Phoebe is searching for a mysterious sign-annotator
"Let Gaza Live FREE OF HAMAS"
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The mysterious sign-annotator of Roncesvalles: Phoebe Maltz Bovy on daily life in a not-very-Jewish part of Toronto
Were the Ivy League Congress hearings really about campus antisemitism—or were they just Republican political theatre?
A couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Congress grilled several top university professors about antisemitism on their campuses—and the scrutiny on these institutions has never been more intense. The hearings were, in some ways, the culmination of years of backlash against so-called “elitist” institutions, attacks and assumptions by right-wing critics who have long complained that universities coddle their student bodies, over-emphasize safe spaces and no longer teach young people to think critically—let alone welcome dissenting opinions.
These subjects are familiar territory to Jeffrey Sachs, who teaches about politics, authoritarianism and the Middle East at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Sachs has analyzed the data on campus free speech and written extensively about how there is not, in fact, a “free speech crisis” in universities. He gives us insight into that world, recaps the high-profile Congress hearings and discusses the role of religion in places of worship.
Toronto library drawbridge
The calls to cancel a Dec. 5 debate at the Toronto Public Library featuring Norman Finkelstein came with backing from city councillor James Pasternak. But the library stood its ground on hosting an event titled “I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It.” The video now has over 50,000 views, compared to only around 150 who’ve watched The New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast at the same venue, talking about her book I Must Be Dreaming:
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