Today is the "National Day of Action" in support of airplane hijacker and PFLP operative Leila Khaled, called for by the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. As readers know, Khaled's scheduled webinar at San Francisco State University was aborted when Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube refused to allow their platforms to be used for the event, out of concern that they might run afoul of the law against providing "material support" for the PFLP, which is on the U.S. and EU lists of designated terrorist organizations. The tech giants' censorship has been criticized as violating academic freedom by the president of San Francisco State University, the National Coalition against Censorship, the Council of University of California Faculty Associations, and many individuals -- including me.
To protest the censorship, the USCACBI called on "anyone with access to a university Zoom account to hold a webinar of your own including a message from Leila Khaled -- which we will provide -- on October 23, 2020."
The response has been underwhelming, as their is evidently not much interest in hearing the message from Leila Khaled. As of this writing, on the morning of the "Day of Action," there are only eleven scheduled webinars: eight in the United States, one in the United Kingdom, and two in Canada. On the USCACBI website, none of the webinars mention hijacking or identify Khaled as a member of the PFLP "Political Bureau" and only a few list the other speakers, although more information may be available for those who register.
The "Day of Action" is a thoughtful, creative, and very appropriate response to censorship. It will be interesting to see how Khaled is introduced at the various programs. While Khaled is entitled to free expression, and her supporters are entitled to academic freedom, it is encouraging to see how little participation they have been able to generate for their "National Day of Action."
The market place of ideas has spoken.
Posted by: Steve Diamond | October 23, 2020 at 03:01 PM