A statement from FIRE, which I think is generally quite right:
Today, FIRE wrote New York University School of Law urging it to end an investigation into complaints of harassment based on a statement by Law Students for Justice in Palestine criticizing Zionists. Although some were offended by LSJP's statement — which made several allegations including that the "Zionist grip on media is omnipresent" and that "people living under occupation have a right to resist their violent occupation" — it remains core political expression protected by NYU's clear commitments to students' expressive rights.
The statement from NYU's LSJP chapter came two hours after an April 7 email from NYU's Law Students for Israel, which stated, in part, "Few countries have faced as much violence, hatred, and delegitimization as the State of Israel." The statement also said: "The Middle East is big enough for all its indigenous peoples to enjoy self-determination, security, and prosperity. Do not give credence to those, including in our Law School, who say otherwise."
LSJP's response said Law Students for Israel "flips the realities of aggressor and victim on its head," and criticized Israel as an "apartheid regime."
LSJP went on to say the media "craft a narrative of necessary 'self defense' and 'security'" and Zionists suppress "evidence of their own violence, occupation, and dehumanization." The statement also said, "Zionists falsely equate Palestinian resistance and Israeli oppression as a 'conflict' with two sides."
The Washington Free Beacon reported that 11 student groups subsequently expressed support for LSJP's statement. However, in the latest example of students turning to administrators to try to silence differing opinions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, some students submitted complaints to NYU administrators alleging that LSJP's statement and support of it amounted to harassment. The university then said it would investigate, "as required by [its] policies."
