The man, unkempt and foul-smelling, approaches a commuter in the New York City subway underground. He quietly asks for money for a cup of coffee. He’s waved away. He asks again, louder. And is again ignored. Finally, shouting, menacing, spittle flying in the commuter’s face, he screams for money for a friggin’ cup of coffee.

Police arrest him. New York had a law against “begging” in the subway. His lawyers say he was just using his right of free speech, the same way that the Salvation Army asks for money.

And the age-old First Amendment question rears its head: Where is the line drawn between protected expression and illegal action? Speech is necessary in a self-governing democratic society so the people can, as the First Amendment pointedly says, “petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” It’s vital.

But action — putting hands on security guards, seizing control of a library, pitching tents on a lawn — is not protected by freedom of speech. Even civil disobedience, a long-admired form of protest, does not include the use of violence.

And now we’re watching this dilemma spread like a democratic virus across college campuses — from Columbia in New York to Emory in Atlanta to UCLA in California. More than a cup of coffee is at stake. Protesters are “petitioning” for an end to the Israeli-Hamas war where 34,000 Palestinians have been killed after Israel invaded the Gaza Strip, in response to Hamas, a terrorist group, crossing the border and killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 253 hostages.

So many thorny questions in this First Amendment campus debate abound. Yet in some ways, it’s a perfect example of how free speech was supposed to work. Upset with how Israel has crushed a largely civilian people and brought thousands to the brink of starvation, pro-Pro-Palestinian protestors have massed on college campuses to voice their anger and prod........

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