A private Massachusetts university has decided to ban its chapter of the National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) from campus, becoming the first private university to do so amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Brandeis University cited the group&#8217;s support for the Palestinian terror group Hamas as the main factor in the school&#8217;s decision to ban the student group.
“SJP has called on its chapters to engage in conduct that supports Hamas in its call for the elimination of the only Jewish state in the world and its people,” a Brandeis University spokesperson <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/4296741-first-private-university-bans-students-for-justice-in-palestine-as-middle-east-fallout-spreads/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Hill.
“Such expression is not protected by Brandeis’ principles of free speech,” the spokesperson said. “Students are welcome to express their support for Palestinians in a manner that complies with our rights and responsibilities.”
The university&#8217;s decision comes a month after Hamas launched deadly terrorist attacks on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, including women and children. Israel has responded with airstrikes and a ground offensive.
Brandeis, which is located just west of Boston, was founded in 1948 by the American Jewish community “at a time when Jews and other ethnic and racial minorities, and women, faced discrimination in higher education,” the university <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/about/index.html#:~:text=Brandeis%20was%20established%20in%201948,of%20all%20backgrounds%20and%20beliefs." target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a> on its website.
Brandeis also sent the SJP chapter a letter explaining its decision to boot them from campus.
“This decision was not made lightly, as Brandeis is dedicated to upholding free speech principles, which have been codified in Brandeis’ Principles of Free Speech and Free Expression,” reads the school’s letter, which was <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2023/11/brandeis-becomes-first-private-university-to-ban-students-for-justice-in-palestine-on-campus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> by Jewish Insider.
The school&#8217;s free speech principles do not allow individuals to say &#8220;whatever they wish, wherever they wish, or however they wish,&#8221; Brandeis said, adding that the principles also permit the university to restrict expression that constitutes a &#8220;genuine threat or harassment&#8221; or that is otherwise &#8220;directly incompatible with the functioning of the university.&#8221;
Students who participate in conduct expressing support for Hamas “will be considered to be in violation of the University’s student code of conduct,” the school said in its letter.
However, students who want to express their support for Palestinian civilians will be allowed to form a different student group, the university said.
The decision was criticized by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which argued that Brandeis is &#8220;punishing its students for nothing more than protected political advocacy.&#8221;
State colleges in Florida have already banned SJP student organizations on campus. Late last month, Florida officials <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4275788-florida-orders-state-universities-disband-pro-palestinian-student-groups/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordered</a> state universities and colleges to disband any SJP groups.

Students from Brooklyn College and supporters hold signs

Private University Bans Pro-Palestinian Student Group Over Support For Hamas

American Universities

College

Education

Hamas

Israel

Palestinians

Students for Justice in Palestine

U.S.

Daily Wire Editor-at-Large Josh Hammer, who frequently opines on issues pertaining to Israel, Zionism, and anti-Semitism, has agreed to take part in a <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/8c47026d6af148588f3ad8f4c1c2935d">debate</a> about the Trump administration’s new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan at the new website <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/">Pairagraph</a>, which <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/about">describes itself</a> as “a platform for written dialogue between pairs of notable individuals” and “an online meeting place for the world’s most prominent figures across government, industry, academia, religion, and the arts.”
Hammer was previously scheduled to <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/b155455f1bf04a71a596bf1b8cb0cf13">debate</a> Palestinian-Arab activist <a style="font-style: italic;" href="https://twitter.com/Issaamro">Issa Amro</a>, but Amro <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/b155455f1bf04a71a596bf1b8cb0cf13/2">refused to respond</a> to Hammer after his <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/b155455f1bf04a71a596bf1b8cb0cf13/1">initial response</a>. Pairagraph then secured Omar Baddar as a new debate opponent, and Baddar <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/8c47026d6af148588f3ad8f4c1c2935d/2">responded</a> to Hammer on Sunday. The Pairagraph debate format consists of dueling 500-word entries. 
Here is Hammer&#8217;s <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/8c47026d6af148588f3ad8f4c1c2935d/3">rebuttal to Baddar</a>.
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An old lawyer maxim goes: &#8220;If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither on your side, pound the table.&#8221;
Omar Baddar is pounding the table. He has doused a field of straw men in gasoline and applied an industrial-grade blowtorch.
Baddar embraces countless obfuscations and outright lies. There was no &#8220;ethnic cleansing&#8221; in 1948 — only the fateful Arab rejection of November 1947. Blame for the 1967 war lies squarely with Gamal Abdel Nasser, who repeatedly vowed to exterminate Israel and militarized the Sinai in defiance of the 1956 demilitarization. U.N. S.C.R. 242 has never been internalized by the Palestinian Authority, but Israel has frequently offered a generous Palestinian state (e.g., 2000 and 2008) hewing closely to 1948&#8217;s harrowing &#8220;Auschwitz borders.&#8221; Israel did not instigate the civilizational jihad that was Arafat&#8217;s Second Intifada; rather, the mentee of Hitler ally Haj Amin al-Husseini planned it while rejecting the peace offered at Camp David in July 2000. (“[Arafat] did not negotiate in good faith; indeed, he did not negotiate at all,&#8221; President Clinton said.)
Baddar and his ilk nonsensically shout &#8220;apartheid,&#8221; but if the Palestinian-Arabs wanted peace, they would have negotiated one of the sundry times Israel has offered statehood. Instead, the PA has become the laughingstock of the Arab world. The vile 1967 Khartoum Resolution is now the very distant past; following Trump&#8217;s peace plan unveiling, Saudi Arabia said it &#8220;appreciate[d] the efforts of President Trump’s administration to develop a comprehensive peace plan.&#8221; The UAE&#8217;s foreign affairs minister approvingly tweeted a Bret Stephens column decrying Palestinian rejectionism.
Historically, separatist movements are rarely successful. Those separatist movements — Tibetans, Kurds, etc. — that might be offered a state by the &#8220;international community&#8221; would gladly accept. That the PA, which names parks after suicide bombers and directly subsidizes murderous jihad via &#8220;pay to slay,&#8221; rejects such offers gives the game away. The PA&#8217;s ultimate goal is not peace, but to kill all the Jews. &#8220;From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free,&#8221; a rally cry frequently associated with terror-sympathizing hate groups, is nothing short of a call to genocide.
The Arab world, sobered by Iran, finally sees the Palestinian ruse. It wants to finally resolve this issue. Accordingly, the Trump peace plan is emphatically reasonable. That the plan&#8217;s bare-bones preconditions to full Palestinian statehood — cease indoctrinating Palestinian-Arab children in Jew-hatred, oust Hamas, etc. — are viewed as non-starters in Ramallah says all one needs to know about the moral midgets of the PA.
There is zero — zero — compelling U.S. national security interest in carving out a PLO/PA jihadist state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The PA is fortunate that it has enough addlebrained leftists to carry its flag and keep viable the &#8220;two-state&#8221; solution paradigm. Israel has yet again stretched out its hand, but the PA is again poised to throw its own people under the bus.
</div>
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RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-pairagraph-trumps-israel-palestinian-peace-plan-is-fair-and-just-part-1">Hammer At ‘Pairagraph’: Trump’s Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan Is Fair And Just (Part 1)</a>

