Princeton University is facing backlash over a spring semester course titled “Gender, Reproduction and Genocide,” which states it will have a “central focus on the ongoing genocide in Gaza” and compare the situation of Gazans to that of Jews during the Holocaust.
Speaking to JNS, Rep. Tom Kean (R-NJ) called the course description “deeply troubling,” saying it “falsely characterizes Israel’s right to self-defense as ‘genocide.’”
“Israel was the victim of a brutal terrorist attack on Oct. 7 at the hands of Hamas, and any honest discussion must begin with that fact,” said the congressman, whose district does not include Princeton. “Hamas is a terrorist organization that deliberately targets civilians and hides behind innocent people to advance its violent agenda. While I support freedom of speech and the offering of different perspectives in the classroom, words matter.”
Kean added that “recklessly misusing the term ‘genocide’ does nothing to advance peace, justice, understanding or open dialogue. Israel has both the right and the obligation to defend its people, and that reality should not be erased or rewritten in the classroom.”
According to Princeton’s website, only one of the 14 available seats in the course has been filled so far. The syllabus lists readings referring to “reproductive genocide in Gaza” and “reprocide in Gaza,” and says the class will examine “Gaza within comparative histories of the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust and genocide against black and indigenous populations.”
The American Jewish Congress condemned the course last week, calling it “unacceptable” and adding, “At a time of record levels of antisemitism, this course risks fueling further hostility and making campus even more unsafe for Jewish students.”
Princeton had come under criticism over antisemitism on campus even before offering this controversial course.
In April 2024, during the Biden Administration, the US Department of Education opened a Title VI investigation into antisemitism allegations at Princeton based on the complaint of a Jewish activist. The complaint cited reports of campus pro-Palestinian protesters chanting “Intifada,” and “Brick by brick, wall by wall, apartheid has got to fall,” a few weeks after the October 7 massacre.
A year later, the Trump administration paused $210 million in funding to Princeton University, citing the fact that it “has perpetuated racist and antisemitic policies.”
Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber later stated that the university is “committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in combating antisemitism.”