Norman Finkelstein: US university administrations ‘spineless’

Some US university administrations are “spineless” and suppress discussions on Gaza, political scientist Professor Norman Finkelstein says.

Transcript

00:00I just want to ask you, because some of our viewers might not be aware of the draconian

00:05measures that you're referring to on campuses, and I think you mentioned recently that words

00:10like Gaza and genocide are two words that are in fact forbidden in some university campuses.

00:17Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm just wondering yourself as a professor, as an academic, what

00:22goes through your mind when you hear that centres of academic excellence are forbidding

00:29the discussion of important issues, essentially?

00:32What goes through my mind is how utterly spineless these university administrations are, how

00:47totally lacking in any principle whatsoever these administrations are, and how superficial,

01:02how cheap is their commitment to principles like academic freedom.