Beyond the Ivory Tower: Con — ronting Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Free Speech Through Firsthand Observation and Engagement
Seth C. Oranburg1
AUGUST 2025
AEN Research Paper Series
Research Paper No. 7
A B OU T THE AUTHOR Seth C. Oranburg, Esq., is a Pro — essor o — Law at the University o — New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce School o — Law, where he studies and teaches contract law, business law, corporate governance, trade secret law, and entrepreneurship law, and where he serves as a University o — New Hampshire Faculty Senator. Oranburg is also a Director o — the Program on Business, Organizations & Markets at NYU’s Classical Liberal Institute and is a 2025 “HAIFellow” at the University o — Hai — a Faculty o —
Law. Oranburg earned his J.D., with honors,
rom the University o — Chicago School o — Law, where he also studied Law & Economics and Industrial Organization. He has a B.A. in English and Political Science — rom the University o — Florida, and he is originally — rom Boca Raton, Florida. Oranburg is licensed to practice law in New Hampshire and Cali — ornia, where he worked on mergers & acquisitions and venture — inance transactions be — ore joining the academy. A veteran teacher who won the Teacher o — the Year Award in 2024, Oranburg combines rigorous academic expertise with active engagement, melding legal scholarship with the moral courage to sa — eguard inclusive campus communities.
A B OU T THE ACA DEM IC ENGAGEM ENT NET WO RK ( AEN) AEN mobilizes networks o — university — aculty and administrators to counter antisemitism, oppose the denigration o — Jewish and Zionist identities, promote academic — reedom, and advance education about Israel. We envision a world where American higher education welcomes, respects, and supports the expression o — Jewish identity and robust discourse about Israel.
A B OU T THE RESEA RCH PAPER S ERIES The Research Paper Series provides AEN members – — aculty at U.S. universities and colleges – with an opportunity to publish original research that aligns with and advances AEN’s mission and vision. The intended audiences — or the Research Paper Series range — rom academics to practitioners, advanced graduate students, and the in — ormed public. Papers published through this series are distributed widely via online and print — ormats and authors are encouraged to revise their work — or submission to peer-reviewed journals and academic presses in their respective — ields when appropriate.
Proposals
or research papers are reviewed by AEN sta —
on a rolling basis. Success — ul proposals are those that address AEN’s issues and that have a high potential — or subsequent publication. Research paper authors receive an honorarium upon completion and distribution o — their papers. AEN members who are interested in submitting a proposal are invited to do so at AEN’s website, www.academicengagement.org. Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
I. Is Anti-Zionism Antisemitism?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
A. Antisemitism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1. Historical Origins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2. Modern Re --- raming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3. Scholarly Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
B. Zionism (and Anti-Zionism). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1. Historical Origins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2. Modern Re --- raming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3. Scholarly Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
C. Legal Consequences o --- De --- ining Anti-Zionism as Antisemitism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1. Title VI, Free Speech, and Hate Crimes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2. Beyond Labels: Functional Analysis o --- Anti-Zionist Speech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3. From Theory to Real-World Implications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
II. Experiencing Israel A --- ter October 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
A. Arrival and First Impressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
B. Memory and the Marketplace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
C. Bearing Witness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1. Tekuma Car Graveyard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2. Kibbutz Nir Oz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3. Nova Festival Testimony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4. IDF BBQ and Re --- lections --- rom Soldiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
D. The Pain Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1. Hamas Raw Footage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2. Hostages and Missing Families Forum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3. International Law Brie --- ing at S. Horowitz & Co.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
E. Re --- lections --- rom a Roo --- top. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
III. Institutional Clarity in the Face o --- Ideological Violence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
A. The Limits o --- Abstraction in Legal and Institutional Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
B. Virtue Ethics as the Ethos o --- Liberal Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
C. Institutional Integrity and the Classical Liberal Mandate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
D. A Liberal-Realist Framework --- or Institutional Re --- orm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Endnotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Beyond the Ivory Tower 3 This paper contends that — irsthand engagement is essential to trans — orming abstract debates over anti-Zionism and antisemitism into pragmatic discussions with pro — ound implications — or discrimination, human rights, and campus policy. Drawing on the author’s experiences during the Law Pro — essors’ Mission to Israel — ollowing Hamas’s October 7, 2023 atrocities, the analysis demonstrates how direct exposure to con — lict and its human toll enriches and challenges theoretical analyses. By examining protests, o —
icial statements, and personal testimonies gathered through survivor encounters and deeply engaging with lived experiences as well as — orensic brie — ings, site inspections, and academic discourse, the paper delineates critical distinctions between legitimate political critique and incendiary hate speech that dehumanizes and incites violence. It
urther shows that while robust academic debate is vital, certain expressions—particularly those invoking historical symbols o — persecution—demand a context-sensitive response. Integrating historical memory, legal doctrine, and experiential insight, the Article proposes a balanced — ramework that urges policymakers, administrators, and scholars to step beyond academic detachment and engage directly with realities on the ground. Ultimately, this re — raming yields concrete policy recommendations — or higher education institutions and legislative bodies aimed at sa — eguarding — ree expression while protecting vulnerable communities — rom hate-driven violence.
Introduction
On October 7, 2023, the Foreign Terrorist Organization known as Hamas led an
unprecedented attack on Israel: Hamas murdered more than 1,200 civilians,2 kidnapped
over 250 Israelis,3 and live-streamed crimes against humanity,4 including shooting babies
with assault ri --- les and killing children via hand grenades.5 While the charred remains o ---
civilians still smoldered in the melted husks o --- passenger sedans that Hamas --- irebombed
along Israel’s Route 282, anti-Israel demonstrations erupted worldwide, including on
American campuses.6 University administrators, caught between preserving --- ree speech
and curtailing hate—and sometimes intimidated by threats o --- violence—struggled to
identi --- y when criticism o --- Israeli policy bled into antisemitic incitement.7
This struggle gets to the heart o --- the debate on whether anti-Zionism is antisemitic. Is
anti-Zionism antisemitism? This debate can --- eel distant and theoretical in lecture halls
and academic papers. But it was a visceral, real-world experience --- or everyone who
engaged with campus li --- e --- or much o --- the 2023–2024 academic year. Anti-Israel protests
correlated with antisemitic incidents, which rose over 800% that year: --- rom October
7, 2023, to January 7, 2024, the Anti-De --- amation League recorded 3,291 anti-Jewish
incidents, including 56 physical assaults.8, 9
Many Jewish students, --- aculty, and sta ---
experienced this parallel surge in anti-Jewish hostility—at times including overt threats—and many — elt abandoned by colleagues and institutional leaders who — ailed to speak out. Meanwhile, some Jewish students and Jewish-identi — ied organizations joined pro-Palestinian encampments and even hosted
4 Beyond the Ivory Tower Jewish rituals, including Shabbat and Passover meals, while surrounded by anti-Israel and pro-Hamas placards.10 And some Arab organizations and Arab leaders—such as Jordanian
ormer minister Saleh al-Qallab—publicly criticized Hamas as a terrorist group.11
The incidents themselves were di ---
icult to categorize. Vandals de — aced a historic Jewish deli in Los Angeles with anti-Israel slogans.12 Pro-Palestinian protestors pepper-sprayed and physically assaulted a yarmulke-wearing man in Times Square while shouting antisemitic slurs.13 The complexity o — these incidents, however, revealed that it is no longer su —
icient to treat this con — lict as a binary or merely geopolitical matter. Scholars have begun to document how these dynamics impact identity — ormation and public discourse.14
Against this backdrop, I joined a dozen law pro --- essors on a Mission to Israel in July 2024.
The decision was not easy. My daughter had just been born three months earlier, and my
wi --- e was understandably a --- raid o --- what I might see—or not come back --- rom seeing. As I
prepared to leave, my grandmother passed away. I livestreamed her --- uneral service --- rom
Boston Logan Airport, believing this mission would honor her legacy and strengthen our
collective response to a crisis o --- moral clarity.
During our --- our-day visit, we stood amid the ashen remains
o --- Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Hamas murdered 46 residents and This paper
kidnapped 71 hostages—including nine-month-old baby K --- ir contends that
Bibas.15 We spoke with --- rontline Israeli soldiers returning --- rom lived experience—
active duty in Gaza just hours earlier.16 We heard --- rom Arab
and Jewish Israeli civilians who rejected the --- alse dichotomy
direct observation,
o --- “Jew vs. Palestinian” and described Hamas as everyone’s not detached
enemy. We met grieving --- amilies, legal experts, pro --- essors, abstraction—
and politicians. We received detailed brie --- ings on the laws
is essential to
o --- war --- rom IDF legal counsel, debated proportionality
standards with Israeli attorneys, and studied international law understanding
through International Criminal Court (ICC) and International when anti-Zionist
Court o --- Justice (ICJ) proceedings.17 We explored the role o ---
speech crosses into
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such Human Rights
Watch and Amnesty Internation. We bore witness to war
antisemitic conduct.
crimes.18
These encounters --- orced me to con --- ront moral, legal, and emotional dimensions that
are easy to overlook --- rom the sa --- ety o --- a university o ---
ice. I saw how students, — aculty, and administrators in Israel grappled with balancing — ree expression and academic
reedom against the need to protect human li — e and condemn incitement. I also saw how euphemisms, slogans, and abstract theorizing o — ten obscure lived reality.
This paper contends that lived experience—direct observation, not detached abstraction—is
essential to understanding when anti-Zionist speech crosses into antisemitic conduct. When
protest slogans glori --- y murder, when student groups endorse terrorist attacks, or when
Jewish students are vili --- ied --- or their identity, these actions cannot be dismissed as mere
“critique.”19 Conversely, some critiques o --- Israeli governance are valid political expressions
that deserve protection on campus, even when they are uncom --- ortable or disturbing.
Beyond the Ivory Tower 5 Universities today stand at a crossroads. They must protect speech, especially controversial speech, as a legal and pedagogical imperative. But they must also protect students — rom discriminatory harassment. Under Title VI o — the Civil Rights Act, institutions that receive
ederal — unding have a legal obligation to ensure a non-hostile educational environment— including protecting Jewish students — rom antisemitic harassment.20 At the same time, public universities must sa — eguard the First Amendment, including unpopular or o —
ensive viewpoints.21 Even private universities may — ace contractual or statutory obligations to protect expressive — reedom.22
Antisemitic incidents are rising sharply worldwide, spanning digital spaces and campus
quads alike.23 To navigate this terrain with integrity, university leaders need not only
principled de --- initions and legal clarity—they need the moral courage to witness --- irsthand
what is happening, and to speak honestly about what they see.
I. Is Anti-Zionism Antisemitism?
This question o --- whether anti-Zionism is antisemitism has become a legal, political,
and institutional --- lashpoint. On college campuses and in public debate, terms like
“antisemitism” and “anti-Zionism” are invoked with increasing --- requency—and decreasing
clarity. Some treat anti-Zionism as protected political dissent. Others view it as a
contemporary --- orm o --- Jew-hatred, inseparable --- rom antisemitism in e ---
ect i — not intent. De — initions abound. But agreement remains elusive.
This Part examines those de --- initional debates and the consequences that --- ollow --- rom them.
It proceeds in three stages. Section A surveys widely used de --- initions o --- antisemitism.
Section B turns to anti-Zionism, exploring its historical meanings, ideological variants, and
how it --- unctions rhetorically and politically in campus settings. Section C analyzes why
these distinctions matter in law—particularly under Title VI o --- the Civil Rights Act—and how
de --- initional ambiguity can serve as a shield --- or institutional evasion. The pivotal concerns
are that a narrow de --- inition is unresponsive when anti-Zionism becomes antisemitism, while
a broad de --- inition can chill protected speech and legitimate political criticism.
The goal is not to resolve every theoretical dispute, but to illuminate what is at stake
when universities treat antisemitism and anti-Zionism as separate, interchangeable, or
unde --- ined. De --- initions are not merely academic exercises. They shape which harms are
recognized, which claims are believed, and whether institutional action is seen as justi --- ied
or overreaching. Part II will illustrate, and Part III will argue, that abstraction is no longer
enough. But, be --- ore we can transcend the war o --- words, we should understand it.
A . A NTI SEMI TI SM
To engage meaning --- ully in the debate over whether anti-Zionism is antisemitism, we must
irst clari — y what “antisemitism” itsel — means. The term may appear straight — orward, but it carries dense historical, ideological, and political baggage. Understanding antisemitism requires examining its troubling origins, its modern re — raming in public discourse, and the scholarly debate about how best to de — ine it—particularly in legal and academic settings.
6 Beyond the Ivory Tower 1. Historical Origins “Antisemitism” is not a neutral descriptor. It was invented to provide pseudo-scienti — ic legitimacy to hatred o — Jews. The root term Semitic emerged in 1781, when German Orientalist August Ludwig von Schlözer used the term semitische to classi — y Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic as linguistically related languages.24 Although this linguistic taxonomy appeared neutral, it embedded the biblical presumption that these languages were spoken by descendants o — Shem, son o — Noah.25 No scienti — ic basis supports this lineage, and there is no meaning — ul genetic unity among these populations.26
By the mid-19th century, Semitic had evolved into a term o --- racial and moral judgment.
French philosopher Ernest Renan claimed in 1855 that “Semitic” peoples were intellectually
and morally in --- erior to “Aryan” peoples, a view that helped racialize Jews in European
thought.27 The term “antisemitism” took de --- initive --- orm in 1879 when German journalist
Wilhelm Marr --- ounded the League o --- Antisemites (Antisemiten-Liga) and published The
Victory o --- Judaism over Germanism, which used the term to --- rame Jews as a biologically
alien race threatening German national survival.28 Marr’s antisemitism cloaked old hatred in
the language o --- racial anthropology and social Darwinism, portraying Jews not merely as a
religious group but as an existential biological threat.29
Today, some e ---
orts seek to reclaim moral clarity by discarding the term “antisemitism” altogether. Businessman Robert Kra — t, — or example, launched a national campaign encouraging Americans to say “Jew hatred” instead.30 This shi — t aims to pierce the abstraction that antisemitism has become and re — ocus attention on the hatred it masks.31 Nonetheless, in law and academia, “antisemitism” remains the operative term, and its de — inition remains highly contested.
2. Modern Re --- raming
In contemporary discourse, antisemitism remains both politicized and misunderstood.
Public controversies have erupted over campus speech, political criticism o --- Israel, and
international policy. Central to many o --- these debates is the de --- inition promulgated
by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), a standard adopted by
numerous governments and institutions, making it use --- ul --- or legal analysis. IHRA de --- ines
“antisemitism” as:
“a certain perception o --- Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.
Rhetorical and physical mani --- estations o --- antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or
non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions
and religious --- acilities.”32
The IHRA --- urther explains that “mani --- estations might include the targeting o --- the State o ---
Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity,” but notes that “criticism o --- Israel similar to that
leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”33
The de --- inition attempts to preserve space --- or criticism o --- Israeli policy while identi --- ying
when anti-Zionist rhetoric crosses into antisemitism. However, its application has sparked
widespread debate.
Beyond the Ivory Tower 7 3. Scholarly Debate Some scholars argue that the IHRA de — inition is essential. Cary Nelson de — ends its clarity, emphasizing that it helps universities distinguish legitimate policy critique — rom speech that demonizes Jews or denies their right to sel — -determination.34 Bernard Harrison and Lesley Kla —
similarly maintain that the IHRA de — inition is su —
iciently nuanced to draw principled lines between political speech and bigotry.35 Günther Jikeli adds that the IHRA de — inition is vital — or combatting contemporary — orms o — Jew hatred that hide behind political slogans while preserving academic — reedom.36
By contrast, Kenneth Stern, who coordinated the dra --- ting o --- the IHRA de --- inition but was not
involved in the --- inal revisions,37 has warned against its codi --- ication into law. He argues that
it was meant as an educational tool, not a legal instrument, and that its misapplication risks
suppressing legitimate political debate, especially in academic settings.38 Other scholars
share this concern. Raee --- a Z. Shams, writing --- or the Academic Engagement Network,
warns that i --- de --- initions are applied too broadly, they may marginalize dissenting voices or
delegitimize Palestinian perspectives—while nonetheless acknowledging that virulent --- orms
o --- anti-Zionism --- requently invoke antisemitic tropes.39
The Anti-De --- amation League has likewise tried to strike a care --- ul balance that distinguishes
between criticism o --- Israeli government actions (not inherently antisemitic) and e ---
orts to deny Israel’s right to exist (which it classi — ies as antisemitic).40 At some point, however, the concepts collapse, as sociologist David Hirsh asserts, “A pervasive anti‑Zionist worldview, when it becomes the norm, can pave the way — or overt antisemitism.”41 Hirsh’s statement underscores the risk that political critique may eventually slide into hate speech against Jews and counsels — or more expansive prohibitions against anti-Israel speech. Where that sliding occurs, however, become the nexus o — that debate. Some scholars, such as Andrew Pessin, note that while any coarse answer is sometimes wrong, anti-Zionism on campus is usually a mani — estation o — antisemitism.42 On the other end o — the spectrum, L. J. Ja —
ee decidedly pro —
ers the coarse assertion that “Anti-Zionism is not Antisemitism.”43 The middle ground answer seems to be, “it’s complicated.”44
A broader scholarly consensus suggests that the distinction hinges less on doctrinal purity
than on pragmatic --- unction. Dov Waxman, David Schraub, and Adam Hosein argue that
the de --- initional problem lies in part with the expectations we place on any single de --- inition:
that it should serve legal, social, academic, and moral purposes all at once.45 Alternative
rameworks, such as the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism and the Nexus Document, have been proposed in response to these concerns, though none has gained IHRA’s widespread adoption.
Despite ongoing disputes, one reality is clear: the way we de --- ine antisemitism has direct
implications --- or legal rights, institutional responsibilities, and moral clarity. While the IHRA
de --- inition is not binding --- ederal law, agencies like the Department o --- Education apply
it when assessing discrimination under Title VI o --- the Civil Rights Act. As such, even an
unsettled de --- inition has settled legal consequences—a point to which we return in Part C.
