An Israeli Lawmaker’s Accusation Against Students for Justice in Palestine: An Update

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
On August 16, the Forward published a story reporting that an Israeli lawmaker accused Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestinian campus group, of compiling lists of Jewish college students and their online addresses. The story also quoted numerous sources saying such lists did not exist.
Accusations about the story’s possible bias prompted us to remove it from our website out of an abundance of caution, while we examined the claims.
Laura Adkins, who wrote the story, was accused by a blogger of perpetuating a “hoax” when she first wrote about an incident with SJP for another publication as a college student in 2014. After undertaking our own internal review, we concluded that this accusation is inaccurate and unfair. Given the controversy around that earlier story, however, Laura was not the appropriate person to report on it for the Forward. Nor did we think the story newsworthy enough to repost.
Laura remains a valued member of our staff.
Hello, fellow Forward reader! I’m Joel Brown, a Forward reader and supporter for more than 15 years, and currently the chair of the board of directors.
I’m an avid Forward reader because it ticks so many of my essential boxes: excellent journalism, Jewish focus and diverse viewpoints. In today’s political climate, what I most appreciate is the Forward’s independence — made possible by the generosity of its membership.
The Forward is committed to bringing you unbiased, nuanced Jewish news. From my position as board chair, I see an exciting future as we expand our position as the definitive independent voice of contemporary American Judaism.
— Joel Brown, Forward board chair
