oatmeal<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/US" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>US</span></a> / It was never really about antisemitism, was it? </p><p>Harvard Divinity School (HDS) has appointed Rabbi Shaul Magid, a self-described "counter-Zionist," as a Professor of Modern Jewish Studies in Residence to combat "anti-Israeli bias". <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Harvard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Harvard</span></a>'s anti-Semitism task force found that "politicized instruction" was creating an environment where <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Jewish" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Jewish</span></a> students couldn't fully participate in academic life. </p><p>Magid acknowledged rising anti-Jewish sentiment but defended the anti-Israel protest movement. He called the Jewish state “illiberal” and “chauvinist.” In his 2023 book, *The Necessity of Exile*, he presented Zionism as a historical ideology that served its purpose but should be abandoned with other ethnic nationalism and colonial thinking. He positioned his opposition as part of a broader critique of exclusionary nationalist ideologies, not as antisemitic. He argued that <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Zionism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Zionism</span></a> had its time and work, and it can be set aside, along with Manifest Destiny, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/colonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>colonialism</span></a>, and other chauvinistic ideologies. He advocates for a one-state solution where Israel would be both Jewish and Palestinian without being structured on the notion that this land belongs to anyone.</p><p>Hiring a Jewish scholar and rabbi to address campus antisemitism seems to be a perfect choice. Yet Rabbi David Wolpe, a former Harvard anti-Semitism advisory group member, believes Magid’s hiring doesn’t solve Harvard’s issues with Jewish students. The criticism of Harvard, now due to Magid’s “counter-Zionist” views, suggests the real objection was to perspectives that challenge Israel’s policies or Zionist ideology.</p><p>In fact Wolpe’s criticism that Magid’s views don’t “represent anything like the mainstream view of the American Jewish community” further supports this interpretation - the issue appears to be ideological conformity on <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Israel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Israel</span></a> rather than protection from <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/antisemitism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>antisemitism</span></a>. But did anyone really doubt it was about anything else?</p><p><a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/harvard-hires-counter-zionist-professor-in-effort-to-fight-anti-israeli-bias-in-classrooms/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">freebeacon.com/campus/harvard-</span><span class="invisible">hires-counter-zionist-professor-in-effort-to-fight-anti-israeli-bias-in-classrooms/</span></a></p><p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/academicchatter" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>academicchatter</span></a></span> <br><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/palestine" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>palestine</span></a></span> <br><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/israel" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>israel</span></a></span> <br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GazaGenocide" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>GazaGenocide</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Zionism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Zionism</span></a></p>