[National Review] The famous Columbia professor repeatedly used a Nazi-era metaphor to depict Jews as vermin.
Rashid Khalidi is unapologetic. The longtime Columbia University professor last month said repeatedly that supporters of Israel would "infest" the Trump administration -- language that evokes the imagery and metaphors of the Nazis. But for all the on-campus sensitivity seminars and trigger warnings that dominate our age, don’t expect an apology in this case.
Apparently, no language, even if it is dehumanizing and deeply rooted in historic anti-Semitism, is out of line in condemning Israel. Professor Khalidi is well known as Columbia University’s professor of modern Arab studies. January 17, in a lengthy radio interview on WBEZ Chicago’s "Worldview," Khalidi warned that this infestation would begin under the new president. Describing Israel supporters in terms that evoke vermin was not a momentary lapse or slip of the tongue.
He used "infest" three times, saying "these people infest" the Trump transition team and will soon "infest" the government. Who are "these people?" In his view, they’re a bit crazy but also scheming. Khalidi explains: There are a group of people, a lot of them in Israel and some of them in the United States, who live in a world of their own. That is to say, they think that whatever they want, and whatever cockamamie schemes they can cook up, can be substituted for reality. Free speech is a blessed thing, and hypersensitivity to offensive language is a curse on college campuses.
I have no desire to stifle discussion, but it’s fair to ask: What’s become of "reasonable people can differ"? What’s become of civil discourse? What’s become of the golden rule? One has to suppose that Khalidi would take offense if someone analogized Palestinians, rather than Jews, to rats or cockroaches.
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