by Oliver Wilson 
March 26, 2024

Traversing through bustling halls and classrooms full of discourse, one phrase alone stood out in the direct aftermath of a terrorist attack on Israel: ”Mashallah”. Though the phrase, which translates to ”God has willed it” is not an inherently offensive term, the implications of this message in the wake of the then recent attacks, and the lack of opposing views, are stark, and shine a light on the failure of Lab to encourage diversity of expression.

Every Lab faculty member had used the same narrative regarding this conflict: the oppression by the Israeli government. This biased emphasis on the past wrong-doings of the Israeli government in the context of the October 7th massacres is a distraction and a mere justification of the terrors of the Hamas-orchestrated attacks. We must realize that although the actions of Hamas that past weekend do not represent the Palestinian people, they certainly do not deserve undisputed and biased justification, especially in the face of murdered children, raped women, and elderly hostages, from Lab faculty. 
Having walked down the halls and hearing what sounded like resounding support for Palestine despite these gruesome attacks indicates the dire need for the creation of an environment in which diverse perspectives can be expressed. We must realize that the personal views of a high school teacher do not provide educational value, and these subjects should be taught objectively.

Although I personally believe that these atrocities were not willed by any divine force but were instead godless acts, we must nevertheless embrace freedom of expression. As the Chicago Canon on Free Inquiry and Expression preface by Paul Alivisatos states: meaningful conclusions can only be a product of the belief that ”ideas are not only a matter of individual genius, but collective conversation which an academic institution has a duty to nurture.”

In order to encourage diversity of expression, we must revert to an objective standard of teaching, in which teacher bias and selective material is eliminated.