While students can choose whether or not they want to participate in a specific event, it doesn’t seem fair that a student’s money is going toward something they are so strongly against.
This is not the first time this problem has come up. Each year there is a pro-life week on campus, which has formerly included speakers such as a former abortionist speaking out against that option. This was also funded by the SAF.

Clearly there is a problem with this system. In a college atmosphere students should be exposed to ideas different than their own, but it shouldn’t be on the student’s dime. The speaker or program should be funded by another source, like a club fundraiser.

Many of the students who opposed Finkelstein did so due to religious beliefs. (Finkelstein has said before that “Jewish elites” use the Holocaust as a way to prevent criticism of Israel.) Why should their money go toward something they fundamentally don’t believe in?

Perhaps the way SAF is run should be different. In the future, maybe students should be given an option to choose what they want their money to go toward on campus, and what they don’t want. This may alleviate some of the tension arising from events such as Finkelstein’s appearance on campus.

If students knew their money wasn’t going toward a specific event, they wouldn’t be able to protest so much. After all, we live in a country that guarantees freedom of speech, and everyone has a right to theirs.