This weekend, the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, whose self-described mission is “celebrating and promoting cultural productions of Palestinian writers and artists,” is taking place at the University of Pennsylvania, co-sponsored by several of the college’s institutions. Following complaints by major Jewish organizations, the university issued a statement acknowledging that “several speakers [at the event] have a documented and troubling history of engaging in anti-Semitism by speaking and acting in ways that denigrate Jewish people,” while making clear that to prevent the event from taking place would be an affront to academic freedom. The organizers, meanwhile, issued a statement defending themselves against accusations of anti-Semitism from “highly funded, connected, and organized Zionist organizations” that “operate in the shadows.”

Jonathan Tobin comments:

In principle, there should be nothing controversial about a conference devoted to a particular group’s literature. But this event seems designed more to provoke outrage than it is to further scholarly sessions or papers about a literary niche.

[T]he fact that “Palestine Writes” will also be featuring international anti-Semites like the Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters (last seen in Berlin cavorting in a Nazi-like uniform at one of his concerts/propaganda sessions) and the [CNN] commentator Marc Lamont Hill (best known for his declaration of support for a Palestine “from the river to the sea” and Israel’s eradication) speaks volumes about its actual purpose. They are not Palestinian writers, academics, or literary experts tasked to explain why exponents of hatred for Israel are “marginalized.”

If one conceives of academic freedom as protecting virtually any form of speech or study undertaken by a scholar, teacher, or student, then [the question of whether to allow the event would be settled]. But . . . could anyone possibly imagine a conference being sponsored at any institution of higher learning in which the subject matter was focused on hate of a specific group like African Americans, Asians, or Hispanics? Or if such an event would feature not just academics who support such prejudice but non-academic celebrities who embrace that agenda? Of course not.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.