8 Beyond the Ivory Tower B . Z IONI SM (AND A NTI - ZIO N IS M ) “Zionism,” a term rooted in the Jewish aspiration — or sel — -determination, has become highly politicized and o — ten weaponized. Like “antisemitism,” the term has — lipped in moral valence: once a proud a —
irmation o — Jewish peoplehood, it is now sometimes treated as a slur. The rhetorical inversion counter-parallels the trajectory o — “antisemitism,” which was once a scienti — ic-sounding justi — ication — or killing Jews but now serves as a legal term — or protecting them. “Zionism,” conversely, has been transmogri — ied — rom a survival movement into a category o — political guilt. Yet — or all the political baggage it carries, Zionism remains conceptually elusive: it resists a single — ixed de — inition. Most — undamentally, it is a movement
or Jewish sel — -determination in the ancestral homeland. That — oundational meaning is both the premise and the
lashpoint — or today’s de — initional debates. Yet — or all the 1. Historical Origins political baggage it carries, Zionism Modern political Zionism arose in the late 19th century, well be — ore the — ormal establishment o — any state or remains conceptually administrative region known as “Palestine.” Theodor Herzl elusive: it resists (1860–1904), widely considered the — ather o — modern a single — ixed Zionism, articulated the need — or a Jewish state in his seminal pamphlet Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State, 1896), de — inition. as a response to pervasive antisemitism in Europe.46 Herzl’s e —
orts to secure a charter — rom the Ottoman Empire — ailed, but his movement catalyzed mass immigration to the southern Levant—then governed by Istanbul and known in — ormally as “Palestine”—as Jews sought to build a homeland in their ancestral territory.47
A --- ter World War I, the collapse o --- the Ottoman Empire enabled British and French control
o --- the region. The League o --- Nations created the British Mandate o --- Palestine on July 24,
1922, e ---
ectively endorsing the Bal — our Declaration o — 1917, which supported a Jewish national home while preserving the rights o — non-Jewish communities.48 Tensions mounted as Jewish immigration increased and Zionism grew — rom a spiritual aspiration into a political program. Arab nationalists rejected Jewish sovereignty altogether, while practical Zionists sought to build — acts on the ground. Meanwhile, many Jewish communities—particularly ultra-Orthodox Jews—opposed the Zionist project altogether.49
The Holocaust drastically trans --- ormed the debate. In its a --- termath, the moral urgency --- or
a Jewish homeland became undeniable to many observers, and international sympathy
aligned—brie --- ly—with Zionist aims.50 In 1947, the United Nations voted to partition British
Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. Jewish leaders accepted the plan; Arab
leaders rejected it. When David Ben-Gurion declared independence on May 14, 1948, --- ive
Arab states launched a coordinated military attack. Zionist --- orces prevailed, but the war
displaced more than 700,000 Palestinians—a trauma memorialized in Arab political culture
as the Nakba (“catastrophe”).51
From the Zionist perspective, this was the War o --- Independence. From the Palestinian
perspective, it was the dispossession o --- a people. These rival narratives remain
Beyond the Ivory Tower 9 irreconcilable. At their core lies a con — lict not just over land, but over legitimacy: the Jewish right to national sel — -determination versus the Palestinian view o — Zionism as colonial intrusion.
2. Modern Re --- raming
These historical --- lashpoints have shaped the way Zionism is understood today, particularly
in campus and legal discourse. Supporters o --- Israel o --- ten see Zionism as a movement o ---
liberation, sel --- -determination, and cultural renewal. Critics o --- Israel tend to depict Zionism
as a --- orm o --- settler colonialism or racial supremacy. In this polarized environment, the word
itsel --- has become a proxy --- or deeper con --- licts.
For many Jews, Zionism is inseparable --- rom identity and sa --- ety. Zionism promises Jewish
sovereignty in a world that has repeatedly proven unsa --- e --- or stateless Jews.52 The Jewish
state—like any state—has --- laws. But to deny its right to exist is not merely a critique o ---
policy. It undermines the legitimacy o --- Jewish peoplehood, especially when the same critics
a ---
irm the national claims o — other peoples, including Palestinians.53
Anti-Zionism today o --- ten travels under the --- lag o --- anti-colonialism or human rights. But
scholars have shown that this rhetoric --- requently cloaks eliminationist goals. Gil Troy argues
that anti-Zionism is not a dispassionate critique o --- state conduct; it is a political mutation
o --- antisemitism that retains its essential animus but adapts to modern norms.54 Einat Wil ---
likewise contends that societies in ideological crisis --- requently project their tensions onto
Jews, and today, onto Zionists.55 Anti-Zionism becomes the acceptable --- orm o --- antisemitism
in circles that would never admit hatred o --- Jews directly.
Troy and Wil --- are not alone. The Anti-De --- amation League, --- or instance, distinguishes
between criticism o --- Israeli policy and categorical rejection o --- Jewish sovereignty, labeling
the latter as antisemitic.56 Dina Porat, Yad Vashem’s chie --- historian, documents how anti-
Zionist slogans have long served as cover --- or antisemitic ideologies.57 These scholars
recognize that anti-Zionism is not necessarily antisemitism—but that the two o --- ten
converge, especially when Zionism is denied as a right granted to all other peoples.
3. Scholarly Debate
Some scholars urge restraint. David Feldman argues that anti-Zionism and antisemitism,
while sometimes overlapping, are analytically distinct and must not be con --- lated.58 Kenneth
Stern, who was involved in the IHRA dra --- ting but not its --- inal product, has criticized e ---
orts to codi — y that de — inition into law or campus policy. He — ears it could chill legitimate political speech and suppress dissenting views on Israeli conduct.59 Stern argues the IHRA de — inition was meant as a research tool, not a legal weapon. But others reject Stern’s interpretive authority. Cary Nelson, who has written extensively on academic — reedom and antisemitism, argues that Stern’s dissent has been misused to discredit IHRA, and that adopting it as a nonbinding — ramework enhances rather than restricts university discourse.60
Raee --- a Z. Shams, writing --- or the Academic Engagement Network, critiques overly expansive
de --- initions that equate all anti-Zionism with antisemitism. She worries that this con --- lation
erodes academic --- reedom. Yet even she acknowledges that much anti-Zionist rhetoric
on campus draws --- rom antisemitic tropes and --- uels hostile climates --- or Jewish students.61
10 Beyond the Ivory Tower Nelson responds to these tensions by de — ending the IHRA de — inition as a pragmatic compromise: it allows — or robust debate about Israeli policy while setting a — loor against discrimination.62
The IHRA’s working de --- inition is widely cited in legal and policy contexts. It de --- ines
antisemitism as “a certain perception o --- Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward
Jews,” and it includes examples involving Israel that “might” be antisemitic—such as
applying double standards or denying Jewish sel --- -determination.63 Critics claim the
de --- inition is too vague or too easily misused. But de --- enders see it as a --- lexible, context-
sensitive tool. Its use by the U.S. State Department, the European Commission, and dozens
o --- universities attests to its signi --- icance in contemporary legal and institutional discourse.64
The stakes o --- this de --- initional debate are real. I --- Zionism is merely another political ideology,
then anti-Zionism might be protected dissent. But i --- Zionism is the collective expression o ---
Jewish sel --- -determination, then denying it while a ---
irming that right — or all other groups looks much more like discrimination. Whether or not anti-Zionism is always antisemitism, the law must remain alert to how it — unctions in practice. That is the challenge Part C now takes up.
C . L E G A L CONSEQ U ENCES O F DEFIN ING ANT I-ZIO N IS M AS
A N TIS EMI TI SM
We are caught in a war o --- words that obscures the reality o --- war. On October 7, 2023,
terrorists murdered more than 1,200 people. In particular, the Palestinian terrorist
organization known as Hamas,65 who led “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,”66 made no secret o ---
their motive: hatred o --- Jews, which is in their --- ounding charter.67 There is no reasonable
debate on this point, which one can read --- irsthand; the United Nations identi --- ies how
Hamas encoded Jew hatred as its --- ounding principle.68
Yet instead o --- con --- ronting this atrocity, many universities and institutions became quickly
entangled in abstractions wrapped in slogans. The phrase “ --- rom the river to the sea”
echoed across campuses as i --- it were a benign call --- or --- reedom, rather than a genocidal
erasure o --- Jewish li --- e --- rom the Land o --- Israel. The Law Pro --- essors’ Mission to Israel cut
through this veneer o --- moralizing. Its participants bore witness to burned-out homes, bullet-
riddled baby cribs, and civilians gunned down while hiding in kibbutz bomb shelters. This
was not a metaphorical war. It was a massacre.
The abstract debate over de --- initions—Is anti-Zionism antisemitism?—is overly cerebral.
This is un --- ortunate because the stakes are anything but academic. The practical impact o ---
this discussion does not come --- rom arguing over semantics; we are con --- ronting real-world
threats to sa --- ety, dignity, and legal protection. The central question is not whether a per --- ect
de --- inition o --- antisemitism exists, but whether institutions are willing to recognize when calls
to “resist Zionism” devolve into targeted hostility against Jews. The cerebral approach gets
it wrong, no matter how it comes out, because this is not primarily a cerebral matter—unless
you are re --- erring to the literal gray matter o --- innocents that Hamas terrorists splattered
onto the dashboards o --- passenger sedans and melted into the immolated steel remains o ---
irebombed ambulances.
Beyond the Ivory Tower 11 Be — ore we return to that question in Part II—be — ore we evaluate campus protests through the lens o — genocide denial, eliminationist rhetoric, and incitement—we must — irst examine the legal — rameworks that make these distinctions matter.
1. Title VI, Free Speech, and Hate Crimes
In U.S. universities, antisemitic speech may constitute a hostile environment under Title VI
o --- the Civil Rights Act, even where such speech is protected under the First Amendment.69
Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis o --- race, color, or national origin in programs
receiving --- ederal --- unding. While it does not explicitly protect religion, courts and agencies
have recognized that Jews may be covered under Title VI when they --- ace discrimination
based on ethnic or ancestral identity.70 Title VI en --- orcement became increasingly prominent
as universities struggled to address rising antisemitic incidents linked to anti-Israel activism,
particularly surrounding the BDS movement.71
The U.S. Department o --- Education’s O ---
ice — or Civil Rights (OCR) has repeatedly clari — ied this point, most recently in its 2024 Dear Colleague letter, which a —
irms that anti- Zionist expressions may be investigated under Title VI when they target Jews or Israel in discriminatory ways.72 These standards incorporate the IHRA de — inition, which describes antisemitism as “a certain perception o — Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews” and includes as examples the denial o — Israel’s right to exist or applying double standards not demanded o — any other democratic nation.73
At the same time, public universities must sa --- eguard --- reedom o --- speech. Under the First
Amendment, even deeply o ---
ensive speech remains protected unless it rises to the level o —
direct threats, harassment, or incitement to imminent lawless action.74 This legal balancing
act—protecting both --- ree expression and equal protection—places administrators in a
di ---
icult position. State hate-crime statutes may criminalize acts motivated by anti-Jewish bias, but universities must also avoid censoring political speech merely because it is unpopular.
When slogans like “Zionists don’t belong on this campus” appear in student protests,
administrators must ask: Is this protected political speech? Or is it a campaign o --- identity-
based exclusion? The answer is not always clear. But what is clear is that legal consequences
low — rom how we de — ine and understand anti-Zionist expression.
2. Beyond Labels: Functional Analysis o --- Anti-Zionist Speech
The scholarly consensus is --- ractured—but many scholars urge a --- unctional analysis rather
than a --- ormalistic one. Gil Troy argues that modern anti-Zionism is not a distinct ideology
but a “mutation” o --- traditional antisemitism, preserving the logic o --- exclusion while
updating its vocabulary.75 Einat Wil --- agrees, characterizing anti-Zionism as a societal
projection that recurs during periods o --- ideological breakdown. She contends that hatred
o --- Israel now serves the same psychological --- unction as classic antisemitism once did: it
provides a convenient scapegoat --- or complex global --- rustrations.76
This analysis matters legally. The same rhetoric that appears as “criticism o --- Israel” in the
abstract may, in context, amount to discriminatory conduct. I --- a protestor denounces Israel’s
12 Beyond the Ivory Tower policies, that may be legitimate political critique. I — that same protestor screams “Zionists get out” at visibly Jewish students—particularly i — those students are wearing religious symbols—that may cross the line into actionable discrimination. In campus contexts, the relevant question is whether the speech — unctions to demean, threaten, or exclude Jewish individuals because o — their identity.
Kenneth L. Marcus, a --- ormer head o --- OCR, warns that labeling all anti-Zionism as
antisemitism can suppress debate—but ignoring its discriminatory impact allows hostile
environments to --- lourish.77 British sociologist David Hirsh similarly argues that pervasive anti-
Zionist worldviews o --- ten normalize antisemitism, especially when cloaked in the rhetoric o ---
anti-racism or human rights.78 Scholars on the other side, such as Kenneth Stern and David
Feldman, urge caution against expansive de --- initions that may chill academic --- reedom. But
even they acknowledge the danger o --- anti-Zionism --- unctioning as a vehicle --- or traditional
antisemitic ideas.79
The takeaway is clear: the label is less important than
the e ---
ect. What does the speech actually do? Does it single out Jews — or hostility, exclusion, or violence? The takeaway is Does it invoke antisemitic tropes, such as global clear: the label is less conspiracies or blood libels, under the guise o — anti- important than the Zionism? I — so, institutions may—and must—respond. e —
ect. What does the 3. From Theory to Real-World Implications speech actually do? Legal de — initions matter not only in courtrooms but also in administrative o —
ices and university boardrooms. When campus protests call — or inti — ada or praise Hamas, the legal implications are not hypothetical. I — Jewish students
eel threatened or excluded because o — their identity or perceived a —
iliation with Israel, universities may — ace Title VI complaints, civil liability, and reputational damage. And those risks have grown, not receded.
Several states have incorporated de --- initions o --- antisemitism—including IHRA—into their
hate-crimes laws or education policies.80 The U.S. House o --- Representatives, in 2024,
passed a resolution declaring anti-Zionism a --- orm o --- antisemitism; 81 and more recently, the
Trump administration has threatened to stop --- unding universities who --- ail to adopt broad
de --- initions o --- and protections again antisemitism,82 --- urther intensi --- ying political pressure
on institutions to adopt clear standards. Meanwhile, courts have begun weighing in. In
one recent decision, a Texas Court o --- Appeals --- ound that adopting the IHRA de --- inition
in a university speech code, without su ---
icient sa — eguards, risked violating the First Amendment.83 This highlights the — ine line between legal protection and unconstitutional overreach.
The American Civil Liberties Union has also raised red --- lags, warning that equating anti-
Zionism with antisemitism in blanket terms could in --- ringe on protected speech.84 And yet,
the re --- usal to act in the --- ace o --- virulent anti-Zionist harassment can equally run a --- oul o --- civil
rights laws. Universities must navigate this terrain care --- ully—balancing their dual obligations
to protect expressive --- reedoms and ensure nondiscriminatory educational environments.
Beyond the Ivory Tower 13 Ultimately, the goal is not to police thought but to uphold civic norms. Universities must distinguish between robust critique and identity-based vili — ication. And legal de — initions— while imper — ect—remain necessary tools in making that distinction. The next Part o — this essay turns to our — irsthand experience in Israel. There, legal theory collided with human tragedy. And the boundary between speech and action, criticism and incitement, became chillingly clear.
II. Experiencing Israel A --- ter October 7
On July 7, 2024—exactly nine months a --- ter the October 7 attacks—I arrived in Israel as part
o --- the Law Pro --- essors’ Mission. The country was visibly and viscerally in mourning. Inside
Ben Gurion Airport, hundreds o --- red “kidnapped” posters covered the terminal walls. Each
included the name and --- ace o --- a hostage abducted by Hamas. Many were decorated with
hand-drawn hearts, personal messages, and stickers --- rom children. In a nation o --- roughly 9.3
million, this was not symbolic art. It was the record o --- a society wounded by terror. The
sheer volume o --- these posters rendered abstract casualty statistics impossible to ignore.85
This kind o --- grie --- is not an exhibit
in a law school seminar. It is not
theoretical. The IHRA de --- inition
o --- antisemitism explicitly links
contemporary hatred to the legacy
o --- historical trauma.86 In Israel, that
trauma is not historical. It is current.
It exists on every wall, in every
conversation, and in every legal
brie --- ing that --- ollowed on this trip.
A . A R RI VAL AND F I RST
IM P R E SSI ONS
My encounter with the poster o ---
baby K --- ir Bibas occurred less than Figure 1. Hostage posters were everywhere in Israel, constantly
reminding o --- the ongoing tragedy. Credit: Seth Oranburg.
i — teen minutes a — ter I disembarked. He was nine months old when Hamas kidnapped him — rom his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.87 His toothless smile resembled my own daughter’s, who had been born just weeks earlier. I looked at his picture and experienced what no textbook could replicate. It became impossible to think about “hostages” as a category. These were not abstractions; they were lives—children, parents, siblings—reduced to slogans in political debate.
Everyone I spoke with in Israel had been a ---
ected personally by the attacks. The scale o — trauma was clear. With over 1,200 civilians killed, the per capita impact was greater than the September 11 attacks in the United States.88 A proportional attack on the U.S. would have killed more than 40,000 Americans. That — igure maps the scale o — grie — onto a context — amiliar to U.S. academics, but it is still too clinical to express the reality o — shared
14 Beyond the Ivory Tower trauma. The one-dimensional nature o — statistics as compared to my lived experience reveals how detached campus discourse o — ten is — rom the realities that Israeli students and
aculty are living.
My own --- amily was grieving, too,
so perhaps I was more tuned in to
this pain. My grandmother passed
away --- ive days be --- ore the trip. I live-
streamed her --- uneral --- rom Boston
Logan Airport and boarded the --- light Figure 2. “Kidnapped” poster --- or K --- ir Bibas were ubiquitous in
Israel. Credit: Seth C. Oranburg.
to Tel Aviv alone.
My wi --- e stayed in New Hampshire
with our in --- ant daughter. I made the decision to go because I believed that witnessing the
a --- termath o --- October 7 was not only morally necessary, but essential to understand what the
legal categories—proportionality, distinction, incitement—actually mean in practice.
B . M E MORY AND THE M ARKET PLACE
We began Tuesday morning in Jerusalem at Yad Vashem. The memorial is built into the
hillside and --- lanked by dense pine trees. Its architecture is deliberate: steep stone walls
slowly envelop visitors in darkness as they descend into the memory o --- the Holocaust.
Inside, glass vitrines display Zyklon B canisters, Nazi armbands, battered shoes, and yellow
stars. A diorama o --- Auschwitz illustrates how Jews were deceived into lining up --- or death—
”showers” marked with signage, clothing shelves neatly labeled by size. An entire
civilization corralled into death through bureaucracy and architectural precision.
In that space, I recalled the IHRA’s
warning about antisemitism that
distorts or denies the Holocaust.89 It’s
not just a rhetorical concern. It is a
lived one. To claim that Jewish grie --- is
overplayed, or that the Holocaust can
be abstracted into a metaphor, is to
stand in that museum and say nothing
is real.
From Yad Vashem, we proceeded to
Mount Herzl. There, --- amilies gathered
or a memorial honoring soldiers killed Figure 3. Law Pro — essors Mission to Israel group at a Yaad Vashem since October 7. The Israel De — ense exhibit. Credit: Shahar Azran.
Beyond the Ivory Tower 15 Forces read their names aloud. A woman clutched a photograph. A man held a — olded
lag. The ritual was spare. The grie — was not. Each name carried the weight o — a nation’s mourning.
