Thread by @pal_legal

We are reassured to see @EDcivilrights do the right thing: #RejectIHRA, and focus on rising threats of bigotry & racist attacks by white supremacists. Antisemitism is frightening, esp. with the rise of rightwing nationalism & white supremacy, it must be fought in all forms. (🧵)

A new @EDcivilrights fact sheet describes protections covering students who are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, or of another religious group.

Ed is facing heavy pressure from the Israel lobby to attack Palestinians by adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which defines criticism of Israel as antisemitic. The newly released fact sheet focuses on real threats:

Such as the resurgence of Nazism targeting Jewish students, hurling “terrorist” as a racist slur against Muslims, and violence against Sikh students wearing turbans.

The Ed Dept is right to address the threat of antisemitism alongside other forms of racism, and right to avoid defining criticism of Israel as antisemitic.

The IHRA definition would have shut down events, canceled university classes, and punished students & profs for speaking about life as a Palestinian.

Palestinians bear the scars of 1948, when they were ethnically cleansed from the land that became the Israeli state. IHRA would define Palestinian stories as a denial of Jewish self-determination—a ridiculous and harmful conclusion.

Palestinians continue to face racism on US campuses, at the borders, and inside occupied Palestine. IHRA would define Palestinian descriptions of their daily life experience as discrimination against Jews. That is gaslighting, and unlawful censorship.

Labeling all criticism of Israel’s behavior as antisemitism does nothing to combat antisemitism. The real fight against antisemitism must be joined to the struggles against racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, as well as to the struggle for equality and human rights for all people.

Dept of Ed experts know that no other form of discrimination has a fixed or codified definition in law because identifying discrimination depends on factual context, and it shifts over time.

As pressure from the Israel lobby to censor Palestinians by twisting civil rights law and redefining antisemitism continues to heat up, we appreciate @EDcivilrights for keeping their focus on the real work: protecting all vulnerable students.