By Jonathan Karp, Rachel Greenblatt, Daniel B. Schwartz, Nancy Sinkoff and Zachary Braiterman

As scholars of Jewish studies, we are alarmed at the increasing openness to extreme anti-Israel animus in our field and in the larger university community. We are particularly disturbed that students on our diverse campuses have been shamed and shunned by peers and faculty for defending Israel’s existence and have, to a large degree, been left unsupported by faculty.

Israel is a major center of contemporary Jewish life. Home to seven million Jews, alongside two million Palestinian/Arab and other minority citizens, Israel cannot but be an object of critical concern to Jewish studies. While our commitment to academic freedom is ironclad, we believe that Jewish studies, as an academic field today, cannot be agnostic on the question of Israel’s existence as a legitimate expression of Jewish national self-determination. Nor can we be indifferent to the question of Palestinian national rights. We support the principles of both self-determination and mutual recognition.

The increasing power of anti-Israelism on college campuses fosters blanket discrimination against Jews and, in particular, Israeli students and colleagues. We reject as anti-intellectual and anti-democratic the calls to boycott Israeli universities, students and faculty, and to sever cooperative agreements in our universities. We reject the discriminatory imposition of anti-Israel litmus tests that exclude Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff from participating in campus life. We likewise condemn anti-normalization campaigns against Hillel and other Jewish organizations on campus and discrimination against students, staff and faculty who identify as Jewish and/or express support for Israel.

While our views on Israeli politics and specific policies differ, we are united in aspiring to an Israel that exists peacefully within just and secure borders and remains open and democratic, consistent with the principles enshrined in the country’s 1948 Declaration on the Establishment of the State of Israel, guaranteeing full equality “to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.”

As scholars, we are committed to free speech, comity and constructive debate and dialogue across ideological divides. Yet, we oppose efforts to collapse the categories of state, society and peoplehood that have led to a hostile anti-Israelism on our campuses today. For these reasons, we urge our colleagues in Jewish studies and in all fields to stand against the demonizing of Israel that has become so prevalent in the academy.

Jonathan Karp is an associate professor at Binghamton University. Rachel Greenblatt is a senior lecturer at Dartmouth College. Daniel B. Schwartz is a professor at George Washington University. Nancy Sinkoff is a professor at Rutgers University. Zachary Braiterman is a professor at Syracuse University.