Dima Khalidi in the New Jersey Star-Ledger

In June, New Jersey legislators introduced a bill that would direct public schools and universities to use a widely contested redefinition of antisemitism in assessing alleged violations of the state’s anti-discrimination law.

Director Dima Khalidi wrote a guest op-ed for the New Jersey Star Ledger, the state’s largest newspaper.

This kind of censorship has implications far beyond the movement for Palestinian rights. Threatening public support for Palestinian rights is the beginning, not the end of unconstitutional government censorship. Such legislation signals the erosion of constitutional norms intended to protect our civil and political rights from the kind of government interference that defines authoritarian and fascist regimes.

Instead of shrinking the space for vital discussion of human rights and social justice issues, our legislators should be finding effective ways to thwart the widespread bigotry and racist violence that is a common threat to us all.

Read the full op-ed here.