Thread by @YousefMunayyer

The @nytimes wrote an editorial that slammed Trump's executive order. That's good, but at the same time, it was deeply problematic.
nytimes.com/2019/12/11/opi…

Here's why:

@nytimes The editorial points out Trump's own antisemitism and makes clear how dangerous growing white nationalist politics are and how that should be the focus of the effort to address rising antisemitism. But this, below, is where the editorial really goes wrong.

@nytimes Yes, the target of Trump's action is definitely Palestinian rights activism on campus. But evidence actually does not support the claim that this activism created a hostile environment for Jews on campus. Let's review some of it:

@nytimes A recent @Stanford study on Jewish students and Israel-Palestine on campus at 5 California Universities found that respondents “reported feeling comfortable on their campuses, and, more specifically, comfortable as Jews.” stanford.app.box.com/v/Safeandonthe…

@nytimes @Stanford A study by @BrandeisU looking at 4 campuses found “Jewish students do not think their campus is hostile to Jews.” brandeis.edu/ssri/pdfs/camp…

@nytimes @Stanford @BrandeisU Additionally, it found of Jewish students hearing criticism of Israel on campus 80% say they "do not perceive the majority of this criticism as anti-Semitic and do not feel that they as Jews are held personally accountable for Israel’s actions." More: forward.com/opinion/435800…

@nytimes @Stanford @BrandeisU That is all good news. And it is all empirical evidence that flies in the fact of the claim taken for granted in the NYT Editorial about Palestinian rights activism. What is more disturbing is the anecdote the NYT editorial uses to buttress this spurious claim.

@nytimes @Stanford @BrandeisU What the times editorial neglects to mention is that @EmoryUniversity looked into this and "found no evidence that individual students, or a particular group, were targeted."

news.emory.edu/stories/2019/0…

@nytimes @Stanford @BrandeisU @EmoryUniversity So the single example the NYT Editorial points to to support a claim that is itself unsupported by the empirical evidence, is also misleading based on the facts. That's some weak sauce right there. Cursory research would have uncovered this.

@nytimes @Stanford @BrandeisU @EmoryUniversity What is also very unfortunate is the false dichotomy presented between Jewish students and Palestinian rights activists. In reality, a growing number of young Jewish students are speaking out on Palestinian rights.

@nytimes @Stanford @BrandeisU @EmoryUniversity It is Palestinian rights activism under greatest threat on campus, now facing the heavy hand of the state. While Palestinian students are most vulnerable, students of all backgrounds, including Jewish students, are part of the Palestinian rights movmnt & are subject to silencing.

@nytimes @Stanford @BrandeisU @EmoryUniversity I spoke on many campuses over the years and one of the most inspiring things I have seen over time is the growing diversity of the movement to support Palestinian rights on college campuses. Despite these desperate repression efforts, the movement will continue to grow.