It's Not Just Name Calling Kenneth Lasson University of Baltimore School of Law, [email protected]
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University of Baltimore Law ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law All Faculty Scholarship Faculty Scholarship 2013 It's Not Just Name Calling Kenneth Lasson University of Baltimore School of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/all_fac Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, and the Law and Society Commons Recommended Citation Kenneth Lasson, It’s Not Just Name-Calling, 5 J. Study Antisemitism 129 (2013). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The JSA 2013 London Sunday Symposium* Welcoming Remarks Steven K. Baum, David Hirsh, Winston Pickett, Neal E. Rosenberg Panel 1—Defining the New Antisemitism Chair, Kenneth Marcus; Richard Landes, Winston Pickett, Bat Ye’or Panel 2—Mapping the Rise of Contemporary Antisemitism Chair, Steven K. Baum; Mark Gardner, Manfred Gerstenfeld, Robert Wistrich Panel 3—Antisemitism on Campus Chair, Kenneth Lasson; Clemens Heni, Dave Rich, Ronnie Fraser Gloria Z. Greenfield’s film Unmasked Judeophobia Panel 4—Assessing Current Approaches Chair, Matthias K¨untzel; David Feldman, Gunther Jikeli, Hagai van der Horst Panel 5—The Politics of Fighting Antisemitism Chair, Irwin Cotler; Ben Cohen, Paul Iganski, Denis MacShane Panel 6—What Can Be Done? Strategic Interventions Chair, Ruth Klein; Francisco de Almeida Garrett, Julian Hunt, Philip Spencer Closing Remarks Robert S. Wistrich * Dedicated to the memories of Maggi Eastwood and David G. Littman. We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of Jeff and Evy Diamond, Mitch Knisbacher, Daniel Pipes, and Friends of the JSA. 93 94 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ANTISEMITISM [ VOL. 5:93 JSA ANNUAL AWARDS Lifetime Achievement Award Manfred Gerstenfeld Previous recipients include Robert S. Wistrich 2010 Richard L. Rubenstein 2011 Award of Merit— Righteous Persons Who Fight Antisemitism RL Hon. Denis MacShane Previous recipients include Canadian PM Stephen J. Harper Jabotinsky Award Shimon T. Samuels It’s Not Just Name-Calling Kenneth Lasson* I’m afraid that universities, which like to perceive themselves as places of culture in a chaotic world, are not quite that wonderful. Of course, some are better than others; not all of them are hotbeds of radical turmoil, but a disturbing number have come to be focal points of loud and strident opposi- tion to the state of Israel. Although the volume of overt antisemitic acts may have in fact declined over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in anti-Zionist rhetoric and activity on campuses around the country and around the world. The two concepts are not always identical, but in today’s world they are virtually synonymous. Antisemitism is not just name-calling, but something much more cor- rosive. My recent article “In an Academic Voice” (http://www .jsantisemitism.org/articles/LassonJSA225(6).pdf) examines the relation- ship between antisemitic and anti-Zionist speech and conduct and how they both play out on contemporary university campuses, and suggests ways in which such rhetoric and conduct can be constitutionally confronted. In any event, my article looks at the historical backdrop, examining the seeds of Marxism, the use of big lies as opposed to facts, and the so-called “occupation” in modern Israel. Then I present statistics and narratives about antisemitism and anti- Zionism on American campuses, among both students and faculty. Included in the discussion and analysis are academic boycotts of Israel, divestment campaigns, the old canards about Israel being an “apartheid state,” and modern-day Holocaust denial and minimalizaton. I focus on the loud voices of Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Ilan Pappe, and others. I try to counter exaggerations and revisionist history with facts that are difficult to deny. Finally, I suggest responses and remedies that are consonant with the principles embodied and ennobled by the First Amendment. The problem is that few people read law review articles, and even fewer are persuaded by them. Thus, the importance of taking a principled stand in other public and private forums—such as the recent conference at Yale on global antisemit- ism, where I spoke about this very subject. I cannot forbear from adding a thought that many share about such exercises—including my wife and daughter, both of whom played devil’s advocate about my participation in the Yale conference, as well as about several other talks I’ve given over the past few months. 