UN official says Gaza war triggers global crisis for freedom of expression

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 26th April. UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan said taht across the US “heads are rolling” at the top of Ivy League universities after a campus-wide crackdown on students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, shining a spotlight on the question of freedom of expression worldwide.

“The Gaza crisis is truly becoming a global crisis of the freedom of expression,” said Ms. Khan. “This is going to have huge repercussions for a long time to come.”

She noted that demonstrations around the world have been roundly calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

Ms. Khan said that the way academic freedom in the United States is being restricted is infringing on people’s rights to protest over the on-going war and occupation, including on campuses of such elite Ivy League schools as Colombia, Harvard and Yale universities.

“One after the another the Ivy League heads of colleges and universities, their heads are rolling, they’ve been chopped off,” she said.

“That clearly polarises even further the political climate on this issue between ‘them’ and ‘us’.”

She pointed to a troubling rise in hate speech on both sides of the protests.

Khan said that at the same time, people must be allowed to express their political views.

She noted that in many of these protests there is a confusion between what is hate speech or incitement to violence and what is basically a different view of the situation in Israel and the occupied territories or criticism of the way Israel is conducting the conflict.

“Legitimate speech must be protected,” she said, “but, unfortunately, there is a hysteria that is taking hold in the US.”

Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia must be prohibited, and hate speech violates international law, she said.

She said But, we must not mix that up with criticism of Israel as a political entity, as a State,”. “Criticising Israel is perfectly legitimate under international law.”

Ms. Khan said special rapporteurs have detected a bias against pro-Palestinian supporters on social media.

“We need freedom of expression,” she said.

She added that it is a fundamental right that is important for democracy, development, conflict resolution and building peace.

“If we sacrifice all that, politicising the issue and undermining the right to protest and the right to freedom of expression, then I believe we are doing a disservice for which we will pay a price,” she said.

“It will be harder to negotiate if you shut down one side.”