False claims of anti-Semitism climb on US campuses: New report
Sixty false allegations of anti-Semitism have been recorded against students or faculty in the US since January “based solely on speech critical of Israeli policy,” according to a study by lawyers.
Attorneys with Palestine Solidarity Legal Support (PSLS) published a report on Monday documenting 84 incidents of repression on college campuses across the US from 1 January to 30 April in which Palestine solidarity activists and professors were targeted or smeared because of their criticism of Israel.
Twenty-four of the documented cases were incidents “involving accusations of support for terrorism made against students or faculty, based solely on speech critical of Israeli policy.”
“The surge in accusations of anti-Semitism to silence advocacy for Palestinian rights relies on the conflation of anti-Semitism with criticism of Israeli policy,” the report states.
“Attempting to dictate speech”
In recent weeks, lawmakers have attempted to codify this conflation with a resolution in the California legislature, using the US State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism that considers “demonizing,” “delegitimizing” or holding Israel to a “double standard” as anti-Semitic.
As The Electronic Intifada has reported, the US State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism is based on the European Union’s long-discredited “working definition” of anti-Semitism.
PSLS says that the State Department’s definition “is being proposed … where Israel advocacy groups are attempting to dictate what is acceptable speech when it comes to Israel.”
Backed by anti-Palestinian organizations such as the Lawfare Project — which aims to protect Israel from legal accountability — the California resolution openly labels criticism of Israel’s policies as anti-Semitic.
Dima Khalidi, director and founder of PSLS and cooperating counsel with the Center for Constitutional Rights, says in Monday’s press release that “the smearing, harassing and intimidation of Palestinian rights advocates has serious consequences.”
Khalidi adds, “Not only does it harm the reputations and careers of students and scholars, but it also encourages censorship of students and scholars, thereby trampling their First Amendment rights and limiting debate and the free exchange of ideas at our nation’s schools.”
Source: electronicintifada.net