Israel : Illustration

Hammer At ‘Pairagraph’: Trump’s Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan Is Fair And Just (Part 2)

Donald Trump

Foreign Policy

Middle East

Radical Islam

Radical Islamic Terror

In the United States, “The Cognitive Campaign to Co-opt Zionism” is in full force. This is a movement, sometimes intentional, sometimes unintentional, consisting of one simple goal: The complete separation of Judaism and <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/a-definition-of-zionism">Zionism</a>, which is the belief in the right of the Jewish people to a state in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel.
But what exactly is a cognitive campaign?
In the information era, war is often not waged in any physical space. Instead, the battlefield lies inside peoples’ hearts and minds — where influence is the weapon of choice. As Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser and David Siman-Tov of Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) <a href="https://www.inss.org.il/publication/the-cognitive-campaign-strategic-and-intelligence-perspectives/">explain</a>: “The purpose of the cognitive campaign is to cause target audiences to adopt the perception of reality held by the side wielding the effort, so that it can more easily advance the strategic and/or operational objectives that it sees as critical.”
Campaign activists accomplish this via a wide array of tools, ranging from traditional diplomacy, mass media, social media, grassroots efforts, and so forth. Cognitive campaigns have become such powerful weapons in both domestic and international affairs that governments have created entire agencies to operate exclusively in the field of public perception.
However, the cognitive campaign to co-opt Zionism is one that is seldom discussed, likely due to the sensitivity surrounding the subject within the Jewish community. Jewish identity has many different characteristics. Some emphasize the community aspect of Judaism, others the religious aspect, and others the Zionist aspect. And in a society that puts such an emphasis on personal identity, it is galling to see broad swaths of the public, Jews included, disparage Zionists because of their beliefs. Many American Jews simply do not see Zionism as a legitimate component of Jewish identity. Unfortunately, it is often Jews themselves who take prominent roles in the campaign against Zionism.
The cognitive campaign to separate and redefine Zionism from Judaism is longstanding. For decades, Zionism has been compared, in some quarters, to colonialism, imperialism, and white supremacy. In 1975, a shameful <a href="https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/InternatlOrgs/Issues/Pages/40-years-since-UN-resolution-equating-Zionism-to-racism-10-Nov-2015.aspx">resolution</a> was passed at the U.N. declaring that Zionism is racism (it was later reversed in 1991, but by then the damage was done). Today, this cognitive campaign is led by anti-Israel activists, such as <a href="https://ukmediawatch.org/2016/08/25/guardian-again-whitewashes-the-extremism-of-students-for-justice-in-palestine-sjp/">Students for Justice in Palestine</a>, <a href="https://www.camera.org/article/jewish-voice-for-peace-jvp-what-the-media-is-concealing/">Jewish Voices for Peace</a>, and BDS supporters, who relentlessly promote misinformation that Israel is a non-democratic, oppressive, apartheid state.
In the digital age, almost everyone spends time on social media, where cognitive campaigns thrive, and where people live in echo chambers that oftentimes expose them to only one perspective on a given issue. When combining this one-sided social media exposure with the blatant lies constantly told about <a href="https://israelforever.org/israel/reading/industry_of_lies_media_academia_and_the_israeli_arab_conflict/">Israel in the media and academia</a>, people fall victim to the <a href="https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/illusory-truth-effect/">“illusory truth effect,”</a> which causes them to believe misinformation due to repeated exposure. If someone ignorant of the facts were to stumble upon all the terrible things said about Zionism and Israel, it’s no wonder he might distance himself.
This brings us to President Donald Trump’s recent Israel-related moves. Part of the controversy surrounding the president’s actions is that they amplified the already fraught tension inside the Jewish community about the connection between Judaism and Zionism.
Take, for example, the Trump administration’s <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-pompeos-statement-on-settlements/">declaration</a> that Israel’s &#8220;settlements&#8221; in Judea and Samaria do not necessarily violate international law. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit the nail on the head when he <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Benjamin-Netanyahu-Mike-Pompeo-speak-at-Kohelet-Policy-Forum-WATCH-613535">stated</a> that the declaration “establishes the truth that we are not strangers in our land.&#8221;
Then there’s President Trump’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-anti-semitism/">executive order</a> (EO) combatting anti-Semitism on college campuses — an EO that many <a href="https://www.heritage.org/religious-liberty/commentary/trumps-executive-order-against-anti-semitism-will-protect-us-jews">erroneously claimed</a> would &#8220;redefine&#8221; Jews as a race or nationality. In fact, the EO merely enshrines that Jews will enjoy the same protections under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act as other racial, ethnic, or national groups. It also implicitly links Zionism with Judaism, by relying on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s <a href="https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/working-definition-antisemitism">Working Definition of Anti-Semitism</a>, which stipulates that “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” (i.e., Zionism) is inherently anti-Semitic.
Of course, one cannot forget President Trump’s statement regarding the American embassy move to Jerusalem, when he <a href="https://il.usembassy.gov/statement-president-trump-jerusalem/">reminded the world</a> that Jerusalem was “the capital the Jewish people established in ancient times” — a fact which he reinforced in his newly unveiled vision for a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/peacetoprosperity/">comprehensive peace agreement</a> between Israel and the Palestinians.
All these actions by President Trump not only reaffirm the connection between Jews and Zionism, but also subvert decades of the cognitive campaign’s attempt to separate the two.
Make no mistake — the cognitive campaign to co-opt Zionism is consequential for the Jewish people. Will large sectors of Jewish society continue to distance themselves from Zionism? Or will they re-embrace it?
The most effective way to combat this campaign is through what can be described as a “Counter-Cognitive Campaign.” Obviously, this campaign must spread some much-needed truth about Zionism as a legitimate national movement. Equally important, the campaign must clarify that although Judaism and Zionism need not always be conflated, they must not be disassociated from each other. Of course, not every Jew needs to consider Zionism a core part of his individual identity. We do, however, need to recognize that every Jew enjoys the right to identify as a proud Zionist — and nobody can demonize him or her for that.