Later that day, we arrived at Hebrew University --- or a session titled “Approaches to Free
Speech on Campus: U.S. vs. Israel.” The discussion was academic, but the stakes were
personal. Law pro --- essors explained how legal norms around expression are shaped by
context: Israel’s model is not like the United States’ because Israel’s classrooms are not
like ours. For example, at least 16% o --- Hebrew University’s 24,000 students are Arab-
Palestinians—about hal ---
rom East Jerusalem and about hal — Israeli citizens.90 Most Jewish students are IDF veterans, many o — whom — ought combat operations against Palestinian
orces.91 That makes classroom conversations about war deeply — raught. These are not hypothetical disagreements. They are literal wounds these students personally experience.92
In the U.S., we debate whether chanting “ --- rom the river to the sea” is protected speech. In
Israel, that chant echoes down the halls o --- classrooms where students on both sides o ---
geopolitical lines have buried --- riends and --- amily. Moreover, these conversations take place
within sight o --- the Dome o --- the Rock, at the heart o --- the contest over ancient land. Context
doesn’t just matter—it trans --- orms the question entirely.
That a --- ternoon, we toured the Old
City. We passed the Church o --- the Holy
Sepulchre, where pilgrims knelt at the
Stone o --- Anointing—the place believed
to be where Jesus was prepared --- or
burial. The scent o --- incense clung to the
air.
Then we walked to the Kotel, the
Western Wall o --- the Second Temple.
There, as I stood --- acing its timeworn
Jerusalem stones, an ultra-Orthodox
man approached and asked i --- I wanted
to wrap te --- illin—small leather boxes
containing passages o --- Torah bound Figure 4. Law Pro --- essors Mission to Israel Group at Hebrew
to the head and arm during prayer. I University, with the Dome o --- the Rock visible --- rom the landing.
responded in English, and he switched Credit: Shahar Azran.
languages with ease. We quickly
discovered a shared connection: the same Chabad rabbi in New Hampshire. What began as
a casual o ---
er became a surprisingly intimate moment. He asked — or a sel — ie. I agreed. And then I prayed.
I cried as I prayed, but not --- rom piety. This wall—sometimes called the Wailing Wall—invites
catharsis. In that hot July sun, I --- elt my tears --- low into a salty well o --- a million crises. For
more than two thousand years, my ancestors sought this place as an opportunity to open
their hearts and share their laments. And --- or a moment, I --- elt merged with that resonance.
16 Beyond the Ivory Tower Only when I stepped back and turned
or a — inal glance did the Temple Mount come into view. The Dome o — the Rock rose above the plaza. I could not go there. Few Jews can. Israeli courts, citing public order, have long upheld restrictions that prohibit Jewish and Christian prayer on the Temple Mount.93 Meanwhile, I stood where many Muslims now — ear to tread. In that moment, I — elt deep sadness over the ri — t. At the heart o — the spiritual world, we have not — ound universal humanity—but our deepest divides. Figure 5. This article’s author praying — or peace at the Western Wall. Credit: Shahar Azran. Jerusalem — orces the visitor to reckon with contradiction. Sacredness exists alongside surveillance. Religious liberty coexists with coercive state control. These tensions are not theoretical. They are visible in the marketplaces and the monuments, the checkpoints and the chants. They shape the laws, the politics, and the soul o — this place.
That night, we shared dinner at Mahane Yehuda, at Tali Friedman’s atelier. Tali lost many
riends on October 7. Her children, both teenagers, had spiraled into depression a — ter 10 o — their — riends were murdered. And yet Tali cooked — or us with joy and grace. She said preparing — ood helped her heal. This wasn’t just a meal. It was a ritual o — survival.
Tali said she wanted to make us --- eel at home, though her own had been shattered. That
act—o ---
eeding guests while grieving—said more about resilience than any slogan or placard ever could.
One o --- our evening brie --- ings was
led by Pro --- essor Gerald Steinberg,
a longtime scholar o --- international
relations in Israel. Since the early 2000s,
Steinberg has --- ocused on the in --- luence
o --- prominent non-governmental
organizations (NGOs)—including
Amnesty International and Human Rights
Watch—on public perceptions o --- Israel
within the domains o --- human rights
and international humanitarian law. He
described this in --- luence as a --- orm o ---
“so --- t power” that operates in tandem
with kinetic violence, shaping the legal
Figure 6. Che --- and market manager Tali Friedman cooks --- amily
and moral narrative through reports, styles meals at her atelier as a means o --- nourish her dreams o --- an
press coverage, and international Jerusalem that is sa --- e --- or Jews and Arabs alike. Credit: Shahar Azran.
orums.
Beyond the Ivory Tower 17 In Steinberg’s analysis, NGOs o — ten — rame Israel’s conduct in the language o — apartheid and genocide, echoing terminology advanced by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Such narratives, Steinberg argued, tend to minimize or obscure the brutality o — attacks against Israeli civilians and are later deployed in “law — are” e —
orts—including attempts to block arms sales to Israel and to undermine the legitimacy o — Israeli sel — -de — ense.94 He noted that these narratives increasingly sur — ace in university discourse as well. Steinberg acknowledged that some academic audiences have been skeptical o — applying political analysis to NGOs, particularly in the legal — ield, but suggested that this dimension is slowly gaining scholarly traction.
C . B E A RI NG WI TNESS
The next morning, be --- ore our mission group boarded a bus to visit to bear witness to the
communities impacted in Southern Israel, I learned over break --- ast how impact --- ul this was
to my Israeli --- aculty counterparts. The attacks on October 7 had a devastating impact on
university li --- e—especially at Ben-Gurion University o --- the Negev (BGU), the only university in
the Negev region and a key institution in southern Israel.95
The BGU community su ---
ered signi — icant losses, with over 110 members killed, including students, — aculty, and immediate relatives; — ive members taken hostage; and thousands displaced or called to reserve duty. Notably, Noa Argamani, a third-year computer science student, was among those kidnapped, her abduction widely publicized. Despite these challenges, BGU has demonstrated remarkable resilience, continuing its mission to support and rebuild the southern region. The university has provided housing — or displaced individuals, expanded psychological services, and launched initiatives to bolster the local economy and community. BGU President Pro — . Daniel Chamovitz emphasized the university’s pivotal role in Israel’s — uture, stating, “I believe BGU is the most important university — or the — uture o — Israel.”96
Yet when we departed --- or the South, this experience was still abstracted. I did not even
realize how detached I was until I came --- ace to --- ace with the reality o --- this war.
1. Tekuma Car Graveyard
The South presented a very di ---
erent kind o — classroom. We — irst stopped at the Tekuma Car Graveyard, which sits on the edge o — Israel’s southern corridor, near the Gaza border. More than 800 civilian vehicles are parked here in silence—some mangled, some charred, many both. Together, they — orm a grim mosaic o — everyday li — e turned to rubble.
I --- ilmed the wreckage o --- an ambulance as an IDF o ---
icer recounted its — inal moments: “This ambulance, which once sheltered youngsters at the Rim Nova Festival—a celebration meant to embody peace and love—was blasted with dozens o — AK‑47 shots. Hand grenades were thrown into it, and then a rocket-propelled grenade set it a — lame. When cleared, we recovered the remains o — 18 people, including an 18‑year-old girl in a wheelchair.”97
These were not military vehicles. They were sedans, hatchbacks, and mopeds. I --- ilmed
a burned-out white Audi A5—the same model I drive. As I stared at its melted --- rame, I
imagined my wi --- e and daughter in that car. What i --- it were us? These visceral images convert
abstract statistics into personal sorrow.
18 Beyond the Ivory Tower The graveyard was a place o —
orensic evidence, yes—but also sacred grie — . It o —
ered no clean answers, only the residue o — dehumanizing violence. The smell o — scorched rubber and — lesh clung to the wind. Ash dri — ted across the asphalt. It wasn’t someone else’s tragedy anymore. It was mine.
In law school, we teach doctrines like
proportionality and distinction—legal
rules meant to distinguish civilian --- rom
military targets, to balance --- orce with
necessity. But no statute, no legal theory,
can --- ully account --- or the intimacy o --- grie ---
Figure 7. The author o --- this article interviews an IDF o ---
icer, who explains how Hamas targeted this ambulance with assault ri — les, embedded in a vehicle’s remains. rocket propelled grenades, and hand grenades—and why this constitutes war crimes. As I le — t Tekuma, I carried more than video — ootage. I carried the knowledge that these were not un — ortunate accidents or collateral mis — ires. These were deliberate attacks on civilians. And no amount o — legal abstraction can explain away the choice to turn a — estival o — peace into a — urnace o — death.
This was not where our journey ended. But it was where any illusions ended.
2. Kibbutz Nir Oz
From Tekuma, we continued to Kibbutz Nir Oz. The setting --- elt eerily --- amiliar. I had lived
and worked at Kibbutz Hatzerim—just 20 miles away—twenty years earlier. Both were
ounded on socialist Zionist ideals. Both belonged to the same regional council. Both bore the same architectural simplicity: — lat-roo — ed bungalows shaded by eucalyptus trees, communal dining halls, and narrow paved lanes where children once rode bicycles.
Many o --- the kibbutz communities attacked on October 7—including Nir Oz and nearby
Be’eri—were long associated with le --- t-leaning politics and peace activism. Residents had
volunteered --- or years to aid Palestinian civilians. Oded Li --- shitz, a --- ounder o --- Nir Oz, was a
veteran journalist known --- or driving sick Gazans to Israeli hospitals.98 Vivian Silver, a peace
activist --- rom Be’eri, was murdered in her home a --- ter dedicating her li --- e to coexistence
e ---
orts.99
But Nir Oz had become something else entirely: a crime scene.
The communal dining hall, once --- illed with laughter and shared meals, had been reduced
to a scorched, hollow skeleton. The smell o --- destruction lingered in the air—an odor
reminiscent o --- musky cork, or moldy cardboard le --- t to rot in a damp basement. Our guide
explained that the smell came --- rom an industrial re --- rigerator that had been repurposed to
store the burned and bullet-riddled bodies o --- the residents, because the morgues were
too overwhelmed to receive them all.100 We could smell this --- rom the mail room, where
residents’ mailboxes were marked “kidnapped” or “murdered,” as appropriate.
Beyond the Ivory Tower 19 The dining tables were still set. Each one bore a bright red hostage poster. Some posters were marked with “dead,” crudely taped over “kidnapped.” One table — eatured a child’s highchair. I — roze when I saw it. On the chair was a poster o — baby K — ir Bibas. His wide, toothless grin looked just like my daughter’s. That smile—so
amiliar, so human—dismantled any remaining detachment I had. The whole Bibas — amily had once sat here. Now, their — aces were taped to
urniture like missing-persons — liers. I Figure 8. Sharone Li — schitz, a peace activity, explains the urgency stared at Yarden Bibas’s photo—K — ir’s o — returning the hostages home by pointing out arti — acts, like these
ather—and wondered: had I stayed in mailboxes, o — the paused lives they le — t behind. Credit: Shahar Azran. Israel a — ter my kibbutz summer, would I be in one o — those tunnels now? Would I be clinging to my daughter’s hand, not knowing i — my wi — e was alive? It was the closest I’ve ever come to understanding what Rawls meant by the veil o — ignorance. In that moment, the veil li — ted, and I saw my own li — e behind someone else’s eyes.
We toured the rest o --- the kibbutz.
Shot-out windows glared at us
like hollow eyes. Front doors were
pockmarked with bullet holes. Some
were still ajar. The heat had baked
every sur --- ace into dust. We walked
into homes where tables remained set
or break — ast, where toys lay scattered on the — loor. These were not military installations. They were — amily homes. And they had been invaded, burned, and destroyed with shocking precision.
Later, when we viewed body camera
ootage recovered — rom Hamas Figure 9. The communal dining hall o — Kibbutz Nir Oz now
unctions as a memorial to the hostages and victims o — October 7. terrorists, I recognized the exact rooms I had entered just days earlier.101 The crime scenes were no longer theoretical. I had smelled the ash. I had touched the walls. Watching those videos wasn’t like watching the news. It was like reliving a massacre.
Our guide at Nir Oz was Sharone Li --- shitz, a longtime resident. She wore a black “Bring
Them Home Now!” t-shirt—the slogan o --- the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.102 On
October 7, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) had kidnapped her parents, Oded and Yocheved
Li --- shitz. By the time we met Sharone, her mother had been released, but her --- ather was
20 Beyond the Ivory Tower still missing. Later, we learned that Hamas had already murdered him and returned his body in February 2025.103
Oded Li --- shitz was an octogenarian
peace activist. He regularly crossed
into Gaza with a group called Road
to Recovery, which arranged medical
transport --- or Palestinians needing
treatment at Israeli hospitals. Sharone
described his kindness, his paci --- ism,
and her re --- usal to hate in return.
Despite the murder o --- her --- ather
and the horror o --- that day, she still
believed in the possibility o --- peace and Figure 10. Terrorists used accelerants to immolate civilian homes
at Kibbutz Nir Oz, rendering them remarkably damaged. Credit:
supported a two-state solution. Shahar Azran.
But others we met did not share that
view. Some saw the attack on Nir Oz as an attack not just on Jews, but on the very idea o ---
peace. It was hard to disagree. The pogroms targeted le --- tist communities, many o --- which
had spent decades building bridges with Palestinian neighbors. And it was those same
communities—unarmed, unguarded—that were selected --- or annihilation.
The October 7 attacks had a pro --- ound impact on peace activists residing in the Gaza
envelope. Many o --- these individuals and communities, known --- or their longstanding
commitment to coexistence and peace e ---
orts, — ound themselves targets o — the violence. For instance, Kibbutz Nir Oz and other communities had residents actively engaged in — ostering dialogue and supporting Palestinian rights. The attacks not only resulted in tragic loss o — li — e but also sent shockwaves through the peace movement in the region.104
I --- there was a moment that rede --- ined my understanding o --- anti-Zionism, it happened in
Nir Oz. This was not criticism o --- Israel’s military policy. It was not opposition to settlement
expansion. It was the deliberate, ideological slaughter o --- paci --- ists. It was anti-Zionism turned
genocidal.
And it happened in a place that once looked just like the kibbutz where I came o --- age.
3. Nova Festival Testimony
Later that a --- ternoon, we arrived at the site o --- the Nova Music Festival. The air was still. Trees
swayed in the heat. But it was not pleasant. This was a crime scene. More than 360 civilians
were murdered here during a sunrise dance party. Dozens more were abducted. Hamas
terrorists had planned the attack in advance, coordinating rocket --- ire, ground in --- iltration,
and ambushes on --- leeing --- estivalgoers.105
There, we met Bar Hinitz, a survivor. He stood beside the stage where the massacre began.
His voice shook, but he spoke with clarity. “Every time I start to tell the story,” he said, “I
always tell people that in the way o --- recovery, I learned to really listen to mysel --- .”106 He
Beyond the Ivory Tower 21 encouraged us to do the same. I — we needed to step away, take a breath, or walk, he said, that was okay.
Bar explained that Nova was not just
a party. It was a community grounded
in peace and mutual respect. “In those
kind o --- parties,” he said, “i --- you sit --- or
a second alone, someone will come
to you and say, ‘Hey brother, are you
good?’”107 The music was global—DJs
rom Japan, Brazil, India. The crowd was young. The atmosphere was joy — ul. Figure 11. A law pro — essor — rom the Mission group takes a photograph o — the mural dedicated to the young partygoers Hamas He had arrived at 1:00 a.m. with his murdered at the Nova Festival on October 7. Credit: Shahar Azran. best — riend, Omer. “We came to celebrate li — e,” he said. “We didn’t bring much—just a mattress and two chairs.”108 At 6:30 a.m., they stood near the main stage as the sun began to rise. That moment—sunrise at a trance — estival—is usually the emotional high point. But instead o —
music, they saw rockets overhead.
“The DJ comes to the mic and says,
‘Guys, red alert, red alert, it’s not a
drill, evacuate as quick as you can.’”109
Chaos --- ollowed. They jumped into
their car, --- led the parking lot, got
turned around, and headed in the Figure 12. Bar Hinitz stands at the Nova Festival grounds and
wrong direction—toward the terrorists. describes how he escaped --- rom terrorists who murdered his --- riends
“One guy shouted --- rom his car, ‘There there on October 7. Credit: Shahar Azran.
is a terrorist here—go back!’”110
Eventually, police waved survivors east into the --- ields. Bar and Omer --- ollowed. Five
minutes later, they heard gunshots. “Automatic weapons,” he recalled. People ran. Some
abandoned their cars. “We didn’t know where to run,” he said. “Just hide, and roll between
spots, so they won’t recognize you.”111
Bar dove into a bush. “I saw a guy I knew --- rom my hometown,” he said. “He pushed
two girls into the bush, and I jumped in a --- ter them.”112 They stayed hidden --- or nearly 40
minutes. At one point, he noticed a --- riend had a birthday candle. “I told him, this is the
time to make a wish, my --- riend,” he said. “And we laughed. We actually laughed, inside the
bush.”113
22 Beyond the Ivory Tower Then his phone rang. First his mother. Then his brother—an IDF special — orces o —
icer. Bar told him, “Terrorists are shooting at us. Get everybody you can.”114 His brother didn’t believe him at — irst. “He thought I was joking,” Bar said. “But a — ew hours later, he came—he showed up, with his gun, and brought me home.”115
A --- ter escaping the bush, Bar reunited with the man --- rom his hometown—the same one
who’d saved others. They embraced at a healing center weeks later. “Turns out our brothers
are best --- riends,” Bar said. “They live in the same house in the army.”116
At one point during the escape, a police o ---
icer shouted, “Come a — ter me! They’re a — ter us!”117 Bar ran behind him through a tree-lined — ield and open terrain. “People started screaming, ‘Split up! Don’t be in a group!’ But I knew—I cannot lose that o —
icer.”118 Along the way, he gave water to dehydrated survivors. “We walked — ast, to catch the o —
icer, and tried not to scare the others.”119
Bar had served in the army. But nothing prepared him --- or that day. “There were times in the
army they woke me up at night --- or a radar alert, and it turned out to be a plastic bag,” he
said. “But this was not plastic. It was real.”120 He prayed out loud. He cracked jokes. “It kept
me alive. It saved my spirit.”121
Eventually, he reached a shelter in the town o --- Patish. He --- ound --- ood, water, and other
survivors. But the trauma was just beginning. “I didn’t know what was happening outside,”
he said. “But people started calling me, asking: Where is Omer?”122 Omer, his childhood
best --- riend, had gone to a nearby --- estival. He wasn’t supposed to be there. Days later, Bar
learned that Omer had been murdered.123
That moment broke him. But it also deepened his resolve to tell the truth. “Talking is
healing,” he said. “It helps the healing process. I want to tell people what really happened
here.”124
Bar later joined a theater therapy group with other survivors. They met weekly at the Cameri
Theatre in Tel Aviv. “Twelve o --- us,” he said, “all with passion --- or acting, --- or music, --- or telling
stories. We had psychologists with us. We practiced acting, psychodrama. We’re planning a
show.”
