Abdou’s appearance, plus a second talk the next day at Claremont Colleges, invokes the anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023 — when Hamas stormed Israel, raped dozens of women, killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
asserted
Hamas → invoke → hostages
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asserted
Sign → sign → California
To suggest that Hamas has the moral high ground after such barbarity is ludicrous.
asserted
Hamas → suggest → barbarity
Yet Berkeley and other universities treat the likes of Abdou — self-described as “with Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad” — as honored guests.
asserted
Berkeley → treat → guests
Meanwhile, anyone speaking on campus against Hamas and Oct. 7 can expect to be heckled, harassed or worse.
asserted
anyone → speak → Hamas
The double standard is especially galling at UC Berkeley — the birthplace of the free speech movement, where students in the 1960s fought campus restrictions on political speech and won.
asserted
students → gall → speech
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Abdou, who told NYU students in April to “Be proud of your hate for America,” is embraced.
asserted
who → download → America
But contrary and conservative voices have long been accorded the heckler’s veto: shouted down, intimidated or urged via violence to keep quiet or stay away.
asserted
voices → accord → violence
In 2017, Milo Yiannopoulos, David Horowitz and Ann Coulter all canceled planned speeches to conservatives at Berkeley, amid security threats.
asserted
Yiannopoulos → cancel → threats
That same year, Ben Shapiro did speak at Zellerbach Hall.
asserted
Shapiro → speak → Hall
Yet his talk required sweeping security measures, including armed police, a concrete barrier and secure perimeter, and the closure of nearby buildings.
asserted
talk → require → buildings
Even former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — hardly a firebrand on the right — was repeatedly heckled by protesters when she spoke on campus in 2024 alongside Berkeley’s then-chancellor, Carol Christ.
asserted
she → heckle → chancellor
The pattern is clear: Agitators at Cal insist on shutting down opposing views, rather than engaging with them.
asserted
Agitators → insist → them
Civility, along with reasoned debate and discussion, has all but left the building(s).
asserted
Civility → leave → building(s
One might think that American students would relate to the more than 360 young people slaughtered at a music festival in Israel on Oct. 7.
uncertain
students → think → Oct.
Instead, many cheer for the side that did the slaughtering.
asserted
that → cheer → slaughtering
Which brings us back to jihadist Mohamed Abdou, an ex-Columbia professor whose views were too extreme even for that hotbed of leftism.
asserted
views → bring → leftism
After he told NYU students take pride in hating America, Abdou blathered: “You love Islam, and you should be loving Islam more than this barbarous colony.
asserted
you → tell → colony
It’s a plague upon the Earth.
asserted
It → ’ → Earth
And yes, in that sense, you need to be a threat.
asserted
you → need → sense
We all need to be a threat.”
This is the kind of chilling talk that passes for educational enrichment at the likes of NYU, Claremont Colleges and Cal?
asserted
that → need → NYU
It’s bananas, it’s dangerous — and at Berkeley, it’s often the only side that feels safe speaking out.
asserted
that → ’ → Berkeley
The Aporia
