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May 10, 2026
Key Developments and What We're Discussing Today:
- University of Michigan Professor Derek Peterson should have taken into account how some Jewish students and their parents would receive his commencement address and should have acknowledged the pain that Jewish faculty and staff felt.
- Contrary to what some have alleged, the speech Peterson delivered was substantially the same speech he submitted to the university a week in advance, including the part about Gaza.
- Peterson said nothing antisemitic. We know from polling that many, if not most, Jewish students and parents probably agreed with him. Organizations and individuals offended by his remarks have every right to say so, but they should not claim to speak for the entire Jewish community.
- None of this excuses violence that accompanied some of the protests or any instances of antisemitism during the protests. However, the mere presence of encampments, Palestinian flags, and kefiyahs is not antisemitic. Harsh or what some may perceive as unfair criticism of Israel is not antisemitic even if some students find it threatening. We should not use "antisemitism" as a catch-all for what makes us uncomfortable.
- We need to do better at educating ourselves and our kids about the real Israel. We may find it comforting to believe in a sanitized, mythological version of Israel that can do no wrong, but that approach becomes counterproductive when we interact with others who view Israel differently.
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Greetings!
Last week, at a University of Michigan commencement ceremony, Professor Derek Peterson delivered an otherwise anodyne address that, after mentioning other activists we should sing for, exhorted the audience to “Sing for the pro-Palestinian student activists who have over these past two years opened our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity of Israel’s war in Gaza."
That was the only reference to Israel. The address was just over five minutes long. Peterson also asked the audience to “Sing for Moritz Levi, the first Jewish professor at the University of Michigan. Appointed Professor of French in 1896, he was to open the doors of this great university to generations of Jewish students who found in Ann Arbor a safe haven from the anti-Semitism of East Coast universities." That was the only reference to Jews.
To understand what follows, read the speech or watch it.
The speech Peterson delivered was not identical to the speech he submitted to the University a week in advance, but it was substantively the same. You can read that speech here.
As you can see for yourself, Peterson did not surprise the administration by the substance of what he said, nor did he substitute one speech for another.
The outrage from some parts of the Jewish community was immediate. Some called the speech antisemitic. Some said it ruined the entire ceremony for them. Some said it was inappropriate, insensitive, and out of place at an event whose purpose was to make everyone feel good.
These are honest emotions. Not all Jewish parents or students felt that way, but some did. I write this not to deny the authenticity of these feelings, but to suggest another way of thinking about what happened and how we react to occurrences like this.
Let's go step by step.
Was this insensitive? Yes. Peterson should have known that unlike his other examples, the Gaza war evoked strong feelings on both sides of this issue among some students and parents, especially since some of the protests--some, not all--were violent and included antisemitism.
While violence is never acceptable, the extent to which the protests were antisemitic is unclear. Some Jewish students and some Jewish parents think that certain slogans and the sight of angry students wearing kefiyahs and carrying Palestinian flags is antisemitic. Some don't. Some don't care. Some agree with the students wearing kefiyahs and carrying Palestinian flags.
Nevertheless, some students and parents were offended. Peterson later said, "If I’d have done it again, knowing what I know now, I would say something like, ‘Sing for Jewish students who, since Oct. 7, 2023 have found ways to keep the memory of the innocent, dead, alive in their hearts and in our lives as an institution,’ something like that – inexpertly worded, but I would have tried to find a way to honor the reality of the pain that Jewish students and faculty suffer in the memory of those events...
"I would want retrospectively to find a way to acknowledge the pain that Jewish students felt, while also pushing back on Netanyahu’s constant efforts to instrumentalize that memory in order to legitimate the campaign in Gaza."
Was the commencement address antisemitic? No. This was praise for those who protested what Peterson called "the injustice and inhumanity of Israel’s war in Gaza." That is not Jew-hatred. That's not demonizing Israel. That is criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza. Even criticism of Israel we might disagree with is not antisemitic unless it contains antisemitic tropes.
If you want to argue that the death and destruction caused by Israel's military campaign was just and humane, have at it. You are not necessarily anti-Palestinian. Those who disagree are not necessarily antisemitic.
It matters whether it was antisemitic because some are claiming that it was. Antisemitism is a serious problem. We should not toss accusations of antisemitism around lightly. Much of the overreaction stems from the false allegations of antisemitism--if it was merely inappropriate, how else to account for the overreaction?
But didn't Peterson's words "other" or offend the Jewish students and parents? Let's be careful. Some Jewish organizations claim to speak for all Jews when they speak for some Jews. Peterson may have alienated some Jewish students and parents. He did not alienate "the Jewish community."
