Citizens for Public Schools believes our public schools are an essential foundation for a healthy democracy. Students should experience and take part in vigorous and respectful discussion of the major issues of our time so that when they become adult members of society, they can be active and constructive participants in civic life. Our democracy should encourage discussion even about matters that may evoke strong emotions.
It is through this lens that we view with concern the activity of the legislature’s Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism and follow-on moves in several school districts that could severely restrict discussion of Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank of Palestine. Antisemitism is a blight on society in America and elsewhere. But the existence of antisemitism is not a reason to shut down discussions about one of the most important and difficult issues of our time, one in which our own government plays a central, decisive role.
Former US ambassador and Tufts University dean Alan Solomont told the commission at a recent hearing that our college campuses suffer from “a lack of training and preparation that students receive before they enter college to engage in civil discourse and dialogue across differences.”
Solomont, a leader in the Jewish community, said, “Some allegations about Israel may make Jewish students uncomfortable, but the exercise of free speech should not make Jewish students on campus unsafe.”
At the commission’s public hearings, some commission members have made statements that equate antisemitism with criticizing Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank. Some groups that support Israel’s military campaign are following suit by calling on school committees to ban materials that challenge the policies of Israeli governments past and present.
Far from combating antisemitism, banning these materials can create hatred when students and teachers who oppose Israeli actions find their ideas shut down without being considered. We fear this will not end well for our democracy.
What’s more, the commission, because of its narrow focus, has contributed to erasing all conversation about anti-Muslim incidents in our schools and the horrors Palestinians are enduring in Gaza and the West Bank, silencing some Palestinian students and faculty. Schools can combat both antisemitism and anti-Palestinian bias while promoting frank examination of what is happening in the conflict.
CPS calls for open discussion of difficult issues in history and in current events. Such conversations must not devolve into personal attacks among students who have conflicting viewpoints. It can be hard for teachers to help students respect those who disagree on matters that evoke strong emotions. In the current crisis, some Jewish students and teachers are feeling attacked and judged for being Jewish and/or Zionist. Some Palestinian students and teachers feel attacked and judged for their identity and beliefs as well.
But the solution is not to avoid the issue. To forge a freer and fairer future, our students should be encouraged to engage with controversial ideas and think for themselves.
