Anti-Zionism on Campus: The University, Free Speech, and BDS

456 Pages·2018·9.53 MB·English

by  Andrew Pessin

JUDAICA PESSIN
and
“The single biggest crisis facing the academy is the attack against free speech, objective BEN-ATAR ANTI-
truth, rigorous scholarship, and campus activity—all under the pretense and guise of
progressive identity politics. No other book covers the politics and strategies of BDS and
the insidious motives of those who are its champions better.”
—Thane Rosenbaum, author of How Sweet It Is!
A
“These essays make a huge contribution to our understanding of the deleterious impact
of anti-Israel activism on contemporary academia in the United States and around the N ZIONISM
world. The breadth of these essays is breath-taking, their poignancy is heartbreaking,
and their analysis is astute.” T
I
—Kenneth L. Marcus, author of The Defi nition of Anti-Semitism
-
Z
I
Many scholars have endured the struggle against rising anti-Israel sentiments on O
college and university campuses worldwide. This volume of personal essays documents ON THE UNIVERSITY,
N
and analyzes the deleterious impact of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)
movement on the most cherished Western institutions. These essays illustrate how I FREE SPEECH,
anti-Israelism corrodes the academy and its treasured ideals of free speech, civility, S
respectful discourse, and open research. Nearly every chapter attests to the blurred M AND BDS
distinction between anti-Israelism and antisemitism, as well as to hostile learning
climates where many Jewish students, staff, and faculty feel increasingly unwelcome
and unsafe. Anti-Zionism on Campus provides a testament to the specifi c ways anti- O
Israelism manifests on campuses and considers how this chilling and disturbing trend CAMPUS
N
can be combatted.

ANDREW PESSIN is Professor of Philosophy at Connecticut College and Campus C
Bureau Editor of the Algemeiner. Author of many academic articles and books, a A
philosophy textbook, several philosophical books for the general reader, and two
M
novels, his current research is focused on philosophical matters relevant both to
Judaism and Israel.
P
DORON S. BEN-ATAR is Professor of History at Fordham University and a U
playwright. In addition to publishing books and articles about early America, he
S
authored (with his mother, Roma Nutkiewicz Ben-Atar) What Time and Sadness
Spared: Mother and Son Confront the Holocaust. He has, in recent years, turned his
attention to the battles over Zionism in the American Jewish community with, among
other writings, his satirical play Peace Warriors.
iupress.indiana.edu
STUDIES IN ANTISEMITISM
Alvin H. Rosenfeld, editor
Edited by
ANDREW PESSIN and DORON S. BEN-ATAR
PRESS
ANTI-ZIONISM ON CAMPUS
STUDIES IN ANTISEMITISM
Alvin H. Rosenfeld, Editor
ANTI-
ZIONISM
ON THE UNIVERSITY,
FREE SPEECH,
AND BDS
CAMPUS
Edited by
ANDREW PESSIN and DORON S. BEN-ATAR
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
© 2018 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pessin, Andrew, editor. | Ben-Atar, Doron S., editor.
Title: Anti-Zionism on campus : the university, free speech, and BDS / edited
by Andrew Pessin and Doron S. Ben-Atar.
Description: Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, [2018] |
Series: Studies in antisemitism | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018000247 (print) | LCCN 2017060899 (ebook) | ISBN
9780253034083 (e-book) | ISBN 9780253034076 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN
9780253034069 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Zionism—United States—Public opinion. | Zionism—Public
opinion. | Public opinion—United States. | Education, Higher—Political
aspects—United States. | Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (Movement) |
Israel—Politics and government—Foreign public opinion, American. |
Propaganda, Anti-Israeli.
Classification: LCC DS149.5.U6 (print) | LCC DS149.5.U6 A58 2018 (ebook) |
DDC 320.540956940973—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018000247
1 2 3 4 5 23 22 21 20 19 18
Andrew Pessin
To Spencer Pack and John Gordon, who understand;
To Richard Landes, sine qua non;
and to the Algemeiner, for keeping watch
Doron S. Ben-Atar
To Alvin Rosenfeld, a model of scholarship, courage,
and decency

שיא תויהל לדתשה םישנא ןיאש םוקמבו
In a place where there are no persons of integrity, try to be one.
—Pirke Avot 2.5

Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction and Overview: The Silencing / Andrew Pessin
and Doron S. Ben-Atar 1
I. Scholars’ Essays
1 BDS and Self-Righteous Moralists / Dan Avnon 43
2 Consensus, Canadian Trade Unions, and Intellectuals for
Hamas / Julien Bauer 58
3 Bullies at the Pulpit / Doron S. Ben-Atar 66
4 A Traumatic Professorial Education: Anti-Zionism and
Homophobia in a Serial Campus Hate Crime /
Corinne E. Blackmer 75
5 Slouching toward the City That Never Stops: How a
Left-Orientalist Anti-Israel Faculty Tour Forced Me to
Say Something (Big Mistake!) / Gabriel Noah Brahm 83
6 On Radio Silence and the Video That Saved the Day:
The Attack against Professor Dubnov at the University of
California San Diego, 2012 / Shlomo Dubnov 91
7 Fraser versus the University College Union: A Personal
Reflection / Ronnie Fraser 105
8 If You Are Not With Us: The National Women’s Studies
Association and Israel / Janet Freedman 122
9 Rhodes University, Not a Home for All: A Progressive
Zionist’s Two-Year Odyssey / Larissa Klazinga 134
10 Loud and Fast versus Slow and Quiet: Responses to
Anti-Israel Activism on Campus / Jeffrey Kopstein 142