Freedom of speech is a right protected by the Constitution and cherished by Americans, but there are times when freedom of speech turns into incitement to violence and institutions that hold democratic values sacred are tested. The University of Michigan must evaluate whether the upcoming divestment conference poses a physical threat to its students, particularly its large Jewish student population. Recent anti-Semitic riots at Concordia University and San Francisco State suggest that emotionally charged events addressing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can stir students to violence, and certainly this event fits that profile.

To evaluate whether this conference supports peace, as its organizers contend, or in fact endorses violence, the University should look first at the conference's lineup of speakers.

Dr. Sami Al-Arian gained notoriety earlier this year when the University of South Florida put him on permanent leave with the expressed intention of firing him. He is still under investigation by the FBI. The documentation of Al-Arian's open support on terrorism and anti-Semitism is extensive.

Videotapes the FBI seized from Al-Arian's home show him speaking at a large conference and referring to Jews as "monkeys and pigs." He was introduced at another conference as running "an active arm of the Islamic Jihad Movement of Palestine." After a suicide bomber from Islamic Jihad killed 21 Israeli soldiers, Al-Arian wrote a fundraising letter asking donors "to try to extend true support to the jihad effort in Palestine so that operations such as these can continue."

In a widely publicized speech in 1991, Al-Arian cried, "Let us damn America, let us damn Israel, let us damn them and their allies until death."

According to Former Justice Department prosecutor John Loftus, the Saudi government used his Florida charities to launder money to al Qaeda, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. The Tampa Tribune recently devoted a long editorial to Al-Arian's case entitled "Facts Leave No Doubt Al-Arian Abetted Terrorism."

We must question why SAFE feels it appropriate to bring such a person to campus to speak. Claiming that Al-Arian never supported terrorism because he evaded the FBI is like claiming that Al Capone was guilty only of tax evasion.

Other speakers invited to the divestment conference are no less guilty of anti-Semitism. At a 1999 conference, speaker Hatem Bazian was featured in a video shown to the crowd in which he proclaimed, "The Day of Judgment will not happen until the trees and stones will say, O Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me. Come and kill him." This phrase is often used by Islamic extremists in defense of terror attacks. Another of the conference's speakers, Na'eem Jeenah, recently wrote an article titled "Zionism is a Theory of Ethnic Cleansing and Racism," in which facts are discarded in favor of emotionally charged rhetoric and libel.

It is not difficult to identify the hypocrisy of a conference that claims to "reject any form of hatred or discrimination" yet brings in speakers for whom hatred and discrimination form the highlights of their biographies.

The University should also examine the guiding principles of the conference, displayed prominently on the conference website.

Principle No. 3 condemns "the racism and discrimination inherent in Zionism." This is an old libel of Zionism that has been thoroughly rejected. I defer to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the issue, who wrote, "You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely 'anti-Zionist'. And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountaintops... When people criticize Zionism they mean Jews ... Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land ... It is discrimination against Jews because they are Jews. In short it is anti-Semitism."

The principle that is the most infuriating is principle No. 5, which states, "it is not our place to dictate the strategies or tactics adopted by the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation." Instead of distancing itself from anti-Semitic violence, the divestment conference shows here that it is at best uninterested in the safety and security of Jews and at worst tacitly encouraging future terrorist attacks.

While respecting the freedom of speech, we must show zero tolerance for terrorism and incitement to anti-Semitic violence. The University should reconsider its decision to allow the conference to go on as planned, and distance itself as much as possible from the anti-Semitic sentiment and support for terrorism that this conference represents.

Neuman is an LSA senior and president of the group Michigan Student Zionists. He is one of two students filing a lawsuit against the University to shut down the divestment conference.