1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: We've been hearing a lot about anti semitism on college 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: and university campuses across the country, including this testimony from 3 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:07,880 Speaker 1: students who spoke on. 4 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 2: Capitol Hill about their experiences. 5 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,959 Speaker 3: Listen, Penn's president did choose silence. 6 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,279 Speaker 4: The neighboring university's president swiftly denounced the incident, and yet 7 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 4: our president cannot because the glorious October seventh, and you're 8 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 4: a dirty little Jew, you deserve to die, or words 9 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 4: said not by Kamas but by my classmates and professors. 10 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,919 Speaker 5: In recent weeks, the CIA's anti Semitic rhetoric has shifted 11 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 5: the culture on campus to such an extreme of intolerance 12 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 5: that seventy percent of MIT's Jewish students polled feel forced 13 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 5: to hide their identities and perspectives. An Israeli student whose 14 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 5: identity and personal info was sold online for a bounty 15 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 5: has not left his dorm room in weeks out of 16 00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 5: fear due to death threats. For my part, I was 17 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 5: forced to leave my study group for my doctoral exams 18 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 5: halfway through the semester because my group members told me 19 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 5: that the people at the Nova Music Festival deserved to 20 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 5: die because they were partying on stolen land. 21 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 6: Multiple times a week. On my way to class, I 22 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 6: walk by mobs of people chanting from the river to 23 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 6: the sea, which is a call for the destruction of 24 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 6: the state of Israel. Most recently, we have you Outnumbered 25 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 6: and Globalize, the Indefada and Indovada is an uprising and 26 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 6: the last two were marked by blowing up buses and restaurants. 27 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: We'll talk to two of those students on this episode 28 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: of this podcast. Talia Khan is an MIT graduate student. 29 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: Jonathan Freeden is a Harvard law student. We'll talk about 30 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: what their experience has been like since October seventh, the 31 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: anti Semitism that they've seen, what they hope to accomplish 32 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: by speaking out, and we'll also get their take on 33 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: the bombshell testimony of their university presidents on Capitol Hill Day. 34 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 2: Tuned for this can't miss. 35 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: And very important interview with Talia Khan and Jonathan Freeden. Well, Talia, Jonathan, 36 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: appreciate you guys taking the time to come on the show. 37 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: I just want to give our audience the chance to 38 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: hear what's happening on colleges and universities across the country. 39 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 2: So appreciate both of you. 40 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you, Thank you so much for having. 41 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 2: Us appreciate your boldness. You don't tell ya. 42 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: Let's start with you. Just take us through. So you're 43 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: a grad student at MIT. Take us through what it's 44 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,679 Speaker 1: been like to be a Jewish student at MIT since 45 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: October seventh. 46 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 5: Ever since October seventh, I think everybody's lives have changed. 47 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 5: You know, it's not just me, even though I'm the 48 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 5: president of that MIT Israel Alliance, so I've been obviously 49 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 5: doing a lot of work on this issue. But everybody 50 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 5: has been so distracted and really caught up in everything 51 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 5: emotionally and other and it's made it really hard for 52 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 5: people to focus on school. I know several Israelis who 53 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 5: went back to Israel, either because they felt unsafe on 54 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 5: MIT's campus or just because they, you know, couldn't handle 55 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 5: all of the stress on campus. So it's been a 56 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:15,679 Speaker 5: really stressful time for everybody. 57 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: Jonathan, same question. You know, you're a law student at Harvard. 58 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: You know, what's it been like since the October seventh 59 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: terror attacks. 60 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 3: It's been hard. I think that there's been a mix 61 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 3: of in the beginning, I mean, honestly, as a Jewish student, 62 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 3: you know, I have a lot of family and really 63 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 3: close friends that live in Israel, and so the beginning 64 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 3: was like a mixture of honestly mourning for the people 65 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 3: who were lost, concerned for my friends that are tied 66 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 3: up in all this and are living there. And my 67 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 3: mother is living in Israel. She actually moved there about 68 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 3: literally October first, so seven days before the attack, which 69 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 3: is crazy. So you know, concerned for them and mourning. 70 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 3: And then the same time, you know, I heard everything 71 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 3: happened October seventh, happened on a Jewish holiday, and so 72 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 3: I couldn't be in touch with my mother and grandmother, 73 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 3: who were in Israel for two days to check in 74 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 3: for their safety. And at the same time that I 75 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 3: was able to finally get in touch with them, I 76 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 3: also had notifications on my phone about what had started 77 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 3: at campus. We're over thirty student groups signed the letter 78 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 3: blaming Israel for the murder and rape of their own people. 79 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 3: And so it was this like crazy trying to mourn, 80 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 3: trying to you know, figure out what's going on on campus, 81 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 3: and then also just trying to go to school, you know, 82 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 3: like I have classes. I'm sootily showing up the classes. 83 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 3: I've been in finals the last two weeks, so It's 84 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 3: definitely been challenging and a lot of balancing. 85 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 2: Pall yeah, to continue that. 86 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: I mean after a terror attack where you know, the 87 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: most Jews murdered in a single day since the Holocaust, 88 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: and then there's the blaming of Israel be you know, 89 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: how do you even know respond to that? I mean, 90 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: it defies logic and common sense and just basic humanity 91 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: and morality. 