The Anti-Israel Institute Critics Call a ‘Terrorist Think Tank’: Inside the ICSZ Controversy

A new institute dedicated to demonizing Israel has been founded by a collective of professors. But some pro-Israel academics have blown the whistle, with one vocal member likening the institute to a “terrorist think tank."

The Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism (ICSZ) was founded in 2023 by former Sarah Lawrence professor Emmaia Gelman—a self-described Irish-Jewish queer New Yorker who is known to have cheered for Hamas in a protest the day after October 7.

“My institute opposes Zionism and colonialism, and abides by the international, Palestinian-led call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions.”

“We must also make clear how the critical study of Zionism is deeply and essentially connected to the study of global forces including contests over power, race, colonialism, capital, militarism, and violence,” Gelman writes.

ICSZ publishes blog posts, podcasts, and hosts Zoom events dedicated to dismantling and criticizing Zionism. They have also tried hosting conferences, but it's unclear if they were successful, as at least one activist wrote to the NYU arguing that hosting the conference would be a violation of the school's own non-discrimination policy.

Jennifer Mogannam, a professor at UC–Santa Cruz, is one of many on the founding list who have been accused of antisemitism. For example, in response to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s call not to militarize protests, Mogannam tweeted:

“Fffffffff that – get the f*** outta here PA. Long live the #intifada & popular, armed #resistance!”

Lara Sheehi—who was forced to leave George Washington University (GW) after a Title VI discrimination complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education—is also on ICSZ’s board. In a 2023 letter to the GW president, seven GW alumni in Congress noted that Sheehi’s behavior was part of the “increasing antisemitism at GW.” She was forced to leave GW after the investigation was opened.

Rabab Abdulhadi, a Palestinian scholar at San Francisco State University, is also on the board. In 2018, she criticized her school’s commitment to welcome Zionists on campus, equating them with KKK members:

“White supremacists are welcome, KKK is welcome… Neo-Nazis are welcome, homophobes are welcome, misogynists are welcome. Why stop only at Zionists? Welcome them all. I mean bring the… whole club. Bring everybody who is right wing and racist, bring them to campus, why only stop at Zionists?”

In 2019, Abdulhadi was profiled by her school’s newspaper due to accusations of antisemitism from students. According to the Daily Bruinat UCLA, many students felt uncomfortable in her “required” lecture where she linked Israel to white supremacy, making at least one Jewish student cry.

Another board member of ICSZ, Canadian professor Mark Muhannad Ayyash, has also been implicated in antisemitic and anti-Zionist incidents. In fact, more of the founding members have been documented for alleged antisemitic behavior than those who have not. For example, Ayyash was accused of promoting the “Greater Israel” conspiracy theory in 2022, claiming Israel seeks to expand far beyond its current borders:

“[Jews] act without the sophisticated rhetoric that hides and conceals the violence of the settler colony. They do not hide their intention to remove Palestinians and expand the state that is to come, the state of Greater Israel.”

While the institute has received praise and partnerships with high-profile Palestinian nonprofits, some see its work as inherently antisemitic—like my next interviewee, who works for the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.

Marcy Braverman-Goldstein, Ph.D. and Director of Academic Affairs at the JILV, called ICSZ a “terrorist think-tank” in an interview with Liberty Affair. She has been lobbying against the ICSZ for more than two years after finding out that ICSZ membership requires members to support the dismantling of Israel, which would likely involve some sort of tremendous terrorism.

She relayed her concern that ICSZ’s conferences require participants to take a political litmus test as a condition of admittance. Indeed, promotional material for the recent ICSZ’s conference stated: “All registrants will be asked to confirm their agreement with the points of unity beforehand.”

Goldstein argues that this is a form of intellectual terrorism: à la: a scenario where anyone who doesn’t agree with ICSZ’s stance against Zionism is not welcome.

ICSZ did not respond to multiple inquiries from Liberty Affair over the past week.

When asked about the notion that anti-Zionism isn’t considered antisemitism by many Jews, Goldstein asked: “I know it's controversial. I think that's mostly because it's about Jews. Try telling another minority what is or isn't a racist act against them?

Unlike Goldstein, who says that she has “hope for peaceful coexistence with Palestinians who want it too" — the ICSZ does not call for peace, but rather “intifada” against Israel.

"They are obsessed with destroying Israel, the indigenous homeland of Jewish people that was finally decolonized in 1948 after millennia of foreign occupation and re-established as a modern state,” she argued.

“The ICSZ is a belly of the beast as they explicitly forbid viewpoint diversity among members and their first point of unity is about illegitimacy of Israel and the US” Goldstein added, referring to the first point of ICSZ’s mission statement.

The most recent ICSZ conference was literally “cancelled” after The Jewish Institute of Liberal Values and their allies sent messages to NYU-Law and UC-Santa Cruz to notify them of their concerns with having ISCZ on campus.

The event was intended to be held over two days: one at NYU-Law, and another at UC-Santa Cruz, but it’s unclear if it actually happened as planned.

Goldstein and the Jewish Institute of Liberal Values wrote to NYU-Law warning:

“[ISCZ] opposes Zionism and colonialism: In other words, any student or faculty member who does not share that ideological stance is not invited… Welcoming comrades who are involved in [only pro-Palestine activity] underscores ICSZ’s intention to exclude based on political viewpoint.”

They also argued that hosting an event that requires students to have one political stance that’s likely contingent on their race or ethnic origin may be a violation of federal anti-discrimination law.

Scott Hernandez-Jason, vice chancellor of UC-Santa Cruz, said in a September 2023 statement that “UC Santa Cruz does not endorse the upcoming conference organized by the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism.” NYU claimed they didn’t even hear about it.

Gelman was celebratory after Hamas terrorists broke into Israel. The founder of ICSZ went on to post to Instagram that “we celebrate uprisings in hindsight” and referring to the October 7th attack as the Al-Aqsa Flood.

Many Arabs call it the Al-Aqsa in reference to a sacred mosque in Jerusalem that has a long political theory. The “flood” invokes the idea that Palestinians will eventually use warfare in order to flood into Israel and Jerusalem and reclaim the land they believe should be given back to them.

“There are very few deaths that I'd celebrate, but many uprisings [like the Al-Aqsa Flood] against terrible, impossible conditions that resulted in deaths, including unjust deaths. We mostly celebrate those uprisings in hindsight, when it's easier. At 49… I've seen enough to feel it's wrong to wait until the dust settles” she wrote in one post.

One follower pointed out that Hamas “murdered 250 kids at a music festival.” To that Gelman appears to justify the violence.

“As you know, this is a asymmetrical generations long war… [the deaths] are awful but not irrational."

This report was brought to you by Toni Airaksinen, Senior Editor of Liberty Affair and a journalist based in Delray Beach, Florida. Follow her on Substack and on X @Toni_Airaksinen.