“A Hotbed for Hate: A Comprehensive Dossier of Antisemitism at Columbia University and Barnard College Since the 2016-2017 Academic Year.” This title of a new report by Alums for Campus Fairness makes it sound like antisemitism is widespread and intense at the two New York City educational institutions. That message is amplified in this second sentence of the report: “These campuses are arguably the most prominent settings for university-based antisemitism in the United States.”

However, reading through the report, you find that most the incidents presented as antisemitic activities are something else altogether — activities critical of the Israel government.

A student group putting on an event where the Israel government is condemned for pursuing apartheid policies; individuals, a student group, or a student government calling on their school to stop investing in companies with certain business activities in relation to Israel; various people on campus making statements critical of the Israel government, including the process by which that nation has obtained, and maintained control over, territory. These and other types of activities related to criticism of the Israel government but having nothing to do with what most people understand as antisemitism make up most of the activities chronicled in the report.

While the central claim of the Hotbed for Hate report proves itself false upon examination, the report serves as the basis for reporting, at The Jerusalem Post and Fox News for example, that sounds an alarm about antisemitism.

Reprinted with permission from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.