Censorship and Jewish Privilege: The Academic Study of Judaism

Within Western academia, researchers are given freedom to examine the histories of major religions like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. However, this is not permissible when it comes to Judaism, which is given a special status.

This is partly because university professors and administrators work under heavy pressure from Jewish donors and activist groups who influence politicians.

A good recent example of this phenomenon can be found in the pressure brought against the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and University of Pennsylvania. These presidents have been attacked for not controlling campus speech critical of Israel. The US congress has demanded that the presidents resign for not sufficiently suppressing pro-Palestinian humanitarian activism. For this, these presidents have been smeared as rabid antisemites. One president has already resigned, and more resignations may occur in the future).

Government and media elites continue their efforts to eliminate the president of Harvard.

This is because she expressed a willingness to tolerate students saying: "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free" – a statement that Zionists have hysterically misrepresented as… pic.twitter.com/Sy0DMDyTGe

— Daniel Haqiqatjou (@Haqiqatjou) December 18, 2023

5 out of the 8 Ivy League universities have Jewish presidents.

2 out of the 3 non-Jewish presidents were dragged in front of Congress to be grilled on why they are not doing more to silence criticism of Israel on campus.

All 3 non-Jewish presidents are now being smeared as…

— Daniel Haqiqatjou (@Haqiqatjou) December 7, 2023

At universities, research on Judaism is only permitted on the condition that it does not make claims that could justify criticism of the Jewish people or their religion (i.e., “antisemitism”). Researchers who do put forth controversial claims are fired from their jobs or jailed.

For example, in Israel and many Western states, laws on antisemitism strongly restrict research on World War II, the Holocaust, and Israeli apartheid. Researchers who make claims about these topics which might provoke criticism of Jews are threatened with imprisonment and fines. Even Jewish academics who make very limited critical claims lose their academic careers or suffer severe career setbacks (e.g., Professors Norman Finkelstein and Ilan Pappe).

Far more severe penalties are visited upon non-Jewish academics, who are summarily dismissed as “neo-Nazis” or “terrorists” (e.g., Professors Steven Salaita and Kevin MacDonald). To be sure, one need not agree with the claims made by any of these professors to recognize that they have been penalized for their views.

Research on the Israel lobby is strongly restricted, and was virtually impossible before Professors Walt and Mearsheimer published their highly controversial 2007 book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.

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While it is permitted to conduct research on discriminatory Christian norms targeting non-Christians, discriminatory Islamic norms targeting non-Muslims, and discriminatory Hindu norms targeting non-Hindus, it is not allowed to conduct research on discriminatory Jewish norms targeting non-Jews (e.g., as expressed in the Talmud and Shulchan Aruch).

A rare example of such research is the highly controversial 1994 book Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years by Israeli Jewish professor Israel Shahak.

Similarly, while it is permitted to conduct research on Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhism participation in slave-trading, there are tight restrictions on research concerning Jewish participation in slave-trading. These restrictions have been applied with special force to African American professors who have examined this topic (see e.g., Professor Tony Martin’s 1993 book The Jewish Onslaught: Despatches from the Wellesley Battlefront).

Similarly, it is recognized that in many religions (e.g., Aztec, Hindu) there are ritual practices of human sacrifice, and it is permitted to conduct research on such practices. However, it is not permitted to conduct research on the possibility of Jewish human sacrifice rituals. This is exemplified in the case of the 2007 book Passovers of Blood: The Jews of Europe and Ritual Murders. The Jewish Israeli professor who wrote this book was threatened with prosecution and firing and was forced to rewrite controversial parts of his text.

Imagine if other religions were subject to the same protections as Judaism. Because they are not, Western academia ends up promoting a positive attitude towards Judaism and a hostility towards other religions. This cannot be described as anything other than Jewish Privilege in the academic study of religion and culture.