92 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 5: That's exactly how I felt, So Jonathan side a Harvard, 93 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 5: a bunch of student groups released a letter blaming Israel 94 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 5: for what happened, and the same thing happened the day 95 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 5: on October eighth out of it. So we had the 96 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:27,040 Speaker 5: same thing of a bunch of students essentially sending an 97 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 5: email out to everybody saying Israel made it sped, let 98 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 5: them lie in it, and they don't really care about 99 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:39,039 Speaker 5: showing no remorse or sadness about for what happened to 100 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 5: the innocent Israelis on October seven. And even still we've 101 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 5: heard nothing from you know, any of the other student 102 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 5: groups on campus saying, you know, we support Palestine and 103 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 5: we disagree with a lot of Israel Israeli politics, but 104 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 5: what happened on October seven was terrorism, and it was 105 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 5: a tragedy that so many innocent people were killed. We 106 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 5: never hear that. We just hear about apartheid, state genocide, 107 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 5: white colonial whatever. So it's really disappointing to see that. 108 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 5: And it took me a few days to accept that 109 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 5: a lot of people who I thought were my close 110 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:22,039 Speaker 5: friends and who would be able to say, you know, 111 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 5: what Hamas did was wrong, even though we have disagreements 112 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 5: with Israeli politics, and when they were unable to say that, 113 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 5: it really took me a few days to accept that 114 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 5: that was really happening. I mentioned this when I spoke 115 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 5: at the congressional press conference before the hearing with all 116 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 5: of the presidents. But I was in a study group 117 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 5: with two Arab students and they posted some stuff that 118 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:54,279 Speaker 5: was a little bit concerning to me right after the 119 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 5: attack on October seventh, and I reached out to them 120 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 5: and I said, hey, can we, you know, talk about 121 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 5: what you post did And the conversation was really tough. 122 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 5: I was really trying to be open minded, but at 123 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 5: one point one of the people said that the people 124 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 5: at the Nova Music Festival massacre deserved to die because 125 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 5: they were partying on stolen land. And I had never 126 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 5: before had a feeling like I had in that moment 127 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 5: of oh my goodness, these people are justifying the murder 128 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 5: of innocent Israeli's innocent you know, not just Jews, just 129 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 5: innocent people, purely because of the fact that they were 130 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 5: on Israeli soil and you know, most likely Jewish and 131 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 5: you know, supporting the existence of the Jewish state. So yeah, 132 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 5: it took me a lot of time to accept that 133 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 5: anti Semitism, while I didn't notice it before, was clearly 134 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 5: just hidden one layer under, and now it's come out 135 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 5: in full force. 136 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 3: I think that things in the beginning went very quickly 137 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 3: from you know, just being about Israel and that it's 138 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 3: all their fault to things really actually becoming straight up 139 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 3: anti Semitic and in a way that is worrisome. So like, 140 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 3: as an example, I mean this is just this is 141 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 3: literally two days ago, there was a Minoa lighting on 142 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 3: campus and a professor was speaking and talking about his 143 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 3: family that survived the Holocaust, and someone came walked up 144 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 3: in the middle of it and started yelling at them 145 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 3: that the Holocaust is a hoax. In Harvard Yard. This 146 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 3: is two days ago, so right, So like, things went 147 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 3: from being against Israel to clearly anti Semitic and not 148 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 3: even rational. I would also add that, I mean there's 149 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 3: also the question of like what is against Israel, and 150 00:08:55,480 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 3: then discrimination within the university itself, and the whole free 151 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 3: speech versus action issue, which I think is something that 152 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,079 Speaker 3: really should be spoken about a lot more. 153 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 2: Well, And Jonathan to follow up on that. 154 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: As a law student, you know when you hear some 155 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 1: of these university presidents, and first of all, we had 156 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: three of them that refuse to say if jenocide was 157 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: a violation of the school's policy. 158 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 2: When they try to hedge on, oh, it's. 159 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: Free speech, how do you differentiate between the two. 160 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 2: What's your response to that? 161 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, so thank you so much for asking that, because 162 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 3: I think that with everything that's going on in the 163 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 3: news right now, that is what is the most misunderstood issue. 164 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 3: So what's going on with that is the universities are 165 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:47,599 Speaker 3: looking to constitutional First Amendment law, and according to the Constitution, 166 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 3: if you are in a public space so that's like 167 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:58,439 Speaker 3: completely public space, you are allowed to say hateful, disgusting 168 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 3: things as long as it doesn't turn into conduct and 169 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 3: as long as it's not technically harassment. So it's not 170 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 3: like targeted at an individual, So people could literally walk 171 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 3: around saying hate speech and that's legal in the United 172 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 3: States under the First Amendment. What these institutions are deciding 173 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 3: to do, these institutions are private, are private universities, so 174 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 3: they do not need to be abiding by those First 175 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 3: Amendment laws. They could create their own codes of conduct 176 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 3: that are more restrictive if they wanted to. But what 177 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 3: they've decided to do is that they believe that the 178 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:36,319 Speaker 3: First Amendment laws are actually what's ideal and what should 179 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 3: apply to the university. Now, whether or not that's a 180 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 3: good idea is actually a really really important question, right, So, 181 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 3: meaning like, do we want there to be a complete 182 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:50,199 Speaker 3: free speech on campus with no censorship by the institution. 