American Civil Liberties Union issues an open letter denouncing the restrictions upon the freedom of speech for American students voicing their rejection of the Israeli’s bombardment of Gaza
The American Civil Liberties Union has issued an open letter titled “Reject Efforts to Restrict Constitutionally Protected Speech on Campuses” urged against the political efforts to undermine and shackle freedom of speech, especially in all matter regarding Gaza, since it would wreck the structure that the academic communities sits upon.
This letter comes as an answer to the escalated tensions in US academic institutions, as some universities aim to extinguish criticism of Israeli’s onslaught in Gaza that racked up more than 8,800 Palestinian martyrs.
The letter argues that said attempts hinder the aim for a fruitful debate if those who are on another side of the debate are silenced, substituting the power to convince into a power to punish and control.
Additionally, Israel’s critics have been targeted by republican politicians; threatening them with withholding the funds if the Palestinian activism is not suffocated. One example of which is Senator Tim Scott urging to rescind the federal funding from universities that peddle in antisemitism, targeting the University of Pennsylvania for holding a Palestinian literature festival.
The ACLU also rejected the Anti-Defamation League’s call for investigations into student organizations, stating that it is an intimidation tactic to force them into subjugation