(Jewish Group) Passing the IHRA Definition of antisemitism at the University of Minnesota (pro/con)

[Behind the Aegis]

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!)

CON

Opinion: Oppose Minnesota Hillel’s referendum to adopt the IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism

We are a group of Jewish and allied students, faculty and alumni who care deeply about the Jewish community. We write in opposition to Minnesota Hillel’s referendum for the upcoming campus elections, which encourages the University of Minnesota to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. Antisemitism is an increasingly dangerous threat to Jews and democratic values worldwide and should be taken seriously. However, the IHRA definition does not lessen the threat of antisemitism and, concerningly, has been used to conflate legitimate criticism of Israel with antisemitism, obstructing political and academic freedom.

For an educational institution that prides itself on free intellectual exchange, the referendum’s proposed adoption of the IHRA definition is extremely problematic and effectively shuts down free speech and academic freedom. We join hundreds of academics, (including more than 50 academics specializing in antisemitism, Jewish and Holocaust history), Jewish, civil rights and academic organizations, and the Union of Reform Judaism in opposing the IHRA definition’s legal use and codification. Although Minnesota Hillel’s referendum is nonbinding, we believe the IHRA definition has no place at the University since it has already been wielded against free speech at other universities to distressing effects.

In spaces where the IHRA definition has been codified, it has been used to silence those, especially Palestinians, who are critical of Israeli human rights abuses and violations of international law. Independent Jewish Voices Canada documented 38 instances of the IHRA definition being used to criminalize criticism of Israel in North America and western Europe. In addition, under former President Trump, the State Department weaponized the IHRA definition to declare the groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as “antisemitic.” The danger of the referendum lies in the broad nature of the IHRA definition, as well as a clause that defines antisemitism as “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of the State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” While individuals who support oppressive policies toward Palestinians may feel uncomfortable listening to condemnations of structural racism and colonialism in Israel, to say that such speech is antisemitic is outrageous. Since more than half of the 11 examples of antisemitism in the IHRA definition are about Israel, we remain concerned that it will be used to silence all criticism of Israel — not just in regards to its treatment of Palestinians, but also in regards to its asylum policies, arms sales and the fact that, under international law, the current state of Israel has been an occupying power for over half a century.

The IHRA definition suppresses free speech, a First Amendment right. The lead author of the IHRA working definition, Kenneth Stern, has stated publicly in multiple op-eds and testified in Congress that it was not written to be an official hate speech code and that its use as such by the Trump administration and campus groups “is an attack on academic freedom and free speech, and will harm not only pro-Palestinian advocates, but also Jewish students and faculty, and the academy itself.” After Florida State University adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism, one professor reportedly stopped teaching about Israel-Palestine for fear of repercussions. We are concerned about a similar muting of academic discourse at the University of Minnesota. Where the IHRA definition is codified into policy, it discourages students and professors from discussing Israel and Palestine, and from investigating issues of nationalism and world conflict more broadly. Former President Trump’s Executive Order 13899, based on the IHRA definition, prompted condemnation from the editorial boards of three major newspapers, showing this issue has repercussions beyond the academy.

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PRO

Opinion: For the upcoming campus referendum, vote “yes” on #1 to fight antisemitism

Students at the University of Minnesota need to look no further than our own backyard to see that hate-based crimes are on the rise. Racists, white supremacists and extremists are emboldened, violently attacking minorities. Those of us who are part of a minority community cannot help but see ourselves in the victims of these hate crimes. Could that woman who was attacked have been my aunt? Could the man who was sucker-punched have been my grandfather? Could I be next? These are thoughts that have crossed the minds of many fellow students from minority backgrounds at least at some point in their lives.

As Jewish students, these are the terror-based thoughts we face on a daily basis, and they are not just a product of catastrophes and traumas of the past. These fears are ignited by real-life events happening here and now in our country and in this state. Hate crimes in the United States rose to the highest level in more than a decade in 2019. According to a New York Times article dated November 2020, the overall increase was attributed to a rise in attacks against Jews and Hispanics. In 2019, there were 953 antisemitic crimes, an increase of 14% from the previous year; 527 hate crimes against Latinos, an increase of 9%. The FBI reported that Black people are targeted at twice the level that they represent in the American population, and now we’re seeing a dangerous rise of hate crimes against the Asian American community.

Over and over again, we have witnessed the dangerous intersection of white supremacy and hatred of minorities. Not too far from the University, George Floyd was murdered by those who had sworn to protect, and, most recently in Atlanta, eight Asian women were slaughtered in their places of work. For many of these hateful individuals, anti-Jewish animus, constructed on wild conspiracy theories, forms the foundation of their hatred. This insidious hatred drove a man to murder 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018. According to the murderer’s manifesto, he targeted the synagogue for having donated to HIAS, an organization that works to protect refugees who have been forced to flee their homelands. In the same vein, antisemitic hostility inspired the Charlottesville rioters to chant “the Jews will not replace us” and “blood and soil,” a Nazi rallying cry. And insurrectionist t-shirts lauding that 6WME, “6 million wasn’t enough,” and boasting “Camp Auschwitz” point to a frightening renaissance of Nazi-inspired Jewish loathing.

In Minneapolis, a bus stop outside a synagogue was vandalized with swastikas and the words “Seig Heil, Heil Hitler, Trump 2020.” In St. Paul, the words “Free Palestine,” “Fuck Zionism” and “Solidarity STP-Palestine” were spray-painted on the pavement outside a synagogue. And at the University, it is not uncommon for Jewish students to be aggressively questioned on the basis of their religious beliefs and ostracized from social groups. Many of our peers hide away Jewish identifiers like their Star of David or yarmulke, a skull cap, to escape inevitable harassment.

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