183 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 3: People could say things even that others find hateful and 184 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 3: there's no way to stop that. Maybe that's a good idea, 185 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 3: right there's no censorship. That could be good. On the 186 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 3: other hand, it could also potentially be lead to hateful 187 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 3: comments detract from education, right Like that that's a really 188 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 3: good question, And the fact that the university is coming 189 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 3: out on the full free speech side in theory is 190 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:14,320 Speaker 3: a fair argument to have. The issue is is that 191 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 3: number one, there's a double standard. 192 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:17,840 Speaker 5: Right. 193 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 3: So there's many examples where there has not been full 194 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 3: free speech on campus. I mean the fire report which 195 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 3: came out and had Harvard drinked last and second last 196 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,840 Speaker 3: and free speech is unfortunate, but potentially speaks for itself. 197 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:35,840 Speaker 3: There were a bunch of Harvard students that had that admitted, 198 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 3: students that had their admissions retract retracted for putting like 199 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 3: racist memes online that speech, and the university retracted their admissions. 200 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,319 Speaker 3: There's a lot of examples that show that sometimes the 201 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 3: university does act based on action, based on just speech. 202 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:54,959 Speaker 3: The second issue is that what's happening on campus is 203 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 3: not only speech. There's also action. So like when the 204 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 3: presidents were testifying on Congress, they didn't talk about the 205 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 3: fact that one student was a Jewish student was surrounded 206 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 3: and they were not only chanting shame in his space, 207 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 3: but they were stricted his movement and you hear them 208 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 3: on camera saying don't touch me. 209 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 5: Right. 210 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 3: They didn't talk about the fact of posters being ripped down, 211 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,719 Speaker 3: of stickers being put on property that didn't belong to them. 212 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 3: Those aren't free speech issues, right, Those are action issues. 213 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: And that's the thing is it's you know, listening to 214 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: some of the things you guys were talking about at 215 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:28,599 Speaker 1: the press conference, I mean this isn't just speech. I 216 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 1: mean you were tell you you were talking about how 217 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 1: seventy percent of MIT's Jewish students who were pulled they 218 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,080 Speaker 1: felt like they had to hide their identities and their 219 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:38,840 Speaker 1: perspectives because they were in fear of retribution. You had 220 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: talked about how one student's identity was sold for a bounty. 221 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 2: Online and who was in hiding. 222 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: I mean that is crossing a boundary where people do 223 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: not feel safe. 224 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 5: Absolutely, and actually thankfully that student is back in Israel now. 225 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 5: He felt so unsafe on MIT's campus that he went 226 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 5: to his home in Israel. 227 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 2: To war zone. 228 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 5: He went back to a war zone where, yeah, exactly, 229 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 5: he felt safer in a war zone than he did 230 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 5: in an MIT dorm. And I guess I totally want 231 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 5: to echo exactly what Jonathan. How Jonathan just responded to 232 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 5: your question. I am very pro free speech, and I 233 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 5: agree that on on the face of it, perhaps some 234 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 5: of their answers could be seen as you know, a 235 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,199 Speaker 5: good thing in pro free speech, et cetera. But it's 236 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 5: the double standard that we're seeing, where if the question 237 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 5: had been asked, is calling for the genocide of answert 238 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 5: other minority group here, you know, black and brown people, 239 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 5: Asian people, something like that. God forbid, the answer would 240 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 5: not have been the same. And we all know that. 241 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 5: I will give you an example on that happened to me. 242 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 5: So a few days after October seventh, maybe three days after, 243 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 5: I put up some large Israeli flagged. I have a 244 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 5: some in my office on campus. I have a giant 245 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 5: window that faces Massachusetts Avenue, and I put up some 246 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 5: giant Israeli flags and two banners, one that said we 247 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 5: stand with Israel and the other that said no excuse 248 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 5: for terror. And six days after I put these up. 249 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 5: And by the way, I am a grad student now, 250 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 5: but I undergot a MIT. So this is my eighth 251 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 5: year here, and I'm familiar with the culture. There is 252 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 5: a culture of putting up banners. And we have a 253 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 5: hacking culture, which means like you know INCLU, which includes 254 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 5: things like putting up banners and expressing your free speech. 255 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 5: So I put these flags and banners up, and six 256 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 5: days after MIT put out a brand new rule, the 257 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 5: first change to the rule on post during since two 258 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 5: thousand and seven, banning flags and large banners. And after that, yeah, 259 00:14:55,360 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 5: it's it's wild. And after that I got calls from 260 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 5: you know, my professor department had other professors saying, we 261 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 5: were told by administration to tell you to take these down. 262 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 5: So administration didn't even contact me themselves. I said, if 263 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 5: they want to have me take these down, they should 264 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 5: email me. They would never put this in writing, of course. 