The attacks on Hill were launched even though leftist thinking dictates he should enjoy triple-protected status because he checks three boxes on the all-important intersectional checklist: he’s black, gay, and an immigrant.
But he is not beyond scrutiny in the woke world because he holds the wrong views on Israel and its right to exist, an issue that is at the apex of the leftist hierarchy of hatred.
The “sh*t-hole country” slander came as leftists at DePaul University in Chicago launched a vicious vendetta against tenured philosophy professor Hill after he wrote a column, “The Moral Case For Israel Annexing The West Bank—And Beyond,” that was published in The Federalist on April 16, 2019.
In the opinion piece, Hill wrote that “Israel has the moral right to annex all of the West Bank (even Area C) for a plethora of reasons.”
Hill questioned the idea that there can be such a thing as “legitimate ‘Palestinian Territory’ in a geographic region legally seized in a defensive war instigated by a foreign aggressor.”
“The purpose of war is always to vanquish the enemy. The losers of the war cannot make demands on the victors that the victors themselves would not have been put in the position of meeting had the adversary or enemy not forced the victors into making it in the first place,” Hill wrote.
“Israel was forced into a war, which it won. It was then expected to renounce and repudiate the consequences of its fairly won war by capitulating to the conditions of its vanquished enemy, which included, among other self-sacrificially undertaken goals, granting statehood, autonomy, right of return, and the ultimate elimination of Jewry from the region.”
Israel must be preserved, he argued.
“Jewish exceptionalism and the exceptionalist nature of Jewish civilization require an unconditional space for the continued evolution of their civilization. What’s good for Jewish civilization is good for humanity at large. Jewish civilization is an international treasure trove that must be protected,” Hill wrote.
“Not all cultures are indeed equal,” he added, attacking the fundamental principle underlying multiculturalism.
“Some are abysmally inferior and regressive based on their comprehensive philosophy and fundamental principles—or lack thereof—that guide or fail to protect the inalienable rights of their citizens.”
Reaction to the column was swift and fierce.
DePaul initiated a campaign of harassment to isolate and marginalize Hill, destroy his academic career, and ruin his life. The DePaul chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, a notorious antisemitic group that regurgitates Hamas propaganda, joined in, demanding Hill apologize and telling Newsweek the group was “completely appalled and outraged” by the column.
“Regardless if DePaul chooses to meet our demands, the coalition will continue to organize, mobilize, and disrupt until our demands are met in order to promote justice and equality for all marginalized communities on campus,” SJP said.
Hill responded to DePaul by filing suit in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, against the university and two faculty leaders in April 2020 claiming breach of contract, defamation, and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. The faculty leaders are religious studies professor Scott Paeth, who was president of the DePaul Faculty Council at the time, and provost Salma Ghanem, a communications professor. Both are tenured faculty members. Paeth penned an anti-Israel, pro-BDS post in 2015.
“This case is about a tenured professor who freely spoke his mind,” the legal complaint begins.
“Plaintiff Jason D. Hill is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Defendant DePaul University. Last year, Dr. Hill wrote an article commenting on the dispute between Israel and Palestine. His opinion — protected by the time-honored principle of academic freedom for professors — was nothing new or shocking. But to a powerful faction in the university community, Dr. Hill picked the wrong side of the debate. And for that, Dr. Hill has suffered censorship, injustice, persecution, and humiliation.”
(full article online)
Professor Jason Hill says he suffered 'censorship, injustice, persecution, and humiliation' for supporting Israel.
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www.timesofisrael.com