Israeli flag

FISCHBERGER: The Cognitive Campaign To Co-Opt Zionism

Anti-Semitism

Benjamin Netanyahu

Judaism

The Daily Wire conducted an email interview with New York City Jewish leader <a href="https://twitter.com/HikindDov">Dov Hikind</a>, a former Democratic New York state assemblyman, founder of <a href="https://twitter.com/AmericansAA">Americans Against Antisemitism</a>, and prominent public-facing activist representing large swaths of New York&#8217;s Orthodox Jewish community. Just last month, President Trump called Hikind a &#8220;highly respected Jewish leader&#8221;:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Thank you to highly respected Jewish leader Dov Hikind for his wonderful statements about me this morning on <a href="https://twitter.com/foxandfriends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@foxandfriends</a>.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1211655287247126535?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
What follows is a question-and-answer exchange about anti-Semitism — and how to fight it.
The Daily Wire (TDW): Anti-Semitism is, of course, the world&#8217;s oldest bigotry. But why has it been so on the rise over the past decade or so in Europe and now, it seems, in the U.S.?
Dov Hikind (DH): The answer is complex, as there are many factors involved. Though Europe and the U.S. are experiencing increased anti-Semitism, the sources aren’t exactly the same. In Europe, most physical attacks and verbal assaults are committed by Muslims — though there is also a resurgent far-Right. In America, nationally, it is primarily a white supremacy problem; but in the major cities, which happen to be areas with high concentration of Jews, it’s the far-Left and minority groups that are responsible for perpetuating anti-Semitism and justifying the violence committed in its name. But what they do have in common is that the rise happens because hatred is tolerated and anti-Semitism is back in vogue. Additionally, the cesspool of hatred that can be found on social media has no borders or political affiliations and serves to feed the growing hateful appetites on both sides of the Atlantic.
TDW: How much do you blame Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio for the rise in anti-Semitism in New York and New York City, specifically?
DH: I’m not in the habit of blaming any single individual for a massive problem that predates their own existence. The governor and mayor did not create anti-Semitism and certainly don’t directly contribute to its rise. They are, however, responsible for reacting appropriately and swiftly to restore the sense of security that has been robbed of the Jewish community. And here, the onus is more on the mayor than the governor since it’s New York City that is far beyond out of control in comparison with any other city in America. That’s not a great distinction for New York to hold. So I don’t blame them for the rise, but they are to be held accountable for the lack of results on the ground.
TDW: To what extent have Mayor de Blasio&#8217;s constant attacks on police undermined the safety of Jews in New York City?
DH: That goes to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-hammer-on-tipping-point-with-liz-wheeler-new-yorks-insane-pro-criminal-bail-law">broader issue of policing and criminal justice</a> that we’re seeing unfold now. There’s no doubt that when respect for law enforcement is undermined, so is respect for the law itself. Add to that the lack of consequences for violent anti-Semitic criminals, and there’s no doubt as to why there’s a lack of deterrence and the attacks continue unabated. The police of New York City are the best; they just need to be enabled to do their jobs with the dignity and respect they deserve. Strong policing ensures safe communities; they go hand in hand. It remains to be seen if these trends will be reversed or if they continue to deteriorate.
TDW: Why do so many Jews seem to not take self-defense seriously? Why is a fear of guns and gun ownership so seemingly popular among large swaths of the Jewish community?
DH: Two reasons: First, there is a notion that G-d protects every person, not guns — so if a person’s time comes, no gun will help. Second, there is a legitimate fear that in households filled with children, bringing in a lot of guns to a community that is not especially adjusted to it will only lead to accidents and tragedies that will be painfully regretted. Also, there’s a notion that the fighter, the one to take up arms, is not for every segment of the Jewish population. Some study and pray, some fight. I do think it’s important for every person, Jewish or not, to know how to defend oneself in this crazy and unpredictable world, but that’s a decision for each individual to make.
TDW: Why do so many people politicize anti-Semitism and weaponize it as a cudgel? Why do so many on the Left, in particular, only focus on white nationalist/neo-Nazi anti-Semitism and turn a blind eye to anti-Semitism from Islamists, so-called &#8220;anti-Zionists,&#8221; and black nationalists alike?
DH: Anti-Semitism has always been used as a cudgel. Rather, more precisely, Jews have always been used as political cudgel (in previous times, known as “the Jewish question/problem”). What it signifies is a certain decay and rot within society. When a society cannot face its decisions and actions, and instead seeks a scapegoat, the most available and returned to in history, are the Jews. Easy. Convenient. And it comes with an entire repertoire of “reasons” for hating Jews. Now, at this point in time, in America, it is the Left that has a major blind spot when it comes to anti-Semites in their ranks, and that’s because anti-Semites got so good at couching hateful rhetoric in the guise of humanitarian concern that they’ve lost sight of what they’re really promoting. Think of the morning Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) woke up to find that David Duke had tweeted in her support! A white supremacist neo-Nazi tweeting support for an African-American anti-Zionist anti-Semite! That’s the level of distortion and blindness at play in the current landscape that leads to such strange political bedfellows.
