AMP decries California passage of HR 35 that threatens free speech on campus

California residents: Please sign petition telling legislators you disagree

(CHICAGO 08/30/2012) – The California legislature on Tuesday passed House Resolution 35 that praises the biased and anti-Arab University of California Campus Climate Report as well as adopts the restrictive European Union definition of anti-Semitism, which conflates criticism of Israeli policies with anti-Jewish bigotry. The move threatens free speech activities on college campuses, particularly Palestine solidarity work.

Californai residents: Please sign this petition.

A petition telling legislators that advocating for Palestinian rights is not anti-Semitic is available for California residents. Only those with zip codes within the state of California may sign this petition, which attempts to convince the lawmakers to reconsider the resolution.

 The American Muslims for Palestine strongly condemns this action for a number of reasons. First, the “University of California Jewish Student Campus Climate Fact-Finding Team Report & Recommendations,” was commissioned by University of California President Mark Yudof, who refused to meet with Arab and Muslims students last spring yet managed to meet with the heads of Zionist Hillel groups at each of the university system’s campuses. The report was authored by Rick Barton of the Anti-Defamation League and Alice Huffman of the California NAACP, and  it entirely excluded the voices of Arab and Muslim students as well as those of Jewish students who protest Israeli occupation policies.

 After much controversy surrounding the report, President Yudof tabled it and has not forwarded it to the Board of Governors for adoption. Yet, state legislatures, acting on false assumptions and misinformation, passed HR 35 without little fanfare and absolutely no public comment.

 “Lawmakers voted on this resolution without understanding the complexities of the issue,” said Dr. Hatem Bazian, AMP chairman. “They thought they were voting to condemn anti-Semitism. Instead, they have set in motion a dangerous precedent that could stop cold the free exchange of ideas on American college campuses. Palestine solidarity work on California campuses is surely threatened because of this.”

 AMP, in coalition with nine other organizations, sent a letter today to the legislature asking them to reconsider this resolution when they reconvene in January.

 The letter states in part: "Though cloaked as a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, the actual goal of HR 35 is to stifle geopolitical debates in academic and university settings. Nobody should hesitate to condemn anti-Jewish expression no matter the context in which it arises. But this resolution characterizes criticism of Israel generally as “cloaked” anti-Semitism. By HR 35’s logic, Presidents Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, and George H. W. Bush, and organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are all anti-Semitic because they have at times criticized Israeli policies. This politically motivated definition of anti-Semitism lacks any basis and does a tremendous disservice to the fight against real anti-Semitism. It is no more anti-Semitic to criticize Israel than it is anti-Muslim to criticize Saudi Arabia."

Read the text of HR 35. For background on the issue, read “The echo chamber of campus anti-Semitism,” by Yaman Salahi.