In the recent tumultuous times, college and university professors face extraordinary tests of their ethical, moral, and professional integrity.  Professors of history, philosophy, political science, and the social and psychological sciences are particularly on the spot, morally and ethically.

Professors appropriately support and encourage lively debate and lawful protests by students who do so out of thoughtful concern.  But at other times, less than mature rebellion or flagrant illegal violation of legal authority occurs in student and faculty behavior.  Professors and their deans and faculty leaders face difficult roles as mentors and academic or personal role models.

Certainly, professors must search their own personal, moral, religious, political, and professional commitments.  If students are encouraged to use careful critical thinking and careful listening, so should professors themselves.  Careful listening to students implies the confrontation with their lack of thorough, historical, fact-based reasoning; moral reflection; and actions.  Professors need to assess their own fact-based reasoning and exercise of free speech that is not biased and inflammatory on the campus or in the classroom.

The facts emerging about October 7 are stark, chilling, and documenting pure human evil.  They are not even acknowledged by the U.N. in their historical horror!  The unresolvable conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians began centuries ago and particularly recurred violently since 1948.  Wars and violence have repeatedly erupted against Israel ever since.  The stark historical facts of October 7, 2023 leap off the screen.

October 7 marked the emergence for the first time of unprecedented pure evil behavior by Hamas terrorists toward Israel.  The brutal rape, torture, and murder of women after the prior murder of their husbands; the beheading of children and babies, with some burned alive; the ripping open of a pregnant woman’s abdomen and the simultaneous killing of her baby, and then her murder — all of these marked the commission of pure evil by Hamas.

There simply is no moral equivalent between Hamas’s attack and Palestinian political conflicts and complaints about Israel’s policies or behavior.  As with Hitler in WWII, there will be no effective ceasefires, no effective peace negotiations.  Only surrender by or extinction of Hamas will bring resolution.  Perhaps peace may occur in the future for Palestinians whom Hamas had ruled by vote, passive complicity, or deception.

Protests and demonstrations by university students are inevitable and appropriately vigorous, but violent speech or behavior against Israel in America or around the world misses the horrible existential truth of history in the Holy Land as of October 7.  University faculty leaders and professors in American universities need to search their souls as to the domain of the stark factual difference of Hamas’s behavior on October 7 and other morally equivalent events occurring in other human conflicts.  Professors, deans, and students need to dig deeply into analysis of the factual events and the implications beyond precious free speech and the domain of purely evil behavior, and its implications for a horrible but righteous war.

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