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Originally posted by EvilSadamClone
I don't see anything in that bill that says you must not criticize Israel, it's just a denouncement of antisemitism.
Among the examples given of "anti-Semitic activities" included in the resolution are:
• Accusations that the Israeli government is guilty of "crimes against humanity" This would mean that a speaker from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other reputable human rights groups which have documented such violations of international humanitarian law by the Israeli Defense Forces could not be provided space or honoraria to talk about their research.
• Accusations that Israel has engaged in "ethnic cleansing" This would mean that Israeli scholars who have studied and published documents from Israeli archives pertaining to the 1947-49 conflict in Israel/Palestine which demonstrate that there was a calculated policy of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian population in some regions, would similarly be barred.
• "Student and faculty-sponsored boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns against Israel" This would prohibit efforts to boycott goods made in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, support international sanctions on Israel over its ongoing violations of a series of UN Security Council resolution, or have the university divest from its endowment stock in companies supporting the Israeli occupation.
The resolution also declares a number of other political activities that, while clearly objectionable -- such as disrupting a speech by a supporter of the Israeli government -- as "anti-Semitic," based on the assumption that hostility toward such a speaker is not based on opposition to policies of Israel's right-wing government, but because the country is Jewish. Indeed, throughout the resolution, opposition to Israeli government policies is equated with bigotry towards Jews.
Originally posted by EvilSadamClone
Of course the anti-Semites are going to paint themselves as victims of the Jewish lobby no matter what Israel does or say. They have a real persecution complex, because of their bigotry towards Jews. You can always spot these bigots a mile away.
University of California officials promptly denounced HR 35 as "problematic" because of First Amendment concerns. Meanwhile, those of us familiar with this tired old game from UC Irvine (like myself: Go Anteaters!) rolled our eyes.
Halderman cites a recent study commissioned by the University of California which examined a percentage of Jewish students ' college experiences, some of whom felt that demonstrations critical of Israeli policies on campus crossed the line into hate speech. The recommendations, which ask the UC to "adopt a hate-speech free campus policy" and "define anti-Semitism" were highly criticized by a wide-ranging group of Jewish students and faculty who asked the president's office to table the report.
But maybe it would do some good for the UC administrators to define anti-Semitism, because while anti-Semitism still exists, (and not only on college campuses--we're looking at you, Institute for Historical Review), the label is far too liberally applied and some clarity is in order. Here is a list of five things that are mislabeled as anti-Semitic by the likes of Halderman:
See link for good time
Originally posted by gladtobehere
reply to post by SkepticOverlord
Actually, I was reporting more so than presenting an agenda.
I have trouble believing that you and others like you cant or refuse to make this simple distinction.
Originally posted by EvilSadamClone
reply to post by Swills
I have trouble believing that you and others like you cant or refuse to make this simple distinction.
We can make the distinction. There is a difference between true Antisemitism and just criticizing Israel. It just so happens that the bigots always use the "just criticizing Israel" as a very lame excuse to try to hide their bigotry and try to fool people into thinking they aren't bigots.
I have no problem with people who do truly only want to criticize Israel. I have problems with bigots trying to hide behind it.
There are many ways you can tell the difference between a bigot and one who isn't. Such as the use of double standards where Israel can do no right no matter what the circumstances are and everything is exaggerated. Such as when Israel disagrees with something they love to use hyperbolic language such as "OMFG! ISRAEL IS OUTRAGED THAT PEOPLE DISAGREE WITH THEIR POSITION! HOW HORRIBLE!" and other things like that.
When you've studied this subject, the Middle East conflict, for years, you can truly tell the difference between the bigots and the ones who aren't. Sometimes it's almost textbook examples because they often use the same strategies over and over again, and say the same things over and over again.