TDW: Is so-called &#8220;anti-Zionism&#8221; the same as anti-Semitism, pure and simple?
DH: Yes. Pure and simple. Why? Because can you find a similar movement that is “anti-China” over its detention of over 1,000,000 Uighur Muslims? Is there any anti-Syria movement over Bashar al-Assad’s committing genocide against his own people? The list goes on. The answer is no. There is only one movement of people that are mobilized to challenge the &#8220;right to exist&#8221; and sovereignty of a single nation on Earth, and that so happens to be the lone Jewish state. Anti-Zionism is simply one variation of anti-Semitism. It’s on the menu. You can hate Jews because we’re not white (neo-Nazis), because we’re white and share in its privilege (far-Left), or because we’re baby-killing, Zionist-colonialists who have absolutely no history in the land of Israel (radical Islamism). They can take their pick from the &#8220;hate du jour.&#8221;
TDW: What can be done to make Zionism and the pro-Israel cause palatable and popular again among the American and international Left?
DH: You know, traditionally this question gets an answer like, “we have to show how valuable Israel is to the world, how the start-up nation is innovating for the betterment of the world by bringing water and irrigation technologies to rain-deprived regions in Africa and being among the first to send rescue teams and humanitarian aid when natural disasters strike any country on earth.” But I’m personally sick of those answers because it implies that we need to constantly compete in some kind of warped popularity contest. Our deserving of equal rights and treatment on the global stage should not be tied to how wonderful Israel is. No. Let’s take Israel for no better than any other state, no more amazing — it would still be no less deserving of fair treatment! So I don’t think we can magically make Zionism and Israel more palatable, but more importantly, I don’t think that’s where our energies should go.
TDW: Why is Israel so unpopular on the American university campus? What can be done to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-how-pro-israel-students-campus-can-fight-josh-hammer">counter growing anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment</a> on the university campus?
DH: We know for a fact that a lot of money has been pouring into the American university system from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-al-jazeeras-disgraceful-holocaust-denying-josh-hammer">terror-supporting states like Qatar</a>, which bankrolls <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-israel-must-destroy-hamas-once-and-all-josh-hammer">Hamas</a> as well as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-designating-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-josh-hammer">Muslim Brotherhood</a> and its American subsidiary, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/firester-cairs-fight-to-undermine-u-s-border-security-continues">CAIR</a>. These benefactors are behind groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine, which is single handedly responsible for creating a terribly toxic environment for Jewish students and faculty. Frankly, I don’t believe Jewish groups will ever invest the same resources in combating those efforts as the enemies of Israel do, but it goes back to high school education. When you peel that layer back and see what kind of Jewish education students have received prior to arriving on campus, it becomes clear that too many lack the basic and adequate knowledge to defend themselves against the malicious lies and libels that anti-Semitic student groups spread. If we can better educate our high school students, they’ll have a better chance at fighting back against anti-Semitism on university campuses.
TDW: What role does education play, exactly, in countering anti-Semitism? How can education about the Holocaust and Jewish history, in general, help counter the trend?
DH: Crucial. Central. It’s all about education. Hate is borne of ignorance. But the task is doubly as hard because it’s not only a matter of getting the right information to students, but working to counter all the lies and falsehoods that are perpetuated at astounding speed and frequency. The Holocaust is the central case study of anti-Semitism because it encapsulates from beginning to end what the dangers of unchecked anti-Semitism look like. What starts with hateful rhetoric can easily end in a genocide perpetrated by the most &#8220;cultured&#8221; and &#8220;civilized&#8221; of European societies, with a majority of its citizens partaking in the apparatus that annihilated six million Jews. No society is immune to the plague of anti-Semitism. However, those who choose ignorance and denial of the Holocaust rather than wrestling with its wrenching paradoxes are those most likely to repeat its darkest chapters.
TDW: What advice would you give to those who are trying to make a difference in their own lives, in terms of countering anti-Semitism?
DH: Action! Get involved with an organization, like Americans Against Antisemitism, that takes concrete steps to combat this hatred. Taking part gives the individual a sense of control, that we are not victims or pawns, that we will not be pushed around, but will stand up for our G-d-given rights. But individuals can do anything that works for them. For some, it’s being loud on social media; for others it&#8217;s hosting events and attending rallies. The point is for every individual to do his or her part, no matter how small or big, because our force is increased with unity. And to be clear, one need not be Jewish to take up the fight against anti-Semitism; the fight to eradicate this special and oldest of hatreds is quintessentially an American struggle for the right to live in freedom and pursue happiness.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind – Jewish organizations held a protest