129 130 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ANTISEMITISM [ VOL. 5:129 Antisemitism has been around for a long time—as the rabbis pointed out many centuries ago, it’s a fact that Esau hated Jacob and his descend- ants always will. Throughout history, we haven’t been able to eliminate such bigotry, and we never will. The thing to do is to batten down the hatches—perhaps gather all Jews in one homeland and fight to exist. Well, I’m not ready to leave just yet. I still truly believe in the Ameri- can ideals of justice, equality, and tolerance of different cultures. We can be sure that the rabidly antisemitic radical Islamists are vigilant. The Yale con- ference was quickly condemned by them as shamefully one sided (e.g., they called Elie Wiesel a “rabid Zionist.”) So our task is not just to combat antisemitism, but hopelessness as well. I think we have largely done that in America, but I tend to be an optimist, and of course we must always be vigilant. But if antisemitism in the academic voice is a new and growing phe- nomenon, is there anything we can do about it? After all, not only is unpop- ular speech and thought protected by the First Amendment, but those of us in higher education also (and justifiably) invoke long-established principles of academic freedom. Nevertheless, we all understand that words matter: they can cause damage; they have consequences. And while freedom of speech is broadly protected, the Constitution does have limits. Defamation is punishable, for example, as is speech that incites to violence. Moreover, protecting First Amendment freedoms carries with it a responsibility—to condemn obnox- ious utterances—and at least to subject them to a broad and bustling mar- ketplace of ideas. Likewise, academic freedom. I believe we have an obligation to con- front antisemitism in the academy. As with any kind of hate speech or dis- ruptive behavior, the responses should be firm, immediate, and consequential. To put it in non-academic terms, just as those who spout antisemitic rhetoric are not bashful in doing so, neither must we be in con- fronting them. As always, the problem with regulating any kind of speech is where to draw the line. While an academic institution should not allow itself to become a forum for bigotry, neither should freedom of expression be lim- ited. My own feeling is that of a traditional civil libertarian: it is better to err on the side of liberty; an excess of tolerance is still preferable to censorship. In the context of antisemitism, the quest for “balance” in the curricu- lum raises problems of its own: for example, must traditional Holocaust studies be balanced by Holocaust revisionism or denial? Does the obliga- tion toward balance cover every point taught in a course, or only major disputes? Who is to enforce the norm? With that in mind, I’d like to give a 2013] LONDON SYMPOSIUM, JUNE 2013—LASSON 131 brief synopsis of my current article, in the hope that I might add something to the discussion. First, the theoretical and historical backdrop. Antisemitism in the academy is not a new phenomenon. Much of it can be traced to Karl Marx, whose essay on the Jewish question was an early reflection of modern leftist thought. “What is the profane basis of Juda- ism?” asked Marx. His answer: “practical need, self-interest.” And—“What is the worldly cult of the Jews? Huckstering. What is his worldly god? Money. Very well: then in emancipating itself from huckstering and money, and thus from real and practical Judaism, our age would emancipate itself . the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.” Marx was a classic antisemite, not unlike those who fabricated The Protocols of the Elders of Zion—those who viewed civilization as having been or about to be destroyed by Jewish conspiracies. Let the world be rid of the Jews was (and is) the message, and all will be well. But Marxism was not the only early antecedent to modern Jewish antisemitism. Much aca- demic “scholarship” in Germany during the Third Reich served to legiti- mize and endorse the Nazis’ worldview. Through it all, ample use was made of the big lie, in the best tradition of which propaganda is promul- gated as fact. The evolution of such bigotry has continued unabated on American campuses in the first decade of the 21st century, especially at elite universi- ties in California and the Ivy League. In my article I supply details, but even they are merely illustrative of many such cases of antisemitism on campus. So today we have repeated assertions by academics that Israel is the primary stumbling block to achieving a “two-state solution”; or a nuclear power that presents the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Middle East; or is an apartheid state deserving of international boycotts, divestment campaigns, and sanctions; or plans to “Judaize” Jerusalem by building thousands of new homes in the eastern part of the holy city; or adopts policies that, besides endangering US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, are the root cause of worldwide antisemitism; or is primarily responsi- ble for a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza, against whose citizens it has committed war crimes.