265 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 5: And finally, on one Friday night during Shabbat, actually I 266 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 5: was told that facilities people were going to come to 267 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 5: my office to take my flags and banners down. So 268 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 5: on Shabbat I went back to my office alone at night, 269 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 5: and three men from MIT facilities had been sent there 270 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 5: to essentially intimidate me into taking my flags down. And 271 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 5: it was very mob mafia esque, you know, you know, 272 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 5: we don't know what's going to happen if you don't 273 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:47,800 Speaker 5: take them down, and I don't know if they'll be 274 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 5: there tomorrow, this kind of thing, and you know, it's 275 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:56,359 Speaker 5: only happened because it was pro Israel. And actually alum 276 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 5: from MIT from twenty years ago reached out to me 277 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 5: recently and said that the same exact thing happened to 278 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 5: him when he put an Israeli flag up on his 279 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 5: MIT dorm twenty years ago, they started making up new 280 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 5: rules saying that he had to put his flag down, 281 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 5: even though there were flags on other dorms. So MIT 282 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 5: at least has a history of silencing pro Israel speech, 283 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,920 Speaker 5: and this double standard that we're seeing is really kind 284 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 5: of what makes it clear that it's a disingenuous what 285 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 5: they're saying about free speech. 286 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: You know, that really underscores the point that Jonathan was making, 287 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: where it's like, Okay, sure, if this was you know, 288 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: universally applied, and if it was even handed, then you know, 289 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,680 Speaker 1: we would buy into it. But you know, every university 290 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: across the country, in college campus, they have a code 291 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: of conduct, right and so there's already these standards that 292 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,160 Speaker 1: they apply, but they're they're buying unequally applied to the 293 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 1: point you're both making. You know, and Jonathan, I know 294 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 1: you had talked about an incident where you know, there 295 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: was a mob of something like two hundred people, which 296 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: would also make student feel unsafe on campus. You know, Jonathan, 297 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:04,719 Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you as well about you know, 298 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 1: your president, specifically Claudine Gay. She's also been credibly accused 299 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:14,119 Speaker 1: of plagiarism, yet she remains in her position. What are 300 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 1: your thoughts on just that whole scandal and the fact 301 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: that she's not been asked to step down. 302 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:22,199 Speaker 3: It's funny, like I think that I'm still trying to 303 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,719 Speaker 3: fully formulate my thoughts on that. Regarding specifically the plagiarism, 304 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:28,439 Speaker 3: I have no idea, as opposed to anyone else, I 305 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 3: think that that, you know, seemingly Harvard said that there's 306 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,880 Speaker 3: some sort of independent review, whatever comes of that comes 307 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:37,120 Speaker 3: of that, I can't speak to that more than anyone else, 308 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 3: and I wouldn't want to share something that I don't 309 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 3: know is true in terms of the fact that she 310 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:46,680 Speaker 3: is still still employed as a president and wasn't asked 311 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:50,200 Speaker 3: to step down. Listen, I'm not surprised. I mean, over 312 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 3: seven hundred Harvard faculty members signed onto a letter asking 313 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:59,359 Speaker 3: for her to not be pushed to resign, and so 314 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,159 Speaker 3: I'm not surprised that happened. In terms of whether or 315 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:05,639 Speaker 3: not that's a good thing, I don't know, And I 316 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:08,159 Speaker 3: know what I'm gonna say now might surprise some people. 317 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 3: But like, I don't think she's an evil, hateful person. 318 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:17,840 Speaker 3: I just disagree with how things were handled. And honestly, 319 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 3: for myself, I want Jewish people and it's Jewish students 320 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:29,120 Speaker 3: to be protected. And I don't really care whether that's 321 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,719 Speaker 3: with President gay is the president, whether that's without her 322 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 3: as a president. Like, I think Harvard needs to first 323 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 3: of all, just start enforcing their own policies and do 324 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 3: an internal review to figure out the systemic issues that 325 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 3: are at hand. And that's just what needs to happen. 326 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 3: And regardless of who the president is, there needs to 327 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 3: be there needs to be change. We saw that, like, 328 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:52,440 Speaker 3: I mean that they instituted some sort of anti Semitism 329 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:56,800 Speaker 3: advisory board like a month ago, and seemingly that's a sham. 330 00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 3: The rabbi that was on it already stepped down because 331 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 3: it was a sham. They weren't meeting with the I 332 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 3: mean I asked to meet with them for a month. 333 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,959 Speaker 3: They wouldn't respond to my emails. It was unclear that 334 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 3: any executive power. So like, we're just at the point 335 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:10,920 Speaker 3: where we want to see change. I think that after 336 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 3: the campus hearings and the response, we're going to see things, 337 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 3: see things start protecting Jewish students a little bit more. 338 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,399 Speaker 3: But who should be the leader at the helm? I 339 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 3: think that that's a little bit beyond beyond beyond my 340 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 3: pay grade. 341 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 1: I mean, I respect that response, and I also think 342 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: if there's changes, it's also in part to you guys 343 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,399 Speaker 1: being brave enough to stand up and to not be 344 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: afraid to call out you know what is happening. To 345 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: take a quick commercial break more with Talia Khan and 346 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:46,440 Speaker 1: Jonathan Frieden on the other side. Talia, I'm always curious 347 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: because you know, we've had a lot of these conversations. 348 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 1: You know, I work for Fox News, I'm on air 349 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,640 Speaker 1: quite frequently, and there's always a conversation between are these 350 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: people who are out in the streets, you know, calling 351 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 1: for genocide? Are they just ignorant or are they in 352 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 1: intentional with the words that they're using. 