Fighting Anti-Semitism: An Interview With Jewish Leader Dov Hikind

Andrew Cuomo

Bill de Blasio

CAIR

Crime

Hate Crime

Holocaust

Twenty-five thousand people marched in New York City on Sunday under the banner “<a href="https://forward.com/news/437752/photos-from-new-yorks-no-fear-no-hate-solidarity-march/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://forward.com/news/437752/photos-from-new-yorks-no-fear-no-hate-solidarity-march/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEdxXniI836EDbYLXaD_1sLKEoQig">No Hate, No Fear</a>,” ostensibly targeting anti-Semitic violence directed at recognizably-Orthodox Jews. Only two things were missing: Printed signs with the words “anti-Semitism” or “Jews,” and more than a smattering of recognizably-Orthodox Jews.
The two phenomena are related.
Hateful violence emerges from a hateful ideology. The march was not merely useless, but from my perspective it was actually counterproductive; it provided cover for those spreading bigotry to proclaim, “look, we love Jews!”
In reality, it is not difficult to understand why attacks are happening at an alarming rate. Classic anti-Semitism is not merely spreading on college campuses across the nation, but is even welcomed in the halls of Congress.
The classic beliefs of the anti-Semite are simple: That the Jews constitute a supremacist cult who believe themselves entitled to take advantage of others, and most commonly do so by theft, fraud, and deceit. In 3,300 years of Jew-hatred, there hasn’t been an anti-Jewish trope that didn’t trace its roots to this basic idea.
Mark Twain noted, while reporting on Austro-Hungarian battles in the 19th century, that the Jews were opposed by all sides — even though they largely tried to avoid the conflict and keep their heads down. It is no different today.
To white supremacists, the Jews are “International Enemy Number One.” Neo-Nazi website Stormfront.com has a discussion thread entitled “Jews are dangerous,” which since March 2016 has garnered over 715 pages of hate.
Yet anti-white racists tar Jews with “white privilege”; the fact that Jews obviously suffered at the hands of European whites more than any other people escapes them. They include even Jews expelled from Syria, Iraq, Iran, and elsewhere across the Middle East; they are still claimed to have “white privilege,” while those who drove them out, who have identical skin tones, are “people of color.” It is pure racism.
And by far the most popular current form of this bigotry is the modern invention of a purportedly unique &#8220;Palestinian&#8221; people, from whom we are told the Jews have ostensibly stolen land.
The proofs are legion. Until 1964, “Palestinians” actually referred to Jews living in British Mandatory Palestine. In 1922, the British divided modern-day Jordan from the rest of Mandatory Palestine, and even current Palestinian Authority chieftain Mahmoud Abbas says that Jordanians and Palestinians are “one people living in two states” — putting the lie to the notion of a homeless Palestinian.
Every indigenous people has its own name, such as the Apache, Pueblo, and Iroquois. They do not call themselves by the foreign term “Native Americans” — nor, of course, do they claim that the borders of particular U.S. states delineate their homelands. Yet the “Palestinians” appropriate their name from Roman imperialists, and have a homeland which, just coincidentally of course, precisely traces the borders of modern Israel.
And in case you still don’t get it, a “Palestinian” is anyone — <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/palestinian-relations-israel-druze-community-army.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/palestinian-relations-israel-druze-community-army.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEPKoy7m3b6gdWycicgEQSG0x-jdA">Druze</a>, <a href="https://www.palestine-studies.org/resources/special-focus/palestinian-bedouins" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.palestine-studies.org/resources/special-focus/palestinian-bedouins&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGivEiX4mLiUyA5ocNKQqaslGowFw">Bedouin</a>, Muslim, or <a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/10/31/the-ethnic-cleansing-of-palestinian-christians-that-nobody-is-talking-about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/10/31/the-ethnic-cleansing-of-palestinian-christians-that-nobody-is-talking-about/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFEaXtRYS9FlIAN42-hnt0z0kzHgQ">Christian</a> — whose family ever lived in the ancient Jewish homeland. Rather, the &#8220;Palestinians&#8221; are defined by what they are not: The Jews who constituted the majority of Jerusalem’s populace prior to the advent of modern Zionism, and who never left the so-called “occupied” territories except due to deliberate ethnic cleansing — such as that conducted by Arab mobs in both 1929 and 1948.
