Anti-Israel Academics Launch Campus Antifa Group for Faculty

Prominent anti-Israel academics launched a campus antifa group earlier this month for faculty across the United States.

Purdue University's Bill Mullen and Stanford University's David Palumbo-Liu created the Campus Antifascist Network (CAN) to combat "fascists" who use "‘free speech' as a façade for attacking faculty who have stood in solidarity with [targeted] students," as Palumbo-Liu described it on his blog.

Mullen, in an interview with Inside Higher Ed, said the mission of CAN was "to drive racists off campuses and to protect the most vulnerable from fascist attack," and "to build large, unified demonstrations against fascists on campuses when they come."

When Inside Higher Ed asked Palumbo-Liu about CAN's views on the use of violence—such as the alleged assault by masked, black-clad antifa members of a conservative student earlier this week—he said the group "would advocate self-defense and defense in various forms of those who are being threatened by fascists, but not violence."

Palumbo-Liu was more forthcoming about his opposition to the alt-right and white supremacists on campuses, saying he was primarily concerned by their "propensity to physical violence, aggressive confrontation and provocation, and violations of others' civil rights."

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