353 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 5: I don't know if I could begin to go into 354 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 5: the minds of these hateful people, I have no idea, 355 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 5: you know, where their motivations come from. But as Jonathan said, 356 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,600 Speaker 5: at least on campus, what we've seen is that these 357 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 5: sentiments are kind of embedded, and you know, it's in 358 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 5: all of these liberal institutions, these universities. It's somehow become 359 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 5: part of I guess, the standard of what you know, 360 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 5: a young person at a liberal institution should believe is 361 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 5: to be anti Israel and anti you know, in pro 362 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 5: Palestine whatever that means. Apparently supporting Commas to them is 363 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 5: pro Palestine, even though I would say that anti Komas 364 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:00,080 Speaker 5: is the most pro Palestine you can be. Yeah, I 365 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:05,640 Speaker 5: think it's it's just this kind of morphing of anti Semitism. 366 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 5: And of course there's been anti Semitism for thousands of years, 367 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 5: and it morphs and it changes and it hides itself 368 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:17,679 Speaker 5: in different ways. It used to be, you know, where's 369 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,960 Speaker 5: the money the rothschild, and you know, now it's, oh, 370 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:27,480 Speaker 5: there's colonial apartheid, white supremacy, suppression. So it's really the 371 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 5: same story that we've been seeing for thousands of years, 372 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 5: just somehow morphed to be more palatable to an educate 373 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 5: quote unquote educated group of people. I mean an example is, 374 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 5: we just got an email two days ago from the 375 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 5: program director of the Women in Gender Studies program at MIT, 376 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 5: so during our January term, they're going to be hosting 377 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 5: a book club with a book called They called Me 378 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:02,880 Speaker 5: a Lioness by a Head to Mimi, and they're kind 379 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 5: of publicizing this as him he's a Palaestinian activist and 380 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 5: poor him, and he was recently detained for a social 381 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:16,200 Speaker 5: media post calling to slaughter settlers and wrote, quote, You'll 382 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 5: say what Hitler did to you was a joke. We'll 383 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:23,399 Speaker 5: drink your blood and eat your skulls. So yes, and 384 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 5: so they're just kind of warping narratives to let them 385 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 5: fit this kind of academic woke I guess viewpoint, but 386 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 5: I could never understand it, of course, Jonathan. 387 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 2: To tell you's point. 388 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: You know, why has anti Semitism almost been normalized or 389 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:48,399 Speaker 1: mainstream to a degree among you know, these academia or 390 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,119 Speaker 1: you know, some of these more mainstream people. You know, 391 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: how do you think that happened? Why is this happening? 392 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: What do you attribute it to? 393 00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean there're so, so, so many possible reasons 394 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 7: for why it's specifically why we're really seeing anti semitism 395 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,680 Speaker 7: like show its face the most on college campuses. 396 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 3: And like why that's kind of become a hub. I 397 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 3: know that there's there are conversations about around where the 398 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 3: money is coming from, and there's conversations around you know, 399 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 3: the way that at the education system has been moving 400 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:28,399 Speaker 3: in the last couple of years away from academic integrity 401 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,680 Speaker 3: and things like that. It's hard, it's hard to say definitively. 402 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,320 Speaker 3: But one thing that I think is important to add, 403 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:38,119 Speaker 3: which is just like a really interesting point, and honestly 404 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 3: I don't even know what to make of it, is 405 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:43,640 Speaker 3: that when universities have become a hotbed of antisemitism, what's 406 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 3: happened is a lot some of the anti simitism that's 407 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 3: happening here is right near campus, but isn't even on campus. 408 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,840 Speaker 3: It's like people are flocking to the universities and to 409 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 3: those areas to spread hate. So I'll just give you 410 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:01,920 Speaker 3: like two examples. One of my really good friends here 411 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 3: was walking by. She's Israeli and now lives in America 412 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 3: and is doing incredible work psychology work with children, and 413 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:17,440 Speaker 3: was walking by a rally and anti Israel propascinian rally, 414 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 3: and she asked them, you know, like she was just 415 00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:21,800 Speaker 3: like she was like emotional. She said, like, how can 416 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 3: you guys support this? She said, my cousin was just 417 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 3: in the Nova Music Festival and she was just killed 418 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:28,440 Speaker 3: by a rocket, Like how can you be supporting this? 419 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 3: And the person looked at her, smiled and said, ef 420 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:38,200 Speaker 3: your cousin that a week or two later, my wife 421 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 3: and that same person were in a similar area in 422 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:45,760 Speaker 3: Harvard Square, right across the street from campus, and someone 423 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 3: literally walked over to them and said Hitler was right 424 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,120 Speaker 3: and we should exterminate all Jewish men, women and children. 425 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 3: And so what's really in first of all, disgusting, absolutely disgusting. 426 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 3: That's on camera, by the way, Like this isn't I'm 427 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 3: not making things up. Look it up on Instagram. But 428 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 3: what's interesting about that is like that was right near campus, 429 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 3: but not even on campus. So it's like, for some 430 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:13,600 Speaker 3: reason people are kind of flocking to the campus area 431 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 3: to spread this hate. And one thing that I just 432 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:19,879 Speaker 3: want to share that I know is a little bit different. 