Notice that these hateful tropes precisely correspond to what reporters heard on the streets of Jersey City and Brooklyn when they interviewed other residents after the hateful attacks there. Residents spoke about Jews unfairly buying them out, not renting to them, and driving them away. These lies are all rooted in the same animus as is the popular modern “Palestinian” narrative — which, in reality, is indeed far older than even Roman Palestine.
It is not mere happenstance that the machete-wielding thug who attacked people at a Chanukah celebration searched online not only for “Hitler” but for “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/nyregion/jewish-attacks.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/nyregion/jewish-attacks.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEkU392rry2GSMNaWT0let4P20pAg">Zionist Temples</a>” before attacking largely non-Zionist Hasidic Jews in suburban New York. Again, hateful violence emerges from a hateful ideology.
This hate will not be resolved by marching alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who, by her own admission, knows <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TJK1a8OHyw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3D4TJK1a8OHyw&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGDYPykbd-Strnhxd-vSk0bZpicTw">nothing about the Middle East</a> except that the Jews are (surprise, surprise) &#8220;stealing land&#8221; (in &#8220;Palestine&#8221;) and being unfair to others. It will not be fixed by the bigots of <a href="https://www.ifnotnowmovement.org/2020-platform" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ifnotnowmovement.org/2020-platform&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFjBpsnMOCNuBxgGntQEii02LkRrQ">IfNotNow</a>, who claim that Jewish refugees of Arab ethnic cleansing are “occupying” Arab land in the eternal homeland of the Jews.
It will be helped if universities finally acknowledge that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is a hate group that <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/03/22/nyc-students-for-justice-in-palestine-pay-social-media-tribute-to-martyrs-killed-while-carrying-out-terrorist-attacks-against-israelis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/03/22/nyc-students-for-justice-in-palestine-pay-social-media-tribute-to-martyrs-killed-while-carrying-out-terrorist-attacks-against-israelis/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFmzgJzxBwGkw4Fso1d-wD6_CdnQw">honors almost exclusively</a> those who have committed <a href="https://dailynorthwestern.com/2017/05/16/campus/organizer-rasmea-odeh-speaks-at-northwestern-for-sjps-israeli-apartheid-week/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://dailynorthwestern.com/2017/05/16/campus/organizer-rasmea-odeh-speaks-at-northwestern-for-sjps-israeli-apartheid-week/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFn9UlTllaQBsAL2sPZ4P_oN_qREg">murderous, barbaric acts</a> against Jews both <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/far-left-students-praise-palestinian-terrorist-group-leader-at-liberation-event" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.foxnews.com/us/far-left-students-praise-palestinian-terrorist-group-leader-at-liberation-event&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHuZnEtXpCSJTWQAetp1M2T5YFTiA">in and outside Israel</a>. Today, the same universities that would deny funding to a KKK chapter sickeningly honor SJP as a <a href="https://nyunews.com/news/2019/04/10/president-service-award-palestine-israel-divest" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nyunews.com/news/2019/04/10/president-service-award-palestine-israel-divest&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGphZ56j8cr7z3aNOiAvbmLKRKuSg">“human rights” cause</a>.
And it will be helped when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recognizes that an outstanding anti-Semitic bigot like Rep. <a href="https://www.stopantisemitism.org/anti-semite-of-the-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.stopantisemitism.org/anti-semite-of-the-week&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593602493000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFDAjYGdrBCwxgWCk9QIP5VbnWxHA">Ilhan Omar</a> (D-MN) does not belong on the Foreign Affairs Committee — or, indeed, anywhere else in Congress.
Until this hatred is repudiated, these attacks will not stop — yet on the progressive Left, this hateful ideology is supported, while it is the opposition that is censored. Those infected with this mindset cannot be part of the solution, as they are themselves part of the problem.
Rabbi Yaakov Menken is the managing director of the <a href="https://coalitionforjewishvalues.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://coalitionforjewishvalues.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593164733000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHLN2_sFEnPCsMZZCT1wIePVktmOg">Coalition for Jewish Values</a>, and co-editor of the Orthodox Jewish journal <a href="https://cross-currents.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cross-currents.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1578593164733000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHDWEFT_osCyA6CYu82vPnKoRactA">Cross-Currents.com</a>. Opinions are his own.

