To President Cudd and the Portland State University Board of Trustees,

We write as Jewish community members, Portland taxpayers, faculty, and students at Portland State University who are committed to academic freedom, intellectual rigor, and justice. We are deeply concerned about PSU’s decision to host a leadership institute run by Brandeis University’s President’s Initiative on Antisemitism.

Let us be clear: we are deeply disturbed by antisemitism, as we are by all forms of hate and bias. Antisemitism is foundational to the Christian nationalist extremist movement and is rising, with support from the Trump Administration. This initiative from Brandeis does not represent a genuine exploration of antisemitism. Rather, it advances an approach that weaponizes the charge of antisemitism in order to curtail speech advocating for Palestinian rights. Across the country, such accusations have had serious consequences for academic and individual freedom.

Brandeis University has labeled political advocacy for Palestinian rights as antisemitic and has framed political speech and human rights advocacy as hate speech. This approach blurs the critical distinction between hatred of Jews (antisemitism) and criticism of a nation-state. When that distinction collapses, the definition of antisemitism is distorted in ways that chill political discussion while doing nothing to keep Jews safe.

Recent actions by Brandeis University illustrate this pattern. In November 2023, Brandeis revoked recognition of its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, stating, without substantiation, that the group’s statements were interpreted as support for Hamas.[1] During the same period, administrators warned students that chanting “From the river to the sea” constituted hate speech and could result in disciplinary action.[2] They sent a clear message that advocacy for Palestinian freedom, and criticism of Israeli state policy, could be treated as antisemitism. The foreseeable result is a chilling effect on speech, marginalization of Palestinian students, and exclusion of Jewish students whose ethical commitments lead them to dissent from Israeli government policy.

Context matters. The phrase “from the river to the sea” is not inherently a call for violence against Jews. For many Palestinians and their supporters, it expresses a demand for freedom and equal rights across the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Notably, the 1977 platform of Israel’s Likud party states, “Between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.”[3] Applying categorical condemnation to one usage while ignoring similar historical and political language used by Israeli political actors reflects a selective standard. Universities should resist such selectivity.

Major human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and B’Tselem, have concluded that the Israeli government is committing the crime of apartheid under international law in the occupied Palestinian territories.[4][5][6] These conclusions are not slogans; they are extensive legal analyses grounded in international conventions and documented evidence.

In January 2024, the International Court of Justice found South Africa’s claim under the Genocide Convention regarding Israeli military actions in Gaza to be plausible.[7] While the Court has not issued a final ruling — a process that historically can take years — its determination that the claim merits adjudication is legally significant. Labeling discussion of such documented legal findings as antisemitic undermines human rights discourse. Moreover, false accusations of antisemitism make it more difficult to prevent and confront genuine antisemitism. As Jews, we are appalled that our identity could be weaponized to defend or shield human rights violations as serious as apartheid and genocide.

Definitions matter. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition, endorsed by Brandeis University, includes examples related to Israel that civil liberties organizations warn may conflate certain criticisms of Israeli state policy with antisemitism.[8] When protest activity, human rights reporting, or advocacy for equal rights is categorized as antisemitic, the term loses precision. Dilution does not protect Jews. It weakens our collective ability to confront actual antisemitism, particularly at a time of rising white nationalist extremism.

Jewish perspectives on Israel are diverse. Pew Research Center and Gallup polling demonstrate generational and ideological variation among American Jews regarding Israeli government policy and Palestinian statehood.[9][10] Many Jews approach these questions through enduring Jewish ethical principles: pikuach nefesh, the prioritization of preserving human life; tzedek, tzedek tirdof — “justice, justice you shall pursue”; and the teaching that all human beings are created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God. These values compel opposition to all forms of bigotry and to systems that deny equal rights or endanger civilian life.

When institutions such as Brandeis equate Jewish identity with uncritical support for the nation-state of Israel, they cause real harm. They marginalize dissenting Jews, silence Palestinian voices, and narrow the intellectual space universities are meant to protect. This harm is not theoretical. It shapes which students feel safe speaking, organizing, and participating in campus life. It has cost individuals jobs and professional opportunities and has contributed to the broader erosion of academic freedom.[11]

PSU has a responsibility to ensure that any antisemitism education initiative it hosts clearly distinguishes between antisemitism, hostility toward Jews as Jews, and protected political speech about state policy. Combating antisemitism requires precision, not expansion of the term to cover political disagreement. A rigorous, evidence-based approach would strengthen the fight against real antisemitism while preserving PSU’s commitments to free inquiry, pluralism, and justice.

We recognize that discussions related to Israel and Palestine can generate discomfort. Discomfort, however, must not be confused with a lack of safety. When challenging speech is suppressed, critical thinking suffers.

We urge PSU to uphold its commitments and ensure that antisemitism education on this campus protects both Jewish safety and the integrity of academic freedom. We also request that PSU acknowledge that no group on campus is safe unless all are safe. Understanding antisemitism must be viewed as part of the collective efforts to protect the dignity and safety of all who share the campus community.

As Frederick Lawrence, former president of Brandeis University, has stated: “We have been far too loose with what we mean by threatened… Many people feel that when they hear views that they deeply disagree with, that’s threatening to them. That’s not how universities operate. You are not entitled to be intellectually safe. You are entitled to be physically safe.”[12]

Respectfully,

Jewish Voice for Peace Portland