Israel has been the target of a flurry of academic boycotts since Hamas launched the October 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel, and the subsequent war in Gaza. More than a thousand boycotts of Israeli researchers and institutions have been tallied over the past two years by an Association of Israeli Universities task force dedicated to combating boycotts.<\/p>\n
The war also sparked widespread anti-Israel protests on campuses across the US, with many of them featuring antisemitism and targeting of Jewish students. US President Donald Trump has led a crackdown on schools that tolerated antisemitism, although critics have charged that he is using the issue as an excuse to undermine the colleges.<\/p>\n
However, the NCA report represented \u201can egregious moral lapse\u201d that \u201cresorts to antisemitic conspiracy theories in order to account for the current state of academic freedom at American universities,\u201d the Jewish organizations said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n The NCA\u2019s 60-page report<\/a> charges that academic freedoms are under attack by what it describes as \u201corganized networks of disinformation and hate from the right\u201d aiming to silence scholars who challenge established power.<\/p>\n It seeks to redefine the concept of academic freedom, arguing that the greatest threats facing US and global universities are rooted not merely in political interference, but in the \u201cunderlying whiteness of Western knowledge production\u201d and \u201csettler colonial-capitalist-imperial\u201d structures of the academic institution itself.<\/p>\n \t According to the report, this \u201cwhiteness\u201d perpetuates an exclusionary system where tenure pathways and merit systems systematically exclude and undermine academics from marginalized groups, including Indigenous, Black, migrant and gender-diverse scholars. Thus, it argues, movements to enforce academic freedom by the Trump administration and members of the political right are a form of \u201cwhite backlash\u201d designed to \u201csilence the critiques of whiteness.\u201d<\/p>\n Targeting Israel, the report charges that complaints of antisemitism by political actors are \u201cmobilized to silence conceptually informed critiques of Israel and its settler colonial practices.\u201d<\/p>\n The report charges that antisemitic incidents on campus function as a pretext for targeting and deporting protesters, and that \u201cpowerful donors, trustees and politicians\u201d strategically \u201cmobilize the trope of antisemitism\u201d to suppress academic speech.<\/p>\n The document also includes a forceful condemnation of the \u201cIsraeli genocidal campaign\u201d in Gaza, referencing the destruction of Palestinian universities and the \u201cmurders of Palestinian academics\u201d as evidence of the threat academic institutions face.<\/p>\n It notably recommends the NCA establish a \u201cLegal Fund for Palestine scholarship\u201d to defend against the perceived \u201cZionist attack on academic freedom\u201d and urges the association to explore ways to \u201cplace the necessary pressure on Israeli institutions\u201d concerning the destruction of academic infrastructure in Gaza.<\/p>\n The report does not discuss Jewish identity or experience outside of this political context.<\/p>\n \t In the joint response<\/a>, the ADL, AJC and AEN called the report \u201can egregious moral lapse for an academic association\u2019s report to resort to antisemitic conspiracy theories in order to account for the current state of academic freedom at American universities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe repeated use of these contested terms and conspiracy theories forecloses critical inquiry rather than advancing it, while advancing unfounded accusations against Israel and its supporters that have become vehicles for anti-Jewish animus in academic communities and beyond,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n \t Equally concerning is the report\u2019s dismissal of extensive evidence of surging antisemitism as \u201cinventions or manipulations designed to suppress criticism of Israel,\u201d the joint statement said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey also invert the problem: instead of acknowledging that antisemitism is resurging, the report suggests that Jews (or \u201cZionists\u201d) are weaponizing antisemitism claims to exert control,\u201d the response read. \u201cThis narrative is not only false but dangerous, reinforcing harmful patterns of victim-blaming that excuse wrongdoing and shift responsibility away from perpetrators.\u201d<\/p>\n The NCA report\u2019s use of language from long-standing antisemitic tropes about Jewish influence operating behind the scenes to control institutions is \u201cdeeply irresponsible,\u201d while calls to isolate or penalize academic institutions based on political considerations \u201care fundamentally incompatible with the principles of scholarly freedom, the open exchange of ideas, and research collaboration that the report claims to defend,\u201d the response concluded.<\/p>\n
Is the fast, fair and free journalism of The Times of Israel important to you?<\/p>\n If so, today – Giving Tuesday – is the right time to join The Times of Israel Community.<\/p>\n For as little as $6\/month, you will support our independent journalism, enjoy an AD-FREE experience and unlock exclusive content available only for members of The Times of Israel Community.<\/p>\n \t\t\t
\t\t\t
\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t You clearly find our careful reporting valuable, in a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.<\/p>\n Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically since October 7.<\/p>\n So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you’ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing\u00a0exclusive content\u00a0available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n Thank you, \t\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25141619127136-e1748042402302-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tA group of pro-Palestinian protesters marches away from Columbia University on May 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Heather Khalifa)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AFP__20240503__2150504700__v2__HighRes__ProtestorsFromCunyAndColumbiaRallyOneDayAfte-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tAnti-Israel protesters chant outside The City College of New York (CUNY) one day after the NYPD cracked down on protest camps at both Columbia University and CUNY on May 1, 2024, in New York City. (Alex Kent\/Getty Images\/AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25107647612886-e1745032116844-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tStudents, faculty and members of the Harvard University community rally, April 17, 2025, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (AP Photo)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tOn Giving Tuesday, support quality journalism\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYou appreciate our journalism\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DH-new-headshot-circular.png\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n