Demonstrators march in support of Palestinians in Gaza, Washington, United States (Reuters)
It is a weak excuse for censorship aimed at silencing anti-genocide voices in the United States.
Pro-Israel lobbyists in the United States have used the charge of anti-Semitism for years to silence anyone who dares to criticize the State of Israel. Since October 7, the term has been used to discredit pro-Palestinian protesters and those demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, especially against student organizations and activists on university campuses across the country.
For example, the Accuracy in Media group at Columbia University funded “smear trucks,” which drove around campus, displaying screens bearing the names and faces of pro-Palestine students under the headline: “Antisemitism.”
The use of this term has become so ubiquitous that when reporting on the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, Australian journalist Caitlin Johnston's headline read: “Israel accuses ICJ of anti-Semitism (you guessed right).” .
One old news source, New York Magazine, interviewed Jewish Voice for Peace activists and discovered that for 30 years, the organization has rejected charges of anti-Semitism if a person is anti-Zionist or critical of Israel.
But the ceasefire movement showed that demands to end the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza have nothing to do with hatred of the Jewish people.
While Israeli bombs rained on Gaza, Palestinian journalists witnessed the suffering and brought the atrocities they documented before the eyes of the world. Witnessing the genocide as it happened, with images that showed the horrific extent of the devastation, led to protests around the world. In solidarity with the people of Gaza.
In the United States, many of the most effective demonstrations were those that declared a “boycott” and “severance of relations” until a ceasefire was called. Young people, especially demonstrators mobilized by Jewish Voice for Peace and the If Not Now movement, blocked major transportation hubs in actions that led to the closure of the Manhattan Bridge, the closure of Grand Central Station in New York City, and the encirclement of the Statue of Liberty.
The dramatic images of protesters arrested wearing black T-shirts printed with the words: “Not in our name” and “Jews say stop shooting now” were so sensational that they received major media coverage.
Young Jewish activist Elena Stein, director of organizational strategy for Jewish Voice for Peace, spoke at a demonstration outside the United Nations, telling the gathered crowd that she was there “on behalf of hundreds of thousands of American Jews who are saying: This is not in our name, stop shooting now.” “With all my Jewish ancestors supporting me, those who survived and all those who did not,” she said, making this appeal.
Stein helped organize some of the largest demonstrations for the Jewish people; In solidarity with Palestinian freedom. Stein later refuted the mainstream press's assertions that the war between Israel and Hamas was "complicated", saying: "It's not complicated at all, just follow your values."
The young Jewish organizers did not escape charges of anti-Semitism. The powerful Israeli Zionist lobby, the Anti-Defamation League, has claimed that since October 7, anti-Semitism has increased by nearly 400 percent in the United States.
Headlines repeating this figure were spread throughout the official media, from Reuters to CBS News.
Although the Anti-Defamation League denied that it considered the pro-Palestinian demonstrations anti-Semitic, The Intercept showed that the organization did just that.
In an article titled: “Anti-Defamation League calls Jewish marches anti-Semitic attacks,” the website stated that the Anti-Defamation League described the numerous Jewish-led protests as “hate groups.”
One old news source - New York Magazine - interviewed Jewish Voice for Peace activists and discovered that for 30 years, the organization has rejected charges of anti-Semitism if a person is anti-Zionist or critical of Israel.
Jewish Voice for Peace had actively fought to end Israeli apartheid, and as the events of the genocide unfolded, the new, young leadership was about to jump to the center of the discussion and say forcefully; Destroying Gaza is not the way to keep Jews safe.
Unlike generations before them, many young Jews no longer link their identity to the State of Israel. For some, it has been a long journey from being indoctrinated into the myth of the Israeli state as pure, democratic and safe, to seeking and finding the truth on the other side of the wall, where Palestinians are beaten, terrified and forced to live without safety or freedom.
In a recent video circulating online, 50 different IDF soldiers spoke out about the deliberate terrorism of Palestinians in the occupied territories.
The documentary tells the story of "Israeli" Simone Zimmerman, who went to Israel, dreaming that she would find the Promised Land, only to discover Israeli brutality against Palestinians in the West Bank, which made her retreat.
Simone returned to the United States and co-founded If Not Now, another major force in the anti-genocide movement fighting for Palestinian freedom.
The powerful documentary spread like wildfire, and independent media outlets interviewed the producers, directors and protagonists, but when Tami Gould, one of the film's directors, planned to screen a film about Israel at Hunter College in New York City, where she teaches filmmaking, the university canceled the event. It was fully booked.
Until then, Gould had never been censored during her thirty years of experience at Hunter College making challenging films about difficult subjects.
College administrators have taken similar actions against Palestinian student groups on campuses across the country. While opposition to genocide is of global historical importance, institutional efforts to eradicate it are not only unethical, they are a violation of students' civil liberties and freedom of expression. As one of Hunter's students put it: 'Censorship defeats the whole purpose of our being here in the first place.'
According to Dylan Saba, a lawyer at the Palestine Legal Organization, they have documented an escalation in repression on campus since October 7, more than double what happened in 2022, with more than 700 requests for legal support.
The writer explained that other trucks equipped with screens belonging to the "Acuracy in Media" group toured many universities, displaying the names of faculty members and students. At Hunter College, a truck displaying the phrase: “Leaders of Anti-Semitism at CUNY” carried a rotating list of CUNY employees who supposedly “stand with Hamas.”
Students described as anti-Semitic face serious consequences, especially Palestinian students. At Harvard University, when the identity of a Palestinian-American student was posted on another truck, it led to an employer who had previously offered her a job to rescind the offer.
In a statement, the company implied that it was a supporter of Hamas, concluding that “those values are not aligned with their company’s values.” Actively reaching out to future employers of pro-Palestinian student activists, and denying them future job opportunities, has been the strategy of Canary Mission, an Israeli lobby group founded in 2014.
Many students, faculty, and the broader pro-Palestinian movement realize that attempts to silence criticism of Israel by accusing ceasefire advocates of anti-Semitism will actually inflame anti-Semitism, and are built on the fantasy that all Jews cheer for the constant bombing, besieging, burying, and starving of a people Gaza is in a genocide widely condemned by global audiences, leaving all Jews vulnerable to resentment and rejection.
The Hunter College president's actions have sparked a broader response from students and faculty. Other campus groups and departments united to condemn the unilateral action, and students organized sit-ins and protests at Hunter, rallying a meeting of the University Council — made up of students, faculty and staff — which passed a resolution condemning the cancellation and demanding a showing of the film. This demonstrated that students, faculty, and the broader anti-genocide movement would not yield to repression or censorship, and that the charge of anti-Semitism had lost its ability to silence people.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.