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Discrimination against those with heterodox ideas on Israel fosters anti-Semitism

The other night I was talking with a Muslim friend at an elite university, and he said that there was an anti-semitic tinge to some of the statements he hears from friends about the Israel lobby. I asked him to elaborate. He said that at this point, the Israel lobby is widely understood, by grad students and junior faculty, to be a central factor in career advancement at important schools. I.e., if you have spoken harshly or even critically of the state of Israel, you will have damaged your career. (The same point that Dan Drezner has said with respect to mid- or high-level presidential appointments, and Michelle Goldberg has said about journalistic careers, and that Larry Summers conveyed to Steve Walt three years ago). This knowledge has engendered resentment–and some anti-Semitism, my friend says. For instance, one friend of my friend said to him, "The only affirmative action I see around here is for Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews." My friend said he guards against this attitude by distinguishing between Zionists and Jews. I said that we were talking about real discrimination that is bound to build resentment, and the only answer is for people to decry the Idea Bar, and for patrons, many of them Jewish, to be compelled to support heterodox ideas.

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