Antisemitism Posing as Academia
An Expose on The Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism
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A collective of activist professors have started an institute dedicated to delegitimizing Zionism, Zionists and the State of Israel after receiving objections to their academic vilification of Israel.
Founded in mid-2023 by prolific antisemitic professors, some of whom were instrumental in advancing the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement in academia, the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism (ICSZ) disregards academic integrity and historical accuracy. Instead, it is laser-focused on the myopic agenda of depicting Zionism as the greatest ill of the world.
Hailing from across the U.S., with a handful of international members, the founding collective comprises professors primarily from Critical Ethnic Studies and humanities departments, both bastions of anti-Israel activity.
Key Findings
The Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism (ICSZ) is driven by the desire to delegitimize and dismantle the State of Israel.
It was founded and is currently directed by virulent antisemitic and anti-Israel activist professors and professionals who view Zionism as responsible for the world’s worst evils.
The institute offers no definition of Zionism apart from stating, “Zionism is a settler colonial racial project.” Its director says, “Zionism is a term that holds a lot of things. It describes the existing state of Israel and its collaboration with other powers, and its history, politics, ideology, and culture built around them.”
ICSZ and its members overwhelmingly support terror directed at Jews and Israel, couching their approval in the context of “resistance.” This includes the October 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 Israelis by Hamas.
The institute and its members have a fixation on and vehemently oppose the widely accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism (which labels their “anti-Zionist” ideologies for what they are: a cover for antisemitism).
The Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism’s Motives & Operating Principles
Classic Antisemitism Repackaged as Anti-Zionism
Much like the classic antisemitic trope that claims Jews are the source of every problem in the world, ICSZ and the newly coined “discipline” of Critical Zionist Studies seek to uncover nefarious actions by “Zionism” and “Zionists” in all areas of society.
The institute explains its interdisciplinary approach to Zionism:
“To support the delinking of the study of Zionism from Jewish Studies, and to reclaim … the study of Zionism as a political, ideological, and racial and gendered knowledge project that intersects with Palestine and decolonial studies, critical terrorism studies, settler colonial studies, studies of land and climate, disability, performance, and many other related areas scholarship and activism …
“ … The Institute approaches Zionism as a broad set of colonial and repressive work and solidarities
“ … Zionism’s project extends beyond the borders of Palestine.”
Ironically, the professors involved in the institute each have varying definitions of Zionism; even the institute's website does not include a clear definition of the word around which the entire institute revolves.
In the “Points of Unity,” the institute simply declares, “Zionism is a settler colonial racial project.” Director Emmaia Gelman says, “Zionism is a term that holds a lot of things. It describes the existing state of Israel and its collaboration with other powers, and its history, politics, ideology, and culture built around them.”
In short, ICSZ takes license to define Zionism as anything that vaguely involves the State of Israel, Jews or Israelis to fit its distorted worldview and highly biased politics.
More accurate is a definition offered by historian Yuval Noah Harari, who explains that Zionism is simply the national movement of the Jewish people. Harari responds to academics and politicians who vilify Zionism as “racist”:
“When I hear people compare Zionism with racism, this itself is a racist statement, because Zionism is simply the national movement of the Jewish people. And if you think that Zionism is racist and is abhorrent, you’re basically saying that Jews don’t deserve to have national feelings.
“Turks can have national feelings, and Germans can have national feelings, but when Jews have national feelings, this is racism.”
October 4, 2024
The founders of ICSZ explain that it is “necessary” to find their distorted view of Zionism in unlikely places by “looking at the role of Zionist institutions in arenas where it’s not necessarily transparent.”
Attempting to justify this far-reaching approach, Gelman contends, “...zionist institutions have a set of ideological commitments that is not specific to Israel or the domination of Palestine but is in fact about Western supremacy … and colonialism … [Zionists try] to water down anti-racist activity by demanding inclusion for Zionists for representatives of a military and apartheid regime, within for example DEI policies.”
In practical terms, this boils down to the BDS movement, i.e., anyone using Israeli technology i.e. “projects of zionist institutions,” becomes complicit in this alleged Zionist conspiracy of infecting the world and asserting “Western supremacy.”
