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Heres the link for those who want it.
Here are excerpts.
"alleging that NLSIU is complicit in enabling the oppressive israeli occupation, the student body has questioned the University's actions in the recent past supporting israel"
How is a law school in nagarbhavi complicit in israeli occupation? literally someone please draw me a diagram. This is just counter-factual. Is NLS funding the israel war effort when they can barely build enough hostel rooms? has NLS helped israel at the UN when they can barely keep research centres of their own funded and running? has NLS,the institution ever, in its past, released a statement supporting or not supporting a single war or policy by israel or any other country? When the American war on Iraq and Afghanistan was happening did NLS weigh in? Did NLS release a statement on Russia v Ukraine? No? was NLS complicit then as well?
"As per the SBA, in the last trimester, the administration invited a 'zionist' israeli lawyer who 'defended the occupations human rights abuses to guest lecture a course and give talks on campus'"
This is Oren Yiftachel? Hes an urban planning/ public policy guy? This is what his work is about "Yiftachel analyzes the Israeli regime as 'ethnocratic', promoting a colonial project throughout Israel/Palestine, and documents in great detail the spatial and political means of Israel's expansion and control, and Palestinian resistance and counter mobilization. However, he identifies Zionism as concurrently a liberating and oppressive project, and classifies it as 'colonialism of refugees', which draws much of its strength from the tragic Jewish history. Yiftachel's work is rich in spatial theorization, with development of concepts such as 'trapped minorities', 'fractured regions', 'internal frontiers', 'creeping apartheid', and 'gray urbanism'."
I dont know about you but it seems hes just an academic who views the problem with complexity and sees both sides? Does NLS SBA think the israel palestine problem is so simple that all jews and jewish academics and zionists are immediately bad guys? How many years have they studied the conflict to come to this conclusion? How many people in israel and gaza and west bank have they talked to? Was anyone prevented from asking this academic any questions? Should we just outcaste all jews so we can maintain our ideological purity? are all jews complicit? is that the claim? Where do we go from there? Should we also outcaste all american academics cause theyre on stolen land and all oxford cambridge academics because theyre complicit in sanitizing actual colonialism? Shall we protest the vice chancellor because he did benefit from the slavery of cecil rhodes? what about all the brahmin professors (including the person who is instigating this nonsense?) ? arent they complicit in caste and untouchability? and all the male professors? arent they complicit in the subjugation of women? Who is left to teach then? Where is the limiting principle on this kind of cancel culture?
Or did they mean Mirchin? who has a BA in chinese history from yale and a JD from Harvard and who taught intellectual property? What does intellectual property have to do with israel/ palestine? were these alleged comments even made in class or no? Did people who signed this open letter even attend any of these talks or lectures? Or are they simply objecting to jews on campus? Is the argument that anyone who thinks israel has a right to exist shouldnt be on campus? not much for free speech then really?
Has the university prevented any palestinian academic from teaching or pro-palestinian views from being expressed on campus? I dont think so, so whats the problem really?
But lets go back to their open letter. "More disturbing, the letter said, the university maintains close ties with Tel Aviv University through an exchange programme 'effectively endorsing and providing cover for an institution in the heart of an apartheid regime'". So it is basically all jews and the only jewish state that must be outcaste. Because no one is forced to go on the exchange programme unless they want to. Should the university cut ties with every country in the world where injustice and inequality and war are present? thats a long long list which might just include our own country. Is NLS existing in india providing cover for the actions of the Modi government in Manipur? should every foreign person who disagrees with Modi cut ties with NLS? Lets look at all the other brands that BDS wants to boycott because of israel and ask ourselves if these SBA guys are willing to boycott all of it? Mcdonalds, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Disney, Google, Amazon, Puma, HP, Intel and Cocacola. for a start. Why doesnt the SBA show some spine and start by boycotting all of it from their personal lives before insisting that the university suspend an exchange programme? How do exchange programmes help further the war effort? How is this not about purity tests and untouchability? Do all members of the NLS SBA agree that they wont get placed or do business with any of the companies that are by their definition "complicit" in the war? that they wont apply to study at any university for their LLMs and Phds that havent Boycott Divest and Sanction? Are they willing to tank their personal careers or is it just the institution they want to hurt? And by extension everyone who needs the institution? Tufts Uni didnt go for BDS, will P Baruah burn her degree in protest and remove it from her CV? or does her career matter to her?
