A University of Chicago student newspaper removed an op-ed condemning antisemitism by the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter. The op-ed’s removal was followed up with an apology letter by the editors of the newspaper’s “Viewpoints” opinion section. Despite censoring an op-ed against antisemitism on campus, the paper’s opinion editors maintain that is a “space that intends to facilitate free speech on campus.”
UChicago student newspaper the Chicago Maroon removed an op-ed, titled, “We Must Condemn the SJP’s Online Anti-Semitism,” which called out The University of Chicago’s SJP chapter allegedly calling on students to boycott “Jewish-taught and related classes.”
“Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) UChicago released a post on Instagram telling students to ‘Stop Taking Sh*tty Zionist Classes,'” the authors of the student op-ed wrote. “SJP has a continued pattern of anti-Semitism that must be condemned by students and the University alike.”
Muslims hold placards reading “Palestine will be Free” and “Anti-Israel” during a rally at the Putra Mosque in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Friday, Dec. 22, 2017. AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
“SJP sought to intimidate UChicago students and coerce them into dropping all classes related to Israel or taught by an Israeli professor, deeming them Zionist classes,” the students added.
The opinion piece was later removed by the Chicago Maroon, and followed up with an apology letter from Viewpoints editors Gage Gramlick and Yiwen Lu, who also “fact-checked” the op-ed, claiming its authors used “factual inaccuracies” that supported what they called “Zionist and racist sentiments.”
“As Viewpoints editors and members of the UChicago community, we stand against hate and strive to create a productive platform for opinions,” the editors wrote, adding that “on February 17, 2022, we failed in this mission” when they allowed the op-ed condemning anti-Semitism to be published.
“We made the choice to publish an op-ed that contained factual inaccuracies,” the editors argued, adding that they removed the opinion piece in order to “prevent further harm.”
Ironically, Gramlick and Lu went on to insist that “Viewpoints is a space that intends to facilitate free speech on campus.”
“We are committed to free speech,” the editors wrote. “We want Viewpoints to be a space in which students and community members can express their opinions freely, without creating an environment in which other students are no longer safe to share their opinions and realities.”
But in order to “facilitate free speech,” the editors claimed they must “ensure that our writers’ words are grounded in facts,” because words can “perpetuate imbalances of power,” and “threaten the safety of members of our community,” they added.
The editors also acknowledged that removing the op-ed from the website “may affect Jewish students on campus,” and “could be seen as stifling Jewish voices.”
“That would go against our values of inclusion and free speech and contribute to the antisemitism that is already all too present in the lives of our Jewish peers,” Gramlick and Lu added.
Therefore, in an apparent move to justify banning the op-ed condemning antisemitism, the Viewpoints editors went on to reiterate that they can only publish opinion pieces “founded on facts.”
Gramlick and Lu then provided a list of their “fact-checks,” one of which called out the authors of the op-ed for saying that SPJ called on UChicago students to boycott “Jewish-taught and related classes.”
In their “fact-check,” the editors pointed out that SPJ was specifically attacking classes taught by “Israeli fellows,” not “Jewish” people.
“Fact-checking: SJP UChicago’s boycott addressed ‘classes on Israel or those taught by Israeli fellows.’ Israeli and Jewish are not synonymous.”
Another “fact-check” brought up how the authors of the op-ed wrote, “SJP sought to intimidate UChicago students and coerce them into dropping all classes related to Israel or taught by an Israeli professor.”
In their fact-check, Gramlick and Lu said SJP UChicago specified boycotting “Israeli fellows,” not “an Israeli professor.”
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