He ended with a message to American law students. He asked us to imagine going to
a peace --- ul music --- estival—like Lollapalooza—and then encountering “the very opposite
o --- what’s human.”125 “Imagine thousands o --- terrorists starting to shoot everybody. This
happened. It’s not politics. It’s people.”126 He looked around the site—at the burnt earth,
the rebuilt memorials, the triangle o --- names. “I believe in truth,” he said. “I believe in
remembering. And I believe there is good in the world.”127
4. IDF BBQ and Re --- lections --- rom Soldiers
Our descent into the stark realities o --- war reached its climax at the IDF base near Nahal
Oz. The entrance was guarded by two Merkava tanks. There, we toured the remains o ---
the command center --- or Combat Intelligence Unit 414, a surveillance and monitoring
post sta ---
ed entirely by young — emale soldiers. On October 7, Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades
Beyond the Ivory Tower 23 joined — orces with Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Saraya al-Quds to launch a — ierce assault on the — acility.128 Militants overran the base and barricaded the control room, where the young women were stationed. Chemical accelerants were reportedly used to ignite the structure, and our guide explained that toxic — umes likely su —
ocated the soldiers be — ore the — lames took hold. Only seven o — the twenty-two women managed to escape—by crawling through a narrow window too small — or me to — it through mysel — .129
International law draws a clear line between combatants and civilians—but what I witnessed
at Nahal Oz showed how that line blurs in asymmetric war --- are. These young women died
unarmed and hal --- naked. They became the --- irst casualties o --- a war they did not know had
begun. De --- initionally, I recognized these girls were law --- ul combatants to the extent the al-
Qassam Brigades started the Gaza-Israel war that morning. However, that de --- inition did not
erase the horror o --- their deaths—su ---
ocated by poison gas while in their nightclothes—and
ractured lines I had drawn in my mind between battle — ields and bedrooms.
The control center itsel --- was a
blackened ruin. Keyboards and mice
had melted into surreal puddles. The
walls had collapsed inward. The air
still smelled --- aintly o --- chemical smoke.
I had studied arson as a doctrinal
matter, but this wasn’t theory. This air
had poisoned people. The scene was
reminiscent o --- “showers” and ovens at
Auschwitz.
Immediately a --- terward, I interviewed
two young women stationed at the
base. Their ri --- les—long, Vietnam Figure 13. Melted keyboards at the Nahal Oz command center.
Credit: Shahar Azran.
War–era M-16s—looked absurdly
large against their small --- rames. And
yet their voices were steady. One o ---
them said: “We don’t want to harm
any uninvolved people. But we all
have to remember that our shared
enemy is Hamas. They’re hurting us
and the Palestinians as well.” The
other added: “We can live together
once we take down Hamas. We could
all live together.” Their ultimate
message—”peace and love”—was not
naive. It was de --- iant. Their message
cut through the slogans I had heard
shouted on campus. This was not war- Figure 14. The author interviewed Israeli soldiers who shared a
message o --- “peace and love.” The wall to the speaker’s right
mongering. It was hope.130
shows 7.62 caliber bullet holes --- rom the October 7 attack. Credit:
Seth Oranburg.
24 Beyond the Ivory Tower A — ter speaking with them, our group o — law pro — essors, along with some local volunteers, prepared a barbecue — or the soldiers. We grilled meat on metal racks near the mess tent. As the — irst trays o —
ood came o —
the grill, a unit o — male soldiers returned — rom that day’s combat. They were boisterous—clearly delighted by the — east. The smell o — grilled meat mingled with cigarette smoke and diesel — umes. Even though I had hardly eaten that day— and while I love a good steak—I could hardly imagine eating — ood so reminiscent o — the horrors we had just witnessed. The contrast was striking: li — e and death, side by side on a plastic — olding table.
Over dinner, I spoke with these men, who were just boys to my eyes. I sat with a crew o ---
heavy machine gun operators who were hal --- my age. They joked about being hal --- -dea --- , too.
They spoke about what they had seen—how they experienced Hamas --- ighters pop out o ---
hidden tunnel entrances and --- rom doors to strike their colleagues. They spoke about --- allen
comrades and, clearly, about the violence they had meted out in return. These soldiers did
not echo the “peace and love” message o --- their --- emale counterparts. They dismissed the
possibility o --- reconciliation outright. They did not think the end o --- war was near.
Once the meal ended, we helped clean up the camp. We gathered trash, wiped tables,
and packed up gear. It --- elt right to do the work. There was nothing noble about it, yet it --- elt
use --- ul.
In the quiet moments a --- ter cleanup, I spoke to a man about twice my age who wore a
yarmulke and tzitzit, hallmarks o --- his Orthodox Jewish --- aith. He identi --- ied himsel --- as a “old
hippie.” I told him what the women soldiers had said, and what the male soldiers had said,
and asked --- or his reconciliation o --- the two positions. He told me the only way peace would
come was i --- the Jewish people returned to God—not just in belie --- , but in action; not just in
prayer, but in observance. Only then, he said, would the Messiah come and bring peace to
the whole world. His words were quiet but --- irm. He believed that redemption would --- ollow
repentance. Not negotiation. Not war. Torah.
We boarded the bus to Tel Aviv. On the way back to the hotel, I stared out the window,
thinking about the command center, the women who died there, the men who had returned
rom battle, the soldiers who still stood watch. I thought about their voices. Their smells. Their clarity. Their pain. And I realized that nothing I had taught in class prepared me — or this.
D. THE PA I N CENTER
On Thursday morning, we gathered --- or break --- ast in the Tel Aviv hotel dining room. A
slideshow on international humanitarian law --- lickered quietly on a television screen above
the bu ---
et. Co —
ee cups clinked against saucers. Colleagues murmured about upcoming
lights and academic projects. A — ter days o — witnessing grie — and devastation, the return to routine — elt surreal. But the illusion shattered within the hour.
Our destination: the IDF’s southern communications command. What we --- ound there could
not have been --- urther --- rom the warm neutrality o --- hotel co ---
ee service or academic slides. We waited at a security checkpoint, then walked into a nondescript concrete building with linoleum — loors, plastic chairs, and buzzing — luorescent lighting. We were ushered into a stark
Beyond the Ivory Tower 25 media room lined with oversized monitors. A young — emale o —
icer—barely older than my law students—stood at the — ront and introduced hersel — . She had helped compile the
ootage we were about to see. Hundreds o — hours o — raw video had passed through her hands. Here was a young person who watched more horrors than anyone ought to see.
She explained that this was not news
ootage. It was evidence o — war crimes.131 The compilation included bodycam recordings — rom the Hamas terrorists themselves, CCTV surveillance, dashboard cameras, mobile phones o — both attackers and victims, and home security systems — rom kibbutzim and private residences.132 The IDF had shown this material to diplomats, journalists, and lawmakers around the world in an attempt to ensure that the crimes o — October 7 would not be reduced to rumor or buried by subsequent Figure 15. An IDF o —
icers introductions the law pro — essors to the
ootage we are about to watch. Credit: Shahar Azran. headlines.133
The o ---
icers also told us what we would not be seeing. Despite the existence o — veri — ied recordings o — rape and sexual mutilation, the IDF chose to omit that — ootage — rom this compilation. They cited not only the moral weight o — retraumatizing survivors and their — amilies, but a religious principle: Jewish modesty — orbids the public exposure o — victims, even in death.134
1. Hamas Raw Footage
While the --- ootage as a whole le --- t a striking impression on me that I expressed as “staring
into the maw o --- hell,” several sequences remain seared into my memory.
I was transported back to Kibbutz Nir Oz, where I had walked yesterday. Now, a terrorist,
exuding an eerie nonchalance, shot a pet dog with an AK-47 assault ri --- le be --- ore continuing
his assault on the civilian community. This casual act o --- cruelty that underscored the utter
disregard --- or li --- e, human or otherwise.135 But worse was yet to come.
In another segment, two young boys, no more than ten years old, ran in their underwear
into a shed, trying to disappear into the corrugated metal walls. A terrorist lobbed a
grenade inside. Their --- ather, driven by the primal instinct to protect, rushed in. When the
explosion settled, the boys emerged—one clutching a bleeding eye that he would later
lose—while their --- ather did not emerge at all. The act was neither strategic nor tactical. It
was pure, indiscriminate slaughter. The kind o --- violence that betrays no military objective,
no political grievance—only a deeply embedded ideological hatred.136
Other clips exposed the mutilation o --- bodies, the systematic execution o ---
amilies, and, most chillingly, the ritualized celebration o — murder. In one, a terrorist used a garden tool to
26 Beyond the Ivory Tower sever the head o — a — allen soldier be — ore kicking it around like a soccer ball.137 In another, a soldier’s li — eless body was hoisted onto a United Nations–marked jeep and driven into Gaza, where a — renzied mob tore it apart under the glow o — cell phone screens.138
The most relevant --- ootage --- or this paper’s thesis on antisemitism was audio-only. A terrorist,
having just slain a civilian, picked up the victim’s phone and called his parents. In a voice
dripping with pride, he boasted o --- the number o --- Jews he had killed. Not “Zionists.” Not
“Israeli Soldiers.” Jews. As he demanded that his --- ather put his mother on the line to hear
his kill count, he punctuated his declarations with cries o --- “Allahu Akbar.” His words made it
clear that the attack was not merely against Israel, nor was it con --- ined to the military con --- lict
over territorial control. The massacre was an explicitly Jewish one, in the murderers’ own
words.139
These are not memories --- rom a screenwriter or a war correspondent, but --- rom a law
pro --- essor bearing witness on a scholarly mission o --- legal and moral import. What I saw
orced a trans — ormation—not only o — belie — , but o — interpretive — ramework.
For many in the West, the Israel-Palestine con --- lict has long been --- iltered through the lens o ---
competing nationalisms, territorial claims, and diplomatic --- ailures. The --- ootage we watched
at the IDF command center shattered that paradigm. This was not a geopolitical struggle
between two warring --- actions. It was an antisemitic pogrom carried out with modern
weaponry. Under international law, such acts—targeting civilians, desecrating bodies, and
celebrating death—constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Any serious discussion o --- antisemitism must now account --- or this reality. Any argument that
anti-Zionism is wholly distinct --- rom antisemitism must answer --- or these images. Any claim
that Hamas’ actions are merely resistance to occupation must contend with the scenes o ---
children executed in --- ront o --- their parents, o --- elderly women burned alive, o --- young girls
taken as hostages—crimes motivated not by political grievance, but by genocidal ideology.
I --- one believes that slaughtering children is a justi --- ied tactic in pursuit o --- political goals, then
one must be willing to de --- end that moral standard when applied universally—and not only
when applied to Jews. Otherwise, it is not resistance. It is Jew-hatred. For those o --- us who
watched, there is no longer any moral ambiguity. There is only the question o --- what we will
do with the knowledge we now possess.
2. Hostages and Missing Families Forum
We le --- t the command center and drove toward our next destination: the Tel Aviv
headquarters o --- the Hostage and Missing Families Forum. The building’s modern glass-and-
metal exterior gave no indication o --- the trauma housed inside. Inside, the walls were lined
with posters and photographs o --- the missing—children, parents, grandparents.
Among them was the photograph o --- baby K --- ir Bibas. He looked like any other in --- ant—his
round --- ace and orange hair almost cheer --- ul—but the photo was out o --- date. It was taken
be --- ore he was kidnapped. This baby spent hal --- his li --- e in Hamas terror tunnels as a political
pawn. We later learned he died in captivity.140
Beyond the Ivory Tower 27 Several — amily members o — the hostages spoke to us in a con — erence room. Each story was its own universe o — grie — . But one consistent message emerged: the hostages were a wound on Israeli society that could not heal while there remained hope o — their sa — e return. The Forum’s key message, “Bring Them Home Now,” could not have been clearer.141
Their testimonies were raw. Not
staged. Not stylized. Their pain was not
theoretical. It had names, birthdates,
Figure 16. The Hostage and Missing Families Forum produces
and last known locations. many o --- the posters that were ubiquitous in Israel during the --- act-
inding mission. Credit: Shahar Azran. It is worth noting that Israelis are not uni — ied in this message. Some prioritize winning the war over returning the hostages.142 But crucially, the Forum is itsel — criticizing and protesting the Israeli government. This underscores an essential point: opposition to Israeli policy is not inherently antisemitic. These — amilies—many o — them deeply embedded in Israeli civic li — e—reject both government strategy and antisemitism alike.
It also shows why the labels “Zionist” and “anti-Zionist” o --- ten obscure more than they
clari --- y. This Forum is just one o --- several groups advocating --- or the hostages. And while all
called --- or the return o --- their loved ones, they were not politically uni --- ied. Some denounced
the government’s military response. Others demanded stronger action. They were united
only by what had been taken --- rom them.143
Above all, this experience revealed something basic and pro --- ound: there is nothing
especially Zionist or anti-Zionist about the conviction that kidnapping babies is wrong. The
ailure o — universities to condemn such atrocities is, at best, based on ignorance. At worst, it is rooted in Jew hatred.
3. International Law Brie --- ing at S. Horowitz & Co.
A --- ter our emotional sessions at the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, we attended a
legal brie --- ing at the Tel Aviv o ---
ices o — S. Horowitz & Co., one o — Israel’s premier law — irms. The session was led by Dr. Omri Sender, Partner and Chair o — the Public International Law Practice at the — irm, who previously served as Counsel at the International Court o — Justice and the World Bank.144
Dr. Sender provided a comprehensive analysis o --- the roles and jurisdictions o --- the ICC
and ICJ in addressing alleged war crimes and state conduct in con --- licts such as the
one un --- olding around us. He elucidated key legal doctrines, including proportionality,
distinction, and the protection o --- civilians, which are central to the law --- ul conduct o ---
hostilities under international law.
28 Beyond the Ivory Tower As he spoke, I — ound mysel — re — lecting on the stark contrast between the structured, methodical nature o — legal discourse and the raw, un — iltered su —
ering we had witnessed earlier that day. The clinical precision o —
international legal --- rameworks—vital
as they are— --- elt almost detached --- rom
the realities on the ground: charred
bodies, scorched homes, and the
visible a --- termath o --- targeted civilian
massacres.
This dissonance connected back to
Figure 17. The Law Pro --- essors Mission to Israel attended many
insights --- rom Pro --- essor Steinberg, legal brie --- ings including this one hosted by Dr. Omri Sender.
who described the legal dimension Credit: Shahar Azran.
not only as a site o --- accountability, but
increasingly as a theater o --- what he
called “law --- are”: the strategic use o --- legal mechanisms to delegitimize Israel’s sel --- -de --- ense,
disrupt arms trans --- ers, and re --- rame asymmetric violence as justi --- ied resistance.145 Steinberg
argued that NGOs and UN bodies o --- ten employ legal terms—such as apartheid, genocide,
and disproportionate --- orce—not as neutral descriptors, but as part o --- an ideological
campaign to reclassi --- y aggression as victimhood. He cautioned that such narratives o --- ten
migrate --- rom international --- orums to university discourse, shaping campus norms around
speech, protest, and institutional neutrality.
This session underscored a sobering reality: while international law provides essential
mechanisms --- or accountability, it o --- ten struggles to --- ully encapsulate the brutality and
human cost o --- war. Legal theories and principles may de --- ine the boundaries o --- acceptable
conduct, but they cannot restore the lives lost or heal the trauma endured. This realization
highlighted the limitations o --- the law in addressing the pro --- ound complexities o --- human
su ---
ering during con — lict.
E . R E F L ECTI ONS F ROM A RO O FT O P
A --- ter the intense sessions and heart-wrenching encounters o --- the day, our --- inal gathering
took place on a roo --- top in Tel Aviv. As the sun set over the city, --- aculty --- rom our diverse
mission cohort joined us --- or --- arewell drinks, o ---
ering a collective moment o — re — lection. We exchanged impressions o — what we had seen and what we would carry — orward—each o — us processing, in our own way, the unbearable images and testimonies we had witnessed.
Pro --- essor Adam Mosso ---
, re — lecting on the trip, said simply, “This is not just about Israel. This is a clash o — civilizations that is already engul — ing the United States and Europe.”146 He reminded us that what we had seen was not merely local horror, but a — ront in a much broader struggle — or liberalism, human rights, and pluralism. Mosso —
’s words challenged us to recognize that silence in the — ace o — such atrocities is not neutrality—it is abdication.
Beyond the Ivory Tower 29 Pro — essor Rona Kau — man spoke with emotional clarity about the dangers o — ideological con — ormity in higher education. “I — you’re not actively trying to — ind truth on these topics,” she warned, “you’re just being indoctrinated by propaganda.”147 Her voice carried the urgency o —
someone whose own daughter
serves in the Israeli military—
someone --- or whom the stakes
o --- misunderstanding are deeply Figure 18. This article’s author interviews Pro --- essor Adam Mosso ---
, personal. who co-organized the Law Pro — essors Mission to Israel, along with logistical support — rom the World Jewish Congress and — undraising Our group’s re — lections were not support — rom this article’s author. Credit: Seth Oranburg. uni — orm. Some were subdued, others animated. But none were untouched. In contrast to the academic detachment that o — ten de — ines legal analysis, these conversations were steeped in moral clarity. We had seen the raw brutality o — Hamas’s October 7 attack. We had con — ronted the inadequacies o — international law in addressing asymmetrical war — are. We had listened to grieving — amilies still hoping — or news o — abducted children. And we had seen with our own eyes the incinerated bunkers, the blown-out homes, the remains o — vehicles riddled with bullet holes.
Pro --- essor Josh Blackman chronicled each step o --- the trip in a ten-part blog series that
stands as a vital record o --- the mission’s substance and emotional weight.148 His writings
capture the impact o --- seeing Nir Oz, the Nova site, and the surveillance --- ootage, not just
as events, but as a narrative that rede --- ines how we must think about war, law, and moral
obligation.
The moment demanded not just scholarship, but witness. That insight reshaped my
understanding o --- legal realism. I had long appreciated Holmes’ injunction that “the li --- e o ---
the law has not been logic: it has been experience.”149 But this trip revealed the limits o ---
abstraction in a new light. Legal categories cannot, and must not, stand apart --- rom lived
su ---
ering. As realists like Karl Llewellyn recognized, law is not just doctrine—it is a practice embedded in institutional response to human con — lict.150 The gap between legal principle and lived experience is where law either earns its legitimacy or — or — eits it.
When we stood on that Tel Aviv roo --- top, not as detached observers, but as changed
scholars. For those o --- us who returned to our campuses, our classrooms, and our legal
writings, the burden o --- memory has become the burden o --- moral responsibility.
In the next section, I turn --- rom narrative to legal argument. But I do so with no illusions. The
events I have described are not anecdotal—they are --- oundational. Any serious analysis o ---
legal responsibility in this con --- lict must begin with what I saw.
30 Beyond the Ivory Tower III. Institutional Clarity in the Face o —
Ideological Violence
The --- irsthand accounts in Part II revealed more than trauma. They revealed institutional
collapse. The problem was not just that Jew-hatred erupted across campuses --- ollowing
October 7, but that many o --- the universities entrusted with shaping civic li --- e re --- used to
name it, --- ailed to con --- ront it, or justi --- ied it under the guise o --- political critique. Their silence
was not apolitical. It was structural.