New York City Jewish Solidarity March

MENKEN: To Stop Hateful Attacks On Jews, Oppose The Ideology Behind Them

New York City

Zionism

Succinctly put, President Trump last week made one of the most positive moves to combat anti-Semitism ever seen from a world leader. But the media, always anxious to paint the president’s every action as wrong and even anti-Semitic, are acting true to form. In this case, media outlets such as The New York Times are doing tremendous harm to Jewish students on campus — and to simple fairness, to boot.
The president&#8217;s executive order should be uncontroversial. It simply declares that the administration will treat anti-Semitic hatred similarly to discrimination against other minority groups under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. It states that “individuals who face discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin do not lose protection under Title VI for also being a member of a group that shares common religious practices.”
Instead, the Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/us/politics/trump-antisemitism-executive-order.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/us/politics/trump-antisemitism-executive-order.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576640644853000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEwvLMe8EnZgRBrkwEUYUDBc3GvZQ">led</a> with the false notion that the executive order “will effectively interpret Judaism as a race or nationality,” rather than solely as a religion. As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/menken-secular-jews-claim-they-dont-exist-to-spite-the-president" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dailywire.com/news/menken-secular-jews-claim-they-dont-exist-to-spite-the-president&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576640644853000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEf7vEbO6-jBEVVyyBQKDjMY1OWDw">I wrote previously</a>, left-wing Jews immediately deemed this a “re-classification” of Jews that would lead back to concentration camps. Others claimed this serviced the trope of Jewish “disloyalty,” as if being Jewish would make someone less American.
The executive order was not, as critics wailed, “anti-Semitism of the highest order.” This reaction, however, was insanity of the highest order.
The basis for Jews being considered a distinct people is not the Nazis, but the Bible. The Book of Exodus teaches that God took the Jews from Egypt to be His nation, and references to the Nation of Israel abound from there onwards.
But this is all a moot point, because the executive order contains no such reference to redefining Jews or Judaism as a national origin. It merely borrows language from the bipartisan Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2019, which had stalled in Congress. This is why so many Jewish members of Congress, such as Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Reps. Max Rose (D-NY) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), approved of this order. By Wednesday, even left-wing sources such as Vox’s <a href="https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/1204792506040422406" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/1204792506040422406&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576640644854000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHbyRww0Mc2uNU9HtLAfLFaR6D-Xg">Ian Millhiser</a> and Israel’s Haaretzwere <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-trump-to-sign-executive-order-on-anti-semitism-in-college-campuses-treating-jeiwshn-1.8255875" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-trump-to-sign-executive-order-on-anti-semitism-in-college-campuses-treating-jeiwshn-1.8255875&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576640644854000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG7WbQVIK05BOZyJSUtIbMhTfeImA">calling</a> out the Times for its rush to judgment
But the Times was unimpressed. It returned days later with a new reason why students should “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/us/trump-anti-semitism-order-college-students.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/us/trump-anti-semitism-order-college-students.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576640644854000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHluHUehq6KhvShpVGmoYOuF-NavQ">fear</a>” Trump’s executive order: It might squelch free speech and thus “backfire for Jews.” 
This executive order is as timely and necessary as it should be uncontroversial. On Tuesday, two murderers with links to the black nationalist and anti-Semitic “Hebrew Israelite” cult opened fire at a kosher market in Jersey City, New Jersey, killing four — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/nyregion/jersey-city-shooting.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/nyregion/jersey-city-shooting.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576640644854000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEmaFyxybO1dXb-g3lqd0FssRuR3A">including</a> a veteran police officer and a 24-year-old rabbinical student. 
To be sure, hate speech is protected like any other form of speech, and no executive order can stifle it. Nonetheless, a student organization should not receive university funding to create an unsafe environment for others.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), true to form, rushed to attribute the Jersey City killings to “white supremacy” and deleted her erroneous tweet <a href="https://unitedwithisrael.org/tlaib-blames-white-supremacy-for-nj-shooting-deletes-tweet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://unitedwithisrael.org/tlaib-blames-white-supremacy-for-nj-shooting-deletes-tweet/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576640644854000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE3bbi52gl0AppzsOY_r1HYjFuI6A">a little too late</a>. She is anxious that Americans perceive Jew-hatred as a neo-Nazi trait, in order to cover for its most salient and pernicious current form: The storm of anti-Semitic rhetoric within our colleges and universities posing as mere “criticism of Israel.”
The executive order directs federal agencies to consider the definition of anti-Semitism provided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) when identifying evidence of discrimination. Contrary to the Times’ quote from a Jewish leftist, the IHRA definition specifically states that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country” is not anti-Semitic. But modern examples of anti-Semitism include “justifying the killing or harming of Jews,” “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination,” and calling the state of Israel “a racist endeavor.”
And that, of course, is the problem: The so-called “pro-Palestinian” movement does all three of these on an ongoing basis. Its map of “Palestine” is not that of the British, the Ottoman Turks, or even the Romans, but rather that of modern-day Israel. It calls Israel racist and advocates for its destruction — all while attempting to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/germany-takes-stronger-stance-against-anti-josh-hammer">replicate the Nazi boycott</a> under the name “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions.” The movement in general, and the Students for Justice in Palestine on-campus organization in particular, regularly holds events honoring murderers of Jews.
It is no surprise, then, that these bigots are protesting the executive order. Indeed, under the new rules, anti-Semitic hatred cloaked as “anti-Israel advocacy” will be no more acceptable than preaching white supremacy. That is how it should be. Anyone has the right to voice hatred and bigotry — but not with taxpayer funding.
Unlike leftist Jews with little real attachment to Judaism, the Orthodox Jewish community firmly adheres to our ancient faith — and Orthodox Jews are much more likely to experience anti-Semitism. A recent survey by Ami Magazine found that 92.5% of Orthodox Jews believed that President Trump and the Republicans were more dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism, compared to 1.5% who gave the nod to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Democrats. That is a stark contrast.
After this executive order, it is likely that the president’s support will trend even higher. History has taught us that anti-Semitism, like all forms of racism, must be nipped in the bud before it metastasizes into a societal epidemic. President Trump is working to stop the irrational hatred of Jews from spreading, but the media are too consumed with their own irrational hatred of the president to care.
&nbsp;
Rabbi Yaakov Menken is the Managing Director of the <a href="https://coalitionforjewishvalues.org">Coalition for Jewish Values</a>, the largest Rabbinic public policy organization in America.

