A Columbia genocide scholar says she may leave over university's new definition of antisemitism

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

A Columbia genocide scholar says she may leave over university’s new definition of antisemitism

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ
Updated 12:06 AM EDT, July 25, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — For years, Marianne Hirsch, a prominent genocide scholar at Columbia University, has used Hannah Arendt’s book about the trial of a Nazi war criminal, “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil,” to spark discussion among her students about the Holocaust and its lingering traumas.

But after Columbia’s recent adoption of a new definition of antisemitism, which casts certain criticism of Israel as hate speech, Hirsch fears she may face official sanction for even mentioning the landmark text by Arendt, a philosopher who criticized Israel’s founding.

For the first time since she started teaching five decades ago, Hirsch, the daughter of two Holocaust survivors, is now thinking of leaving the classroom altogether.

“A university that treats criticism of Israel as antisemitic and threatens sanctions for those who disobey is no longer a place of open inquiry,” she told The Associated Press. “I just don’t see how I can teach about genocide in that environment.”

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-antisemitism-definition-68d44684f376b12162a28b88104e5d24

[Eko]

1. Kick

[Aussie105]

2. AntiSemitism is a catch all term . . .

To say Israel can do no wrong, and any accusations of current IDF actions is unacceptable.

Starving people in Gaza, bombing schools, hospitals, genocide? Nope, criticising those actions is antisemitism and just not on.

As an educator, best out of that twisted and horrid setup.

[Bread and Circuses]

4. We've entered dangerous territory....

Where speech is being automatically censored. Children are starving daily. This is a horrendous crime .

➡️ Note: I am not antisemitic and I have always supported Israel’s right to exist. I wish peace for all people in the MidEast. I respect all faiths and spiritual beliefs.

[Woodycall]

7. "To say Israel can do no wrong, and any accusations of current IDF actions is unacceptable"

Oh yeah? Well, it's happening right here on The Democratic Underground. I know because I stated something that many people here, and elsewhere, are currently and openly discussing and I had my post removed and was banned from the forum. For like, forever, I guess...

[Bread and Circuses]

3. Hirsch, the daughter of two Holocaust survivors ...

Appalling! Criticizing war crimes is a moral imperative. She and others are not promoting hate against the Jewish Faith.

This aggressive reaction to criticism about Netanyahu, the IDF and the ruling government of Israel is backfiring . Why is the pushback so forceful to censor academic speech and inquiry? Follow the ……

➡️Note: I am not antisemitic and I have always supported Israel’s right to exist. I wish peace for all people in the MidEast. I respect all faiths and spiritual beliefs.

[Dave Bowman]

5. Simply despicable and nauseating.

[Duppers]

6. Being critical of Israel's actions does not make you

Anti-Semitic.

A close Jewish friend said the same to me

[SickOfTheOnePct]

8. A definition of anti-Semitism...

...that has been adopted by numerous countries around the world, including the United States, 35 states (plus DC), and more than 80 localities within the U.S. is so awful that a professor feels she can't continue there?

OK.

[Eko]

9. That would be an ad populum argument.

Just because a lot of people think something that doesn’t make it true.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

10. Fair enough

But I would assume that New York, LA, and similarly liberal entities wouldn’t adopt a standard that is as awful as this professor makes it out to be.

[Eko]

11. Sure they could, and do.