I am at a loss to understand how this article passed Viewpoints’ fact-checking process. Editorial corrections and apologies should be issued at once for the following claims:

1) Coyne alleges that SJP’s latest op-ed “justif[ies] the butchery of Hamas against Israelis.” This is an outright lie. SJP has never, either in their recent op-ed or in previous statements, made any attempt to “justify” violence against Israeli civilians. On the contrary, SJP devotes an entire paragraph of their op-ed to distinguishing between legitimate war *aims* and illegitimate war *conduct*. In that paragraph, they explicitly speak of “Palestinian war crimes” committed on October 7 and analogize them to “atrocities” committed by Nat Turner’s men, the ANC, and the French Resistance. It is true that SJP argues against “emphasizing” Hamas’ war crimes as a means of diverting attention from the “structural causes of violence” (e.g., the context of Israel’s military occupation), but it is simply slanderous to call this a justification of acts that SJP’s own statement describes as war crimes and atrocities.

2) Coyne alleges that Palestinian groups engaged in “the slaughter and torture of around 1,200 civilians” on October 7. Putting aside the rapidly growing body of evidence that a considerable percentage of that day’s deaths were inflicted by the Israeli military itself, there is no basis whatsoever for Coyne’s claim that 1,200 civilians died at anyone’s hands on October 7. In fact, not even the outdated article cited by Coyne backs up this claim: it reports that Israel’s mid-November estimate of the day’s total deaths hovered around 1,200, but says nothing about the number of civilian deaths in particular. It is alarming that Viewpoints fact-checkers failed to spot an omission as key as this. In reality, according to Israel’s latest social security data, “The final death toll from the attack is now thought to be *695 Israeli civilians*, including 36 children, as well as 373 security forces and 71 foreigners, giving a total of 1,139.” So, Coyne’s civilian death figure is off-base by a margin of almost 2:1, and he provides no source at all to support his claim that *all* such deaths were inflicted by Palestinian militants – a claim that not even Israeli police concur with. Given the diligence with which I have personally seen Viewpoints fact-checkers scrutinize other articles, and the kinds of factually uncontroversial claims I have seen them require sources for, I am puzzled as to why these same individuals gave a pass to Coyne.

3) Coyne accuses SJP of “deplatforming a group of peacefully assembled Jewish students” during an October rally. SJP did nothing of the sort. Having personally been there, I can attest that what happened is this: Maroons for Israel and other groups decided to hold a rally immediately adjacent to the area where they knew SJP and UCUP would be mobilizing/chanting, as the latter had been doing every day since October 12. Before the pro-Israel rally began, an SJP leader spoke with a pro-Israel student leader, exchanged phone numbers with her, and agreed to monitor the situation in order to ensure that no physical confrontation ensued. He then spoke in a megaphone (twice) imploring pro-Palestinian students to refraining from confronting, antagonizing, or interacting with pro-Israel students during the rally. While it is true that SJP/UCUP engaged in chants during high-traffic periods – as they had been doing every day, and as they told the pro-Israel student leader they would continue to do on that day – they did nothing to specifically *target,* much less “deplatform,” the group of counter-protestors who had chosen to position themselves directly beside them. Moreover, the only physical confrontation that ensued on that day was when a pro-Israel student approached the SJP/UCUP rally, called one of its nonwhite participants a “terrorist,” and attempted to swat a megaphone out of her hand. SJP members intervened at once to deescalate the situation and establish a clear divide between the two rallies.

(4) Coyne declares that “SJP does not aim to further campus discourse about the Israel–Hamas war, but rather to bully the rest of us into accepting their ideological views.” This is yet another lie, not only lacking in evidence but completely opposed to it. As anyone who has spent time on the quad can attest, SJP members have devoted countless hours to speaking with students of differing ideological backgrounds, answering questions posed by those who approach their table, organizing educational events and initiatives, and even engaging in respectful conversation with counter-protestors willing to do the same. What evidence exists to justify Coyne’s claim that SJP’s aim is to “bully” rather than educate the UChicago community? And more importantly, why didn’t Viewpoints see fit to require any?

(5) Finally, Coyne declares that SJP’s mission is “to promote Hamas.” He cites no source to support this claim, presumably because none exists. SJP UChicago has a long and accessible track record of published statements, recorded talks, and social media posts. Were SJP’s mission really to “promote Hamas,” surely some scintilla of evidence could be dug up indicating support for the group to which they are so “ideological[ly]” devoted. But again, none exists. Look all you want. This claim is a concoction of Professor Coyne’s imagination. The question is why Viewpoints fact-checkers saw no reason to challenge it, or even to request supporting evidence.

It’s important to underscore that these are factual objections, not ideological ones. I understand that Viewpoints is committed to publishing a range of perspectives – including, apparently, those supportive of an ongoing genocide. That isn’t my concern here. My concern is that, just one year after Viewpoints issued a formal apology for publishing slanderous lies about SJP, it is doing the same thing all over again. This would be unacceptable under any circumstance, but it is especially disgraceful in a political moment such as this. As it is, Palestinian solidarity movements are being slandered and suppressed by US lawmakers, Palestinian Americans are being murdered, pro-Palestinian demonstrators are facing violent attacks – all against the backdrop of a horrific US-backed genocide in Gaza. That Viewpoints would choose to publish an article as openly slanderous and factually baseless as Coyne’s in this moment reflects something worse than journalistic sloppiness: it reflects indifference to the very real threats such defamation poses to already bereaved and fearful Palestinians in the UChicago community.