When the Ku Klux Klan came to Milwaukee this past October, one of the groups that I am involved with, the International Socialist Organization, sent members down to join the immense counter-demonstration protesting the very presence of that racist, violent and dangerous group in our state. It was a great success, with the counter-rally completely dwarfing the tiny Klan gathering, showing any potential recruits that they would have a very hard time in that city if they decided to join up.

Now, this campus is divided over a lot of issues, but I think that almost all of us, liberal and conservative alike, can agree that the Klan is most definitely not cool, and that we should all work to eradicate that kind of racist, backwards thinking from our country. That counter-rally, potentially, saved lives.

Yet, while relating this event to an acquaintance of mine, the issue of free speech came up. He said that because we believe in and support freedom of expression, we should have allowed the Klan to rally, because silencing them could someday lead to others silencing us. He argued that the Klan had just as much right to demonstrate as anyone else, and that it was hypocritical of us to try and drive them out of town.

His argument was flawed in more ways than one, but the most important concept that he forgot is this: free speech is not absolute, it never was. Free speech ends when it becomes dangerous to the physical well-being of a person or group of people. You cannot yell “fire” in a theatre, and you cannot call for the assassination of a public figure. We must remember that the Klan is not the college Republicans. They do not simply sit around whittling and talking about how great white folks are; they are a dangerous criminal group that, to this day, engages in violent and hateful activity. We should have every right to shut them down.

The reason that I mention this incident is that the issue of free speech has come up again in the past few weeks, with this very newspaper running a series of inflammatory ads about Palestinians. This will not be a column about the Israel/Palestine debate; rather, I would like to address the ads themselves and why they are wrong.

Besides being racist, offensive and hurtful, the campustruth.org advertisements are problematic in that they portray generalizations and opinions as the objective, unquestionable truth. Obviously meant to sway the ignorant and uninformed, the ads portray all Palestinians as terrorists, and all Israeli Jews as the morally pure, innocent victims of crazed, inhuman maniacs. Rational people from either side of the debate can normally agree that these absolutes and blatant generalizations are fantasy, yet the ads keep coming.

One ad in particular showed how on Sept. 11, 2001, “Israelis mourned in Tel Aviv,” and how, at the same time, “Palestinians celebrated in Lebanon.” While the merits of the pictures themselves are questionable, the irresponsibility of running the ad is not. In effect, this ad told students that all Palestinians are evil and that they all hate America. Nothing more. It failed to differentiate between suicide bombers and average Palestinians, presenting an entire people as some homogeneous evil entity bent on the destruction of the United States and Israel.

That is dangerous. That will encourage violence. That is wrong.

Americans do not like being told that someone hates them. An ad such as the campustruth.org one will only encourage more anti-Arab sentiment and behavior, possibly resulting in discrimination, hate speech and violence. The ad, which does nothing more than demonize Arabs and fan the flames of hatred, should not have run, especially considering the social climate of post-Sept. 11 America.

Apparently, the policy of the Badger Herald is that, in the name of free speech, it will print any paid advertisement without censure, preferring to let the bad in than risk keeping the good out. This, to me, is idealistic nonsense, devoid of common sense and good taste. These ads are potentially harmful to the Arab community here on campus and should have been recognized as such from the beginning. It is not a matter of free speech; it is a matter of decency and a matter of safety. The campustruth.org ads crossed a line.

Freedom of expression is a wonderful thing, but we have a responsibility to ourselves and to our neighbors to make sure that that freedom is not abused. I encourage people to write to the Badger Herald to urge them to rethink their advertisement policy. Even newspaper people can stand up for something once in a while.

Kyle Myrhe ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in English.