His scheduled speech was initially cancelled, but the university reversed its decision two days later.
Cim Nunn, a spokesman at York, said that while Mr. Pipes attracts strong opinions, and students likely would protest against him, the university is a place for free expression.
“We wouldn’t move forward with this event if we weren’t satisfied that we were going to be able to do so in a way that ensured that everybody participating was going to be able to do so safely,” Mr. Nunn said.
The public lecture was to take place at the Student Centre’s restaurant, the Underground, but it was cancelled when a number of student groups expressed concerns.
In other words, York was afraid of turning into the next Concordia. It wanted to avoid a riot. So it initially caved to pressure and cancelled the speech.
Granted, the Middle Eastern Students Association spokesperson claimed that he would urge students to protest “peacefully”. But then, the CSU and the SPHR claimed that the Netanyahu protest would be peaceful, too.
The tactic of the anti-Israel contingent to try to shut down any speech they disagree with is seemingly common. Daniel Pipes has been un-invited from several campuses across North America recently.
Pipes, best known for his site Campus Watch, where he monitors antisemitism on campuses, is persona non grata to many of Israel’s greatest critics. And, as with Netanyahu, they’ve decided that any speech that doesn’t fit with their politics shouldn’t be heard, and they threaten violence in every instance in effort to get most of them shut down.
Luckily, some universities are coming to their senses. Université de Québec à Montréal reversed a decision back in December and allowed a scheduled speech by journalist Gideon Kouts to go ahead, after initially shutting it down due to threats. And now, Daniel Pipes will be allowed to speak at York University after all.
It looks like universities are learning, albeit slowly, that caving to threats of violence is to let violence win. Academic freedom can only exist if everyone has a voice.
Yes, Pipes was uninvited to a conference in both Baltimore and a from addressing students in Stanford. The Baltimore conference, I believe, will have Hanah Ashrawi. Obviously, her speech, which calls for the eviction of 200,000 Jews from their homes in Yesha, can be tolerated. However, Pipes speech about the dangers of Islamic militarism is considered inciteful and hateful.
Segacs, there were no threats of any kind with respect to UQAM and Gideon Kouts. A few students complained about the posters for the event and the University flipped out.
Peter, it is Pipe’s speech about Muslims, particularly American Muslims that is considered dangerous and inciteful.