New School’s Antisemitism Event Tarnishes Its Noble Legacy

Imagine you saw this flier for an event:

“Racism is harmful and real. But when racism is redefined as opposition to liberal politics, critics of liberal politics become accused and targeted.”

Now imagine that the speakers invited to explore this complicated and nuanced topic were Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions, and Kellyanne Conway. 

Would it be fair to assume that these presenters plan to push a particular point of view? 

Tonight The New School will host a public panel discussion on antisemitism.

An event about antisemitism at a major campus in New York City is no simple matter. That’s why it has been difficult to get many universities and administrators to fully grapple with this issue. But, here is how the actual November 28 event flier reads:

“Antisemitism is harmful and real. But when antisemitism is redefined as criticism of Israel, critics of Israeli policy become accused and targeted more than the growing far-right. Join us for a discussion on how to combat antisemitism today.”

So the topic is not actually antisemitism, but rather the alleged misuse of the charge to demonize Israel’s critics.  A hot topic to be sure, but perhaps the event’s organizers have arranged to bring in some eminent scholars to explore this issue. Actually, they have not.

Let’s start with Linda Sarsour. Yes, she has piously condemned antisemitism, but she has also made a number of shocking statements about Israel and Jews, including this gem: “Israel should give free citizenship to U.S. politicians. They are more loyal to Israel than the American people.”  Sarsour has also said: “There is nothing creepier than Zionism,” and argued that it is impossible to be both pro-Israel and feminist because of Israel’s alleged oppression of the Palestinian people.

Two of the other panelists, Rebecca Vilkomerson and Lina Morales, are leaders of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a nominally Jewish organization calling for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against the Jewish state.  JVP is a leading anti-Israel voice on campus, whose members are best known for cheap theatrical tricks like disrupting pro-Israel events. The fourth panelist, Leo Ferguson, represents Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, a group that has been less involved in Middle East politics to be sure, but whose strategic vision calls for its members to “support struggles for liberation beyond our city, including in Israel/Palestine.”

As if the panel isn’t one-sided enough, the moderator will be Amy Goodman, a harsh critic of Israel who has stated that mainstream American journalists are biased in favor of Israel. Goodman—who burnishes her bona fides by describing herself as the descendant of Orthodox rabbis—has castigated Israel at numerous conferences and rallies, and can hardly be expected bring any balance to the proceedings.

Of course, this stacking of the deck against Israel is no reason to stop the event. Doing so would only reinforce the misplaced narrative of trying to silence Israel’s critics. The free exchange of ideas is a bedrock principle of our universities, indeed of our nation. Jews have been prime beneficiaries of the freedom of speech, and we should never call for its suppression just because we disagree with the views of the speakers.

Yet the New School’s endorsement of this program raises troubling questions that lack comforting answers. Would it sponsor a similarly one-sided discussion on the misuse of the charge of racism?  What about homophobia?  What about Islamophobia? 

Would it, or has it, sponsored any similar type of event with such a one-sided discussion on any topic other than Israel?

The answers are no. Apparently, the only interest in an exploration of the false claim of prejudice is when one talks about claims of prejudice against Jews.

Of course, Israel is a nation like any other, and its policies are subject to scrutiny and criticism. Yet ironically, in attaching its imprimatur to this one-sided event, the New School engages in the exact conduct that the event purports to decry.

A standard talking point of the BDS movement is the assertion that Israel’s advocates seek to suppress free speech by labeling all criticism as antisemitic. Yet an event so myopically focused on the unwarranted charge that cries of antisemitism are often used to silence criticism of Israel has the potential to silence those who might denounce the very real antisemitism present on college campuses across the United States.

The New School, apparently stunned by the vocal outcry over this obviously biased event, has offered to host another event in the future to be organized by its critics. This belated corrective measure is too little, too late, and would be an abdication of the university’s responsibility to make clear that politicizing the fight against antisemitism to score a few points for the far left runs counter to the values of the school.

The New School must make clear unequivocally that it recognizes antisemitism is a real problem. The founders of The New School were refugees from Nazi Germany, and knew antisemitism well. The school’s sponsorship of this event tarnishes its noble legacy.

Daniel Elbaum is the American Jewish Committee’s Assistant Executive Director.