Free speech — on which this country was founded — is the right and privilege of all individuals. With this freedom comes responsibility, which was jeopardized on Feb. 18. At the intersection of 13th Avenue and University Street, a swastika, a symbol of atrocity and anti-Semitism, was depicted with “Bush=Hitler” written nearby. As Jewish students, we feel that incident warrants commentary.
First, using a swastika for political discourse is offensive and unacceptable. The swastika, as utilized by Nazi Germany, is the symbol that was used to unite a nation for the systematic extermination of our ancestors. This was not only the symbol to pool hatred solely against the Jews, but also many other minority groups which were thought to be inferior. The Nazi swastika has forever become the mark of anti-Semitism and hate.
There is no denying that President George W. Bush is a controversial political leader. However, the comparison of Hitler to Bush marginalizes the horrors the Nazis committed. Any objective view of recent history and current events will show that this analogy is flawed in many ways.
Those responsible should be more aware of the implications of their actions and understand that what they did forms a basis for the resurgence of hate on campus. There is already concern among many that the revitalization of the anti-war movement has brought around hateful thoughts in the masses that are hard to quell once in progress.
One example of this is the subtle but strong cartoon depiction of Ariel Sharon in the Emerald. Although wearing a tag labeled with his name, the artist felt it necessary to further his drawing with some rather tasteless and offensive additions. In the drawing, Sharon is wearing a kippah, or Jewish skullcap — which he doesn’t typically wear — accompanied by a Star of David which has certainly never been styled by Sharon. Sharon is compared to Saddam Hussein, who bared nothing of his religious or political affiliation in the illustration.
The blatant signs of Judaism cheapen the attack on Sharon and expand the assault to include all Jews, no matter what their political beliefs. Although this cartoon is not the specific matter in question, it is obvious that the anti-Israel movement is broadening to include anti-Jewish thought. This all goes back to the line between free speech and hate speech.
This is a difficult scale to try to balance because free speech is held so dearly in this country. There is the case that any censorship is a distinct violation of free speech and will just lead to further suppression of free expression. This rationale is valid most of the time, but there must be an awareness that not all speech is conducive to critical thinking and sometimes has the reverse effect.
Using hate to rally others behind your thoughts just creates more mindless following and doesn’t recognize that there may be people who are deeply offended by this absurd demonstration of insensitivity. If you don’t like someone’s public policies, then let them know loudly and forcefully. This does not mean resorting to juvenile and unreasonable actions.
The time is now to think seriously about the repercussions of one’s actions and what the result may be if hateful speech is allowed to continue on campus.