Who’s really dealing with rising attacks on college campuses?

By Taher Herzallah
AMP National Campus Coordinator

On March 21, Republican presidential candidate John Kasich made a speech at the annual AIPAC conference in Washington D.C. In it he stated he was “concerned about the rising attacks on Israel and Jewish students on our college campuses.” He vowed to “use the full force of the White House to fight this scourge.” Toeing the common Zionist line, he stated that he wants to “protect students from hate speech, harassment and intimidation, while supporting free speech on our campuses.” The question is: who’s really dealing with harassment, intimidation and hate speech? The answer is: those who are working day in and day out for the liberation of Palestine and justice for the Palestinian people.

To be sure, all students must be protected from discrimination. Bigotry and racism are completely unacceptable. But it is dangerous to conflate criticism of state policy with anti-Semitism as it serves to chill free speech and political activity, both of which are protected under the First Amendment.

Zionism is a political ideology that calls for the dispossession of Palestinians from their homeland. It is at the heart of Israeli policies that created and maintained the occupation of Palestinian lands. Students who are critical of these Israeli policies are not anti-Semitic.

The fact of the matter is, while the University of California Regents this week unanimously approved the Statement of Principles on Intolerance, which in some ways considers anti-Zionism as a form of bigotry, those dealing with the brunt of intimidation and who are being accused of creating a ‘hostile environment’ are actually the student activists promoting equal rights for Palestinians and adherence to international law. Student organizers with Students for Justice in Palestine and other groups across the country have been attacked institutionally by the university administration, professors, and off-campus organizations, including the Israeli Embassy and consulates.

In fact, since the start of 2016, we’ve seen students under fire for engaging in constitutionally protected speech at Vassar, Pitzer, Marquette, University of Minnesota, and CUNY system schools. Since 2010, we’ve seen students speaking out against Israeli government actions arrested, suspended, denied due process, forced to go through ADL organized re-education programs, fined, and even physically beaten. Professors teaching about Palestine have been fired and denied their tenure.

While Zionist organizations like to overplay the hostile, anti-Semitic-environment-on-campus card, even the Anti-Defamation League admits that anti-Semitism is actually decreasing. In a 2015 report, the ADL states, “While such inci­dents are cer­tainly dis­turb­ing, it is important to note that these inci­dents are rel­a­tively rare, and the vast major­ity of Jew­ish stu­dents report feeling safe on their cam­puses.”

John Kasich’s concern, like that of Zionist organizations, is that mere discussion or speech against Israeli policy is causing the tide to shift on college campuses and in the political mainstream. Despite facing tremendous obstacles, the student movement on college campuses in the U.S. for Palestine has grown and continues to make huge gains.

For example, since 2012 in California, Zionist groups have proposed to shut down SJP events and have control over speakers invited. They’ve also sued three UC campuses claiming that SJPs on campus were hindering Jewish students’ learning environment. In 2015, Zionist organizations tried to get the UC Regents to pass the “3D’s” State Department definition of Anti-Semitism to label all pro-Palestine speech anti-Semitic. Finally, they tried this year to get anti-Zionism to be labeled a form of bigotry. Despite the massive support these Zionist organizations have from major donors, politicians and university leaders, they’ve failed every single time because the facts and basic fair play are not on their side. Huge credit goes to all of the free-speech and rights groups that worked diligently to fight against the UC Statement of Intolerance including the National Lawyer’s Guild, ACLU, and Jewish Voice for Peace.

These efforts to insulate Israel from any criticism cause an extremely hostile environment for students simply trying to educate the campus community about what’s happening to the Palestinian people. Worse, they actually interfere with the students’ Free Speech rights. With every push to protect Israel on an institutional level, more and more students working for justice in Palestine have to endure the fear and intimidation that comes with speaking truth to power. University administrators and faculty members continue to intimidate and place obstacles that prevent student organizers from feeling safe. For that, we are proud of these students’ courage and we stand with them and will support along the path to Palestinian freedom and equal rights.