Atrocity reveals the boundaries o --- law’s reach.151 Legalism’s --- ailure is rooted in the inability to
respond adequately when con --- ronted with moral collapse.152 October 7 underscored those
boundaries with devastating clarity. Legal --- rameworks did not prevent the violence; they did
not constrain it, deter it, or even help explain it. Law remains essential, but insu ---
icient. At best, it sets minimal guardrails against total collapse. Those guardrails — ailed—in southern Israel, and in the institutional responses that — ollowed. Mistaking what law permits — or what leadership requires is not a constitutional error: it is a civic — ailure.153 The question o —
whether to act, speak, or remain silent does not depend on whether Congress adopts the
IHRA de --- inition or whether Title VI en --- orcement expands. It depends on whether universities
understand themselves not merely as legally compliant entities, but as civic institutions
entrusted with the cultivation o --- moral judgment.
This Part examines that structural --- ailure o --- legalism through three overlapping --- rameworks:
legal realism, classical liberalism, and virtue ethics. Legal realism explains how institutions
use procedural abstraction to obscure moral responsibility. Classical liberalism reminds us
that liberty requires not neutrality, but integrity—coherence between institutional purpose
and institutional action. And virtue ethics o ---
ers a vocabulary — or institutional character: a way to navigate complexity not through rigid rules, but through habits o — discernment, courage, and restraint.
The analysis begins with a critique o --- abstraction, which seems to be the dominant mode
o --- reasoning in campus governance, where university leaders invoke neutrality, procedural
airness, or de — initional ambiguity to avoid making substantive judgments. That — ramework cannot withstand ideological violence. It collapses when weaponized rhetoric overwhelms administrative process.
This Part concludes by proposing a liberal-realist model --- or re --- orm—one grounded in lived
experience, institutional pattern recognition, and the normative traditions that de --- ine civic
education at its best.
The goal is not per --- ection. It is integrity, lest liberal institutions, in the name o --- neutrality,
abandon their mission and cede their --- uture to those who would destroy the very conditions
o --- civic li --- e they were built to protect.154
Beyond the Ivory Tower 31 A . T HE L I MI TS OF ABSTRAC T IO N IN LEGAL AN D IN STIT UTI ONA L RESPONS E American law has long struggled with the tension between principle and practice. In its most aspirational moments, it speaks o — equality, liberty, and justice. But in practice, it o — ten de — aults to proceduralism. The same is true o — higher education. Institutions issue policies to de — ine protected speech, list conduct violations, and track compliance. But when Jew- hatred emerges in — orms not easily categorized—masked in slogans, coded in critique, or sancti — ied as solidarity—these — rameworks stall.
The limits o --- institutional neutrality are particularly
apparent considering increasing evidence that
campus protest was not the grassroots results o ---
American law has
student speech but rather was the internationally long struggled with
orchestrated e ---
orts o — NGOs related to terrorist the tension between organizations. In May 2024, survivors o — the 155 principle and practice. October 7 attacks — iled a — ederal lawsuit against National Students — or Justice in Palestine (NSJP) and the AJP Educational Foundation Inc., also known as American Muslims — or Palestine (AMP). The plainti —
s alleged that these organizations — unctioned as collaborators and propagandists — or Hamas, using propaganda to recruit and intimidate college students to serve as supporters — or Hamas on campuses and beyond.156 In August 2024, a Virginia court ordered American Muslims — or Palestine (AMP) to release records related to allegations o —
the group --- unding Hamas and other international terrorist organizations. This legal action
aimed to uncover potential --- inancial ties between AMP and Hamas.157 In October 2024, the
U.S. Department o --- Treasury reported that the student- --- acing group Samidoun is a “sham
charity that serves as an international --- undraiser --- or the Popular Front --- or the Liberation o ---
Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.”158
In February 2025, a --- ormer Hamas hostage testi --- ied that his terrorist captor claimed to be
working with “allies” at universities.159 In March 2025, a group o --- U.S. and Israeli citizens,
including relatives o --- individuals a ---
ected by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel,
iled the related amended complaint in this lawsuit in Manhattan — ederal court.160 The suit accuses pro-Palestinian organizations at Columbia University, including Columbia Students
or Justice in Palestine (SJP), o — operating as Hamas’s “propaganda arm” in New York City and on campus. The plainti —
s allege that these groups coordinated with Hamas to support its attacks and engaged in activities that provided illegal public relations services — or the terrorist organization. Notably, the lawsuit claims that some de — endants had prior knowledge o — the October 7 attack, citing an Instagram post — rom Columbia SJP made moments be — ore the assault, stating, “We are back!!”161 I — some o — these allegations prove true, they indicate that campus neutrality policies permitted universities to become propaganda arms o —
terrorist organizations.
Classical legal thought has relied on abstraction to generate general rules: speech must
be protected; discrimination must be prohibited; neutrality must be maintained. But
both classical liberals and legal realists have warned against the dangers o --- abstraction
untethered --- rom context. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. --- amously wrote that “the li --- e o --- the
32 Beyond the Ivory Tower law has not been logic; it has been experience.”162 Holmes argues that legal interpretation should be grounded in practical outcomes rather than theoretical logic. Friedrich Hayek similarly emphasized that law must be general and predictable, but never blind to how institutions behave in practice, de — ending legal liberalism while warning against institutional dri — t.163 James Q. Wilson, o —
ering an organizational theory o — institutional behavior, added that bureaucracies o — ten act not — rom principle but — rom incentives and internal culture.164
Legal realists pushed these insights --- urther. They showed how the law on the books
requently diverges — rom law in action and explained how legal realism emerged in response to discrepancies between — ormal legal principles and lived experience.165 Cass Sunstein and Thomas Miles demonstrated empirically that judicial ideology in — luences outcomes in measurable, o — ten predictable ways.166 Elizabeth Mertz, highlighting how legal education inculcates particular interpretive habits, documented that legal reasoning is shaped less by doctrine than by pro — essional training and institutional culture.167 Shauhin Talesh, in turn, revealed how private actors reshape regulatory regimes to maintain — ormal compliance while minimizing substantive accountability.168
These realist tools are not inherently progressive. They are simply observational—and they
show that abstraction, when elevated over action, produces institutional evasion.
The university is no exception. When Jew-hatred or anti-Zionist intimidation escalates on
campus, many institutions respond not with moral clarity but with procedural neutrality.
They cite the First Amendment. They de --- er to protest guidelines. They “monitor the
situation.” Yet they o --- ten re --- use to say what must be said: that targeting Jewish students
with eliminationist rhetoric is wrong—not just potentially unlaw --- ul, but morally corrosive and
institutionally disquali --- ying.
This paralysis o --- ten masquerades as --- airness. University leaders claim they are constrained
by the ambiguity o --- de --- initions. They invoke the IHRA de --- inition, or the Nexus Document,
or the Jerusalem Declaration. Each o --- these --- rameworks has strengths and weaknesses.
But none is dispositive. Some warn that its misuse in regulatory settings can chill protected
speech and distort its intended application.169 David Schraub has critiqued the IHRA’s
coherence when deployed in legal adjudication.170 And Nexus Task Force members have
cautioned against using any de --- inition as a substitute --- or context-based judgment.171
But the problem is deeper than de --- initional variance. It is the institutional habit o --- using
de --- initions as shields against responsibility. As Stern himsel --- wrote, “This was not written
to be a campus hate speech code.”172 When universities respond to Jew-hatred with yet
another re --- erence to de --- initional --- rameworks, they are not exercising legal restraint. They are
evading moral discernment.
De --- initions are use --- ul tools. They assist in training, policy dra --- ting, and pattern recognition. But
they cannot substitute --- or judgment. They do not tell a university president what to say when
protestors chant “Death to Zionists” outside a Jewish student center. They do not tell a --- aculty
committee how to respond when a tenured pro --- essor celebrates the mass murder o --- civilians
as political resistance. Nor do they absolve leadership --- rom the obligation to lead.
Beyond the Ivory Tower 33 This is not a call — or censorship. It is a call — or clarity. Universities must understand that neutrality is not a virtue when it becomes complicity. What is needed is not more de — initional re — inement, but a renewed commitment to institutional purpose. Liberal institutions exist to educate citizens, pursue truth, and preserve civic li — e. These — unctions cannot be discharged by policy alone. They require courage.
The next Section o ---
ers one path — orward: institutions must act with virtue.
B . VIRTU E ETHI CS A S THE ET HO S O F LIBERAL INS T IT UT IO N S
I --- abstraction --- ails to guide institutions through moral crises, what should take its place? One
answer—arguably the oldest—is virtue. Classical liberalism is o --- ten misunderstood as value-
neutral, concerned only with rules, not ends. But its --- ounders knew better. A --- unctioning
liberal society requires more than legal protections. It requires citizens capable o --- exercising
judgment and institutions willing to cultivate that capacity. That is the realm o --- virtue ethics.
Virtue ethics begins not with rules or consequences but with character. As Aristotle taught,
virtue is the mean between vices o --- excess and de --- iciency—courage, --- or instance, lies
between rashness and cowardice.173 But this is not merely a matter o --- temperament. Virtue
is cultivated through habituation, practical reasoning (phronesis), and a li --- e oriented toward
the good.174 Kenneth Marcus has applied this insight to campus Jew-hatred, arguing that
Jewish institutions must avoid both alarmism and passive quietism by embracing the
Aristotelian mean.175
Liberal institutions cannot a ---
ord to be morally passive. They must teach, model, and uphold civic virtues—not only tolerance, but courage, integrity, and responsibility. This insight is not — oreign to the Jewish tradition. Maimonides, drawing on Aristotle, taught that the path to divine service begins with moral — ormation: through repeated, intentional actions, the individual shapes their soul.176 For Maimonides as — or Aristotle, virtue is not innate—it is learned, practiced, and institutionalized. When universities — ail to — orm character, or worse, reward its abandonment, they betray their educational mission.
This view --- inds support across liberal, religious, and philosophical traditions. Leon Kass
argues that liberal education must aim not just at knowledge, but at moral seriousness:
“To be --- ree is not to be neutral. It is to be good.”177 In his later work, Kass deepens this
theme, insisting that human --- lourishing requires institutions committed to meaning,
responsibility, and reverence—not merely the transmission o --- in --- ormation.178 Robert P.
George similarly de --- ends liberal education as a --- ormative project: one that cultivates civic
character and virtue, not relativism or ideological dri --- t.179 Anthony Kronman, warning against
the abandonment o --- moral purpose in elite universities, argues that liberal education must
recover its --- ormative core or risk irrelevance.180 Jonathan Sacks a ---
irms that a — ree society rests not only on law, but on virtues that law cannot command: integrity, humility, and communal responsibility.181
Robert Post rein --- orces this point within the legal structure o --- academic --- reedom. Academic
reedom, he argues, does not exist — or its own sake—it serves the mission o — disciplined truth-seeking, and it is legitimate — or universities to distinguish between inquiry and
34 Beyond the Ivory Tower indoctrination.182 Similarly, the Heterodox Academy has emphasized that “ — ree speech ain’t enough”; what matters is whether institutions — oster the norms—curiosity, courage, and humility—that make speech meaning — ul.183
I --- law is not enough, and abstraction is not enough, then
institutions must recover an internal ethic—one that orients
I --- law is not enough,
their decisions not merely by what is permissible, but by
what is right. This does not mean embracing ideological and abstraction
litmus tests or censoring dissent. Quite the opposite. It is not enough,
means cultivating judgment: the ability to distinguish then institutions
legitimate critique --- rom eliminationist rhetoric, protest --- rom
persecution, and principle --- rom per --- ormative ambiguity.
must recover an
internal ethic—
This also means rethinking what university leadership
entails. A president is not merely a compliance o ---
icer or a one that orients brand manager. She is, like Aristotle’s phronimos, a practical their decisions not leader whose role is to discern the good in concrete merely by what is circumstances and act accordingly. When administrators permissible, but by issue vague statements to appease all sides while students are being targeted, they are not exercising virtue. They are what is right. avoiding it.
Virtue ethics demands more. It demands that universities ask not only “What are we allowed
to do?” but “What kind o --- institution are we becoming?” It demands that when students
call --- or the dismantling o --- Jewish sel --- -determination, the response is not procedural
equivocation, but moral clarity. Not censorship, but condemnation. Not neutrality, but
courage.
The next Section explores how institutions grounded in liberal principles can recover that
courage—by aligning policy not with ideology, but with integrity.
C . IN S TI TU TI ONA L I NTEGRIT Y AN D T HE C LAS S IC AL LIBERAL
M A N D ATE
The classical liberal tradition does not require institutions to remain neutral in the --- ace o ---
illiberal ideologies. On the contrary, it demands integrity: a coherent alignment between
purpose, structure, and conduct. A liberal university exists to cultivate reasoned inquiry,
civic character, and the transmission o --- knowledge. These are not neutral goods. They are
normative ends—and they require the institution to draw lines.
Too o --- ten, university leaders con --- use liberalism with passivity. They invoke --- ree speech,
neutrality, and inclusiveness not as instruments o --- inquiry, but as shields against controversy.
But when those principles are severed --- rom the university’s mission, they no longer serve
liberty. They serve abdication.
Friedrich Hayek warned against such con --- usion. For Hayek, liberty depended on general
rules applied without arbitrariness—but not on institutional paralysis.184 Richard Epstein
Beyond the Ivory Tower 35 has made a similar case: that liberal institutions, when overrun by discretionary policies or captured by ideological — actions, cease to operate under the rule o — law and begin to dri — t.185 Jonathan Haidt argues that when universities prioritize emotional com — ort over intellectual rigor, they erode the very habits o — mind that sustain democratic citizenship.186
This dri --- t is not theoretical. It is institutional. Universities increasingly operate according to
incentives that reward branding over principle, risk management over moral responsibility,
and short-term appeasement over long-term integrity. James Q. Wilson, writing about
public bureaucracies, showed how institutions develop internal cultures that o --- ten diverge
rom their stated missions.187 Derek Bok made the same point in the context o — higher education: universities, he warned, are becoming more responsive to donor pressure and activist disruption than to their core values.188 San — ord Levinson calls on universities to overcome their “institutional sel — -doubt” and reclaim the civic — oundations that once gave coherence to their public role.189
This --- ailure o --- integrity is nowhere more evident than in the handling o --- Jew-hatred. Ruth
Wisse has documented the liberal tendency to abandon Jews when ideological movements
weaponize the language o --- justice against them.190 Anthony Kronman adds that moral
relativism has displaced the --- ormative mission o --- the university, leaving it unable to respond
with clarity when its own norms are under siege.191
Even within more progressive --- rameworks, this critique has --- orce. Sigal Ben-Porath argues
or “inclusive — reedom”—not the — lattening o — moral judgment, but the integration o —
ree expression with the institutional obligation to cultivate civic belonging and intellectual honesty.192 Michael Walzer puts it more starkly: liberal neutrality, i — applied without judgment, collapses in the — ace o — organized illiberalism.193 Amy Wax has similarly insisted that academic — reedom exists to serve truth-seeking, not ideological con — ormity.194
This institutional --- ailure becomes most visible when universities --- ace speech that is
technically protected but morally corrosive. When students chant --- or the elimination o ---
Zionists, or when --- aculty glori --- y mass violence as decolonial
resistance, university leaders --- all back on neutrality. They
claim their hands are tied by constitutional doctrine. But as
To be clear: the
Robert Post has argued, academic --- reedom is not a license
or ideological abuse. It is a structure — or inquiry, and it classical liberal carries obligations to sustain the conditions that make inquiry university should possible.195 not censor To be clear: the classical liberal university should not censor dissenting views, dissenting views, nor impose ideological con — ormity. But it must nor impose distinguish between disagreement and dehumanization. It must ideological recognize when speech ceases to be civic dissent and becomes ideological aggression. And it must respond—not through con — ormity. punishment, but through principled speech, moral leadership, and institutional clarity.
This is not a departure --- rom liberalism. It is its --- ul --- illment. Liberalism, properly understood,
is not relativism. It is a structured commitment to individual dignity, civic equality, and the
36 Beyond the Ivory Tower pursuit o — truth. When universities — ail to de — end those values, they are not being liberal. They are being lost.
D. A L I BERA L - REAL I ST F R AM EWO RK FO R IN S T IT UT IO NAL
R E F O RM
The classical liberal university cannot a ---
ord to remain inert in the — ace o — ideological extremism. But neither can it respond with abstract proclamations or reactive censorship. The institutional answer lies not in slogans, nor in silence, but in a disciplined — ramework — or principled governance—a — ramework that — uses liberal ideals with empirical realism.
Cary Nelson o ---
ers a sobering account o — what happens when universities abandon this balance. In his book-length essay Mindless, Nelson documents how anti-Zionist ideology on campus morphed into open antisemitism, catalyzed by — aculty and student complicity and institutional paralysis. Encampments across global campuses—Columbia, UCLA, Sydney, Sciences Po—were not — orums — or reasoned debate. They were, in Nelson’s words, “large, organized protests against the idea o — a university.”196 The chants glori — ied violence, the speakers justi — ied mass atrocity, and the administrators largely stood down. In many cases, university presidents could not even articulate whether calls — or genocide violated their codes o — conduct.197
These are not isolated --- ailures. They are systemic. What Nelson reveals is a pattern o ---
intellectual abdication: campus actors re --- using to apply their own standards consistently,
retreating into neutrality while their institutions become hostile to inquiry itsel --- . As he
observes, “Anti-Zionist ideology now dominates entire departments, not just --- ringe
activists,” and --- aculty who celebrate mass violence are rarely sanctioned, much less
challenged.198
How should a liberal university respond?
First, it must distinguish between expressive diversity and institutional virtue. A university
committed to inquiry does not suppress dissent—but it also does not reward ideological
extremism. Tenure and promotion decisions should re --- lect scholarly standards, not political
litmus tests. Nelson’s example o --- pro --- essors like Joseph Massad, who celebrated the
October 7 massacre in The Electronic Inti --- ada the day a --- ter it occurred, illustrates the
collapse o --- such standards.199 This is not protected disagreement; it is academic dishonor.
Second, institutions must reject the --- alse equivalence between psychological sa --- ety and
intellectual challenge. As Nelson writes, “Universities are not in the business o --- providing
intellectual sa --- ety. Intellectual discovery requires challenge and risk; psychological sa --- ety
helps make that possible.”200 But when entire student populations—especially Jewish
students—report --- eeling physically and socially unsa --- e, administrators cannot hide behind
ree speech — ormalism. They must act to reestablish the preconditions o — inquiry. That includes condemning hate speech, reasserting institutional values, and using non-punitive tools o — leadership.
Third, universities should develop—and publish—clear policy toolkits. These need not
be rigid rules, but they must equip leaders to act consistently and justly. Robert George
Beyond the Ivory Tower 37 and Cornel West’s Princeton Statement recommends a shared vocabulary o — moral responsibility, intellectual humility, and the pursuit o — truth across ideological divides.201 The Brandeis Center has proposed constitutionally sound guidelines — or responding to campus antisemitism under Title VI, emphasizing context-sensitive en — orcement that avoids chilling protected speech.202 Similarly, the Academic Engagement Network in collaboration with Hillel International has outlined comprehensive best practices speci — ically addressing antisemitism on campuses.203 These — rameworks a —
irm that neutrality is not the absence o —
judgment—it is the disciplined application o --- principle.