The approach holds regular Israeli citizens and Jews culpable, regardless of whether or not they support the Israeli government and its policies. This position is a clear case of antisemitism.
Trying to Influence Politics: An Extension of BDS
ICSZ’s founders claim that their pursuit of finding Zionist misdeeds throughout society is not only important but essential.
In an article titled “Why We Created the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism,” Rabab Abdulhadi, a founding member of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, and Heike Schotten explain:
“Studying Zionism … is politically necessary … Academic research is not politically or morally neutral. Critical Zionism Studies does not simply interpret the world but also works to change it.”
In other words, the institute is driven by the desire to delegitimize and dismantle the State of Israel.
Although the extent of the institute's political clout is unclear, the professors involved certainly have sway over the impressionable minds of their students, from Berkeley to NYU.
Support for Palestinian Liberation as a Justification for Terror
ICSZ overwhelmingly supports terror towards Jews and Israel, couching its approval in the context of “resistance.” Thus, the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, was viewed as praiseworthy.
Fighting the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism and the ADL
The institute and its members maintain a hyper-focus on the widely accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which calls out their “anti-Zionism” for what it is: antisemitism.
The institute's first conference, held over two days in October 2023, was themed “Battling the IHRA Definition: Theory and Activism.” It has a podcast dedicated to the subject as well, called “Battling the IHRA definition,” where the members discuss their objections to equating antisemitism with anti-Zionism.
In addition, members of the institute spend much of their time advocating against the most visible organization in America fighting antisemitism, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Gelman writes extensively about the ADL and is working on a book on the topic. Other founding members, like Dylan Rodriguez, have also published articles about the ADL and its alleged evil intentions that have damaged the “anti-racist” movement in America.
The Founding Collective & Advisory Board
The founding collective and advisory board reads like a who’s who of professional antisemites. They are comprised of people who literally make their living from spreading lies about Israel and Jews, including:
The institute’s director, Emmaia Gelman, is listed on the Sarah Lawrence College roster as an American studies scholar. She has a vendetta against what she calls the “white supremacist” ADL, supported terror, celebrated the murder of Jews and denied that the Jews are native to the land of Israel. Gelman views the job of ethnic studies to combat the Jewish narrative around the State of Israel.
After participating in the October 8 Hamas celebration rallies in New York City, she posted on Instagram:
A second post with an image of Hamas terrorists breaking through the border between Israel and Gaza read:
After receiving responses of horror for her glorification of murder from some of her Instagram followers, she explained:
Rabab Abdulhadi, an outspoken anti-Israel activist professor at San Francisco State University (SFSU), has an extensive history of legitimizing Palestinian terror organizations and terrorists and justifies violence towards Israeli citizens, including the horrors of October 7.
Abdulhadi gained nationwide notoriety when, on September 24, 2020, she organized an online open classroom event featuring Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist Leila Khaled, who participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970.
Abdulhadi attempted to livestream the event but was shut down by the video conferencing platform Zoom (out of concern that hosting Khaled would be a felony given her ongoing PFLP leadership role).
Two days before the event, on September 22, 2020, Abdulhadi said, “We really idolize somebody like Leila Khaled, somebody who actually stands up for herself, speaks for herself, actually goes to a plane and hijacks it …”
Abdulhadi, an associate professor in the Ethnic Studies/Race and Resistance Studies in the College of Ethnic Studies at SFSU, is also the founding director/senior scholar of SFSU’s Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) Studies program.
SFSU canceled her “Palestine: Ethnic Studies Perspective” course around May 2024. Yet she now teaches similar courses through ICSZ, which provides her with an alternate avenue to disseminate her antisemitic ideology.
To learn more about Abdulhadi, read our blog: Rabab Abdulhadi: GUPS Terror-Linked Faculty Advisor
Lara Sheehi is an assistant professor of clinical psychology at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar. She left her previous position at George Washington University (GWU) after Jewish students filed a Title VI complaint against her, alleging antisemitic abuse.
Sheehi rationalized the Hamas October 7 massacre and has expressed support for terrorists, promoted hatred of Israel and Zionists, and spread incitement.
