The Federalist BY: M.D. KITTLE
A petition creeps close to the language of anti-Zionists who have used the defense of free speech as a cover to call for Israel’s annihilation.
In response to the recent U.S. House of Representatives resolution equating anti-Zionism to antisemitism, a professor is soliciting faculty and staff in the University of Wisconsin system to sign a statement declaring that “criticism of the state of Israel or the political ideology of Zionism is not in and of itself antisemitic.”
University of Wisconsin Law School professor Asifa Quraishi-Landes isn’t necessarily wrong, First Amendment and academic freedom experts say. Criticizing Israel’s policies or government isn’t an act of antisemitism. But there is a fine line, particularly between critical expression and the anti-Zionism that defends ideas of the genocide of Jews and the elimination of Israel as a Jewish homeland.
Quraishi-Landes, who specializes in “comparative Islamic U.S. constitutional law,” is asking university employees to add their names to the statement following the congressional measure, which was overwhelmingly approved, 314-14, with 13 Democrats and one Republican (Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky) voting against it. Ninety-two Democrats simply voted present.
“We believe that this jeopardizes academic freedom of everyone in our university system, as detailed further in the statement,” Quraishi-Landes wrote in her letter seeking signatures on the statement. “As the title of the statement indicates, we affirm that criticism of the state of Israel and the political ideology of Zionism are not inherently antisemitic. Making this clear is an important part of the fight against antisemitism, and all forms of racial and religious bigotry on our campuses.”
As of last week, more than 140 staff and faculty members had signed the statement, some adding their support anonymously. The vast majority of the signers are from the University of Wisconsin-Madison…
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