Censorships in Elite Colleges
I am writing to express my concern over the recent decision by the board of
directors of the Columbia Law Review to take down their website, ostensibly for
maintenance, but in reality, to suppress the publication of a significant
scholarly article. The article in question, "Toward Nakba as a Legal
Concept" by Palestinian human rights lawyer Rabea Eghbariah, explores the
legal ramifications of the Nakba, the 1948 Palestinian catastrophe.
This decision followed the refusal of the journal's student editors to
comply with the board's request to delay the article's publication. In
response, the board, composed of Columbia University faculty and alumni, shut
down the entire website. This move has sparked controversy and raises serious
questions about academic freedom and censorship.
Despite the board's actions, the student editors persisted and the article
has since gone viral after being uploaded to a public site. Eghbariah's work
delves into the inadequacies of existing legal language to fully capture the
Palestinian experience of occupation, apartheid, and genocide, and proposes the
recognition of the Nakba as a distinct legal concept.
This incident mirrors a similar rejection by the Harvard Law Review,
highlighting a troubling trend of censorship against Palestinian scholarship.
Such actions not only undermine the principles of free speech and academic
inquiry but also amplify the very voices they seek to silence.
It is imperative that academic institutions uphold their commitment to open
discourse and the free exchange of ideas. The suppression of Eghbariah's
article is a disservice to the academic community and the broader quest for
justice and human rights.
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