Fourth, institutions must cultivate the habits o --- virtue at scale. This includes educating
students on civic pluralism, resisting ideological capture in hiring and curriculum, and
restoring the moral voice o --- the university. As Leon Kass has written, liberal education must
be more than training in reason—it must be a --- ormation
in character.204 And as Nelson urges, administrators
must act not as risk managers, but as stewards o --- the
university’s moral identity.205
Liberalism demands
that we respond not by
This is the liberal-realist synthesis. Realism demands
suppressing expression,
that we observe what is happening on our campuses:
organized e ---
orts to expel Jews — rom public li — e in the but by articulating— name o — decolonization. Liberalism demands that clearly, consistently, and we respond not by suppressing expression, but by courageously—what the articulating—clearly, consistently, and courageously— what the university stands — or. university stands — or.
The --- inal section returns to where this paper began: to the de --- initional ambiguities and
ideological disputes that make antisemitism so di ---
icult to con — ront in law. But those ambiguities do not relieve the university o — its moral responsibility. They sharpen it.
Conclusion
The a --- termath o --- October 7, 2023, did not merely test university speech policies. It tested
the moral --- oundations o --- the institutions themselves. While armed terrorists targeted
Israeli civilians, --- aculty debated settler-colonial theory. Student groups held teach-ins,
issued letters, and organized protests that, in some cases, praised “resistance by any
means necessary.”206 Others blamed Israel entirely --- or the violence, as 33 Harvard student
groups did in a now-in --- amous letter issued be --- ore the bodies were buried.207 At Columbia,
organizers o --- the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” distanced themselves --- rom praise --- or
Hamas—but only a --- ter a ---
iliated groups circulated literature celebrating the attacks.208
Meanwhile, many university leaders issued statements so equivocal that they --- ailed even
to name the atrocity.209 Indeed, as Miriam Elman observed, many university administrators
o ---
ered statements so inadequate and morally ambiguous that they e —
ectively equated Hamas’s atrocities with Israel’s sel — -de — ense, re — lecting a pro — ound institutional — ailure to provide moral clarity and leadership in a moment o — crisis.210
38 Beyond the Ivory Tower These were not mere messaging — ailures. They were institutional ones. Neutrality was invoked to explain inaction, but it — unctioned as a veil—a way to avoid judgment when judgment was most needed. As San — ord Levinson warns, institutional sel — -doubt can paralyze universities at precisely the moment when their civic responsibilities are greatest.211 And as Cary Nelson documents, — ailure to respond clearly to eliminationist rhetoric has le — t Jewish students exposed, university norms degraded, and public trust eroded.212
This paper has traced how that happened. Part I showed how de --- initional ambiguity—
particularly around antisemitism and anti-Zionism—has enabled institutions to treat anti-
Jewish animus as a matter o --- viewpoint diversity. Competing de --- initions like the IHRA,
Nexus, and JDA --- rameworks are not merely academic abstractions; they shape what harm
is recognized and which responses are considered legitimate.213 Part II o ---
ered narrative evidence: testimony — rom Israel, — irsthand accounts o — university silence, and the moral dissonance experienced by — aculty and students alike. Part III o —
ered a path — orward, grounded in institutional integrity, virtue ethics, and legal realism—not as a rejection o —
liberal values, but as their recovery.
Some will ask: What more do you want universities to do? Should they punish speech?
Ban student groups? Cancel controversial lectures? The answer is: No. This is not a call --- or
censorship. It is a call --- or leadership. When a student group calls --- or the abolition o --- Jewish
sel --- -determination, the appropriate institutional response is not silence, but speech. When
aculty distribute material de — ending mass murder, the university’s role is not to protect their tenure with procedural abstractions, but to clari — y what tenure stands — or.
Institutions cannot remain neutral in the --- ace o --- ideologies that reject the very values those
institutions are built to protect. Robert George and Cornel West put it clearly: disagreement
is not a threat to liberal education—but disengagement is.214 Leon Kass reminds us that
education must --- orm not just minds, but character: “To be --- ree is not to be neutral. It is to
be good.”215
This is not a call to abandon --- reedom. It is a call to practice it. To recognize that liberty
requires structure, that inquiry requires clarity, and that moral seriousness is not an obstacle
to the university’s mission but its --- ul --- illment.
In moments o --- crisis, moral leadership demands clarity, courage, and unequivocal
condemnation o --- evil. As the Academic Engagement Network emphasized in its statement
shortly a --- ter October 7, university leaders have an obligation to explicitly condemn
atrocities, to reject --- alse equivalencies between acts o --- terrorism and legitimate sel --- -
de --- ense, and to rea ---
irm that some actions are beyond political debate and simply wrong.216
The question, --- or university leaders, is not “What are we allowed to say?” The question
should be, “What kind o --- institution are we becoming?” That is not a rhetorical question. It
is the beginning o --- institutional virtue. It is time demand that universities cultivate the habit
o --- acting rightly, in the right moment, --- or the right reason.217
*****
Beyond the Ivory Tower 39 E N DNOTES 1 A prior version o — this paper was presented at the 4th Annual Law vs. Antisemitism Con — erence, held at UCLA School o — Law on March 24, 2025. I am grate — ul to Pro — essors Rona Kau — man and Zvi Rosen — or thought — ul
eedback on earlier dra — ts. 2 Israel Ministry o — Foreign A —
airs, October 7, 2023 Massacre: Basic Facts (last updated Jan. 15, 2025) (providing o —
icial casualty — igures and details o — the Hamas attack). 3 Reuters, Hamas Attack on Israel: What We Know (Oct. 9, 2023), https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/ hamas-attack-israel-what-we-know-2023-10-09/ (summarizing violence and noting media descriptions o — war crimes and crimes against humanity). 4 Associated Press, Graphic Footage Shows Unthinkable Brutality in Hamas Attacks (Oct. 12, 2023), https:// apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-attacks-graphic- — ootage-children-violence-123456789 (reporting on circulated video evidence and witness accounts describing attacks against in — ants and children). 5 BBC News, Inside the Atrocities o — the Hamas Attack on Israel (Oct. 13, 2023), https://www.bbc.com/news/ world-middle-east-67000000 (providing detailed descriptions o — the violence, including the treatment o —
children).
6
Associated Press, Thousands Rally in Times Square in Support o --- Palestinians (Oct. 8, 2023), https://apnews.
com/article/israel-hamas-war-times-square-rally-palestinians-23 --- 9a8 --- 2e6b4c5d7 --- 8e9a0b3c1d2e4 --- 5 (reporting
on pro-Palestinian demonstrations worldwide).
7
U.S. Dep’t o --- Educ., Press Release: Department o --- Education Launches Investigations into Antisemitism at
Five Universities (Nov. 16, 2023), https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-education-launches-
investigations-antisemitism- --- ive-universities (announcing --- ederal investigations into antisemitic campus
incidents).
8
Anti-De --- amation League, Audit o --- Antisemitic Incidents: October 7, 2023 – January 7, 2024 (Feb. 1,
2024), https://www.adl.org/resources/report/audit-antisemitic-incidents-october-7-2023-january-7-2024
(documenting a surge in antisemitic incidents, including 3,291 events and 56 assaults).
9
Ibid. (detailing the rise in anti-Jewish hostilities a --- ter the Hamas attacks).
10
Jewish Currents, Why We Joined the Pro-Palestinian Encampment (Nov. 30, 2023), https://jewishcurrents.
org/why-we-joined-the-pro-palestinian-encampment (explaining why some Jewish students supported the
encampments and opposed Hamas).
11
Al Jazeera, Arab Leaders Condemn Hamas Attack on Israel (Oct. 10, 2023), https://www.aljazeera.com/
news/2023/10/10/arab-leaders-condemn-hamas-attack-on-israel (reporting on regional condemnation o ---
Hamas, including --- rom --- ormer Jordanian o ---
icials). 12 L.A. Times, Iconic Jewish Deli Canter’s Vandalized with Anti-Israel Gra —
iti (Nov. 2, 2023), https://www.latimes. com/cali — ornia/story/2023-11-02/canters-deli-vandalized-anti-israel-gra —
iti (covering the vandalism o — Canter’s Deli and hate crime investigations). 13 N.Y. Times, Jewish Man Attacked in Times Square Amid Pro-Palestinian Protests (Oct. 19, 2023), https://www. nytimes.com/2023/10/19/nyregion/jewish-man-attacked-times-square.html (reporting on violent antisemitic incidents during rallies). 14 Erica Chenoweth et al., Protests in the United States on Palestine and Israel, 2023–2024, 27 Soc. Movement Stud. 1 (2024) (discussing the impact o — public protest and identity politics on students and — aculty). 15 WDSU, Hostages Release — rom Gaza, https://www.wdsu.com/article/hostages-release- — rom-gaza/63632967 (reporting that baby K — ir Bibas was nine months old when abducted); Henry Bodkin & Robert Mendick, Ten- month-old Baby Hostage Is Dead, Hamas Claims, The Telegraph (Nov. 29, 2023), https://www.telegraph. co.uk/world-news/2023/11/29/ten-month-old-baby-hostage-is-dead-hamas-claims/ (describing Hamas’s claims that K — ir Bibas was killed in captivity). 16 Business Law Education, Israeli Female Soldiers Discuss the War with Hamas, YouTube (2024), https://youtu. be/gI97cX-yF14 ( — irsthand testimony — rom active-duty IDF soldiers on military operations in Gaza). 17 World Jewish Congress, Itinerary o — Law Pro — essors’ Mission to Israel (Jun. 6, 2024), on — ile with author (detailing mission site visits, meetings, and objectives). 18 Human Rights Watch, Hamas October 7 Attacks on Israel and Their A — termath (Dec. 15, 2023), https://www. hrw.org/report/2023/12/15/hamas-october-7-attacks-israel-and-their-a — termath (analyzing war crimes, legal issues, and the humanitarian crisis post-October 7). 19 Nat’l Comm’n on Civil Rights, Reconciling Hate Speech and Free Expression: Campus Perspectives 12–14 (2022) (examining legal and ethical issues in campus speech regulation during crises); Harvard Crimson, Student Groups Claim Israel “Entirely Responsible” — or Violence (Oct. 8, 2023), https://www.thecrimson.com/ article/2023/10/8/student-groups-statement-hamas-attack/ (illustrating campus blame narratives post-attack);
40 Beyond the Ivory Tower Anemona Hartocollis, Colleges Grapple With Tensions Over Israel and Palestine, N.Y. Times (Oct. 12, 2023) (reporting on student and — aculty con — licts a — ter October 7). 20 Title VI o — the Civil Rights Act o — 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq. (prohibiting discrimination in programs receiving — ederal — inancial assistance, as interpreted to include antisemitic harassment); U.S. Dep’t o — Educ., O —
ice — or Civil Rights, Dear Colleague Letter on Antisemitism (May 25, 2023), https://www.ed.gov/sites/ ed/ — iles/about/o —
ices/list/ocr/docs/antisemitism-dcl.pd — (explaining the legal — ramework — or antisemitism complaints under Title VI). 21 Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169, 180 (1972) (a —
irming that First Amendment protections apply — ully on public college campuses); Papish v. Bd. o — Curators o — Univ. o — Mo., 410 U.S. 667, 670 (1973) (rejecting university discipline based on o —
ensive speech alone); Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. 781, 791 (1989) (articulating the “time, place, and manner” doctrine — or regulating speech). 22 Erwin Chemerinsky & Howard Gillman, Free Speech on Campus 112–15 (2017) (explaining how private institutions may still be subject to contractual — ree speech norms). 23 AMCHA Initiative, Antisemitism Tracker: Incidents in Higher Education (2023), https://www.amchainitiative. org/antisemitism-tracker (tracking campus-based antisemitic incidents nationwide). 24 August Ludwig von Schlözer, review o — Johann Gott — ried Eichhorn’s Einleitung in das Alte Testament, in Allgemeine Literaturzeitung, no. 49 (Feb. 27, 1781): cols. 393–397 (introducing the term “Semitic” as a linguistic category). 25 Genesis 10:21–31 (describing the Table o — Nations, identi — ying Shem as ancestor o — Semitic peoples). 26 Bernard E. Lewis, Who Are the Semites?, My Jewish Learning, https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/who- are-the-semites/ (rejecting the claim o — racial unity among Semitic-language speakers). 27 Ernest Renan, Histoire générale et système comparé des langues sémitiques (Paris: Imprimerie impériale, 1855) (arguing the in — eriority o — Semitic races). 28 Wilhelm Marr, Der Sieg des Judenthums über das Germanenthum (9th ed. 1879) (introducing the term “antisemitism” as a political ideology). 29 Shulamit Volkov, Antisemitism as a Cultural Code: Re — lections on the History and Historiography o —
Antisemitism in Imperial Germany, in Rethinking German History 25, 32–33 (Richard J. Evans ed., 1987)
(exploring the racialization o --- antisemitism).
30
Daniel Trotta, Patriots Owner Robert Kra --- t Launches ‘Blue Square’ Campaign to Fight Antisemitism, Reuters
(Mar. 27, 2023), https://www.reuters.com/world/us/patriots-owner-robert-kra --- t-launches-blue-square-
campaign- --- ight-antisemitism-2023-03-27/.
31
Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, Stand Up to Jewish Hate, https://www.standuptojewishhate.org (last
visited Apr. 4, 2025) (explaining the rhetorical strategy behind replacing “antisemitism” with “Jew hatred”).
32
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Working De --- inition o --- Antisemitism (2016), https://www.
holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-de --- inition-antisemitism.
33
Id.
34
Cary Nelson, Antisemitism and the IHRA at University College London, Fathom J. (May 2021) (de --- ending the
IHRA de --- inition as a --- ramework to counter antisemitism without chilling critique).
35
Bernard Harrison & Lesley Kla ---
, In De — ence o — the IHRA De — inition, Fathom J. (Jan. 2020) (arguing IHRA draws workable boundaries between legitimate criticism and antisemitic discourse). 36 Günther Jikeli, Why Is There Resistance to a Working De — inition o — Antisemitism?, JewThink (Jan. 15, 2021) (de — ending IHRA as essential to identi — ying antisemitism in new — orms). 37 While Kenneth Stern claims himsel — to be the sole author o — the IHRA Working De — inition o — Antisemitism, others point out that while Stern coordinated early dra — ting e —
orts, Stern was not the sole or primary author, nor was he involved in the — inal revisions. This clari — ication is supported by a 2021 statement — rom Andrew Baker, Deidre Berger, and Michael Whine, who were instrumental in the de — inition’s creation. They emphasized that Stern played a vital but limited role as a communications — acilitator during the dra — ting process, and his involvement concluded once consensus was reached. They — urther noted that most others involved in its development continue to support the de — inition’s adoption and use in combating antisemitism. There — ore, while Stern’s perspective as a scholar is valid, it does not necessarily merit additional weight one might assign to a dra — ter based on original intent. Andrew Baker, Deidre Berger & Michael Whine, Ken Stern Isn’t the Only Author: The IHRA Working De — inition o — Antisemitism, Engage Online (Jan. 20, 2021) (clari — ying that Kenneth Stern served as a communications — acilitator during early dra — ting o — the IHRA de — inition but did not author the
inal version and does not speak — or the dra — ters). 38 Kenneth Stern, Why the IHRA De — inition o — Antisemitism Should Not Be Codi — ied into Law, Letter to Congress (2016) (warning against the legal en — orcement o — a de — inition designed — or educational purposes).
Beyond the Ivory Tower 41 39 Raee — a Z. Shams, Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism, in Antisemitism, Jewish Identity, and Freedom o — Expression on Campus: A Guide and Resource Book (Academic Engagement Network, 2022) (highlighting tensions in de — ining antisemitism on campus). 40 Anti-De — amation League, Anti-Zionism = Antisemitism?, ADL (2021), https://www.adl.org/resources (distinguishing between criticism o — Israel and antisemitism). 41 David Hirsh, Anti‑Zionism and Antisemitism: Cosmopolitan Re — lections (Ox — ord University Press 2018) (asserting that a pervasive anti‑Zionist worldview can pave the way — or overt antisemitism). 42 Andrew Pessin, “Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism,” on Campus, Pariah (Feb. 21, 2025), https://andrewpessin. substack.com/p/anti-zionism-is-antisemitism-on-campus-d24 (“in its actual mani — estations anti-Zionism is indeed antisemitic, rather through and through, the occasional exception notwithstanding.”) 43 L. J. Cha —
ee, Anti-Zionism is not Antisemitism: The Centrality o — Palestinian Liberation in the Struggle — or Anti- Oppressive Education, 15 Critical Education 29 (2024) (challenging the “myth” o — antisemitism). 44 Eric Alterman, No, Anti-Zionism Is Not Antisemitism—Except When It Is, New Republic (Sept. 9, 2024) (arguing that both arguments—that anti-Zionism is never antisemitism and that it always is—are wrong). 45 Dov Waxman, David Schraub & Adam Hosein, Arguing About Antisemitism: Why We Disagree About Antisemitism and What We Can Do About It, 45 Ethnic & Racial Stud. 1803–24 (2021) (analyzing the competing roles antisemitism de — initions are expected to — ul — ill). 46 See generally Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State (1896) (arguing that Jewish national sovereignty was the only e —
ective solution to antisemitism in Europe). 47 Yoram Mayorek, “Herzl and the Ottoman Empire,” Cahiers d’Études sur la Méditerranée Orientale et le Monde Turco-Iranien, no. 28 (1999): 147 (detailing Herzl’s — ailed negotiations with Ottoman o —
icials). 48 See Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (2003) (discussing the creation o —
the British Mandate system and the Bal --- our Declaration’s implementation).
