Ken Marcus’s detailed and balanced response to Ken Stern and Cary Nelson makes it clear that they are naive in their belief that the so-called “Israel-bashing” that has been taking place on several American university campuses is mere “anti-Israel discourse,” which encourages critical thinking and active debate in accordance with the university ethos and purpose. The incidents alleged at Rutgers, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz each arose in the context of on-campus efforts to delegitimize Israel. These delegitimization efforts went beyond legitimate criticism of Israel and employed traditional and contemporary anti-Semitic libels in order to demonize Israel and her supporters. Jewish students who supported Israel alleged that they were threatened, harassed, intimidated, subjected to a hostile campus environment, and, in the Berkeley case, physically attacked. As a result, they became afraid to show or express their support for Israel. It is evident that, rather than stimulating active debate and critical thinking as Ken Stern and Cary Nelson claim, contemporary on-campus “anti-Israel discourse” serves to silence Jewish students who support Israel. Activist efforts to protect the right of Jewish students to full educational opportunity by preserving a hostile-free and safe university environment should be lauded rather than undermined.

For my own exposition of the subject in the British context, see “Antisemitism on Campus: A New Look at Legal Interventions”, published in vol 2 issue 2 of the Journal for the Study of Antisemitism at p. 303 (http://www.jsantisemitism.org/pdf/jsa_2-2.pdf )

Lesley Klaff
Senior Lecturer in Law
Sheffield Hallam University
England