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Ken Stern, who actually wrote IHRA's working definition of anti-Semitism, lays out exactly how it is being weaponized by rightwing Jews in order to suppress campus speech. No one should be under any illusions here.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
This is part of a coordinated, well-funded campaign across America. As Stern notes, it failed in California back in 2015, but last May it succeeded in Florida. The IHRA definition is now written into that state's anti-discrimination act word for word.

tampabay.com/florida-politi…
A similar, albeit temporary, act was passed in South Carolina last year as part of a must-pass budget bill.

postandcourier.com/news/antisemit…
You will not be surprised to learn that these bills are being written and disseminated by ALEC. In FOIA'd emails, one rep. crowed about how "Students for Justice in Palestine is now treated the same way as the Klu Klux Klan -- as they should be."

theguardian.com/us-news/2019/o…
As I've noted, Canada has adopted the IHRA definition as well, again with the explicit purpose of censoring pro-Palestinian campus activism. And I mean *explicit*. The MPs were very forthright about their goal.

universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-…
Dozens of other countries and sub-national governments, as well as the EU, have adopted or endorsed the definition. Attempts failed in Tennessee, California, and British Columbia, but efforts continue. A bill was tabled in Ontario just a few days ago.

ijvcanada.org/ontario-parlia…
This attack on campus free speech can be resisted. The failures in Tennessee, etc. prove that. Typically, supporters have had to make an end run around legislatures, relying on executive acts as in the US and Canada.
But there are a lot of people willing to look the other way, including those normally quite hawkish on civil liberties and campus free speech. I have yet to read any commentary on Trump's EO from Bari Weiss or Bret Stephens, and Ben Shapiro is thrilled with it.
Even David French, former president of FIRE (which strongly opposes Trump's EO) has been remarkably silent. In the past, he has even expressed support for the IHRA definition. Chilling.

I do not know whether the IHRA definition and Trump's EO represent the gravest single threat to campus free speech overall. Probably not. But it is the threat that reveals, like no other, the hypocrisy of so many fair-weather boosters of campus free speech.
It's all rather depressing.
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Jeffrey Sachs
@JeffreyASachs
Fine and good, but a few thoughts in response.

The absence of electoral turnover in the House would attract a lot more attention and alarm if it weren't countered by frequent Senate and Presidential turnover. So that's Thing One.
Thing Two is that I only began with Gingrich because one must begin somewhere. I could begin with Nixon, if you'd prefer! But that's a little bit of snarky, unfair play on my part. Does 1994 really inaugurate some new, dangerous phase? I think so, but I'm open to the counter.
Lastly, "What did those norms ever do for the GOP?" Well, the Reagan Revolution comes to mind. The destruction of the New Deal coalition. The conservative capture of the SCOTUS, which was achieved in the 1980s, I'll remind you. Not the 2000s. And so forth.
Read 7 tweets
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Jeffrey Sachs
@JeffreyASachs
This piece, from @michaelbd, is something every liberal should read. It's smart. But I don't think MBD quite captures here the liberal position, nor why his argument is likely to be so poorly received on the Left. So I'll try to explain.

nationalreview.com/2019/12/trump-…
@michaelbd For a certain type of liberal or Leftist, the response to MBD's piece is, essentially, "We told you so."

It's considered impolite and unproductive to say that, but it's what a lot of libs think, and not unreasonably so.
@michaelbd They'll go on: "For many long years now, through Gingrich and DeLay and Palin, we warned you about the GOP's assault on procedural, ideological, and rhetorical norms. How while conservatism would be the first to be corrupted, American government would surely be the second.
Read 24 tweets
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Jeffrey Sachs
@JeffreyASachs
Holy censorship, @mcgillu! Administrators at McGill (my alma mater) threatened to pull funding for the student newspaper unless it printed a Letter to the Editor supportive of Israel and Zionism. Understandably, the paper capitulated.

Let me explain. It's complicated.
@mcgillu The McGill Daily is an independent, student-run newspaper that receives financial support from the university. Last September, it printed a glossary of various terms used in activist circles, e.g. sex work, gentrification, etc.

It also included this definition of Zionism.
@mcgillu Two McGill law students took offense at this definition and wrote a Letter to the Editor. The Daily's editors, however, declined to print it, explaining that its "dehumanization of the Palestinian people" violates their paper's anti-racism policy.

mcgilldaily.com/policies/
Read 10 tweets

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nomad
@Sasha24209291
@LahavHarkov Not so fast. This is far too important for glib invalidation of concerns. As Section 2 (i) the NON-LEGALLY BINDING working definition of anti Semitism adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which states:
@LahavHarkov Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews..”
@LahavHarkov t is non legally binding- therefore NOT covered by Article VI of the civil rights act - does this mean that it is necessary to classify Jewish people by RACE or NATIONALITY to have legally binding protection?
We need legal experts to interpret
Read 7 tweets
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Billy Bragg
@billybragg
Been getting some negative responses to my comment that Chris Williamson is part of the problem that Labour has with anti-semitism, rather than the solution. Here's a thread explaining why I believe this to be the case.
2. For those who don't know, the MP was suspended because of 'a pattern of behaviour' that included his complaint that the Labour Party had been 'too apologetic' about anti-semitism within its ranks
3. A number of those who responded to my post demanded to know what is anti-semitic about this comment. While it is true that CW's words do not contravene the IHRA working definition of anti-semitism, they do express a shocking disregard for Jewish sensitivities.
Read 13 tweets
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Michael Bueckert
@mbueckert
The Canadian Government is officially adopting the #IHRA definition of antisemitism, which according to @CIJAinfo includes "anti-Zionism" as well as virtually any criticism of the Israeli government which they consider to be unfair.
This is from @CIJAinfo's press release celebrating Canada's adoption of IHRA, where they explicitly say that "anti-Zionism," "double standards," and "demonization" count as antisemitism under the definition. cija.ca/press-release-…
Left: @CIJAinfo describing what now counts as antisemitism under Canada's new definition

Right: Eschel Rhoodie in 1969 complaining about the unfair treatment of South Africa
Read 15 tweets
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Jewhadi™
@JewhadiTM
Jews and Jewish Anti-Semites Collide in California frontpagemag.com/fpm/273903/jew…
On the last weekend of May, two very different responses to anti-Semitism came out of California.

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, whose courageous response to a Neo-Nazi shooting at his synagogue in Poway won the hearts of a nation, headed off to appear at a Jerusalem Day event.
Jerusalem Day or Yom Yerushalayim is a popular celebration in Israel commemorating the liberation of Jerusalem from its Islamic conquerors.
Read 13 tweets
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Howard Lovy
@Howard_Lovy
Anti-Semitism predates Israel, predates the Holocaust, predates the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Romans. It has been a persistent drumbeat throughout history. Those who use the most-modern excuses to hate or scapegoat Jews are simply another beat in an ancient rhythm.
Anti-Semitism is the most ancient of conspiracy theories, one that adapts to every era. From right to left, anti-Semitism seeks out Jews, defines them as a power far beyond their real numbers, then denies them humanity, nationhood, legitimacy, and in many cases life itself.
Those who believe Israel should be condemned above all nations, who are ignorant of history beyond the latest headline, should take a look at the words being used to condemn “Zionism” and see them in context of a long line of excuses to keep anti-Semitism alive.
Read 8 tweets

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