Not sure we needed any more proof that leftist students at elite schools have lost their minds, but here it is anyway. A progressive city councilmember in Oakland, Dan Kalb, was invited to speak to a class on environmentalism. This made sense because Kalb had been a professional advocate for environmental policy for decades, including at the Sierra Club.

Kalb had also spoken to previous sections of this same class several times but this time was different. Students in the class scoured his social media accounts and discovered that he had condemned Hamas and supported Israel’s right to defend itself. That was enough for them to demand his invitation be rescinded.

Days prior to the event, Kurt Spreyer, the course instructor and an adjunct professor, contacted Kalb and shared a strongly worded letter that had been composed and co-signed by more than 30 students.

The letter, which was seen by J., alleged a litany of crimes committed by Israel, including environmental harms that the students said “forever chang[ed] the ecology of a once flourishing community and landscape.” The letter accused Kalb of playing an “active role in retweeting and spreading pro-Israeli propaganda, which often equates pro-Palestinian voices as ‘anti-Semitic.’”…

“As an Oakland City Council member with a platform advocating for environmental and social justice, affordable housing, and universal access to health care, among other things, it is utterly disappointing and hypocritical for someone of your esteem to be in support of the apartheid state of Israel and the current and ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” the letter said.

Kalb noted that his planned speech had nothing to do with Israel and that Israel had never come up before in prior presentations to this class. The professor leading the class told Kalb he tried to push back on the students attempt to deplatform him, but they were adamant about it. Ultimately the professor was concerned that if Kalb did come under the circumstances the situation might escalate to student protests of the kind that get lots of attention beyond the campus. So, reluctantly, he rescinded the invitation. Kalb didn’t blame the professor, who is a neighbor of his, but saw his deplatforming by the students as a clear case of bigotry.

Kalb described the Cal students’ behavior as maddening and, in his view, plainly bigoted.

“If someone wants to go speak about climate change — they are an expert on climate change — what the hell does Israel or Zionism have to do with that?” Kalb said. “Why not put a yellow star on our sleeve? How about we do that too?”

Here’s an example of the kind of things the students objected to him posting on social media.

I’ve been condemning the murderous Hamas terrorists repeatedly.
I was in Israel back in March of this year including at Kibbutz Kfar Aza. My heart is broken.
There is no ‘but’ here. Hamas must be unequivocally condemned and, if possible, dismantled so this never happens again.

— Dan KALB (@DanKalb) October 12, 2023

Last month the Oakland City Council approved a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. That meeting turned into a real mess when a Jewish group asked for the inclusion of language condemning Hamas’ 10/7 attack on Israel. Dan Kalb introduced that language but it was voted down 6-2:

“Downplaying, or worse yet, rationalizing the Oct. 7 mass murder by Hamas as legitimate resistance is sad, ridiculous, and antithetical to promoting peace,” Kalb said.

In response to the efforts to condemn Hamas several people spoke up defending the group.

Last night the Oakland City Council voted on a resolution to call for a ceasefire.

A city council member tried to insert language condemning Hamas.

This was the reaction… pic.twitter.com/r7aTb2mkrQ

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 28, 2023

Apparently these speakers are in line with Berkeley students. Both seem to see any criticism of Hamas as illegitimate and disqualifying.