Could California Ban Anti-Israel Campus Protests as ‘Anti-Semitic’ Hate?

’2010 State Department document provides the U.S. government’s only official definition of anti-Semitism. It is a detailed document that adds elements of anti-Israeli bias to the traditional definition of Jew hatred.

This definition — developed to help the State Department monitor anti-Semitic trends in foreign countries — is now at the center of a debate raging about its use at the University of California. Moreover, both critics and supporters of the State Department’s take on this age-old phenomenon agree that its modern-day interpretation could have implications for the way that Israel-related issues are discussed on all college campuses.

Several pro-Israel activists supported by Jewish groups and with the blessing of UC’s president, Janet Napolitano, would like to see California’s public university system adopt the State Department definition, potentially deeming many of the anti-Israel protests and actions carried out on campus anti-Semitic.’

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