Janet Napolitano, President of the University of California Regents, recently expressed her support for the State Department definition of anti-Semitism, and also expressed support for the Regents to adopt the definition.  The State Department recognizes that while not all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, some anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiment crosses the line into anti-Semitism.

The Regents may be considering whether to adopt the State Department definition at their next meeting in July.  Knowing this, anti-Israel groups are pushing back hard, with articles and letters falsely claiming that adopting the definition will suppress free speech. 

A Lawyers’ Petition is circulating, assuring the Regents that adopting the definition would have no impact on First Amendment freedoms.  The Regents would simply be exercising their own First Amendment rights by expressing their view on what anti-Semitism is, and the many forms it takes today. 

THE ZOA STRONGLY URGES YOU TO SIGN THE LAWYERS’ PETITION at

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2200863/Attorneys-Support-UC-Adoption-of-the-U-S-State-Department-Definition-of-Anti-Semitism.

Thank you for helping to fight campus anti-Semitism.