Debate over a history professor who shouted an anti-Israel slogan

A professor at Kent State University last week set off a debate over appropriate and inappropriate ways to express views when he shouted "death to Israel" during the question period of a lecture by an Israeli diplomat.

The professor's remarks are being condemned by some -- including Kent State's president -- as inappropriate. But others say that he engaged in a legitimate expression of his political views.

The shout came from Julio Pino (seen at left), an associate professor of history. The speaker at whom Pino shouted was Ishmael Khaldi, formerly the deputy consul general at the Israeli consulate in San Francisco. Khaldi, as a Bedouin and Muslim, lectures on his experiences as an advocate for Israel.

According to multiple press accounts, Pino posed a question to Khaldi after his talk, and then shouted "death to Israel" and left the auditorium. It is the latter statement that has set off the controversy.

There is a wide consensus in higher education that it is appropriate for people who oppose the views of various campus speakers to ask them tough questions, to boycott, to picket outside, to invite speakers with alternative views, and so forth. In fact, such activities are routine on most campuses. There is less consensus on activities that seek in some way to interrupt a presentation or that involve shouting at a speaker.