Anti-Israel Students Refuse Debate

It is typical of anti-Israel protest–especially on college campuses–that the demonstrators refuse to debate their pro-Israel classmates. They don’t have facts, or right, on their side; what they do have is an elaborate fantasy in which Palestinians are innocent victims and Israelis are evil oppressors. They abuse the academic freedom of others while refusing to exercise their own. The latest video evidence from Portland State University is a fine example of the phenomenon.

In the video, shown below, three rows of protestors sit in a May 14 lecture by Erick Stakelbeck of the Christian Broadcasting Network–some with tape over their mouths, some holding protest signs, all refusing his invitation to debate and ask questions. At a signal, the demonstrators stand up and walk out–to the applause of the rest of the audience, who had tired of the creepy, meaningless protest.

That students–and others, apparently–would choose to demonstrate their opinions in that way says less about how Israel is perceived on college campuses today, and more about how those campuses have become bastions of anti-intellectualism under the stewardship of radical left faculty and administrators.