This was inevitable.
Eventually some law student would say something about the conflict in Gaza that would radically homogenize Palestinians in order to make some dubious political statement throwing the law school and, probably, their future firm into an embarrassing morass.
The only question was which way would it go? Would we have someone insinuate that Hamas is synonymous with Palestinians as part of an Islamophobic call for ethnic cleansing or would we have a hail of bothsideism shrugging off Hamas war crimes to “well actually” about Netanyahu government policies.
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Turns out it was the latter!
From the NYU School of Law SBA weekly newsletter, president and former Winston & Strawn summer (and presumably intended future Winston & Strawn associate… any guesses on where that’s going?):
You know, it really should not be difficult to adopt a “kidnapping and massacres are bad” posture. If one were so inclined, there’s even a nuanced take that can denounce Hamas while also — as the second paragraph notes — condemning historical acts of violence visited upon Palestinians. But there’s a difference between situating the conflict into a historical context to understand how it might’ve happened and hopefully provide guidance for deescalation and… well, this.
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Because whether it’s Marco Rubio blowing off the idea of trying to eliminate Hamas without murdering Palestinians generally or writing off legit war crimes as a just response to the plight of Palestinian people both takes plow over difference between the people of Gaza — almost a million of them innocent children — and Hamas. That distinction matters and anything that tries to erase that difference is scary.
The outset of war is a dangerous time where people — and by extension the media and social media looking to amplify or react to those people — seek to dehumanize through generalization. It’s the logic of internment camps and inhumanity. No one would’ve been helping Fred Korematsu to say, “hey, maybe Pearl Harbor was justified!” because it begins from the flawed premise that the attack should be imputed to him. It’s just the flipside of the same coin at that point.
And whether it’s this specific statement or one of the equally inevitable objectionable responses someone will make to it on social media, everyone should endeavor to break the cycle of dehumanization wherever encountered.
UPDATE: Winston & Strawn issued a statement provided on the next page…
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.