The open letter goes on to argue that P Baruah, the professor arrested recently in bangalore, shouldnt have been arrested because "This was not a protest and did not violate the HC order", and because male constables handled women and "queer activists". 1) P Baruah in this article https://maktoobmedia.com/india/pro-palestine-protesters-detained-in-bengaluru-woman-says-cops-made-her-apologize-on-camera-manhandled-her/ Said it was a protest and she thought she had a right to protest despite laws she considered "unlawful" So which one is it? Its a protest if that benefits the cause and its an "awareness" campaign if that benefits the cause? Why dont they try leading with honesty? And 2) There is no law that says that male police officers cannot arrest women in broad daylight, especially when getting female officers to the scene would be time consuming and would fail to prevent the crime. And also- "queer activists" are not a protected category, theyre a political group, theyre not some sacred caste exempt from laws of the land. They keep insisting that there was some manhandling, without mentioning, as you can clearly see in the video- that these people were resisting arrest. The police does have the right to touch you and push you into the van if you refuse to comply. They are not limited to asking nicely. We live in a society with laws without which there would be an anarchy. Law professors and law students should know better. what on earth are they teaching at indias best law school? How do you not know what law is, what the constitution says, what are reasonable restrictions on free speech, what are re-courses within the constitution for unconstitutional laws/ rulings, and what the IPC and many supreme court decisions have said? How do you not absorb that through osmosis in nls of all places?
To be clear, nobody wants to stop legitimate free speech in this country. But if this professor has a problem with a high court ruling, the legitimate remedy is to appeal it, not to disobey the law as it stands. Those are the rules of this game caused democracy in a rule of law society. I dont think shes been involved in any serious protest movement, because one of the first things you learn is that when youre arrested, you should obey the law if what youre doing is a lawful peaceful protest. If youre doing an illegal violent protest, the police have every right and even an obligation to arrest you.
The letter further characterises the police action as a "brutal attack", at least going off the video in this Maktoob piece, thats not true, theres no brutality. There is policing. If you think all policing is brutality then you have no business in law school.
The letter goes on to say " we remind the student body that such instances of citizen advocacy in Bengaluru are essential acts of solidarity as palestine needs support now more than ever". Most palestinians couldnt point to bangalore on a map. Most israelis dont know what an NLS is. You wanting to get attention is about you wanting to get attention. Screaming at a random street corner on frazer town is not gonna change the course of a war thousands of miles away. Please be lawyers and tell me what part of indian foreign policy do these guys disagree with? Indian foreign policy has always emphasised a two state solution and rights for palestinians, we've done all we can within reason- what is the theory of change? IDF will watch videos of these people in bangalore or read this statement and back off from trying to kill hamas? or that palestinians will feel better about the horrible things happening to them because atleast some "activists" in nagarbhavi raised some slogans and tried to ban jews from campus? Thats gonna brighten their day when their child is dead or starving? how self involved do you have to be to think either of those things?
This is all just trying to destroy an institution through culture wars. For the first time since its inception NLS has been focussed on building anew and improving itself, it would be a real shame to let bad actors sidetrack that project for performative nonsense.
Vice chancellors specifically are not tenured faculty, part of whether they get to stay and how they get to stay is unfortunately or fortunately decided by student popularity. Students in other universities have managed to get their VCs out after petitions and such. I worry that all the work that is going to improve the university, after all these years of sleepwalking, will take a backseat to stupid politics that helps no one and nothing.
If you only have free speech for ideas you agree with- you dont have free speech.
Did he prevent anyone from asking questions or from walking out? it turns out professors can say things you personally think are "fucked up" or "justifying apartheid". Many many people- most indians, would think the stuff P Baruah has been saying on campus is "fucked up" and "justifying terrorism". Turns out you dont have a monopoly on outrage and offence and neither do you have a personal phone line to god or whatever telling you your side is walking with the angels.
Many people on this specific thread have denied rape- I was offended and disturbed to see this. I dealt with my feelings. The thing about living in this country is you kinda have to deal with your feelings and outrage when someone says things you dont like. Its called free speech.
If your ideas cannot withstand the battle of free marketplace of ideas, if your ideas only thrive in silos and bubbles where everyone else thinks like you. If the first line of defence you have for your ideas is to shut down people who disagree- you might want to consider your ideas might not be as strong as you think.
If you disagree with a zionist- debate them or walk out. You have no right to demand that ideas you disagree with should be verboten and shouldnt be discussed in "open classrooms".
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This is just delusion.
You can be sympathetic to palestinians without supporting a literal terror outfit. I am. Why you feel the need to defend Hamas is honestly beyond me. Its also a crazy mindpretzel to think one should blame israel for its citizens getting murdered and raped in broad daylight by Hamas. Do you get a murder/rape license when bad things have happened in the history of your people? cause im pretty sure every group and sub group in the world could use that license.
Yes ofc the IP prof who came to NLS is responsible for the war so let's protest against him
And maybe you should consider why you only care about one tragedy, what conditioning or operating premises makes you more motivated to protest on behalf of palestinians rather than Uyghurs.
Maybe you should consider what the impact of your politics is. if we cancel every state like you want to cancel israel- US, China, UK, almost the whole world becomes problematic. This kind of politics doesnt lead to solutions.
I know its upsetting that the world doesnt agree with you on everything- You have to cope a little and learn that not everyone in the world agrees with you. Push through the anger and try and grow a little.
