Flyer Posted At University Of Central Florida Claim ‘Jews Attack Campus Free Speech’
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Aiden Pink November 1, 2019
Flyers posted around campus at the University of Central Florida claimed that a recent state law against anti-Semitism would restrict criticism of “the role of Jews in the United States.”
The flyers referred to a state law that was signed in June adopting the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism for the purposes of determining anti-Jewish discrimination in public schools and universities. The flyer cited some of the law’s definitions, including Holocaust denial and conspiracies about Jewish control of the media, to claim that the measure “attacks the 1st Amendment by controlling what students and teachers, including in public universities, may say about Jews and the Zionist state.”
Despicable fliers were found all throughout @UCF’s campus, calling for legal protection to:
“Criticize the role of #Jews in the United States.”
Never mind Pogroms.
Never mind the Holocaust.
Never mind ethnic cleansing by Arab states.
History, has fallen on deaf ears. pic.twitter.com/GadcD4v6RZ
— Yoni Michanie (@YoniMichanie) November 1, 2019
The flyer was unsigned but concluded with a quote commonly attributed to Kevin Strom, a Holocaust-denying neo-Nazi and convicted child pornographer.
The State Department anti-Semitism definition has been criticized by some because it also includes “double standards” against Israel – which pro-Palestinian advocates claim is a way to stifle legitimate criticism of Israeli policies.
The campus pro-Israel group Knights for Israel said in a Facebook post that the incident was “a disgraceful attempt to hide behind and abuse free speech to be anti-Semitic.”
Earlier this month, the UCF Chabad house was defaced with posters that included swastikas.
UCF, in Orlando, has around 6,000 Jewish undergraduate students, one of the largest college Jewish populations in the country according to the Forward College Guide.
Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
