Protests are running rampant on college campuses throughout the country, with each student group having their own agenda and set of needs. The latest showdown was at University of Texas at Austin between a group of professors and Pro-Palestinian student protesters, and things got ugly pretty fast. But this time, the students weren’t the aggressors – the professors were.
According to the video’s description, 12 members of the Palestine Solidarity Committee interrupted an event called “The Origin of a Species: The Birth of the Israeli Defense Forces’ Military Culture,” which was being hosted by UT’s Institute for Israeli Studies.
As soon as the protesters entered the room, their disturbance was met with physical intimidation from one professor – who arrogantly refers to himself as a scholar way too many times – and blatant screaming from another.
Before we continue, check out the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=46W4S3lr9HU
It’s pretty tense, to say the least.
Since the event, the University’s College of Liberal Arts released the following statement:
The University of Texas at Austin strives to be a campus where people with different viewpoints can debate issues —including the Israeli – Palestinian conflict — openly and respectfully.
Our Institute for Israel Studies has always strived to do that and, on Friday, invited an esteemed scholar to deliver remarks and engage in critical debate.
The university has existing protocols for protesters to voice their points of view and be heard effectively. We are trying to determine if they were followed in this case.
Responding to a call from the event, University Police spoke with all the parties involved on Friday. My office will do the same. We are gathering more information and looking for ways to improve the constructive dialogue on campus.
With all of the protesting going on on college campuses these days, it’s hard to differentiate who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong. Having an opinion is one thing – you’re entitled to that – but throwing it out there in an aggressive manner is something entirely different. The professor’s intimidation tactics were just too much, but on the other hand, you can’t expect to go into an event, totally disrupt it, and not come out being reprimanded.
What do you think?
[H/T: Total Frat Move]
