As word spread of the article and Paulin’s controversial views through the University via various e-mail lists, protest mounted against the lecture.
Between 100 and 120 people, mainly undergraduates, e-mailed and called the department to protest the reading, according to Buell. They decried Paulin’s views as hate speech, and said the Department should not give a forum to those who advocate violence and racism.
According to a Monday article on the National Review’s website, University President Lawrence H. Summers, who earlier this fall denounced anti-semitism in the form of anti-Israeli statements on college campuses, has said privately that he was “horrified” by the invitation. Summers has made no public statement.
The English department wanted to address the protester’s concerns, but was concerned about abridging free speech.
“Our initial reaction to the first protests was that rescinding the invitation might compound the problem by incurring counter-charges of censorship,” he wrote.
On Monday, without consulting Paulin, they decided that the event would continue, but that after the reading, there would be “a forum that challenged the speaker on the subject of the permissible limits of free speech,” Buell wrote in an e-mail.
Yesterday, however, the English Department and Paulin decided together to cancel the speech.
“We suggested cancellation when it became fully clear to us that Mr. Paulin’s visit was likely to produce undue consternation and divisiveness,” Buell said. “Let me add that Mr. Paulin readily and graciously agreed.”
The protesters said they are satisfied with the resolution.
“I think that the English department was genuinely unwitting, and that they acted responsibly in the situation,” Goldberg said.
Other students, however, felt that not allowing Paulin to speak was an affront to free speech, and would hinder on-campus dialogue about the conflict. Buell received a small number of e-mails protesting the cancellation.
“Even though he might have extremist opinions, I was disappointed by cancellation. I think it’s a matter of free speech.” said Erol N. Gulay ’05, co-founder of the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee.
“It is healthy to have a dialogue.”
“I think it is a shame he didn’t get to come,” said Theresa A. Botello ’03, an English concentrator. “It would have been interesting to see a point of view that you don’t get in the U.S.”
Joshua A. Barro ’05, a member of Harvard Students for Israel, disagreed.
“What he was saying was not part of intelligent debate about Israel,” Barro said. He added that Paulin was “not merely anti-Israel or anti-occupation of territories. What he was saying is settlers ought to be shot.”
Paulin is the recipient of several awards, including the Somerset Maugham award.
He has denied accusations of Anti-Semitism in a letter to London’s Daily Telegraph, and has said that he supports peace process in the Middle East.
“Elsewhere, he has spoken out against anti-semitism, for instance, unlikely though that may seem from what has lately been circulated,” Buell said.