Civil Rights Groups Warn UCSC Attempts to Censor Pro-Palestine Scholarship May Violate Federal Laws

The University of California, Santa Cruz. Source: Flickr

On Wednesday, Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional Rights wrote to the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) warning them to cease attempts to unlawfully censor the upcoming Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism (ICSZ) convening, “Battling the ‘IHRA definition’: Theory & Activism”, which is set to be jointly held at UCSC and New York University (NYU) on October 13th and 14th. The convening is a working meeting of the Institute’s community of scholars and activists, aimed at combating dangerous efforts to use a distorted definition of antisemitism to silence advocacy for Palestinian rights. On September 5th (in a statement updated September 8), UCSC criticized the convening following smears from right-wing media outlets and Israel lobby groups. 

UCSC’s condemnation falsely implies that the convening’s points of unity, which define Zionism as a settler colonial project, are antisemitic. But this is totally baseless: “Opposition to the political ideology of Zionism” the letter explains, “whether espoused by Palestinians, Jews, or anyone else—is the call for equal rights for all residents of historic Palestine currently living under Israeli rule, and an end to the occupation and other forms of Israeli demographic control.”

The letter further warns UCSC’s administration that university action taken to suppress scholarship, organizing, or expression in support of Palestinian rights would violate the First Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition of national origin discrimination. It also points out the administration’s double standard when it comes to criticism of Israel: UCSC has formally partnered with Hillel, an organization that is prohibited by its own guidelines from hosting anti-Zionist speakers. 

Since 2014, Palestine Legal has responded to over 2200 incidents of suppression of Palestinian rights advocacy, many involving harassment and censorship attempts by university administrations and right-wing organizations aimed at intimidating Palestinians and their supporters into silence and inaction.

“UCSC cannot selectively suppress the work of faculty and students who support Palestinian rights or who criticize Israel,” said Palestine Legal staff attorney Dylan Saba. “Not just because it’s against the law—but because it’s wrong. This type of censorship against pro-Palestine scholarship is the exact purpose of the IHRA definition, designed to shield Israel’s oppressive regime from criticism at the expense of academic freedom.”

Read the full letter here.