All this to say- shaming people is not actually an argument. It might give you a serotonin boost- but it doesnt actually make you a moral or virtuous person. religious groups have always shamed heretics- you sure you want to be like them?
Why are you so certain of your own virtue? Have you never been wrong about anything? why are you so fucking certain you think everyone else must be evil? people you know nothing about except their stance on one issue, and not even all of that stance- why are you so certain they must want to deny genocide? Did god come in your dreams and tell you? have you done on the ground reporting? have you studied this conflict all your life? can you even point to tel aviv on a map today?
Did your insta/ twitter tell you that youre on the "right side of history"? cause ill tell you right now- back in october i set my insta up so I saw palestinian content and I set twitter up to see israeli content, and I have never had less confidence in my knowledge of any conflict as much. The algorithm keeps you viewing one side of the story to keep you from clicking away. Get a clue. Be a person, dont be a fucking bot.
I also dont think the right wing is completely wrong on every single issue. I think they value things differently than I do and I think if we have a conversation with sufficient detail and specificity- most people would agree with each other on the details.
The only people I know who are completely sure theyre 100% infallible and always on the right side of history are all deeply religious and orthodox. And I tend not to get along with them much.
Academia should help us figure out what is true and what isnt. It cannot do so by becoming a bubble where only some opinions or people are allowed. To figure out what is true and what isnt we need to be able to study and research and think and discuss and debate all freely. Banning all jews from campus doesnt help that project, doing this kind of unthinking cancellation doesnt further the truth.
I dont think academia should be apolitical in that it shies away from political issues, but it should be apolitical ideologicallyand attitudinally. I think academia should be apolitical in that it doesnt assume one side is always right and other side is always wrong without evidence or reason. Academia is about improving scientific knowledge and temperament- its not about becoming indoctrinated into "rightthink" and punishing "wrongthink". I haven't said anything about this professor being fired or about these students being suspended- because - I support free speech. I might also avail myself of that freespeech in calling this kind of protest and petitioning empty unthinking ill considered posturing by people in an elite bubble.
If you live in a world where your side is never wrong- why even go to university? why teach there? join a political party and you might find more happy conformity there.
Shame on you doesnt mean much when its so obviously badly thought- whatever you hope I feel by saying that, I just dont. I would encourage you to move past the primal shaming rituals and try and develop your reasoning.
After all, the SBA is taken extremely seriously by the international community.
I am not defending what Israel is doing in Gaza, but please understand that the whole existence of Hamas is based on antisemitism and they STILL haven’t released all hostages.
Yesterday’s UNSC resolution was a positive step so let’s focus on that.
And lol, Israel has backed out of hostage release resolutions 12 times since October, they have literally killed their own people under the excuse of rescuing hostages but still you can’t even condemn Israel. So sad to see Law students be so stupid and disconnected from reality.
Every state in the middle east is an ethnonationalist state. There are no secular states in that region. What Iran, lebanon, syria, egypt, qatar- all of them are religious. Did you know that jews were kicked out and forced out of all of these countries? Should jews have a right of return? Did you know that 20% of people in israel are arabs? that they are free to practice their religion and they serve in the IDF and served in the knesset and sit on the supreme court and vote in elections? Sure doesnt seem like a religious ethnostate now does it?
This kind of argument misunderstands history- a secular democracy like we have in india, or like they have in some parts of the west, is not the original postion- they are aberrations in the course of history- not the norm. The norm has been religious ethnostates. India was almost not a secular democracy itself. Given that israeli citizens have equal civil and political rights despite religion- its doing alright for itself. Not perfect- but at least on the right track.
Hostage negotiations since october have repeatedly failed because Hamas has refused terms. When there was actually a ceasefire and exchange of hostages/prisoners Israel gave away six times as many people for the hostages they could get. The temporary ceasefire came to an end because Hamas fired missiles at israel and then said they couldnt find the rest of the hostages to trade. Its gross misinformation to pretend that israel doesnt want to see the hostages released or to say theyd rather kill their own people when israel is trading six palestinian prisoners for every hostage. Its honestly counterfactual. This is stuff ive picked up just reading the Hindu everyday for the last year.
Whatever you think is the right solution to this problem, wherever your sympathies lie, you cannot have an alternative set of facts. Youre so steeped in propaganda its actually scary, put the phone down and go touch grass, read the damn newspaper.
Modi to take credit of it soon
Nobody lacks empathy. Not agreeing with your pet causes or how you do your politics doesnt mean people dont have empathy. That kind of binary thinking is really childish. This is a centuries old conflict- you cannot imagine that reasonable people might disagree with you ? How dogmatic and close minded is that?
People arent making jokes to demoralise. What main character energy is it to assume anything the otherside is doing is done by centering your emotional state. If someone expresses a view on this stuff that you dont agree with- theyre not doing it deliberately to cause you mental distress, theyre just speaking their mind. Honestly if youre this immature you should keep quiet and learn more before jumping into political discussions.