-Palestinian students find themselves at odds with another’s ideas, they jump to BDS tactics. We’ve seen this time and time again over issues such as Israeli sovereignty. These student activists need to decide if they like capitalism, where every dollar represents a vote for a product or idea, or if they don’t.
Quite frankly, they have the right to hold whatever political and economic philosophies they want, but at least they should be consistent. As the old saying goes, they’re getting a taste of their own medicine.