A resolution passed overwhelmingly this week by the Assembly, which encourages institutions of higher learning in California to discourage anti-Semitism on campus, was attacked by free-speech advocates who think it goes too far.

The Council of Islamic Relations was joined by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Asian Law Caucus, Jewish Voice for Peace and the University of California in decrying the resolution’s entreaty that anti-Semitic activities “not be tolerated in the classroom or on campus, and that no public resources be allowed to be used for anti-Semitic or intolerant agitation.”

The non-binding resolution’s sponsors said they had in mind activities like the annual Israel Apartheid Week on many campuses that mocks Israeli checkpoints by portraying Israeli soldiers as indiscriminately harassing Palestinians. The demonstrations frequently caricature Israelis as Nazis and accuse Israel of genocide.

The resolution, HR 35, also noted instances of swastikas being displayed in campus residential halls; on-campus boycott, divestment and sanction campaigns; and “actions of student groups that encourage support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.”

But First Amendment advocates said the resolution does not differentiate between extreme behavior and that which could reasonably be construed as opposition to political and military behavior by Israel. The resolution, they say, confuses anti-Semitic speech and behavior with legitimate disagreement over the policies and actions of a nation.  

HR 35 references anti-Semitism in some form 22 times and Israel 14 times.

The resolution cites a unanimous vote by the U.S. Senate in 2009 that “unequivocally condemns all forms of anti-Semitism and rejects attempts to rationalize anti-Jewish hatred or attacks as a justifiable expression of disaffection or frustration over political events in the Middle East or elsewhere.” And it notes that in 2006 the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights “recommended that colleges and universities ensure that students are protected from actions that could create a hostile anti-Semitic environment.”

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

California State Assembly Seeks to Stifle Debate on Israel (by Stephen Zunes, Huffington Post)

Anti-Semitism on Campus Denounced in Assembly (by Hannah Dreier, Associated Press)

UC Rejects Anti-Semitism Resolution (by Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle)

HR 35 (California Legislative Information)