Professor Ari Kelman, a history professor at Stanford University, resigned from the school's newly-formed Antisemitism Committee for allegedly having an antisemitic past.
A report by the Jewish Insider appeared to be the catalyst for Kelman's resignation. It noted that he authored a paper in 2017 downplaying antisemitism on college campuses and allied with anti-Israel groups.
One of those groups was Open Hillel, an organizer of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against the Jewish state, of which he used to sit on their board.
Kelman told the Insider that he has not been on the company's board for over a decade and does not "recall doing anything as a board member, either."
"I don't think I ever attended a board meeting, even," the professor emphasized. "Mostly my service was in the form of advice I gave to individual students."
Caroline Glick, a senior editor at the Jewish News Syndicate, revealed on X that Kelman left his new role after "criticism from brave Stanford students and alum, with an assist from the Caroline Glick show."
"Never think you can't make a difference," Glick said. "You can. Just stand up."
Speaking to the Jewish Insider, Kelman continued to defend his past views on antisemitism to some extent, acknowledging that the situation on campuses has worsened.
However, he maintained that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism is "flawed and overly expansive" and "silences Palestinian voices."
"I still believe that it does [silence Palestinians]," Kelman argued. "I don't think the IHRA definition is operationally appropriate in the context of the university."
Stanford finished organizing the Antisemitism Committee earlier this month, alongside an Islamophobia Committee, in response to the rise in tensions amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
Sociologist Larry Diamond, a Hoover Institution fellow, and Stanford engineering professor Jeffrey R. Koseff were also slated to help lead the committee.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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