The savage assaults make us reevaluate the kind of world we wish to live in. Human rights and morality must be chosen by academia.
It matters who leads. in particular in academics. In addition to imparting knowledge to the upcoming generation of Americans, our educational leaders instill moral principles that will guide this nation’s leaders in the future. Their quiet is harmful at this time when their voice is crucial.
The terrorist group Hamas has been responsible for some horrifying and unthinkable acts of violence and brutality in recent days. It is impossible to find anything to condemn about the beheadings of troops, the kidnapping of several more as hostages, and the murder of innumerable innocent civilians, including children and the elderly.
What we have witnessed goes beyond an Israeli problem to one that the entire region is facing. We must acknowledge that millions of innocent Palestinians have also endured suffering at the hands of violent Hamas leaders who have a personal stake in keeping Gaza’s filthy circumstances in place. Instead of spending money on improving Gaza residents’ quality of life, Hamas officials have concentrated on developing tunnels and rockets.
However, what we have witnessed compels us to reconsider the kind of world we wish to live in. Militarized or radicalized? How are we going to establish the guidelines and principles that govern our behavior in this world? This is an existential issue for all of us about human rights.
In this setting, deans and presidents of universities face an especially difficult task because a portion of their constituents, the faculty and students, appear to have forgotten the principles that have advanced society.
Many people have read Harvard University officials’ initial response to a statement issued by 34 student organizations endorsing Hamas’s activities.
A former Harvard president who questioned the principles of the university he had led attacked the statement, which had been softened to reflect the opinions of eighteen deans and administrators. As a result, the recently appointed President Claudine Gay denounced the savage insults in a second, more forceful speech.
Harvard is not by itself. On college campuses across the nation, comparable verbal and physical altercations are taking place. Several university presidents are now required to respond to the facts. It matters what they say and do.
It’s time to defend our moral principles. “First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist,” said German Pastor Martin Niemoller. Then they came for the Socialists, and as I was not a Socialist, I remained silent. When they later came for the trade unionists, I remained silent because I was not one of them. Then they came for the Jews, and as I was not a Jew, I remained silent. There was nobody left to defend me when they came for me.
In the face of such circumstances, university administrators across must not remain mute.
Now is the moment for leaders in academia to voice their opinions about humanity and defend the rule of law. It’s time for them to demonstrate their moral character to us. We have witnessed several of our academic leaders using aggressive language. Consider the words of Chris Eisgruber, the president of Princeton University: “Hamas’s murder and kidnapping of hundreds of Israelis over the past weekend is among the most atrocious of terrorist acts, even in a world wearied and torn by violence and hatred.” Alternatively, let us quote Yale University President Peter Salovey: “As a member of the Yale community, I am compelled by our shared sense of humanity to condemn the Hamas attacks on civilians in the strongest possible terms.”
And from New York University’s top brass: “We want to express NYU’s condemnation of the attack — the indiscriminate killing of civilian non-combatants and the taking of hostages, including children and the elderly, is reprehensible.”
Unfortunately, though, far too many people are silent in the face of the horror of what the world is seeing. How can they lead with any moral authority if they haven’t denounced these acts?
Employers ought to be outraged by morality, and some are demonstrating this. Investor Bill Ackman declared via Twitter that he would not employ anyone who backs Hamas. A law school student’s employment offer was canceled by the legal firm Winston & Strawn because of remarks that “profoundly conflict with Winston & Strawn’s values as a firm.”