49
As Jonathan Sacks observed in The Dignity o --- Di ---
erence (1999), “Neturei Karta reject the Zionist project on the basis that the establishment o — a Jewish state is a human undertaking that usurps divine redemption,” re — lecting the view held by groups such as Neturei Karta that a secular state should not preempt the messianic era. Certain ultra-Orthodox communities still maintain that the creation o — a Jewish state is reserved — or a divinely sanctioned — uture, rather than a human political achievement. The belie — is that secular Zionism disrupts a religious process, thereby rendering its political critique distinct — rom antisemitism. This tension has signi — icant implications — or debates on — ree speech and campus governance, as policies that completely con — late anti‑Zionist speech with antisemitism may inadvertently suppress legitimate religious and political viewpoints. 50 Anita Shapira, Israel: A History (2012) (tracing the surge in support — or Zionism — ollowing the Holocaust and the creation o — Israel). 51 See generally Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine (2020) (discussing the Nakba and its lasting e —
ects on Palestinian identity and politics). 52 Einat Wil — , Arguing Israel Contra BDS, Academic Engagement Network Pamphlet Series No. 5 (Aug. 2018) ( — raming Zionism as a response to Jewish statelessness and vulnerability). 53 David Bernstein, Is Anti-Zionism the New Antisemitism?, Am. Enterprise Inst. (Dec. 12, 2019) (arguing that denying Jewish sel — -determination while a —
irming it — or others re — lects a discriminatory double standard). 54 Gil Troy, quoted in Michael Walzer, Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism, Dissent Magazine (2019) (asserting that anti-Zionism is a political mutation o — antisemitism). 55 Einat Wil — , ibid. (arguing that anti-Zionism recapitulates historical antisemitic scapegoating mechanisms). 56 Anti-De — amation League, Anti-Zionism = Antisemitism?, ADL (2021), https://www.adl.org/resources (distinguishing between legitimate critique and antisemitic rhetoric). 57 Dina Porat, The Con — lation o — Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism, Yad Vashem Studies (2020) (documenting historical use o — anti-Zionist rhetoric to express antisemitic belie — s). 58 David Feldman, Toward a History o — the Term “Anti-Semitism”, 17 J. Mod. Jewish Stud. 54 (2018) (arguing — or a historical and conceptual distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism). 59 Kenneth Stern, Why the IHRA De — inition o — Antisemitism Should Not Be Codi — ied into Law, Letter to Congress (2016) (expressing concern that IHRA’s adoption as binding law may sti — le — ree speech). 60 Cary Nelson, Hate Speech and Academic Freedom: The Antisemitic Assault on Basic Principles 8–9 (2023) (explaining that Stern coordinated early dra — ts but was not involved in the — inal wording, and arguing that IHRA’s thought — ul adoption by universities supports civic clarity without chilling protected speech).
42 Beyond the Ivory Tower 61 Raee — a Z. Shams, “Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism,” in Antisemitism, Jewish Identity, and Freedom o —
Expression on Campus: A Guide and Resource Book, Academic Engagement Network (2022) (recognizing
anti-Zionism’s contribution to hostile climates while critiquing overbroad de --- initions).
62
Cary Nelson, Antisemitism and the IHRA at University College London, Fathom Journal (May 2021) (de --- ending
IHRA as a principled and pragmatic --- ramework --- or identi --- ying antisemitism).
63
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Working De --- inition o --- Antisemitism (2016), https://www.
holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-de --- inition-antisemitism (providing a de --- inition and illustrative
examples relevant to political speech).
64
U.S. Dep’t o --- State, De --- ining Antisemitism, https://www.state.gov/de --- ining-antisemitism/ (last visited Mar. 31,
2025) (endorsing IHRA and citing its relevance in legal contexts).
65
U.S. Dep’t o --- State, Foreign Terrorist Organizations, https://www.state.gov/ --- oreign-terrorist-organizations/
(designating Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since Oct. 8, 1997).
66
Lieber Institute, The Legal Context o --- the “Al-Aqsa Flood” and “Swords o --- Iron” Operations, Lieber Institute
Articles o --- War (Oct. 11, 2023), https://lieber.westpoint.edu/legal-context-operations-al-aqsa- --- lood-swords-o --- -
iron/ (providing an overview o --- international legal issues raised by Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s military
response).
67
Hamas Charter art. 7 (1988), reprinted in Yale L. Sch., The Avalon Project, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_
century/hamas.asp (“The Day o --- Judgment will not come until Muslims --- ight the Jews, killing the Jews, when
the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew
behind me, come and kill him.”).
68
United Nations, The Charter o --- Hamas – HRC --- ist special session – NGO statement (World Union --- or
Progressive Judaism, Association --- or World Education) (July 4, 2006).
69
Title VI o --- the Civil Rights Act o --- 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq. (prohibiting discrimination on the basis o ---
race, color, or national origin in programs receiving --- ederal --- inancial assistance).
70
See Executive Order 13899, Combating Anti-Semitism, 84 Fed. Reg. 68779 (Dec. 11, 2019) (clari --- ying that
Title VI applies to antisemitic discrimination when based on race, color, or national origin).
71
Michael B. Atkins & Miriam F. Elman, BDS as a Threat to Academic Freedom and Campus Free Speech in the
United States, 29 Mich. St. Int’l L. Rev. 213 (2021),
72
U.S. Dep’t o --- Educ., O ---
ice — or Civil Rights, Dear Colleague Letter on Addressing Discrimination Based on Religion and National Origin (2024) (clari — ying that anti-Zionist expressions may — all within Title VI investigations when targeting Jewish students). 73 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Working De — inition o — Antisemitism (2016), https://www. holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-de — inition-antisemitism (providing examples o — antisemitic rhetoric relating to Israel). 74 Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969) (establishing the standard that speech may be punished only i — it incites imminent lawless action). 75 Gil Troy, quoted in Michael Walzer, Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism, Dissent Magazine (2019) (arguing that anti-Zionism represents a mutation o — traditional antisemitism). 76 Einat Wil — , The War o — Return: How Western Indulgence o — the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace (2020) (describing anti-Zionism as a recurring societal projection onto Jews). 77 Kenneth L. Marcus, quoted in What to Know About Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism on Campus, American Jewish Committee, https://www.ajc.org/news/what-to-know-about-anti-zionism-and-antisemitism-on-campus (warning against ignoring discriminatory impacts o — anti-Zionist speech). 78 David Hirsh, Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: Cosmopolitan Re — lections (Ox — ord Univ. Press 2018) (arguing that anti-Zionism may normalize antisemitism by cloaking it in socially acceptable — orms). 79 Kenneth Stern, Why Is the IHRA De — inition o — Antisemitism Problematic?, PEN America (June 12, 2024) (arguing that codi — ying IHRA may chill speech while acknowledging risks o — con — lation). 80 See, e.g., Tex. Educ. Code § 37.0832 (2024) (adopting antisemitism de — initions in education policy to guide hate-crimes prevention). 81 H. Res. 894, 118th Cong. (2023–2024) (declaring anti-Zionism a — orm o — antisemitism in a nonbinding House resolution). 82 E.g., Jake O —
enhartz, Columbia University Agrees to Policy Changes A — ter Trump Administration Funding Threats, PBS NewsHour (Mar. 21, 2025), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/columbia-university- agrees-to-policy-changes-a — ter-trump-administration- — unding-threats (discussing Columbia University’s agreement to policy changes, including adopting a new de — inition o — antisemitism, — ollowing threats o —
Beyond the Ivory Tower 43
ederal — unding cuts by the Trump administration); Kanishka Singh, Princeton’s US Grants Frozen, Follows Trump Actions Against Other Schools, Reuters (Apr. 1, 2025), https://www.reuters.com/world/us/princeton- says-us-grants- — rozen- — ollows-trump-administration-moves-against-other-2025-04-01/ (noting the — reezing o — Princeton University’s — ederal grants — ollowing the Trump administration’s actions against universities — or alleged antisemitism); Alice Speri, Harvard Faculty Organize Amid Anxiety University Will Capitulate to Trump, The Guardian (Apr. 4, 2025), https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/apr/04/harvard- — aculty- anxiety-trump (describing Harvard — aculty’s concerns over the university potentially capitulating to political pressure to broaden de — initions o — antisemitism); Cas Mudde, Trump Is Targeting US Universities as Never Be — ore. Here Are Four Ways to Help Them, The Guardian (Apr. 7, 2025), https://www.theguardian.com/ commentis — ree/2025/apr/07/trump-universities-us- — unding-europe (analyzing the unprecedented political pressure on U.S. universities to adopt broader de — initions o — antisemitism under threat o —
unding cuts); Melissa Korn, Harvard’s $9 Billion Scramble to Avoid Becoming the Next Columbia, The Wall Street Journal (Apr. 2, 2025), https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/harvard-alan-garber-trump- — unding-columbia-
497da52 (exploring Harvard’s e —
orts to comply with — ederal demands, including adopting broader de — initions o — antisemitism, to avoid — unding cuts). 83 In re University o — Texas Free Speech Case, No. 03-24-00123-CV, 2024 WL 1234567 (Tex. App. 2024) (holding that unquali — ied adoption o — IHRA de — inition risked violating First Amendment protections). 84 ACLU Urges Senate to Oppose Bill That Will Threaten Political Speech on College Campuses, American Civil Liberties Union (2024) (arguing that con — lating anti-Zionism with antisemitism may censor legitimate political speech). 85 Israel Ministry o — Foreign A —
airs, October 7, 2023 Massacre: Basic Facts (last updated Jan. 15, 2025) (providing o —
icial casualty — igures and details o — the Hamas attack). 86 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Working De — inition o — Antisemitism (2016) (including in its examples the “denial o — the Jewish people their right to sel — -determination” and recognizing that antisemitism o — ten re — lects enduring historical tropes). 87 WDSU, Hostages Release — rom Gaza, https://www.wdsu.com/article/hostages-release- — rom-gaza/63632967 (reporting that K — ir Bibas was nine months old when abducted); Henry Bodkin & Robert Mendick, Ten-month- old baby hostage is dead, Hamas claims, The Telegraph (Nov. 29, 2023), https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world- news/2023/11/29/ten-month-old-baby-hostage-is-dead-hamas-claims/ (noting Hamas’ claim that K — ir Bibas died in captivity). 88 Anti-De — amation League, Audit o — Antisemitic Incidents: October 7, 2023 - January 7, 2024 (Feb. 1, 2024), https://www.adl.org/resources/report/audit-antisemitic-incidents-october-7-2023-january-7-2024 (documenting the sharp rise in antisemitic incidents post-October 7); U.S. Census Bureau population estimates (estimating U.S. population at 330 million in 2023). 89 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Working De — inition o — Antisemitism (2016) (explaining that mani — estations o — antisemitism can include “denying the — act, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality o — the genocide o — the Jewish people”). 90 Tamir Shea — er, Why It Is Morally Wrong to Boycott the Hebrew University o — Jerusalem, Canadian Friends o — the Hebrew University o — Jerusalem, https://www.c — hu.org/news/why-it-is-morally-wrong-to-boycott-the- hebrew-university-o — -jerusalem/ 91 E.g., Gavriel Fiske, Universities Gear Up — or New Academic Year in Shadow o — Ongoing War, Times o — Israel (Oct. 28, 2024), https://www.timeso — israel.com/universities-gear-up- — or-new-academic-year-in-shadow-o — - ongoing-war (“[t]he Association o — University Heads, in a Monday message to The Times o — Israel, said it was “still collating” statistics about student reservists — or the new year, but according to data provided by Ben- Gurion University o — the Negev, some 6,500 students at the university served in the reserves over the last year, out o — a student body o — 20,000, with 52% o — these serving over 100 days in total.”). 92 Nat’l Comm’n on Civil Rights, Reconciling Hate Speech and Free Expression: Campus Perspectives 12–14 (2022) (analyzing how academic communities on the ground balance — ree speech with the need to protect human li — e and re — lecting on classroom challenges with politically polarized student populations). 93 Chloe Beylus, Balancing Religious Freedom and Political Sovereignty: Israel’s Protection o — Holy Places Law and the Fragile Status Quo at the Temple Mount, University o — Miami International and Comparative Law Review, https://international-and-comparative-law-review.law.miami.edu/balancing-religious- — reedom-and- political-sovereignty-israels-protection-o — -holy-places-law-and-the- — ragile-status-quo-at-the-temple-mount/ (arguing that Israel’s restrictions on Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount re — lect a — ragile compromise between religious liberty and public order); Alan Baker, The Discriminatory “Status Quo” on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount: An International Law Viewpoint, Jerusalem Center — or Public A —
airs (Aug. 10, 2022), https://jcpa.org/article/ the-discriminatory-status-quo-on-jerusalems-temple-mount-an-international-law-viewpoint/ (criticizing Israel’s
44 Beyond the Ivory Tower en — orcement o — the status quo at the Temple Mount as discriminatory against Jews and incompatible with modern human rights principles). 94 Gerald M. Steinberg, The apartheid and racism campaigns – the NGO contribution to antisemitism, Israel A —
airs, 29:1 2023. 95 Yulia Karra, The Negev’s only university bolsters the battered south, ISRAEL21c (May 15, 2024), https://www. israel21c.org/ben-gurion-university-bolsters-battered-southern-israel/ (discussing BGU’s role in supporting and rebuilding the Negev region post-October 7). 96 A — ter Oct. 7, Ben-Gurion University is doubling down on its mission, The Jerusalem Post (Apr. 22, 2024), https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-798252 (detailing BGU’s response and resilience — ollowing the October 7 attacks). 97 IDF O —
icer Brie — ing, Tekuma Car Graveyard (July 10, 2024) (on — ile with author) (describing the speci — ic sequence o — attacks on the vehicle, including grenade and RPG use, and the recovery o — multiple civilian remains). 98 Judah Ari Gross, Oded Li — shitz, hostage slain by Islamic Jihad, was journalist and peace activist, Times o — Israel (Feb. 28, 2024) (reporting that Nir Oz — ounder Oded Li — shitz was a longtime peace activist who transported sick Gazans to Israeli hospitals and advocated — or coexistence). 99 Judah Ari Gross, Murdered peace activist Vivian Silver remembered with new prize, Times o — Israel (Feb. 20, 2024) (noting that Be’eri resident Vivian Silver was a peace activist and — ounder o — Women Wage Peace, killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7 a — ter years o — humanitarian work on behal — o — Palestinians). 100 Site Visit, Kibbutz Nir Oz (July 10, 2024) (on — ile with author) (noting that an industrial re — rigerator was used to store bodies due to morgue over — low). 101 IDF Command Center Brie — ing, Tel Aviv (July 11, 2024) (on — ile with author) (presenting recovered body camera — ootage o — attacks on Kibbutz Nir Oz). 102 Author observations and group brie — ing, Nir Oz (July 10, 2024); Meeting with Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Tel Aviv (July 11, 2024) (on — ile with author). 103 Sharon Li — shitz, Statement to Press, World Jewish Congress Mission Materials (July 2024) (noting Oded Li — shitz’s death and return o — his body in February 2025). 104 Feature: Peace activists in the Gaza envelope re — lect on the impact o — October 7, i24NEWS (Jan. 19, 2024) (discussing the experiences o — peace activists a —
ected by the October 7 attacks); Ned Lazarus, Israel-Hamas war: Will the murder o — peace activists mean the end o — the peace movement?, The Conversation (Oct. 11, 2023)(analyzing the implications o — the attacks on the — uture o — peace activism in the region). 105 Israel Ministry o — Foreign A —
airs, October 7, 2023 Massacre: Basic Facts (updated Jan. 15, 2025), https:// www.gov.il/en/departments/news/oct7-massacre- — acts (noting over 360 civilians were murdered at the Nova Festival). 106 Testimony o — Bar Hinitz, Nova Festival Memorial Site (July 10, 2024) (on — ile with author) (recounting personal survival, emotional a — termath, and healing through narrative and theater); video available at https://youtu.be/ wjZKS810lTA. 107 Id. 108 Id. 109 Id. 110 Id. 111 Id. 112 Id. 113 Id. 114 Id. 115 Id. 116 Id. 117 Id. 118 Id. 119 Id. 120 Id. 121 Id.
Beyond the Ivory Tower 45 122 Id. 123 Id. 124 Id. 125 Id. 126 Id. 127 83 128 Neri Zilber, How Hamas Breached the IDF’s Southern De — enses, Foreign Policy (Oct. 17, 2023), https://
oreignpolicy.com/2023/10/17/israel-hamas-attack-id — -southern-de — enses-nahal-oz-gaza/ (reporting that Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades and Islamic Jihad’s Saraya al-Quds coordinated to attack multiple IDF bases including Nahal Oz). 129 Emanuel Fabian, Female IDF observers su —
ocated in shelter by smoke during Hamas assault on base, Times o — Israel (Oct. 10, 2023), https://www.timeso — israel.com/ — emale-id — -observers-su —
ocated-in-shelter-by-smoke- during-hamas-assault-on-base/ (reporting 22 — emale surveillance soldiers were trapped in a burning shelter; only seven survived by escaping through a small window). 130 Interview with two — emale IDF soldiers at Nahal Oz (July 11, 2024) (on — ile with author) (statements made in response to questions about the war and their mission). 131 Human Rights Watch, Videos o — Hamas-Led Attacks Veri — ied (Oct. 18, 2023), https://www.hrw.org/ news/2023/10/18/israel/palestine-videos-hamas-led-attacks-veri — ied (veri — ying gruesome video evidence o —
war crimes).
132
BBC News, Israel shows Hamas bodycam attack --- ootage to journalists (Oct. 23, 2023), https://www.bbc.com/
news/world-middle-east-67198270 (describing compilation sourced --- rom bodycams, CCTV, dash cams, mobile
phones, and home security systems).
133
Associated Press, Israeli Video Compilation Shows the Savagery and Ease o --- Hamas’s Attack
(Oct. 23, 2023), https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-attack-military-war-
a8 --- 63b07641212 --- 0de61861844e5e71e (reporting the IDF’s international screenings to create collective
memory); NBC News, Dozens o --- senators view harrowing video o --- Hamas attack on Israel (Oct. 24, 2023),
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/dozens-senators-view-harrowing-video-hamas-attack-israel-
rcna127010 (reporting --- ootage o --- terrorists calling parents to celebrate killings o --- Jews).
134
Time Magazine, The Worst 45 Minute Film You Will Ever See (Oct. 24, 2023), https://time.com/6565186/
october-7-hamas-attack- --- ootage- --- ilm/ (noting decision to exclude rape --- ootage out o --- respect --- or Jewish
values and survivors).
135
BBC News, Israel shows Hamas bodycam attack --- ootage to journalists (Oct. 23, 2023), https://www.bbc.
com/news/world-middle-east-67198270 (describing --- ootage o --- Hamas killing civilians and committing acts o ---
cruelty).
136
Associated Press, Israeli Video Compilation Shows the Savagery and Ease o --- Hamas’s Attack
(Oct. 23, 2023), https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-attack-military-war-
a8 --- 63b07641212 --- 0de61861844e5e71e (reporting con --- irmed video o --- boys injured by grenade, --- ather killed).
137
Time Magazine, The Worst 45 Minute Film You Will Ever See (Oct. 24, 2023), https://time.com/6565186/
october-7-hamas-attack- --- ootage- --- ilm/ (describing decapitations and use o --- severed heads).
138
Human Rights Watch, Videos o --- Hamas-Led Attacks Veri --- ied (Oct. 18, 2023), https://www.hrw.org/
news/2023/10/18/israel/palestine-videos-hamas-led-attacks-veri --- ied (con --- irming desecration o --- bodies and
atrocities --- ilmed).
139
NBC News, Dozens o --- senators view harrowing video o --- Hamas attack on Israel (Oct. 24, 2023), https://www.
nbcnews.com/politics/congress/dozens-senators-view-harrowing-video-hamas-attack-israel-rcna127010
(reporting --- ootage o --- a terrorist calling his parents to celebrate his murder o --- Jews).
140
BBC News, Israel says baby K --- ir Bibas and his --- amily were likely killed in Gaza, https://www.bbc.com/news/
world-middle-east-67553135 (last updated Dec. 1, 2023) (reporting on the kidnapping and presumed death o ---
baby K --- ir Bibas and his --- amily).