433 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,240 Speaker 3: I just one of my biggest concerns, honestly, of the 434 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 3: last couple of weeks is that anti Semitism and hatred 435 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,440 Speaker 3: becomes a partisan issue. I don't know why that's happening, 436 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 3: but I'm noticing that people on different sides of the 437 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 3: aisle are treating this issue very differently, at least some 438 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 3: of them, not everyone one hundred percent. There are people 439 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,160 Speaker 3: who are more liberal that are taking this very seriously 440 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,600 Speaker 3: as well. But my concern and like the thing that 441 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,679 Speaker 3: I'm really worried about, is that the hatred of my 442 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:05,199 Speaker 3: people of partisan issue, and that would be absolutely terrible. 443 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,479 Speaker 2: I think that's a really good point. Obviously, you know, 444 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 2: it shouldn't be. 445 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: I think we are seeing some divides in the parties 446 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: and you know, what's happening, and depending on how prolonged 447 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: the war is, you know, that division could increase. 448 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 3: Right. 449 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: It feels too in just hearing you know what you 450 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 1: guys are talking about is you know, if I put 451 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: myself in you know, your shoes, I wouldn't feel safe, 452 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 1: you know, And and that's just a tragedy. And that 453 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 1: shouldn't be what's happening at MIT or Harvard or any 454 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 1: of these other places. 455 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 5: You know. 456 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 1: I just want to give you guys time to just 457 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: say whatever else is on your mind before we close out. 458 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,239 Speaker 1: You know, Talia, what else do you want to get 459 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,120 Speaker 1: across in this conversation? You know, what do you want 460 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:43,679 Speaker 1: people to know? 461 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 5: One thing that was incredibly disappointing for me after the 462 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 5: congressional hearing with the three university presidents was that MIT 463 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:57,439 Speaker 5: was the only university that didn't even try to apologize 464 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 5: for what happened at the testimony, didn't you know, clarify 465 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,720 Speaker 5: that calling for genocide is wrong, et cetera. Nothing like that. 466 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 5: And instead what we got was a letter from the 467 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 5: executive board of the MIT Corporation saying that they give 468 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:18,200 Speaker 5: full support to President korn Booth, They support her testimony completely, 469 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 5: and that she's doing a quote excellent job combating anti 470 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:24,320 Speaker 5: Semitism on campus and the fact that we are just 471 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 5: being gaslighted by not only senior administration but also the corporation. 472 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,640 Speaker 5: And then, you know, even just a few days ago, 473 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 5: we got another letter from several senior faculty members, again 474 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 5: fully supporting President Kornbooth, saying that everything she's doing is 475 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:50,639 Speaker 5: great and it's just so disappointing. We're so tired of 476 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:52,680 Speaker 5: screaming at the top of our lungs that we don't 477 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 5: feel safe. We're tired of reporting. You know, we have 478 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:04,800 Speaker 5: this Institute for Institute Discrimination and Harassment Resources Office and IDHR, 479 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 5: and last year, two hundred and forty cases were reported 480 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 5: to them. In the past month, four hundred cases were 481 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 5: reported to them, and we haven't seen any clear discipline 482 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 5: against you know, any of the complaints that I filed 483 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 5: and any of the complaints that the people the other 484 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 5: people in the MIT Israel Alliance, the club that I'm 485 00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:29,359 Speaker 5: a part of, have filed and it's so disappointing to 486 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 5: see that because they don't want to believe that this 487 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 5: is happening on campus. They seem to be trying to manifest, 488 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 5: you know, a state of being on campus that everything 489 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 5: is all right and none of this is actually happening, 490 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:50,880 Speaker 5: and everybody's fully safe and content. But that's just not true. 491 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:57,640 Speaker 5: And while I am so exhausted from screaming and I 492 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 5: want to just get back to studying in my classes, 493 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 5: we all just want to get back to our normal lives, 494 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 5: we can't because this has become existential for us. And 495 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,760 Speaker 5: I think when we're seeing the newsweek pulling recently about 496 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,680 Speaker 5: how I think it was a fourth of young people 497 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 5: think that facts about the Holocaust were exaggerated, and other 498 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,880 Speaker 5: polling like that about the next generation kind of supporting 499 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 5: humus and allying themselves or empathizing with these terrorists, we 500 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 5: know that it's only going to get worse. So if 501 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,920 Speaker 5: MIT and other universities try to just oh, shush, shush, 502 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 5: everything's okay, you know, don't worry about it. They say 503 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 5: they're trying to turn down the temperature. If they keep 504 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 5: trying to do that, it's just going to be so 505 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 5: much worse in five ten years when this next generation 506 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:58,360 Speaker 5: of TikTok corrupted students comes onto campus. And that's what 507 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 5: I'm really afraid of right now. We need to be 508 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 5: setting a precedent on what is right and what is wrong. 509 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 5: And there are people who would disagree with me, but 510 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 5: there are you know, moral absolutes in this world. And 511 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 5: you know those views I have that are shaped by 512 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 5: my Judaism and you know my religious identity, but you know, 513 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,880 Speaker 5: calling for the genocide of Jews and calling for an 514 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 5: into thought that these things are wrong. There's no excuses 515 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 5: for these things. And I think that we need to 516 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 5: make that clear, and administration needs to make that clear. 517 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 5: I think that at this point I don't believe that 518 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,320 Speaker 5: administration should be commenting on political issues in general, but 519 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 5: unfortunately they have been. And so in like to comment 520 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:56,160 Speaker 5: on things you know about Ukraine, Black Lives Matter, all 521 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 5: of these other things that we got emails about in 522 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 5: the past few years, and not comments on this. It's 523 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 5: just you know, you either have to decide as an 524 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 5: administration if you're going to comments or not. And They've 525 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 5: chosen that you're in a comment, so they need to 526 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 5: be strong, strong about how they're responding. 