Palestine Legal Statement on NYU’s New, Draconian Student Conduct Policies

In a dangerous escalation of repression, New York University announced new student conduct policies last week that appear to prohibit criticism of Zionism. If implemented, these policies risk creating a hostile environment for Palestinian and anti-Zionist Jewish students and severely curtail the free expression of all students.

The policy directly conflates Zionism and Judaism by stating that the former is a “code word” for the latter. It goes on to treat Zionism as a protected class on its own—a status afforded to no other political ideology. ​​

This is the first university, that we are aware of, that claims that Zionist is an identity meriting protection under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, rather than a political ideology used to justify apartheid and genocide.

The immediate impact of this policy and others like it will be to chill dissent on campus related to the US-Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. NYU Faculty for Justice in Palestine have stated that it represents "an intensification of NYU’s year-long effort to censor pro-Palestine activism.

This will disproportionately impact Palestinian, and anti-Zionist Jewish students, all of whom may be accused of conduct violations for engaging in political expression or relaying personal narratives and experiences.

It also opens the door for other ethno-nationalist ideologies to claim protection from criticism. With Zionism enshrined as a protected class, there’s no reason why Hindu nationalism, Christian nationalism, white nationalism or similar ideologies wouldn’t be afforded the same.

NYU’s educational mission “to be a top quality international center of scholarship” requires space for students to think and speak freely. Palestine Legal will continue to monitor and combat institutional attempts to punish and censor students organizing for Palestinian rights.