Bill of Rights

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Convicted felon Donald Trump is eviscerating the US Constitution in a particularly insidious way. Previously, I have written about Trump’s efforts to hijack the Free Speech Movement, and invert it, thrusting us all down the Republican rabbit hole. This perversion of free speech takes a most precious, […]

Bill of Rights

Are we All Hungarians now, or Palestinians? Trump’s Onslaught on the Rule of Law and Civil Liberties

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Most of (convicted felon) Donald Trump’s Executive Orders are brazenly unconstitutional, and stand to be reversed in Court rulings by thoughtful, law-abiding judges. But the red elephants in the room are the sycophantic, compliant judges he appointed during his last term such as Aileen Cannon of Florida. […]

Bill of Rights

A Democracy of Voices, If we can Keep It: Threats to Free Expression in the Trump Era

Tomdispatch

By Nan Levinson ( Tomdispatch.com ) – I thought I was done with free speech. For nearly two decades, I reported on it for the international magazine Index on Censorship. I wrote a book, Outspoken: Free Speech Stories, about controversies over it. I even sang “I Like to Be in America” at the top of my lungs […]

Bill of Rights

Protesting U of Texas-Dallas Arrest and Suspension of Faculty and Students Peacefully Protesting against Gaza War

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Dr. Richard C. Benson President, University of Texas at Dallas president@utdallas.edu . . . We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our grave concern over your administration’s recent actions with respect […]

Bill of Rights

In Fit of anti-Palestinian Hatred, Congress tries to Outlaw “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Wednesday the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chanting of the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Since Congress, which appears to have a disproportionate number of genocidal maniacs in its ranks, is all right with the Palestinians being subjected to mass […]

Anti-intellectualism

Condemning Vanderbilt University’s Suspension of Students Engaged in Peaceful Protest against Gaza Campaign

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Daniel Diermeier Chancellor, Vanderbilt University daniel.diermeier@vanderbilt.edu C. Cybele Raver Provost, Vanderbilt University cybele.raver@vanderbilt.edu Dear Chancellor Diermeier and Provost Raver: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express […]

Anti-intellectualism

Texas’ Gov. Abbott: Stop Weaponizing “Antisemitism” to Harass Campus Critics of Israeli Policy

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott regarding Executive Order GA-44 2 April 2024 Governor Greg Abbott Office of the Texas Governor Office of the Governor P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711-2428 Dear Governor Abbott: We write on behalf of the […]

Bill of Rights

DeSantis’ Legacy Lives on in Unconstitutional Bills Banning Free Expression, Campus Palestine Groups

Florida Phoenix

By Diane Rado ( Florida Phoenix ) – From threatening students’ free speech on college campuses to making it easier for powerful people to sue for defamation, lawmakers have been filing bills in 2024 that are bad, according to Florida’s First Amendment Foundation. The foundation is tracking the proposals and fighting back, hoping to get […]

Anti-intellectualism

Zionism, Anti-Palestinianism, and the Fall of Harvard’s Claudine Gay

Charles Hirschkind

Berkeley, CA (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Much of the media conversation about the recent resignation of Harvard’s president, Claudine Gay, has (rightfully) framed her abrupt removal in the context of the current right-wing assault on liberal education and, particularly, its targeting of the policies and practices designed to promote racial equality on US […]