Cornell University student faces deportation over Palestine activism
Cornell University student faces deportation over Palestine activism
Momodou Taal, a Black Muslim international student from the U.K., is appealing his suspension over a protest that may lead to his deportation
It's shocking how terrified all these universities are of even the slightest criticism of Israel and its genocide.
this appears to be the first time anything like this has happened or been tried; unsurprisingly, students have been mobilizing against it and it's been condemned by dozens of student groups. it's also probably union busting, as Taal is a member of the Cornell Graduate Student Union and they have a memorandum with Cornell that any suspensions like this have to be mediated with the union--which of course was not done here.
I'm not surprised Cornell is taking this stance and employing this hasty methodology. They have a reputation for being a major business that benefits from massive money flow. It stands to reason that they care more about money than supporting students... Unless they have lots of money.
Much better article: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/cornell-protest-palestine-immigration-1235112444/
Seems like his heart is in the right place, but his brain isn't.
In other words (and please excuse my French): Don't shit where you eat. Given his past history as an activist on campus and the reprimands he has received for this, it was extremely risky of him to attend this kind of highly disruptive protest. In the end, he's merely a guest, at both the university and in the US. It would have been much wiser of him to support his cause elsewhere instead of at and against the institution that he relies on for his degree and visa.
The fact that he's relatively well-known locally as an activist might actually harm his prospects: While he can briefly leverage this to mobilize his supporters (which appear to be mainly students and relatively few sympathetic academics, which isn't ideal), this will only further antagonize the administration that seems to be hell-bent on getting rid of a trouble-maker, while at the same time discouraging others, no matter their cause, to protest in the same manner or perhaps even violently, like at other self-proclaimed pro-Palestinian protests at American universities. From a purely Machiavellian perspective - and I do not support this, despite the fact that I disagree with the student, his methods and his cause - Cornell would likely gain more from muffling him and by extension others than by allowing him to continue for at least two more years.
Even if he somehow manages to survive this, it would likely only be temporary: Given his past and present behavior, he would feel emboldened, which in turn would result in him doing something similar or worse again soon, which in turn would finally exhaust any remaining goodwill he's enjoying with the administration.
It would have been much wiser of him to support his cause elsewhere instead of at and against the institution that he relies on for his degree and visa.
personally i think people should be allowed to exercise basic freedom of speech (especially for unambiguously morally correct causes) without being violently deported over it, but you have what i would consider consistently bad takes on this subject so i'm not surprised you've taken another bad line here.
you have what i would consider consistently bad takes on this subject
Ah, just saw a comment from OP claiming that Israel was doing "everything possible" to prevent civilian casualties, so yeah, bad take puts it pretty well. What bad faith bs
I know you don't like me and my opinions on this topic, but here's the thing: I support this student's right to express his opinion, despite the fact that I disagree with him. In an ideal world, he should be able to freely exercise his freedom of speech whenever and wherever he so chooses, but this world clearly isn't close to ideal. Once again, I'm not supporting what the university his trying to do to him, I'm merely stating that he's not smart about his activism, because like many other idealists, he fails to realize that he can only make this world the way he wants to a relatively limited degree at once. I don't think he's picking his battles all that wisely.
especially for unambiguously morally correct causes
Here's where we disagree, but you are a moderator who unironically likes to do what this university is doing without even a hint of self-awareness, by temporarily banning me from one of your other communities, because I was a bit too disruptive for your taste on this highly political and contentious topic, one that very much isn't as unambiguous as you're trying to portray it as or have been led to believe through your little filter bubble (at least according to my little filter bubble - opinions, opinions, opinions). Like I said in my annoying message to you, I'm just as guest here though, just like this student is at Cornell, so we are both at the mercy of those in charge. The main difference is that my career doesn't depend on you, of course. The other is that the appeal process here is even worse than Cornell's... ;)