New Jersey bill highlights clash over Israel and anti-Semitism on college campuses

The backers of an anti-Semitism bill that would prohibit certain criticisms of Israel at public schools and colleges in New Jersey say the bill would not infringe on free speech, but similar measures in other states have been used to try and shut down events on college campuses.

Several examples were cited in a letter sent to New Jersey lawmakers by 15 organizations Monday, including attempts to censor a talk by an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer and to block a panel about censorship of Palestinian views.

"In our experience defending civil rights on college campuses, we have seen first-hand how the redefinition that the [Anti-Semitism] Act would codify has been used as a tool to silence students, faculty and staff who advocate for Palestinian rights," the organizations wrote in the letter.

Those experiences, they wrote, make clear that the goal is to censor critics of Israeli government policies and could lead to viewpoint discrimination.

Read more: https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2019/07/16/nj-bill-shows-clash-over-israel-and-anti-semitism-college-campuses/1733521001/