Critics of Israel Are Being Silenced on Campuses, Charges Jewish Voice for Peace

Critics of Israel are being silenced on the nation’s college and university campuses and falsely accused of “anti-Semitism,” charges a report by Jewish Voice for Peace.

The report, titled “Stifling Dissent,” asserts that Israel advocates are using “false charges of anti-Semitism to silence critics of Israeli policies.” Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional Rights issued a similar report called “The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack in the U.S.”

The JVP report argues that Jewish communal organizations are seeking to “muzzle political criticism” of Israeli policies and threatening “constitutionally protected speech and academic freedom.” JVP accuses groups such as StandWithUs and the Zionist Organiz¬ation of America of filing false complaints with the federal government that claim campuses are hostile for Jewish students, pressure university administrators into canceling pro- Palestinian speakers and engage in “black¬listing professors.”

Dima Khalidi, director of Palestine Legal, said that intimidation of pro- Palestin¬ian students is “widespread across the country,” and that the incidents detailed in the joint report are “only the tip of the iceberg with a lot more incidents going unreported.”

According to the JVP report, “Organiz¬ations aligned with the Israeli state have invested enormous resources into countering the solidarity movement for justice and equality on college campuses … In June 2015, Sheldon Adelson … casino magnate and owner of the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, held a secret Las Vegas summit that raised up to $50 million to fight the nonviolent BDS movement on campuses.”

For years, those defending Israel have attempted to silence its critics, JVP notes, by “often deploying spurious charges of anti-Jewish bigotry, shutting down convers¬ations, and policing the boundaries of legitimate Jewish identity and acceptable debate. … They have helped shape problematic definitions of anti-Semitism in order to limit open debate on college campuses, and intimidate students, faculty and administrators … Far-right political organizations like StandWithUs, and the Zionist organization of America, as well as many prominent Jewish organizations with much broader communal mandates, such as Hillel International, Jewish Federations (specifically their Israel on Campus coalition), and the Anti-Defamation League, inter¬vene on campuses in efforts to muzzle political criticisms of Israeli policies. As a result, constitutionally protected speech and academic freedom … are under increasing threat.”

By framing such activism on behalf of Palestinian rights and criticism of Israel as “anti-Semitic,” these Israel advocates, JVP declares, “cause confusion over what is truly anti-Jewish bigotry versus political positions that cause discomfort to the Israeli government and its supporters. Students and faculty who are targeted for their political beliefs hesitate to participate in public discourse out of fear of the consequences of exercising their right to free speech.” •