Disturbing lines that Colombia is drawing

In 2005, the European Institute, the European Institute, founded by the European Institute, published a “work definition” of anti-Semitism on its website. It describes anti-Semitism to some extent as “a certain view of the Jews, which may be expressed as hatred of the Jews.” The 11 examples of anti-Semitism that followed were even less precise, many of which focused on Israel. These include “denied the Jewish right to self-determination, for example, the existence of the state of Israel is a racist effort,” [Israel] No other democratic country expects or requires behavior. ”

In the twenty years since its introduction, most major anti-Semitist scholars have not endorsed this definition, in part because critics believe it blurs the line between hostility toward Jews and criticism of Israel. On the political stage, it’s a different story, where the acceptance of definition is really surprising. In 2016, the intergovernmental organization International Holocaust Memorial Alliance (IHRA) adopted a slightly changed version of the definition. To date, despite the lack of precision of the definition, more than 40 governments have adopted it. In his forthcoming book,About Anti-Semitism,” historian Mark Mazower argues that for some of the constituents of definitions, it is ambiguous, not a drawback. This definition emerged in opposition to anti-Semitism campaigns, precisely on increasing priorities and a highly effective fundraising tool, as well as the ultimate attitude of these organizations, such as the American Jewish Council and anti-cold slander. It seems to be declining, but “new anti-Semitism” manifests itself as demonization of Israel.

This development will shock the founders of Israel, many of whom believe that the establishment of a Jewish state will eliminate anti-Semitism. (“You are still doing this, saving Jews from anti-Semitism?” David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, Ariya. ) It would also shock the organizers of the ADL Anti-Semitism Conference in New York in 1962, where participants discussed right-wing extremism but did not mention Israel. By the early two thousand millennia, politics changed as major American Jewish groups joined forces with advocates such as Israeli Minister Natan Sharansky, who was appointed chairman of the Israeli institutions, known as the Coordination Forum against Anti-Semitism, to mobilize around the issue and re-list the ideological battle lines. As Mazower observes in his writings, anti-Semitism cuts off from a broader struggle with other forms of discrimination and changes from being associated with political rights to being linked to the left, where many of Israel’s most voiced critics can be found. Mazower suggests that it is especially useful for those who wish to silence such critics, the broad definition of anti-Semitism can be applied to a wide range of expressions.

No politician has used the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism more than President Donald Trump. In 2019, Trump signed an executive order specifying Chapter 6 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “Forms of Discrimination Rooted in Anti-Semitism” and recommended that federal agencies consider the IHRA definition when investigating complaints. Recently, the Trump administration has threaten If sixty universities have “potential law enforcement actions” if they cannot protect Jewish students from discrimination. On July 23, Colombia reached a settlement with the government, demanding it pay $2 million to the government over the next three years and expand its “commitment to combat anti-Semitism” in exchange for a restored federal grant. Ten days ago, Colombia incorporated the anti-Semitism definition of anti-Semitism into the work of the anti-discrimination policy and its office of institutional equity.

Mazower has taught in Colombia since 2004. Like most faculty members, he did not consult on decisions that adopted the IHRA definition. Kenneth Stern is not the lead writer either. In recent years, Stern, a lawyer who worked from 1985 to 2010, worked as an anti-Semitism expert on the American Jewish Council, expressed frustration at the definition of citation lawsuits by pro-Israeli groups to file lawsuits to provide courses and programs against Israeli vocational professions to violate academic differences and violations and the purpose of academic differences and definitions. exist”Conflict conflict“A book on how Israel-Palestine debates in higher education go on, he insists that the definition was originally intended to help data collectors collect statistics on anti-Semitism, and that it is used to curb political speeches “one of the most important threats to today’s campuses.” ”

Two years ago, when demonstrations against the Gaza War began on Rui University’s campus, many universities invited Stern to drive turbulently. One of the schools was Columbia, where he gave a speech on the subject at the Butler Library. Stern recently told me that he emphasized the importance of maintaining academic freedom. “I said, if you’re going to make a decision, ask yourself this question,” he recalled. “Will it help academic freedom, will it damage academic freedom, or is it neutral? If it helps, it will get buy from teachers. If it damages academic freedom, it will backfire.” When Stern learned about Columbia’s reconciliation with the Trump administration, he concluded that his advice was not paid attention. “I don’t think it’s any good,” he said of the agreement, thinking it would make it impossible for teachers to do their jobs. ”

Colombia insists that the settlement is the formulation of “protecting what defines our values.” In the nearest one article exist Colombian audienceTwo sociologists at the university, Gil Eyal and Peter Bearman, disagree, noted that scholars who perform comparative studies of genocide may find themselves accused of anti-Semitism, including Israel’s current campaign in Gaza. According to the IHRA definition, “contemporary Israeli policy is compared with that of the Nazi policy” is considered anti-Semitism. They pointed out that without such a comparison, it would be even difficult to discuss whether the war in Gaza constitutes genocide. A few days before their article was published, the author of Rashid HallidayA century of war against Palestine“and professor emeritus of modern Arab studies, published publicly letter exist guardian A letter to Colombia Acting President Claire Shipman, who announced that he will teach courses in the Middle East this fall as the school adopts the IHRA definition. “A brief description of the nature of the discriminatory nature of Israel’s state law in 2018 – points out that only Jews have the right to self-determination in Israel, with half of the subjects being Palestinians – or in the control of millions of Palestinians, in the midst of the millions of rule over military occupation, it is impossible to define it in Middle Eastern history for 58 years. Marianne Hirsch, daughter of genocide scholars and Holocaust survivors, Indicated She is considering not teaching anymore because she is not sure if she can continue to assign such asEichmann of Jerusalem,” said Hannah Arendt, a book by Hannah Arendt – a critic of Zionism and arguably the most influential Jewish thinker of the 20th century.