"We must fight against antisemitism, but we equally need to protect our rights, including our right to free speech, and neither goal should nor needs to be sacrificed on the altar of the other."
"It's very important to understand that antisemitism has been a problem on the college campus for a long time, and that most people did not pay attention to it until Oct. 7."
"It's also really important to understand that the leadership of the Republican Party had, well before Oct. 7, been planning an attack on the university."
"no question, as I see it, that antisemitism has become instrumentalized to do something that the administration and the current leadership has long wanted to achieve."
A federal judicial opinion emphasized balancing the fight against antisemitism with protecting free speech rights, warning against sacrificing one for the other. An annual survey of roughly 478 chief academic officers found 88 percent view antisemitism as a problem on campus, yet only 20 percent support recent federal interventions like those at Harvard and Columbia. Those interventions have been unprecedented in scope and speed and have resulted in suspension of billions in unrelated research funds. Antisemitism on campuses predated October 7, 2023, with incident reports surging afterward. Political instrumentalization of antisemitism risks exacerbating campus tensions and undermining institutional autonomy.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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