WOULD YOU HIRE...?

On the day after the barbaric Hamas invasion of Israel, in which the terrorists killed or wounded 3,000 men, women, and children and kidnapped several hundred, a number of college student organizations blamed Israel for the attack. The Hamas attack was, in their view, justified and caused by Israel’s position in the politically tortuous history of Israel’s “occupation” of the West Bank. In other words, the Hamas murder, and kidnapping of unarmed Israeli civilians of all ages was Israel’s fault, not Hamas.

Any number of these pro-Hamas views were publicly reflected in statements published by various student groups on the campuses of prominent universities, such as Harvard, Penn, ( and my alma mater NYU Law School.) 

Not surprisingly, some grownups were taken aback.

 

The prominent law firm of Winston & Strawn, upon learning that three of its summer associates who had received permanent offers were members of pro-Hamas groups, promptly rescinded the employment offers. Doubtless, other professional firms are facing similar issues as well. (I am pleased to report that Brad Karp, my distant successor as Chairman of Paul, Weiss, issued a statement “unequivocally condemning the Hamas attack and standing in solidarity with Israel.”) 

In addition to the hiring issue, a number of prominent US business leaders urged alumni to curtail monetary support of universities that made or tolerated pro-Hamas statements.

Naturally enough, these pro-Israel, and anti-Hamas statements and actions by law firms and business leaders have produced a fierce negative reaction from the extreme left. Indeed, this yesterday's New York Times suggests much of this reaction is from ultra-liberal Jewish groups.

As I see it the defenders of the Hamas attack raise two points: 

First, they dislike Netanyahu (and so do I) and blame him for Israel's current position with regard to the intractable West Bank problem, as well as a number of internal Israeli political issues in which Netanyahu moves further to the right. (The West Bank issue has been the subject of discussion and negotiation for scores of years, and any number of efforts at a solution have failed. It is not a subject of this piece, other than to say there is arguably a fair amount of blame that can be assigned to each side.)

Second, the dissidents raise First Amendment issues. They claim they have a right to speak their mind and take positions that are not only unpopular but are offensive to the majority of the population.

As to the first point, Israel could possibly have done more to solve the thorny political problem, but the notion that this justifies the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas is, IMHO, borderline insane. 

Second, the First Amendment argument is evidence of an unequivocally ignorant view of our Constitution. The only thing barred by the Amendment is government abridgment of speech. There is nothing in the First Amendment that requires law firms to hire morons or holders of any particular political views. For example, law students are free to parade wearing brown shirts and swastika armbands, and law firms are free to decide to reject any applicant who does so. Similarly, law firms are free to conclude that anyone who thinks the horrific Hamas attack was Israel's fault fails to exhibit the kind of intelligence and logical thinking they seek to help them solve their client’s legal problems.

Bottom line, the First Amendment grants absolute freedom to you to believe Hamas was justified in invading Israel and killing and kidnapping thousands of people, and it guarantees you the right to join organizations of like-minded persons.  But there is nothing in that Amendment that bars me from concluding you are far too stupid to represent me or my clients and there is nothing in that Amendment that bars me from refusing to hire you or refusing to contribute to your scholarship fund--and urging others to do likewise.

Duh.

A bientot.

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