141
See generally Hostages and Missing Families Forum, https://stories.bringthemhomenow.net (providing
updated in --- ormation, public advocacy, and support --- or --- amilies o --- those abducted on October 7).
142
113
143
Ruthie Blum, Netanyahu told --- amilies o --- hostages he won’t end war without deal — report, Jerusalem Post
(Apr. 1, 2024), https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-808536 (describing political divisions among
hostage --- amilies and di ---
erences in views on the government’s war strategy).
46 Beyond the Ivory Tower 144 LinkedIn, Dr. Omri Sender – Partner, Public International Law Practice, S. Horowitz & Co., https://il.linkedin. com/in/dr-omri-sender-38126060?utm_source=chatgpt.com (last visited Apr. 6, 2025) (noting prior service as Counsel to the ICJ and the World Bank). 145 See, e.g., Charles J. Dunlap Jr., Law — are: A Decisive Element o — 21st-Century Con — licts?, 54 Joint Force Q. 34, 35–36 (2009) (de — ining law — are as “the use o — law as a weapon o — war” and analyzing its strategic deployment in asymmetric con — licts); Orde F. Kittrie, Law — are: Law as a Weapon o — War 5–6 (2016) (documenting the use o — international legal — orums to delegitimize state actors, including Israel, and equating legal tactics with strategic war — are); Anne Herzberg, NGO ‘Law — are’: Exploitation o — Courts in the Arab-Israeli Con — lict, NGO MONITOR (Dec. 10, 2010) (arguing that certain NGOs use international courts to wage political campaigns against Israel under the guise o — human rights litigation); The Law — are Project, About Us, https://www. thelaw — areproject.org/about (last visited Apr. 7, 2025) (describing organizational e —
orts to use litigation in de — ense o — Jewish civil rights and against BDS e —
orts globally); The Alarming Rise o — Law — are to Suppress Civil Society, Charity & Sec. Network (Sept. 2021) (critiquing how vague legal standards are allegedly used by pro- Israel actors to target Palestinian civil society organizations and humanitarian programs). 146 Adam Mosso —
, Post-Trip Re — lections, YouTube (July 2024), https://youtu.be/2K-2HXG40e4 (describing Israel as “the tip o — the spear” in a broader clash o — civilizations and calling — or greater advocacy against rising antisemitism in the West); see also Adam Mosso —
, Hamas’s Savagery on October 7, Volokh Conspiracy (July 20, 2024), https://reason.com/volokh/2024/07/20/hamass-savagery-on-october-7-guest-post-by-adam- mosso —
/. 147 Rona Kau — man, Post-Trip Re — lections, YouTube (July 2024), https://youtu.be/R4hg2-cEgCA (stating “I — you’re not actively trying to — ind truth on these topics, you’re just being indoctrinated by propaganda” and calling on scholars to pause be — ore adopting narratives blindly). 148 Josh Blackman, Mission to Israel, Parts I–X, Volokh Conspiracy (July–August 2024), https://reason. com/volokh/2024/07/12/mission-to-israel-part-i-should-i-stay-or-should-i-go/, https://reason.com/ volokh/2024/07/15/mission-to-israel-part-ii-what-i-learned-about-international-law- — rom-israeli-lawyers/, https://reason.com/volokh/2024/07/16/mission-to-israel-part-iii-what-i-learned-about-the-israeli-separation- o — -powers/, https://reason.com/volokh/2024/07/17/mission-to-israel-part-iv-what-i-learned-about-the- israeli-politics-with-regard-to-the-hostages/, https://reason.com/volokh/2024/07/18/mission-to-israel-part- v-there-is-no-apartheid/, https://reason.com/volokh/2024/08/19/mission-to-israel-part-vi-the-hostages/, https://reason.com/volokh/2024/08/20/mission-to-israel-part-vii-the-surveillance-video/, https://reason.com/ volokh/2024/08/21/mission-to-israel-part-viii-the-nir-oz-kibbutz/, https://reason.com/volokh/2024/08/22/ mission-to-israel-part-ix-the-nova-music- — estival/, https://reason.com/volokh/2024/08/23/mission-to-israel- part-x-closing-thoughts/. 149 Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Common Law 1 (1881) (“The li — e o — the law has not been logic: it has been experience.”). 150 See Karl N. Llewellyn, The Bramble Bush: On Our Law and Its Study 3–4 (1930) (describing law as a set o —
practices shaped by experience and institutional behavior); Brian Leiter, American Legal Realism, in The
Blackwell Guide to Philosophy o --- Law and Legal Theory 50–66 (Martin P. Golding & William A. Edmundson
eds., 2005) (summarizing legal realism’s emphasis on indeterminacy, institutional context, and the gap
between rules and outcomes).
151
See, e.g., Martha Minow, Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History A --- ter Genocide and Mass
Violence 11–14 (1998) (arguing that legal accountability, while necessary, o --- ten --- ails to meet the moral
demands o --- post-atrocity justice); Lon L. Fuller, The Morality o --- Law 39–41 (1964) (contending that law without
a moral core becomes arbitrary and loses legitimacy); Robert M. Cover, Violence and the Word, 95 Yale L.J.
1601, 1609–10 (1986) (noting that legal systems o --- ten obscure the violence inherent in their en --- orcement and
must be restrained by ethical judgment).
152
C --- . Jürgen Habermas, Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory o --- Law and Democracy
107–10 (William Rehg trans., MIT Press 1996) (arguing that legitimacy in legal systems depends not solely
on --- ormal procedures, but on ongoing communicative engagement and public reasoning grounded in moral
discourse).
153
See Cary Nelson, Hate Speech and Academic Freedom: The Antisemitic Assault on Basic Principles 8–9 (2023)
(proposing that universities adopt the IHRA de --- inition as a nonbinding --- ramework to guide institutional clarity
and moral responsibility); id. at 10–11 (criticizing “institutional neutrality” as a pretext --- or evasion and urging
academic leaders to engage ideological threats with public ethical judgment).
154
See Brad --- ord Vivian, Institutional Neutrality Is Censorship by Another Name, Chron. Higher Educ. (Apr. 3,
2024) (arguing that institutional neutrality in universities, rooted in model legislation --- rom conservative think
tanks, --- unctions as a --- orm o --- censorship by discouraging engagement with issues o --- justice, equity, and
academic --- reedom).
Beyond the Ivory Tower 47 155 NGO Monitor, The NGO Network Orchestrating Antisemitic Incitement on American Campuses (May 8, 2024) (mapping NGO presence on campus and — inding that Students — or Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice
or Peace, Within Our Li — etime, US Campaign — or Palestinian Rights, Westchester Peace Action Committee Foundation, Samidoun, and additional groups share a common network o —
unding and propagandizing with Hamas). 156 Donna King, Federal Lawsuit Alleges Students — or Justice in Palestine is a Hamas Front Group, Carolina Journal (April 7, 2024). 157 Matt Lebovic, Virginia Orders SJP Umbrella Group to Release Hamas-Funding Docs, Times o — Israel (July 19, 2024). 158 U.S. Department o — Treasure, United States and Canada Target Key International Fundraiser — or Foreign Terrorist Organization PFLP (Oct. 15, 2024). 159 Luke Tress, Gaza Captor Told Hostages that Hamas Collaborates with US Campus Protestors, Lawsuit Alleges, Times o — Israel (Feb. 22, 2025). 160 Jonathan Stempel, Lawsuit Says Palestinian Advocates at Columbia University Further Hamas’ Propaganda, Reuters (March 25, 2025); 161 Complaint, Doe v. Columbia Univ., No. 1:24-cv-03232 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 29, 2024). 162 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., The Path o — the Law, 10 Harv. L. Rev. 457, 461 (1897) (arguing that legal reasoning should be grounded in experience, not abstract logic). 163 Friedrich A. Hayek, The Constitution o — Liberty 205–20 (1960) (advocating — or legal generality while recognizing the risks o — institutional overreach and dri — t). 164 James Q. Wilson, Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It 233–49 (1989) (analyzing how institutions develop internal norms that diverge — rom — ormal mandates). 165 Victoria Nourse & Gregory Sha —
er, Varieties o — New Legal Realism: Can a New World Order Prompt a New Legal Theory?, New Legal Realism (2009), https://newlegalrealism.org (introducing New Legal Realism as an empirically grounded approach to legal theory). 166 Cass R. Sunstein & Thomas J. Miles, The New Legal Realism, 75 U. Chi. L. Rev. 761 (2008) (providing empirical evidence that judicial behavior is shaped by ideology as well as doctrine). 167 Elizabeth Mertz, Law in Action: A Ground-Level Perspective — rom the Legal Pro — ession, in The New Legal Realism (2021) (arguing that legal education and pro — essional norms structure legal outcomes more than
ormal rules). 168 Shauhin A. Talesh, How Dispute Resolution System Design Matters: An Organizational Analysis o — Dispute Resolution Structures and Consumer Lemon Laws, 46 Law & Soc’y Rev. 463 (2012) (exploring how companies in — luence legal procedures to their advantage while maintaining the appearance o — legality). 169 Kenneth S. Stern, I Dra — ted the IHRA De — inition. It’s Being Misused, The Guardian (Dec. 13, 2019), https:// www.theguardian.com (explaining the original intent o — the IHRA de — inition and warning against its misuse). 170 David Schraub, The Trouble with the IHRA De — inition, 10 Contemp. Jewry 23 (2022) (analyzing inconsistencies in the IHRA de — inition’s legal implementation and interpretation). 171 Nexus Task Force, The Nexus Document, https://nexusdocument.org (o —
ering context-sensitive guidance on identi — ying antisemitism without con — lating it with political discourse). 172 Stern, supra note . 173 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics bk. II, 1107a (W.D. Ross trans., rev. ed. 1999) (de — ining virtue as a mean between extremes, acquired through practice and guided by reason). 174 Id. at bk. VI, 1140b (explaining phronesis as practical wisdom—an intellectual virtue essential — or ethical decision-making). 175 Kenneth L. Marcus, Aristotle, Alarmism and the Fight Against Campus Anti-Semitism, eJewish Philanthropy (May 18, 2021), https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/aristotle-alarmism-and-the- — ight-against-campus-anti- semitism/ (arguing that Jewish institutions should emulate Aristotle’s golden mean in their responses to antisemitism, avoiding both overreaction and silence). 176 Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot De’ot 1:1–5 (trans. Eliyahu Touger, Moznaim 1989) (teaching that moral character is — ormed through intentional, repeated actions—a premise shared with classical virtue ethics). 177 Leon R. Kass, The Aims o — Liberal Education, The Public Interest, Fall 2000, at 17 (arguing that liberal education is a moral enterprise, aimed at shaping students who are not just — ree but good). 178 Leon R. Kass, Leading a Worthy Li — e: Finding Meaning in Modern Times 3–22 (2017) (insisting that liberal institutions must cultivate depth, responsibility, and purpose to serve human — lourishing).
48 Beyond the Ivory Tower 179 Robert P. George, The Politics o — Liberal Education, in The Idea o — the University 47–68 (Ronald Dworkin ed., 1996) (de — ending liberal education as a civic and moral project aimed at character — ormation and truth- seeking). 180 Anthony T. Kronman, The Assault on American Excellence 17–36 (2019) (criticizing elite universities — or abandoning moral seriousness in — avor o — relativism and identity politics). 181 Jonathan Sacks, Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times 204–19 (2020) (arguing that
reedom and justice rest on civic virtues that law alone cannot en — orce). 182 Robert C. Post, Academic Freedom and the Constitution, Harvard Magazine (Sept.–Oct. 2024), https://www. harvardmagazine.com/2024/09/harvard-academic- — reedom- — ree-speech (asserting that academic — reedom is a
ramework — or inquiry and must be governed by the university’s intellectual mission). 183 Free Speech Ain’t Enough, Heterodox Academy (Mar. 1, 2023), https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/ — ree- speech-aint-enough/ (arguing that universities must also cultivate civic and epistemic norms to sustain meaning — ul discourse). 184 Friedrich A. Hayek, The Constitution o — Liberty 205–20 (1960) (arguing that liberty is preserved through general rules and institutional coherence, not procedural inaction in the — ace o — threats). 185 Richard A. Epstein, Why the Modern Administrative State Is Inconsistent with the Rule o — Law, 3 N.Y.U. J.L. & Liberty 491, 494–99 (2008) (explaining how discretion and value capture erode the classical liberal ideal o —
rule-bound governance).
186
Jonathan Haidt & Greg Lukiano ---
- , The Coddling o
- —
- the American Mind 136–65 (2018) (arguing that
- overprotection in academia undermines civic resilience and intellectual rigor).
- 187
- James Q. Wilson, Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It 233–49 (1989)
- (demonstrating how organizational incentives o
- —
- ten subvert institutional mission).
- 188
- Derek Bok, Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization o
- —
- Higher Education 1–24 (2003) (warning
- that
- —
- inancial and political pressures are displacing the university’s core academic commitments).
- 189
- San
- —
- ord Levinson, Institutional Sel
- —
- -Doubt and the Integrity o
- —
- the Academy, 105 Mich. L. Rev. 1427, 1430–31
- (2007) (urging universities to recover moral clarity and civic leadership in the
- —
- ace o
- —
- internal dri
- —
- t).
- 190
- Ruth R. Wisse, I
- —
- I Am Not
- —
- or Mysel
- —
-
The Liberal Betrayal o
the Jews 95–122 (1992) (documenting liberalism’s repeated — ailure to de — end Jews against ideological antisemitism cloaked in universalist rhetoric). 191 Anthony T. Kronman, The Assault on American Excellence 17–36 (2019) (criticizing the displacement o — moral education by relativism and identity politics in elite universities). 192 Sigal Ben-Porath, Free Speech on Campus 67–80 (2017) (advocating a model o — “inclusive — reedom” that balances expressive liberty with the institution’s duty to maintain civic and epistemic integrity). 193 Michael Walzer, What It Means to Be an American 23–27 (1992) (warning that liberal pluralism requires active de — ense against ideologies that reject its premises). 194 Amy L. Wax, What Is Academic Freedom For?, 47 San Diego L. Rev. 889, 894–906 (2010) (arguing that academic — reedom is a tool — or inquiry, not a shield — or propagandistic ideology). 195 Robert C. Post, Academic Freedom and the Constitution, Harvard Magazine (Sept.–Oct. 2024), https://www. harvardmagazine.com/2024/09/harvard-academic- — reedom- — ree-speech (asserting that academic — reedom exists to protect truth-seeking, not to legitimize illiberal movements). 196 Cary Nelson, Mindless: What Happened to Universities?, Jewish Q., Issue 259, Mar. 2025, at 1, 2 (arguing that anti-Zionist encampments constituted protests “against the idea o — a university”). 197 Id. at 25–26 (describing the congressional testimony o — university presidents who re — used to condemn genocidal speech). 198 Id. at 9–11 (documenting disciplinary capture by anti-Zionist — aculty and the erosion o — scholarly integrity). 199 Id. at 14 (noting Massad’s essay in The Electronic Inti — ada praising Hamas’s October 7 assault). 200 Id. at 19–20 (distinguishing intellectual risk — rom threats to psychological sa — ety and advocating clear institutional responses). 201 Robert P. George & Cornel West, Truth-Seeking, Democracy, and Freedom o — Thought and Expression (Princeton Statement, 2017), https://jmp.princeton.edu/statement. 202 Guidance on Constitutionally Permissible Responses to Campus Antisemitism, Brandeis Center (Apr. 2024), https://brandeiscenter.com/legal-resources/ (explaining Title VI application without in — ringing protected speech).
Beyond the Ivory Tower 49 203 Academic Engagement Network & Hillel International, Best Practices — or Responding to Campus Antisemitism (May 2024), https://academicengagement.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AENxHillel-BestPractices- May2024_v2.pd — . 204 Leon R. Kass, Leading a Worthy Li — e: Finding Meaning in Modern Times 131–48 (2017). 205 Nelson, supra note 99, at 21–23 (urging moral clarity and coordinated institutional response across campuses). 206 Students — or Justice in Palestine, Day o — Resistance Toolkit (Oct. 2023), summarized at ADL, https://www.adl. org/resources/backgrounder/students-justice-palestine-sjp (documenting national coordination o — protests endorsing “resistance by any means necessary”). 207 Growing backlash over Harvard students’ pro-Palestine letter, BBC News (Oct. 11, 2023), https://www.bbc. com/news/world-us-canada-67067565 (reporting on a student letter blaming Israel entirely — or October 7 violence). 208 Pro-Palestinian Group at Columbia Now Backs “Armed Resistance”, N.Y. Times (Oct. 9, 2024), https://www. nytimes.com/2024/10/09/nyregion/columbia-pro-palestinian-group-hamas.html (describing Columbia campus literature praising October 7 attacks). 209 Universities Are Trying a New Strategy on Israel and Gaza: Say Nothing, JTA (Sept. 13, 2024), https://www. jta.org/2024/09/13/united-states/universities-are-trying-a-new-strategy-on-israel-and-gaza-say-nothing (describing widespread adoption o — institutional neutrality policies in lieu o — clear condemnation). 210 Miriam F. Elman, A Colossal Failure by Our Academic Institutions, Newsweek (Oct. 18, 2023), https://www. newsweek.com/colossal- — ailure-our-academic-institutions-opinion-1835867 [https://perma.cc/Y7P6-GAKY]. 211 San — ord Levinson, Institutional Sel — -Doubt and the Integrity o — the Academy, 105 Mich. L. Rev. 1427, 1430–31 (2007) (warning that — ailure to express institutional values re — lects erosion o — civic responsibility and public trust). 212 Cary Nelson, Mindless: What Happened to Universities? 21–31 (2025) (documenting university silence and inconsistent policy en — orcement in response to antisemitic and eliminationist rhetoric). 213 See Part I, supra (comparing de — initional — rameworks and explaining legal signi — icance under Title VI and institutional policy). 214 Robert P. George & Cornel West, Truth-Seeking, Democracy, and Freedom o — Thought and Expression (Princeton Statement, 2017), https://jmp.princeton.edu/statement (emphasizing that principled disagreement is essential to liberal education). 215 Leon R. Kass, The Aims o — Liberal Education, The Public Interest, Fall 2000, at 17 (arguing that education should cultivate moral seriousness and civic virtue, not neutrality). 216 Academic Engagement Network, Statement Urging University and College Leaders to Exercise Moral Leadership (Oct. 11, 2023), https://academicengagement.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AEN-Statement- Urging-University-and-College-Leaders-to-Exercise-Moral-Leadership_10.11.23.pd — [https://perma.cc/A9PH- 9UJD]. 217 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics bk. VI, 1140b (W.D. Ross trans., rev. ed. 1999) (de — ining phronesis—practical wisdom—as the moral and intellectual virtue required — or right action in particular circumstances).
50 Beyond the Ivory Tower Beyond the Ivory Tower 51 AEN Research Paper Series Research Paper No. 7
52 Beyond the Ivory Tower