Jewish advocates are treating a recent decision as a repudiation of Jewish civil rights in America. See, e.g., The Anti-Zionism Exception: A court decision just carved Jews out of civil rights law. However, this holding needs to be properly understood and interpreted in context. Civil rights protections remain robust and Jews should be encouraged to familiarize themselves with the remedies that can be obtained by victims of antisemitic discrimination in the court system. 

In the case referenced, Jewish students sued MIT for antisemitic discrimination, but the suit was dismissed. The students appealed, but they lost again. In affirming the dismissal, the First Circuit Court of Appeals appeared to enter a contentious debate when it declared that antizionism is not equivalent to antisemitism. 

Such a statement is strikingly out of step with contemporary Jewish education. Jewish scholars Dr. Naya Lekht, Professor Rona Kaufman, and others have been at the forefront of warning Jewish communities that contemporary antizionism functions as today’s iteration of historic antisemitism. Narratives that portray Israel—or its very founding—as the singular cause of complex conflicts are not merely incorrect; they are advanced in bad faith. Such claims routinely impose a double standard, singling out Israel for condemnation while overlooking or excusing comparable or far more egregious conduct by other states. Dr. Lekht’s research further traces contemporary antizionist slogans to Soviet-era propaganda campaigns designed to delegitimize Zionism on the world stage.

Because it is propaganda brought in bad faith to undermine Judaism, antizionist philosophy and advocates should be completely expelled from our Jewish communities. 

Lekht and Kaufman attribute the court’s conclusion to a failure to recognize the Jewish people’s historic and enduring connection to Israel. Accordingly, they have intensified their efforts to explain that antizionism is not legitimate political criticism, but instead the latest iteration of a longstanding pattern of antisemitism. They argue that once we have time to educate and persuade people that contemporary antizionism seeks to sever and delegitimize Jewish connection to Israel, it will be recognized for what it is: a hate movement that targets Jewish identity in a manner........

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