When It Comes to Palestine, Free Speech Rights Are Under Attack
A frightening wave of firings, threats, and retaliation against pro-Palestinian writers and activists has chilled the political climate. Now, more than ever, the “Palestine exception” to free speech standards is being challenged.
Palestine Legal has documented numerous reports of censorship that together paint a picture of systematic repression. (Nick Lachance/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Last week’s news that the Associated Press had fired a young journalist because of her support for Palestinian rights while in college at Stanford broke Twitter.
The Stanford College Republicans (who had often railed about cancel culture) bragged about their successful cancelation of Emily Wilder, which seemed all the more appalling given that Israel had just bombed the AP office in Gaza.
There’s a lot of talk these days about the liberal and right-wing hypocrisy around cancel culture and how Palestine exemplifies it. In 2015, Palestine Legal (where I work) and the Center for Constitutional Rights published a report calling it the Palestine exception to free speech. Is there a “Palestine exception”? Is Palestine the “real” cancel culture? Or is it something worse?
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