The International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which is heavily focused on criticism of Israel, has achieved widespread prominence in recent years through President Trump’s 2019 Executive Action and state and federal legislative efforts to turn what was once a rubric for data collection into the basis of legal prosecution. Activists say it is a necessary guideline to protect students and others while opponents argue that it in effect, and in intent by many of its advocates, it works to suppress Palestinian activism under the guise of stopping antisemitism.
My presentation – which can stand alone or work as part of a roundtable - will discuss in this context the intersection of Zionism and anti-Zionism with antisemitism, and the way it is playing out on American campuses and in our politics. I argue that the legislative weaponization of the IHRA definition of antisemitism has serious, and potentially quite negative, consequences not only for the rights of Palestinian activists, let alone the danger to fighting actual cases of antisemitism, but also for our Israel Studies programs as well as for broader issues of academic freedom and even Israel advocacy, as Ken Stern – the lead author of the IHRA definition – has argued in countless publications and now his most recently book.
My presentation concludes with a consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of the IHRA definition, specifically regarding Israel and Zionism, and suggests an alternative that may serve us better.