We don't want America's anti-Semitic chaos debate

to reply. In a corresponding article (4/5), Young Left romanticizes the chaos that has characterized American campuses since October 7th. At Columbia University, anti-Semitism was reported to have escalated to the point where they could no longer guarantee the safety of Jewish students.

At the same university, demonstrators occupied the university buildings and forced the institution to close all forms of physical education. Hence this is the development that the young left calls a peaceful “popular movement”, and they are angry that the police are having to intervene against it.

Trends in the same direction also appeared in Sweden. At Södertörn University, an expert from Israel was scheduled to give a guest lecture but had to cancel the lecture after the activist movement intimidated the lecturer.

At Studentafton in Lund on April 3, the Prime Minister of Sweden was a guest, and was there to answer students' questions. Some were critical, others more curious. But what they all have in common is that their political meeting was spoiled when activists spread out in the hall chanting slogans uncontrollably until they were taken out.

Demonstrations derailed

Outside the building, additional protesters stood and pounded the walls, calling the visiting students genocidal.

It is heartbreaking to witness the suffering in Gaza. But no matter how one looks at the polarizing conflict that needs to be resolved, the derailed demonstrations are about something else.

Universities are a place for free thought and opinion, but they are also a place for education. Liberal students are convinced that it is still possible to reconcile the two ideals in the future. But it is also worrying that the left is now defending a development that has led to the opposite, where physical education has had to be stopped.

It is undeniable that extremism within the left has crossed the line when occupied universities and anti-Semitism are considered legitimate means of shaping opinion. It is indeed a startling conclusion that Swedish students who wish to participate in their education would be complicit in genocide.

Let's not import the chaos on American campuses to Sweden.

Written by Hans Snape

National President of Liberal Students

Tobias Corral

Vice President of Liberal Students