In August 2020, Sheehi tweeted: ““F**K YOU AND F**K YOUR ‘AID’. Destroy Zionism and commit to land back, then we’ll take you seriously you f**king genocidal f**ks. F**k you.”
In another tweet, Sheehi writes, “...Israel is allied with neo-Nazis in Europe bcz of the underlying ethnofascism. We need to disrupt these logics, front to end.”
Sheehi’s affiliation with ICSZ further provides proof of the radical intentions of the institute and its antisemitic foundation.
Christine Hong is a professor of critical race and ethnic studies at the University of California (UC) Santa Cruz. She was a central player in the UC Ethnic Studies Council’s efforts to implement mandatory ethnic studies education in California’s K-12 educational system.
ICSZ was partly founded due to the pushback UC professors received from Jewish organizations against their initiatives to implement an ethnic studies curriculum in California’s primary and secondary schools.
On a UC Santa Cruz's Ethnic Studies department Instagram post about its “Battling the IHRA Definition” podcast, Hong was quoted as saying,
“We can see that against the possibility of Ethnic Studies being liberatory, we have these forces that are arguing for the imperial securitization of the field.” (When she says “liberatory” she means that criticism of Judaism and Zionism is acceptable, and the “forces” refers to the concerned Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy organizations.)
Jennifer Mogannam is an assistant professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UC Santa Cruz. She was active in the pro-terror groups Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) while studying at UC San Diego.
Mogannam posts about her support for intifada, i.e., armed resistance, include:
Mogannam is active in the Palestinian feminist movement that falsely accuses Israel of using sexual violence as a weapon of war against Palestinians.
Critical Theory & the Jewish Problem
Critical Studies is based on the “oppressor versus oppressed” worldview, which was first popularized by Karl Marx. It was later adopted by academics from the Frankfurt School, who applied Marx’s theory culturally in a discipline they called “Critical Theory.”
Jews in America present a problem to critical theorists because they do not fit into its power paradigm. On one hand, Jews have a history of being oppressed and, on the other hand, are highly successful (as a group).
Ultimately, because of their success, Critical Whiteness Theory (as well as Social Justice Theory) categorizes Jews as white. Thus, according to these theories, even in the face of antisemitism, Jews cannot be discriminated against because they are white (which is why they are not included in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives).
To understand the broader context of the ideologies behind ICSZ, see our blog: “Critical Race Theory Has a Jewish Problem.”
Critical Theory scholar James Lindsay explains a further malevolent element in the categorization of Jews as white by Critical Theory:
“Critical Race Theory sees that society and its liberalism as fundamentally corrupted by whiteness, and thus, playing directly into the roots of the nastiest strains of anti-Semitic thought, assumes Jews must somehow be profoundly complicit in it.”
“Critical Race Theory, therefore places Jewish people into a very dangerous spot within their Theory: they are a group that has tremendous privilege they don’t deserve who also have an apparently ironclad excuse not to ‘do the work’ of dismantling their own whiteness.”
October 22, 2020
This perhaps explains the inclusion of Jewish academics in ICSZ. As active anti-Zionists, they are “atoning” for their perceived “whiteness” and “Jewish privilege.”
Critical Studies & Israel
Like American Jews, the State of Israel breaks the “oppressor versus oppressed” paradigm set up by Critical Studies. While Israel has historically been the underdog and threatened on every front with annihilation, it has nevertheless built a strong military and economy and has defeated its enemies in all past wars.
Thus, it is labeled a “colonizer” by critical theorists who also deem its multi-ethnic population “white.”
Lindsay explains:
“Israel would be considered in Theory as the result of white, Western imperialism and colonialism … Put even more straightforwardly, it is both colonialism and racism simultaneously that defines the existence of the Jewish state, and both of these sins are regarded by Theory as in immediate need of “disrupting and dismantling…”
Lindsay calls Critical Zionist theorists out for their antisemitism, which he says, is the result of “forcing bad solutions to fundamental contradictions that necessarily arise from within the bowels of impoverished and illiberal social theories.”
Ultimately, it is this foundation upon which Critical Zionist Studies, its flagship institute – ICZS – and its resultant antisemitism rests.
