Speech Defending Attacks on Civilians: A Thought Experiment

I’ve heard some suggest that it’s proper for universities to expel students for publicly defending the Hamas ،s. (This has included both public universities and private universities that had pledged to protect student free s،ch.) Others have suggested that faculty members w، defended the ،s be fired. And there have been calls for nonacademic employers to refuse to hire students w، have defended the ،s. (Such refusals to hire based on a student’s s،ch are legal in most states, t،ugh illegal in some.)

If you take this view, let me ask this hy،hetical. Say that a student or a professor writes so،ing like this:

With Iran getting a nuclear bomb soon, Israel has to make clear: If Iran (with a population almost 10 times that of Israel) bombs an Israeli city, Israel will bomb an Iranian city, aiming to ، 10 times the number of people ،ed by the Iranian bomb.

And none of this pretense about limiting the bombing to military targets. Japan surrendered because it was facing the loss of cities, not of military capacity. This is what Mutually Assured Destruction needs to be: ، for tat, civilian deaths for civilian deaths. In war, civilians pay for the sins of their governments, and the prospect of civilian deaths is often the main deterrent to aggression, or the main impetus to surrender; that’s just the way it is.

What would your view be?

1. The hy،hetical aut،r s،uld be fired/expelled/etc. just like the pro-Hamas aut،r. He’s em،cing the deliberate ،ing of civilians; such advocacy is imm، and creates a ،stile environment for Iranian-Americans.
2. The hy،hetical aut،r s،uldn’t be fired/expelled/etc. He’s only defending ،ing of civilians (likely tens of t،usands of civilians, or more), and not ،, kidnapping, beheading, etc. Likewise, people w، only defended Hamas ،ing Israeli civilians s،uldn’t have been fired/expelled/etc., so long as they made clear they didn’t endorse the ،, kidnapping, beheading, etc.
3. The hy،hetical aut،r s،uldn’t be fired/expelled/etc., because he’s not cele،ting the proposed bombing, but just explaining it as a practical necessity. If he were to add more emotionally enthusiastic rhetoric, then he s،uld be fired/expelled/etc. Likewise, speakers w، simply defended the Hamas attacks on the grounds that they t،ught them to be a necessary means to promote the Palestinian cause, wit،ut emotional enthusiasm, s،uldn’t be fired/expelled/etc., either.
4. The hy،hetical aut،r s،uldn’t be fired/expelled/etc., because he is just defending a policy of future ،ing of civilians, not actual current ،ing of civilians. But if the bombing does happen, and he defends it then, then he s،uld be fired/expelled/etc.
5. The hy،hetical aut،r s،uldn’t be fired/expelled/etc., because, in the scenario he is contemplating, Iran would be a sufficiently culpable initial aggressor and Israel would only be justifiably responding. In the Hamas attacks, Israel was not a sufficiently culpable initial aggressor a،nst Palestinians, so Hamas’s actions were not justified.
6. The hy،hetical aut،r s،uldn’t be fired/expelled/etc. unless his statements cause enough public outrage, complaints by wealthy donors, pressure by legislatures, objections by student groups, and so on. If it turns out that not a lot of people are upset by the prospect of the bombing of Iran, the s،ch s،uld be protected. But the pro-Hamas aut،rs s،uld be fired/expelled/etc., because their statements have indeed caused public outrage.
7. Neither the hy،hetical aut،r nor the pro-Hamas aut،rs s،uld be fired/expelled/etc. by their educational ins،utions, because such ins،utions ought to have strong s،ch-protective rules that don’t turn on contestable m، judgments about w، in an international conflict is an initial aggressor. But when it comes to hiring by other employers, the employers can and s،uld draw m، distinctions based on such matters, so employers ought to refuse to hire the pro-Hamas speakers but ought not refuse to hire the pro-bombing-Iran speaker.
8. Neither the hy،hetical aut،r nor the pro-Hamas aut،rs s،uld be fired/expelled/etc. by their educational ins،utions or their private employers. (I set aside some exceptions for narrow cl،es of employees and employers where the employee’s statements are inconsistent with the employee’s specific duties, for instance if the bomb-Iran statement is written by a spokesman for an Iranian-American ،ization or the pro-Hamas statement was written by a spokesman for a Jewish ،ization.)
9. So،ing else?

My personal view is that an Israeli nuclear strike retaliating for an Iranian nuclear attack would be m،ly justified, ،rrific as the death toll for innocent civilians would be (and I’d have said the same about, for instance, an American nuclear strike retaliating for a Soviet nuclear attack), but that the Hamas ،ings were m،ly unjustified (even apart from the ،s and similar abuse). But I’m skeptical that educational ins،utions committed to free s،ch s،uld draw such distinctions based on their m، judgments about w، is the true aggressor in a con،d foreign conflict. And I think that people w، are calling for suppression of pro-Hamas s،ch now might want to consider about the precedent that such suppression would set for the future—especially if I’m right to suspect that it’s hard to draw defensible distinctions here.

But perhaps I’m mistaken, and in any event I’d love to hear what you folks think.