“That Rümeysa felt she had to return to Turkey to escape the shadow of state violence says everything you need to know about the state of free speech and academic freedom in this country,” said Ramya Krishnan, an attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/04/17/m...
Concord select board clarifies that it does NOT endorse the examples of antisemitism in the IHRA definition, which label many criticisms of Israel as antisemitic.
www.concernedjewishfaculty.org/copy-of-uscc...
"The right’s characterization of higher education is a fiction. Students across the ideological spectrum feel free to express themselves, think their education is worth the cost and don’t think their views are silenced." Only 3% of Republican students feel out of place on campus for their views.
MA rabbis' concerns with state antisemitism recommendations:
1. Flawed data
2. Establishment of IHRA definition
3. Limiting teaching and learning
4. Increased police involvement in schools
5. Isolating Jews instead of supporting diverse democratic spaces
drive.google.com/file/d/1MYJq...
Join us for the final lecture in the Free Speech and Racial Equality Lecture Series featuring Marjorie Feld discussing her recent book The Threshold of Dissent: A History of American Jewish Critics of Zionism on April 9 at 12 pm eastern time. Register at https://go.rutgers.edu/freespeech Throughout the twentieth century, American Jewish communal leaders projected a unified position of unconditional support for Israel, cementing it as a cornerstone of American Jewish identity. This unwavering position served to marginalize and label dissenters as antisemitic, systematically limiting the threshold of acceptable criticism. In pursuit of this forced consensus, these leaders entered Cold War alliances, distanced themselves from progressive civil rights and anti-colonial movements, and turned a blind eye to human rights abuses in Israel. In The Threshold of Dissent, Marjorie N. Feld instead shows that today’s vociferous arguments among American Jews over Israel and Zionism are but the newest chapter in a fraught history that stretches from the nineteenth century. Register for this virtual lecture at https://go.rutgers.edu/freespeech
So excited for this convo with @concernedjfaculty.bsky.social co-founder Marjorie Feld & @rutgerscsrr.bsky.social.
Today at 12:15pm ET.
Register at go.rutgers.edu/freespeech
As a community of scholars (and as human beings) we must come together across the world against such cruel and senseless acts of scholasticide.
The only kind of "protection" the Trump admin offers is that of a protection racket
“Its policies actively harm Jewish people by using our legitimate fears of antisemitism and our legitimate need for reassurances for safety as a smoke screen to advance unpopular anti-democratic policies exactly like this.” thehill.com/homenews/edu...
“To then see the federal government demand lists of members in organizations is incredibly chilling, in part because there’s a very reasonable expectation that there’s nothing good faith about the desire to do that."
- CJFS co-founder @jpygold.bsky.social
thehill.com/homenews/edu...
Yet another case in which academic freedom appears not to apply when it comes to criticism of Israel
There is absolutely no reason why the government should be able to demand that employers turn over lists of Jews without their consent
We stand with @jvp.bsky.social and the Northampton City Council against this outrageous lawsuit. No country is categorically immune to criticism or boycott over their actions, and cities should not be forced to invest in regimes they are morally opposed to.
www.wwlp.com/news/local-n...
You have this confluence of this right-wing attack machine that had been focusing on higher education for two decades that now is able to move away from the language of race and gender and also weaponize accusations of antisemitism
- Isaac Kamola @aaup.org Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom
Harvard argued in a Thursday filing that the DOJ's lawsuit repackages the Trump admin's earlier effort to strip the University of federal funding over allegations it mishandled campus antisemitism.
Hugo C. Chiasson and Elise A. Spenner report.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
Thank you to our representatives who fought to pass the PROTECT Act that stops ICE from grabbing people from courthouses and other key locations.
Now @massgovernor.bsky.social must end MA's 287(g) agreement that hands former prisoners over to ICE.
The fight over accreditation is the fight over higher education. And that is the fight between multiracial democracy and Christian nationalist authoritarianism.
www.chronicle.com/article/proj...
Full letter from Jewish Harvard faculty and staff to Trump DoJ:
"As members of Harvard’s Jewish community, we reject the government’s false claim to act in our name during its yearlong assault on our university and our democracy."
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Meanwhile, Jewish student groups push back against the DoJ's claim that Harvard was "indifferent to antisemitism"
bsky.app/profile/theh...
“In our view, the Trump administration does not aim to protect Jewish people at Harvard. It cynically exploits concerns about antisemitism to justify what can only be described as an authoritarian assault on institutions of higher education."
100+ Jewish Harvard faculty to Trump DoJ: “Using accusations of antisemitism to attack academic freedom and free expression is reprehensible – and we want no part in it.”
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/25/m...
We (CJFS) are a founding chapter of NCJA, based in Greater Boston and New England.
Other founding chapters are California NCJA and Jewish Solidarity in Higher Ed-NYC.
Help us grow our network!
www.nationalcampusjewishalliance.org/join
We affirm the diversity of Jewish people and reject claims that any one institution, ideology, political project, or organization speaks for all of us. We fight against escalating antisemitism as well as the use of accusations of antisemitism to advance censorship, repression, and persecution. We work in solidarity with others to oppose authoritarian and fascist politics, fighting to defend, strengthen, and transform higher education — including meaningful democratic governance within the university and beyond.
We fight for academic freedom, which includes the right to research, teach, and interrogate concepts such as apartheid, genocide, settler colonialism, Zionism, antisemitism, racism, and gender. We reject institutional censorship and government repression directed at members of our university communities, especially those who are targeted under the pretext of ensuring Jewish safety: international students, scholars, and staff and those engaged in Palestine solidarity work.
We affirm, in keeping with international law, that boycotts are legitimate forms of protest and that critiques of nation-states, including of their foundations, are a legitimate form of academic and political discourse. We oppose collaboration with organizations and individuals who harass, intimidate, or smear our colleagues and students, or who applaud the persecution of political opponents. We instead engage with a variety of stakeholders to develop policies and programs that can meaningfully address antisemitism alongside all other forms of bigotry.
NCJA organizes against the misuse of Jewish history, memory, and identity to erode higher education, silence dissent, and advance authoritarian projects locally, nationally, and internationally.
Points of agreement below (and at www.nationalcampusjewishalliance.org ) :
🎉 The National Campus Jewish Alliance is launching! 🎉
NCJA is a national network of diverse groups of Jewish higher education workers united by our commitments to critical inquiry, freedom of expression, and multiracial democracy on our campuses and beyond.
www.nationalcampusjewishalliance.org
archive.is/vlx8R
From Boston Globe, 3/18/26, by Aaron Regunberg.
Note that he is referring to mainstream Jewish organizations, not the many smaller groups, publications and individuals who criticize Israeli policy.
Article title:
"American Jewish organizations are making a dangerous mistake"
Syracuse University is eliminating nine of its liberal arts majors, one of which is Jewish Studies. dailyorange.com/2026/03/suns...
I sure hope the few Jewish people who got behind this attack on higher education in the name of "fighting campus antisemitism" are feeling proud of themselves.
Virginia has leapt ahead of Massachusetts in protecting its residents from ICE.
@massgovernor.bsky.social needs to step up and end MA's 287(g) agreement handing prisoners over to ICE!
From CJFS co-founder @jpygold.bsky.social :
“I’m not surprised that the Trump administration is filing another frivolous lawsuit... because the Trump administration really likes to misuse Jewish identity in order to further the broader authoritarian attacks.”
www.masslive.com/education/20...