527 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 2: To this makes a lot of sense. 528 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: A well said quick break, stay with us, Jonathan, same thing. 529 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 1: I just want to give you the space and the 530 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: opportunity to say whatever else is on your mind and 531 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: what you want people to take away. 532 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:28,600 Speaker 3: Thank you so much. And I think that this is 533 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:32,480 Speaker 3: a beautiful part of podcasting that there's time to get 534 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:37,959 Speaker 3: into some of the more nuanced issues. Number one is 535 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 3: I just know that this is just like a discomfort 536 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 3: that I want to share that I'm sure some of 537 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 3: my other Jewish friends on campus have, which is that 538 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:50,720 Speaker 3: a lot of us are sharing that, you know, the 539 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:53,680 Speaker 3: safety issues and saying things like we don't feel safe, 540 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:56,200 Speaker 3: but at the same time trying to balance that with 541 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:59,840 Speaker 3: being with the fact that like I am strong, and 542 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 3: we are strong, and we're going to be proud of 543 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 3: our identity and we're not going to step down or 544 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:12,880 Speaker 3: silence ourselves in the face of potentially being concerned. And 545 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,360 Speaker 3: I'm not going to hide my identity or who I am. 546 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:20,520 Speaker 3: And I think that that's like that balance is like 547 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 3: a really interesting one and something that I've been thinking 548 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:28,800 Speaker 3: about a lot. I also do want to highlight that 549 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 3: there are a lot of students on campus that are 550 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 3: very supportive whether or not they do agree or disagree 551 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:41,320 Speaker 3: with us. Especially the Christian community on campus has been unbelievable. 552 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 3: They held a whole dinner for a bunch of Jewish students, 553 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 3: had kosher food of just like silence and showing support. 554 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 3: And I even had just to show like, this is 555 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 3: not a you know, this isn't like us against other religions. 556 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 3: A lot of my Muslim friends even reached out and 557 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 3: we're like, hey, how are you doing? And I think 558 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,480 Speaker 3: that that's a really beautiful thing and that I would 559 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:05,479 Speaker 3: love to see more of people trying to connect throughout 560 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:07,440 Speaker 3: all the challenges that are going on and to not 561 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,920 Speaker 3: just be completely isolating each other. And there definitely are 562 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:14,479 Speaker 3: people on campus right now that will not speak to you. 563 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 3: I mean, we had people come up to us as 564 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:18,480 Speaker 3: with a bunch of Jews at a table on like 565 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:21,680 Speaker 3: October tenth, like literally three days later, and a bunch 566 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:22,880 Speaker 3: of people came up to us and we're just like, 567 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:25,600 Speaker 3: no babies were killed. You can't prove it, And we're like, 568 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:27,960 Speaker 3: what is wrong with you? Like you can't talk to 569 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,120 Speaker 3: people like that, But there are a lot of people 570 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,120 Speaker 3: that have shown support and that we can talk to. 571 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 3: I think that building those bridges is really really important. 572 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 3: To just wrap it up, and for the university, I 573 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,040 Speaker 3: hope that they can work with us. Listen, they haven't 574 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 3: for the last two plus months. I mean, there have 575 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,040 Speaker 3: been emails that I've sent that are just like highlighting 576 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 3: systemic issues, highlighting specific policies that were violated, that were 577 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 3: just not enforced. I sent an email well to the 578 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:04,400 Speaker 3: like everyone in leadership of the university about like a 579 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:08,000 Speaker 3: little over a month ago, with eight policy violations. For 580 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 3: each one, I had a layout of what happened. I 581 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:14,759 Speaker 3: then provided photo and video evidence of every single one 582 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,640 Speaker 3: of them, and then screenshots this is the lawyer in me, 583 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:21,160 Speaker 3: and then screenshots of the code of conduct that were 584 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:27,000 Speaker 3: explicitly violated with highlights and nothing happened. And some of 585 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:29,200 Speaker 3: them were so obvious. I mean you pointed out before, 586 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 3: and this is what I spoke about in Congress of 587 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 3: the two hundred people that marched through the law school building, 588 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,959 Speaker 3: that many of whom were not even not heard law students, 589 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 3: weren't even Harvard affiliates. I was in a meeting with 590 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:44,040 Speaker 3: a hyperfile speaker in the hallway. Then that got completely 591 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:48,600 Speaker 3: shut down. A bunch of classes stopped and were completely disrupted. 592 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:50,200 Speaker 3: It was terrifying people. By the way, I thought that 593 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,279 Speaker 3: there was like an active shooter people were hiding. It 594 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,880 Speaker 3: was actually like a pretty scary thing. It explicitly says 595 00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:00,640 Speaker 3: that our in our Code of Conduct that tests and 596 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:06,880 Speaker 3: handbook on policies, that protests that stop class are against policy. 597 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 3: And it even makes a recommendation for what the administrative 598 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 3: board should do, which is to which would officially end 599 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 3: up on their transcript. And nothing that's happened. We haven't 600 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:23,319 Speaker 3: even received an email about it. And so I think 601 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:28,760 Speaker 3: like actually clarifying your policies and enforcing them, communicating about 602 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:31,920 Speaker 3: those policies, and communicating that what's going on on campus 603 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 3: to people, the safety concerns, the mental health opportunities. They're 604 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 3: telling us that there's mental health opportunities, but if we 605 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:41,200 Speaker 3: want to try to get an appointment, there's a three 606 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:46,640 Speaker 3: week waiting waiting list, so that's not really effective. So 607 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:51,480 Speaker 3: communicating effectively bringing us into the loop, clarifying your policies, 608 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 3: enforcing your policies, and trying to regain this culture on 609 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 3: campus that should be about empathy, fee and education instead 610 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:04,800 Speaker 3: of hate and stopping classes. 