NEW YORK—Multiple universities have recently announced that they will consider or rely on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA’s) definition of antisemitism in policing speech on campus. 

The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

“It’s disappointing that some of the nation’s leading institutions of higher education are agreeing to curtail and punish criticism of Israel in the name of fighting discrimination. As major free speech groups have recognized, using the IHRA definition of antisemitism to delineate the outer boundaries of free speech will have the effect of proscribing or deterring legitimate political speech and scholarship. The lawyer who drafted the IHRA definition has raised similar concerns. Plainly, universities should address all forms of discrimination on campus, including by evenhandedly enforcing their rules against harassment and threats. But by restricting criticism of Israel and its policies, including by faculty and students directly affected by those policies, universities compromise the values they should be defending—free speech, free inquiry, and equality as well.” 

For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, [email protected].