Posted on 11/11/2002 9:45:35 AM PST by chance33_98
Putting up With It
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2002
On Nov. 19 Ehud Barak, the former prime minister of Israel, will be speaking on campus free of charge to students. This is the kind of opportunity only available to members of world-class universities, where students have a unique chance to get a first-hand account of the struggles shaking the world. Barak's journey from military general to prime minister to disillusioned dove is a near-perfect reflection of the Middle East's most recent turmoil. Therefore, a group of fringe activists announced its intention to screw it up for all of us.
This is why we can't have nice things.
They intend to turn a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity into a nasty yelling contest of the kind UC Berkeley has seen so much of recently. Because when "activists" like these say "protest," they don't mean "establish a respectable opposing viewpoint." Some years ago, Benjamin Netanyahu couldn't speak at all thanks to blockading protesters. The Republicans saw the books of one of their speakers burned, while the speaker himself was mooned and shouted down by cheering protesters. A second speaker, David Horowitz, barely got through his speech before he had to end it. It's no wonder that my roommate's reaction to news of Barak's speech was, "I'll make sure to stay away from Sproul Plaza that day."
Consequently, anyone to the right of Ralph Nader has been careful to avoid this campus. This semester's Political Science 179 seminar class has been a procession of Greens and Liberals, with an almost universal condemnation of Bill Simon and nearly as much contempt for Gray Davis.
We've built a campus where students say, some with pride, some with despair, "Conservative thinkers should not apply."
But when I say "we" I don't mean most UC Berkeley students. Most are apolitical. Many others are actively pissed about the situation. They believe that a university is built to provide a forum for all views, not necessarily the one they agree with, or that there's much to be learned from listening to an opponent. There are many people who disagree with Barak who would use his appearance to challenge their own political beliefs, making them stronger for doing so. And then there are these "activists."
What a sad group, fixated on a pathetic gang-turf mentality of "Conservatives? Not on MY campus." As if clearing UC Berkeley of the ideological competition was some sort of triumph. As if every speaker they disagreed with demanded a bizarre form of "we can shout louder" competition.
The truth is, this isn't about protesting Barak at all.
These fringe activists aren't protesting these speakers out of an honest fear that students will emerge brainwashed if they aren't there to chant counter-slogans. The truth is they and similar hard-core socialist "activist" groups like the Spartacus League use these events as a cheap way to rally the troops, to hide the fact that they can't actually lead a mass movement. The cheap emotional appeal and crude, nationalistic "defend our territory" approach disguises their inability to attract members, get publicity or otherwise do anything other than sit on Sproul Plaza and bitch into a microphone. These rallies are nothing more than exercises in group-think mentality designed to keep the few members of an insular clique from leaving an impotent leadership behind.
There are plenty of real activists out there. They're characterized by focus, intellectual nuance and membership capable of putting on something other then defensive, reactive actions. They're respected by the activist community at large, and they do not demand absolute ideological compliance. This is also the vast majority of activists, one entirely separate from the fringe that gives Berkeley such a bad name.
A bad name for which we are paying a huge price. UC Berkeley has a national reputation for intolerance and intellectual uniformity partially based on the organizational needs of a tiny cadre. We're driving away hundreds of interesting, challenging speakers because of a fringe group even among activists.
This is stupid.
Respond at kevin@dailycal.org.
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