611 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,640 Speaker 5: I would love to echo quickly what Jonathan just said. 612 00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:11,160 Speaker 5: You know there, I was talking about this with somebody 613 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:15,720 Speaker 5: earlier today, about the fact that these kind of extreme 614 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,400 Speaker 5: people with extreme viewpoints. I've always been on our campus. 615 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,480 Speaker 5: But the difference is there was kind of a level 616 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:26,279 Speaker 5: of there was an understanding that certain things are not 617 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 5: tolerated on MIT's campus, that we expect a level of 618 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,279 Speaker 5: decency and kindness and empathy towards other people. And that's 619 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:36,640 Speaker 5: kind of the MIT that I came to know in 620 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:39,759 Speaker 5: the past eight years of we all have disagreements, but 621 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:41,799 Speaker 5: we listened to each other, We talk to each other, 622 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:45,480 Speaker 5: we collaborate with each other. MIT is a very collaborative institution, uh, 623 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,600 Speaker 5: working on our you know, our scientific problems, et cetera. 624 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:53,440 Speaker 5: And I want to echo what Jonathan said. It's we 625 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:56,880 Speaker 5: need all of these institutions to enforce their own policies. 626 00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,640 Speaker 5: We've also, you know, sent screenshots of the handbook to 627 00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:03,399 Speaker 5: MIT administration and they've done nothing. So we need them 628 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:06,359 Speaker 5: to enforce their own policies because all we want is 629 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:11,040 Speaker 5: to re establish kind of an environment where people feel 630 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:16,120 Speaker 5: comfortable studying, where people don't feel fear working on group 631 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:19,759 Speaker 5: projects with people who want to kill them or who 632 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:23,760 Speaker 5: vocally say they're calling for the death of their family members. 633 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:32,439 Speaker 5: And I think we, even with all of this, as 634 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 5: Jonathan said, I and others are still holding out hope 635 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:44,840 Speaker 5: that the MIT administration will just finally understand and work 636 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:46,880 Speaker 5: with us. That's what we've been trying to do the 637 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:48,600 Speaker 5: whole time. We've been trying to reach out to them, 638 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:52,919 Speaker 5: human to human and not lawyer to lawyer as they've 639 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:57,160 Speaker 5: been kind of pushing back with. But yeah, I think 640 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,600 Speaker 5: we are just so devastated that people have taken this 641 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:05,000 Speaker 5: so personally. The people are so angry, and people think 642 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,319 Speaker 5: that just because your pro Israel, you hate, you know, 643 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:11,560 Speaker 5: certain groups of people that you hate, Palestinians, you hate Muslims. 644 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:15,920 Speaker 5: I mentioned this in the congressional press conference. My father's Muslim, 645 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:20,560 Speaker 5: My father's from Afghanistan. Half my family is Muslim practicing. 646 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:23,719 Speaker 5: You know, I have cousins who cover their hair, wear 647 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:28,919 Speaker 5: his jobs. My half sister, her family is Hindu, and 648 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:33,080 Speaker 5: my half brother his family is Christian. And we disagree 649 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:35,279 Speaker 5: about a lot of things, but we listen to each other, 650 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:37,759 Speaker 5: We talk to each other. And that's the environment that 651 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:40,280 Speaker 5: I grew up in at my home, in my home, 652 00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:42,960 Speaker 5: and that's the environment that I thought that I was 653 00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:46,479 Speaker 5: at at MIT. And it's really disappointing to see now 654 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,879 Speaker 5: that that's not the case. And I would just really 655 00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:54,240 Speaker 5: encourage the MIT to promote more of that, to promote 656 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:58,960 Speaker 5: more of understanding and empathy and compassion with people of 657 00:38:58,960 --> 00:38:59,960 Speaker 5: all different backgrounds. 658 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,279 Speaker 1: I mean, I think at a base level, you know, 659 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,280 Speaker 1: you would hope that society as a whole could agree 660 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:07,759 Speaker 1: on calling for the genocide of insert any group of 661 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:11,560 Speaker 1: people is wrong. But yet here we are. Talia Khan 662 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:15,239 Speaker 1: and Jonathan Frieden. This has been a really enlightening conversation. 663 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,120 Speaker 1: I truly appreciate your insight, and I just have so 664 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,160 Speaker 1: much respect for what you guys are doing because you know, 665 00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:24,239 Speaker 1: I know that when you put yourself out there, you 666 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:26,279 Speaker 1: know you're going to face incoming as a result. So 667 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:28,799 Speaker 1: I just really appreciate you guys being brave and so 668 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:31,560 Speaker 1: eloquently breaking this issue down for my audience. 669 00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:34,120 Speaker 3: Thank you for having us, Yeah, thank you for having 670 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:37,120 Speaker 3: us and for giving us a voice during a time 671 00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:39,080 Speaker 3: when speeches being stifled. 672 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,920 Speaker 1: That was Jonathan Freeden, a Harvard law student, and Talia 673 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,920 Speaker 1: Khan and my tea graduate student. I really appreciate them 674 00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:53,759 Speaker 1: taking the time. The whole point of this episode was 675 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:56,400 Speaker 1: just to give them the space and time to really 676 00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:00,680 Speaker 1: talk about their experiences and share that with you and 677 00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:03,960 Speaker 1: everyone else. I think it's an important conversation and important 678 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,200 Speaker 1: to just hear them in their own words. So I 679 00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:08,560 Speaker 1: really appreciate them taking the time to come on the show. 680 00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:11,200 Speaker 1: And I appreciate you guys at home for listening every 681 00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:13,279 Speaker 1: Monday and Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week. 682 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:15,240 Speaker 1: I want to thank John cass who and my producer 683 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,160 Speaker 1: for putting the show together. Until next time,