Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Arizona State student government adopts universal definition of anti-Semitism

Koral Zaarur said the measure was in response to posters of Adolf Hitler and swastikas on campus, though it “turned into so much more.”

Arizona State University. Credit: Flickr.
Arizona State University. Credit: Flickr.

Arizona State University’s student government has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.

The resolution to adopt the widely accepted definition of anti-Semitism passed on Tuesday in a 15-1-3 vote.

In a statement by Students Supporting Israel, ASU student Koral Zaarur said the measure was in response to recent posters of Adolf Hitler and swastikas found on campus, though it “turned into so much more.”

“The bill called for the creation of a Jewish Coalition on our campus, to be the face of Jewish students and organizations and provide a clear and unified voice for our community,” he said. “Calling on the university to adopt the IHRA definition was perhaps our biggest victory, as we secured a concrete definition for what anti-Semitism is, and what forms of anti-Zionism and anti-Israel propaganda are anti-Semitic.”

“I think they allowed it to go on too long—the protests, everything,” Jonathan (“Jay”) Sures, one of 26 regents of the public school system, told JNS.
“It’s not about improving Israel’s image. It’s not about fighting back the media war,” Talia Dekel-Fleissig told JNS. “It’s about making sure that the public understands what’s actually going on.”
“It’s not a decisive shift to a new phase of the war,” Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told JNS. “Rather it is a reminder that the U.S. has the will to police the Strait of Hormuz.”
The arms accord will see the largest-ever military export sale between Jerusalem and Athens.