One dispiriting lesson from Chuck Hagel’s nomination for defense secretary is the extent to which the political space for discussing Israel forthrightly is shrinking. Republicans focused on Israel more than anything during his confirmation hearing, but they weren’t seeking to understand his views. All they cared about was bullying him into a rigid position on Israel policy. Enforcing that kind of orthodoxy is not in either America’s or Israel’s interest.
Brooklyn College is facing a similar trial for scheduling an event on
Thursday night with two speakers who support an international boycott to
force Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories.
While this page has criticized Israeli settlements, we do not advocate a
boycott. We do, however, strongly defend the decision by the college’s
president, Karen Gould, to proceed with the event,
despite withering criticism by opponents and threats by at least 10
City Council members to cut financing for the college. Such intimidation
chills debate and makes a mockery of the ideals of academic freedom.
Mr. Hagel, a former Republican senator, has repeatedly declared support
for Israel and cited 12 years of pro-Israel votes in the Senate. But
that didn’t matter to his opponents,
who attacked him as insufficiently pro-Israel and refused to accept any
deviation on any vote. Mr. Hagel was even forced to defend past
expressions of concern for Palestinian victims of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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