As the Israel-Palastine conflict continues in another part of the world, so does the debate on Indiana University’s campus. However, threats to campus safety have put a halt to not one or two, but three events related to the Israel-Palastine conflict within this school year alone. The latest, a speaker invited to campus by IU Hillel.
As these event cancellations press on so does concern about free speech, the university’s support of opposing groups, and the ability of our campus to host healthy debate over difficult world issues.
IU Hillel was set to host Mosab Yousef, the son of a co-founder of Hamas, last Tuesday. Despite his origins, Yousef has converted to Christianity and shares pro-Israel messages.
However, in the days leading up to the event IU cited safety concerns as the reason for requesting Hillel to postpone Yousef’s speech until the at least the fall semester.
IU released the following statement on the issue, “In response to credible security information that raises concerns for the safety of speakers and attendees, IU has regretfully asked Hillel to postpone Tuesday evening’s event at Wilkinson Hall.”
Multiple Pro-Palestinian organizations on campus organized a rally in response to Yousef’s invitation to speak. In the week prior to Yousef’s speech, IU’s Palestine Solidarity Committee began posting tweets and excerpts of Yousef’s speeches which they identified as hate speech.
Despite IU’s decision to postpone Yousef’s visit, a rally was held in support of Palestine. Multiple people at the rally expressed their suspicion that the Pro-Palestinian rally was the safety concern behind IU’s decision to postpone. Despite this suspicion, the rally took place without incident or violence even with dissenting opinions present.