I wish I could say I am surprised that Brandeis University has withdrawn its invitation to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Brandeis was set to give Hirsi Ali an honorary doctorate, but she wasn’t good enough for the Coalition of the Oppressed.

In October 2010, I went to Brandeis to accompany my roommate Christopher Kain who was invited to give a poetry reading there. When we entered the main campus building we were greeted by this sign:

FREE GILAD SHALIT
 AND THE 6,011 PALESTINIANS BEING HELD 
IN ISRAELI JAILS

I should explain the font size for AND THE 6,011 PALESTINIANS BEING HELD IN ISRAELI JAILS was at least ten times larger than FREE GILAD SHALIT. 

The fact that an ostensibly Jewish university has greater sympathy for jailed Palestinians (many of who murdered Israelis) than a kidnapped Israeli soldier should tell you everything you need to know about the values of Brandeis University.