Editors for the University of Chicago’s student newspaper published a letter of apology for running an op-ed that condemned anti-Semitism. Click here to sign up for Todd’s free newsletter – and avoid Big Tech censors.
A student op-ed published in The Chicago Maroon that condemned Students for Justice for Palestine(SJP)’s campaign: “Don’t Take Sh*tty Zionist Classes,” was removed by the editors.
In the now-deleted op-ed, it stated that SJP’s campaign was anti-Semetic and was harassment against Jewish students.
“UChicago prides itself on its free speech policy, encouraging students to broaden their education and ask tough questions in classes,” the op-ed said. “Instead, this SJP post actively encourages students to drop such classes, hence discouraging educational freedom. This also violates the University’s discrimination and harassment policies, as the Israeli faculty are directly discriminated against.”
As such, the Jewish student community is indirectly discriminated against,” the op-ed continued. “Further, the harassment policy states that any organization that utilizes social media and other tactics—such as handing out flyers to intimidate students—in order to interfere with the education of students is harassment.”
The editors deleted the op-ed and published an apology letter claiming the opinion piece contained “factual inaccuracies.”
“We made the choice to publish an op-ed that contained factual inaccuracies,” the apology letter stated. “These factual inaccuracies, contrary to Viewpoints’s goals, flattened dialogue and perpetuated hate toward UChicago’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP UChicago), Palestinian students, and those on campus who support the Palestinian liberation struggle.”
“We failed as Viewpoints editors and as members of the UChicago community when we published this article, which was not fact-checked as thoroughly as it should have been. We deeply regret this oversight and the harm that our decision inflicted,” the letter continued.
According to Campus Reform, the “Don’t Take Sh*tty Zionist Classes,” post was posted on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which the writers of the op-ed had a problem with.
The Chicago Maroon has not responded when reached for comment.