Today, Barry Strauss documents the ways in which Israel’s own history, stretching back millennia, can inform how it handles relations with its neighbors and its continuing campaign to punish those responsible for the October 7 attacks. Contributors to the Middle East and Islamic World Working Group argue Israel has done America huge favors with its post–October 7 campaigns around the Middle East. And Eugene Volokh and Larry Diamond explore the state of free speech in America: one compares it with free speech in the UK and the other focuses on freedom of expression on Stanford’s campus.
Remembering October 7, 2023
Writing in Hoover’s new Substack, Freedom Frequency, Senior Fellow Barry Strauss says Israelis must recall the role their past plays in their foreign relations, as they mark the tragic second anniversary of the brutal attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. He reflects on the disunity felt within Israel in the months leading up to the attack, and how the nation came together not only to confront Hamas but to earn a stunning military victory over the Islamic Republic of Iran last summer. It’s a “historical aberration” that the Iranian government despises Israel so much, Strauss writes, as the two peoples have been friends for large parts of their history. But will this unity hold? Strauss recalls the times chronicled in his new book, Jews vs. Rome, when Jews were no longer united and thus were crushed by Roman legions. That era, and its lessons, are not as distant as they might seem, Strauss argues. Read more here.
Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht, contributor to Hoover’s Middle East and the Islamic World Working Group, and coauthor Ray Takeyh argue that the US should be grateful to Israel for their efforts since the attacks of October 7 in eliminating or degrading so many groups and states that were hostile to American interests. They write that Israel has removed Hamas’s ability to maneuver as a guerilla force, neutered the capacity of Hezbollah in Beirut, overseen the toppling of Bashar Assad in Syria, and completely decimated the military leadership and air power of Iran, all in the span of the past two years. “Not all of Israel’s enemies are America’s,” they write, “but enough of them are to do more than wish it well.” Read more here.
Revitalizing American Institutions
On the latest episode of Free Speech Unmuted, Senior Fellow Eugene Volokh and cohost Jane Bambauer speak with Eric Heinze of Queen Mary University of London about how the digital age has transformed the meaning and limits of free expression. The discussion ranges from Britain’s recent Lucy Connolly case—involving online incitement and hate speech—to the philosophical and legal contrasts between the American Brandenburg standard and Britain’s more interventionist approach. Heinze argues that democracies must rethink free speech in an era dominated by opaque, powerful platforms like Twitter and Facebook, where risk, harm, and accountability are far harder to define than in the past. They debate whether governments—or tech companies—should bear responsibility for regulating speech online, and what “freedom” really means when algorithms, not citizens, shape public discourse. Watch or listen to the conversation here.
Writing in The Stanford Daily, Senior Fellow Larry Diamond says the state of freedom of expression in America has been on the wane for years, well before the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel brought this issue wider scrutiny. On Stanford’s campus, the impact has been felt for years, with activists shouting down the 2023 visit of a federal judge to the campus, preventing him from continuing with a talk with the campus Federalist Society. In the wake of the October 7 attacks, Jews on campus documented countless times where they were shouted down, physically impeded, and intimidated by pro-Gaza demonstrators. But Diamond says the remedy cannot include any sort of censorship: “Instead, we need more speech, better speech, education and thoughtful engagement. We need to promote intellectual diversity and political pluralism, and, our report insisted, we must strive ‘to create a culture where disagreement can be expressed without devolving into personal animus, political intolerance, or social exclusion.’” Read more here.
Reforming K–12 Education
On the latest episode of The Education Exchange, Senior Fellow Paul E. Peterson speaks with Patrick J. Wolf of the University of Arkansas about Wolf’s research into how education savings accounts impacted education in that state. He tells Peterson that after two years, access to these accounts is producing signs of academic improvement in the pupils whose households utilize them. The average student whose household subscribed to an education savings account in Arkansas last year scored in the 57th percentile in math and the 59th percentile in English language, putting them above the national average in both subjects. Households in Arkansas can use the account funds to pay for private school tuition, tutoring, supplies, subsidized transportation, and other education costs. Listen to their conversation here.
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