A methodologically sound Washington Post poll of Jewish Americans found that while most Jewish Americans feel emotionally attached to Israel and that being Jewish is important in their lives, 39% of Jewish Americans think Israel committed genocide. Among the youngest cohort, those aged 18-34, the number rises to 50%.
The same poll found that 62% of Jewish Americans think Israel committed war crimes. Among those aged 18-34, the number rises to 89%.
The majority is not always right. But it's hard to accuse Peterson of offending "the Jewish community" when most Jews probably agree with what Peterson said. Respected Jewish scholars from the United States and Israel, including Michael Walzer and Omer Bartov, have made similar statements.
You might disagree with Peterson. You might find his remarks offensive. That's fine. That does not mean Peterson's remarks were antisemitic or that they offended the Jewish community.
As hard as it is for some of us to accept, our circle of friends and associates is not necessarily the Jewish community writ large. Our umbrage at Peterson's remarks does not mean that he insulted or othered "the Jewish community."
"Othering" means to treat a certain group as fundamentally different. It's hard to see how calling Israel's conduct of the Gaza war unjust or inhumane is "othering" Jews when nine out of ten Jewish students probably agree that Israel committed war crimes and half probably think Israel committed genocide.
The pain some students and parents felt is real. These issues come to a head in college for some students and some parents because Jewish education fails to prepare kids for what they will see and hear in college.
Some young adults are unprepared because the Israel they learned about before college was a simplistic, sanitized version of Israel’s history that their parents and teachers did not recognize as myth.
The students on campus who complain the most about antisemitism are often the kids who were sold this fantasy and lack the tools to respond to criticism of the real Israel. They are hearing, for the first time, in college what they should have been taught before they got there. Instead of learning about the real Israel from those who support Israel, they are often hearing about it from those hostile to Israel.
They feel their identity is wrapped up in Israel, so when Israel is criticized or attacked, they feel as if they are being criticized or attacked even when Israel, not they, is clearly the subject of criticism (ironic because holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel is itself antisemitic). Their parents get their information from organizations that fundraise off fear and, generalizing from isolated incidents, imagine that the campus is a cesspool of antisemitism. Peterson's one sentence was all they needed. I wrote about this general issue a few months ago.
We don't have to take the bait. Peterson chose to mention a subject that he should have known would be inflammatory. Some Jewish organizations, parents, and students chose to take the bait and overreact to one line in a short speech that was not antisemitic and that most Jewish Americans, especially younger Jewish Americans, probably agree with.
The University of Michigan overreacted by rushing to apologize for what, in its own words, was a "30-second soundbite." Over 1,500 members of the University of Michigan community objected to the apology, and the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers issued a statement supporting Peterson.
We cannot assume that the way we feel as Jews is the way all Jews feel. We are frustrated. We are emotionally exhausted. We either deny the reality of Netanyahu's policies or we look the other way and wish others would look the other way. Along comes a university professor whose remarks bring everything to the surface, and the organizations that claim to represent us take it to 11. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to take a breath.
In Case You Missed It:
Tweet of the Week. JoJoFromJerz, Craig, Matthew Yglesias, and Maura Quint.
Thread of the Week. The Nexus Project.
Jewish Insider Fail of the Week. You can count on JI to remind you of any Democrat's ties to antisemitism, real or imagined. But on May 7, JI wrote a positive article normalizing Sebastian Gorka, Trump's National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism. JI neglected to mention that Gorka was fired from the FBI for anti-Muslim diatribes. He was first appointed by Trump in 2017, and left or was fired on August 25, 2017. Gorka called criticism of Trump’s omission of Jews from Trump's first Holocaust Remembrance statement “asinine.” The Forward reported that Gorka “has in the past chosen to work with openly racist and anti-Semitic groups and public figures” and that in 2007, Gorka "publicly supported a violent racist and anti-Semitic paramilitary militia that was later banned as a threat to minorities by multiple court rulings.” Gorka has also appeared in multiple photographs wearing the medal of a Hungarian group listed by the State Department as having collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. Other than those omissions, JI seems to have provided sufficient context.
Video Clip of the Week. Iceland.
Vintage Music Clip of the Week. Happy May 5th Day to all who celebrated last week.
The Fine Print. Read the fine print before you reply or send me anything.
For those new to this newsletter. This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read. If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, your luck continues. You can subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday for free. Just click here.
Be sure to read my posts on distinguishing anti-Zionism from antisemitism, understanding the words Zionism, apartheid, and genocide, how to heal the generational rift on Israel and antisemitism, and the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
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