New York Times Headquarters in New York City

MENKEN: When Fake News Harms the Jews

Black Nationalism

Fake News

Media

Media Bias

New York Times

Trump Administration

I recognized that look in their eyes. It was the same look I received several times throughout my service with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Judea and Samaria. A look that showed the trauma of years of anti-Semitic indoctrination. When I was a soldier, I understood that look. After all, these Palestinian teens in Judea and Samaria had been, throughout their entire lives, led to believe that Jews were European colonialists who had no connection to the land and had orchestrated the displacement of the Palestinian people in 1948. I could at least understand the logic behind that look.
Receiving it by nearly one hundred students in the University of Florida on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/958292104537679/">November 19th</a> completely disoriented me. A similar look, with the only difference being that it was driven by the adoption of false information about the conflict and not necessarily blatant anti-Semitism.
These students did not know me. They did not know my story, and they were definitely not interested in dialogue. Had they been interested in a discussion filled with opportunities to challenge my premises, perhaps they would have stayed and listen to my ultimate message:
We need to humanize Palestinians. The way we will humanize Palestinians is by making a very clear distinction between the people and the leadership. Then we can hold the leadership accountable for repressing its own population for decades and refusing to abandon the rejectionist attitudes towards peace with a Jewish state. An attitude that, if abandoned, could have granted the Palestinian people a state as far back as 1937 with the <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-peel-commission">Peel Commission</a>. That is what my presentation, “Why There is No Palestinian State,” sought to discuss.
As the majority of students participated in the protest and walked out of the room, nearly thirty students stayed behind, eager to find out more. Among the students who stayed were two reporters for the school’s newspaper, The Independent Alligator, and I rejoiced. I thought perhaps those who decided to walk out of the room because the content of the presentation would challenge their preconceived notions would discover that my intentions were to use objective historical truths to engage in meaningful dialogue.
The protestors decided to hold a vigil for Palestinians who had died in Gaza after Israeli air attacks during armed escalation that was recently ended by a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Had the protestors stayed for the Q&amp;A session, they would have learned about how civilians in Gaza are used as human shields. They would have learned that Israeli airstrikes only served as a form of retaliation against a terrorist organization that was targeting Israeli civilians indiscriminately with a barrage of over 350 <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-hits-islamic-jihad-launchpads-as-over-200-rockets-fired-into-israel/">rockets</a>.
But the role of the Palestinian leadership as an obstacle to peace is an inconvenient truth.
I offered the reporters a full interview after my speaking engagement. I answered all their questions with the outmost transparency; after all, they were professional enough to stay throughout my entire presentation and listen to what I had come to say. I was questioned about my experience in the army and the message I sought to leave the audience with my presentation. After a long night, I returned to my hotel and woke up early the next morning to see the article: “Hundreds protest Israel Defense Forces speaker at Little Hall Tuesday night,” <a href="https://www.alligator.org/news/hundreds-protest-israel-defense-forces-speaker-at-little-hall-tuesday/article_c8698c78-0b4a-11ea-92d7-e7720dcad3b9.html">published</a>. The title, blatantly inaccurate, set the tone for a piece of writing that violated basic journalistic ethical norms. Not only were my quotes largely ignored or cut in half, but the article was dedicated to quoting the students who decided to storm out of the room without hearing a word out of my mouth.
Twelve thousand dollars. That is the average amount paid by students at the University of Florida for <a href="https://www.ufl.edu/">tuition</a> after financial aid is applied. Nearing $50,000 per bachelor’s degree, one has to wonder — what type of education are the students who walked out interested in receiving? Do they want to remain in a social bubble that will continue to serve as an echo chamber for all their preconceived notions — even if they are erroneous?
More importantly, did the newspaper achieve its purpose of shedding light unto a story or did it perpetuate darkness and ignorance by refusing to publish the content of the presentation they had come to hear? The authors of this horrendous article not only failed to uphold journalistic ethics, but they also failed their own student body.
Towards the end of my interview with The Independent Alligator, I was asked:
“What message would you like to give to all those students who walked out in the protest?”
Despite the clear attempts to silence my message, I will answer that question now.
My message to the nearly one hundred students — not hundreds, as it was inaccurately described by the paper — who walked out is simple:
If you are planning to go into debt for at least five to ten years after you complete your undergraduate education, at least have the courage to challenge your own positions. Your conviction was not proven by your decision to preemptively exit the room before I began speaking; rather, it would have been proven if your positions would have remained the same after hearing everything I came to say.
I would hope that the school’s administration might consider the negative implications of this protest and take this as an opportunity to encourage its students to accept the principal factor guiding all of academia: Open-mindedness.
&nbsp;
<a style="font-style: italic;" href="https://yonimichanie.org">Yoni Michanie</a> is a former IDF Paratrooper and has a MA in Diplomacy and International Security from IDC Hertzeliya. He is an Israel advocate, public speaker, Middle East analyst, and is campus advisor and strategic planner for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA).

Florida Gators logo

MICHANIE: I Was Just Protested At The University Of Florida For Being A Zionist

First Amendment

Florida

Free Speech

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Protest

In a truly saddening but by no means unpredictable development, the <a href="https://amchainitiative.org">AMCHA Initiative</a>, which is a watchdog organization dedicated to investigating and combating anti-Semitism on university campuses across America, reported this week a <a href="https://mailchi.mp/amchainitiative/eliminationist-anti-zionism-report">70% rise</a> over the past year in anti-Semitic incidents directed against pro-Israel students on college campuses. As <a href="https://freebeacon.com/issues/report-anti-semitic-harassment-at-u-s-college-campuses-hits-historic-levels/">reported</a> by Adam Kredo of The Washington Free Beacon, AMCHA noted a drop in &#8220;classical&#8221; white supremacist-inspired Jew-hatred targeted against Jews on university campuses, but a huge spike in Israel-related acts of harassment against Jews and other non-Jewish Zionists who stand in solidarity with the Jewish state.
The trend is hardly new, and The Daily Wire has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/38722/pitzer-college-faculty-goes-full-anti-israel-votes-hank-berrien">extensively</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/47153/shocking-there-absolutely-appalling-anti-semitism-josh-hammer">covered</a> the years-long development of escalating anti-Semitic incidents on the American campus. Indeed, the <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/11/30/bds-in-politics-and-on-the-college-campus/">problem has been so bad</a> that a group wholly distinct from AMCHA but similarly dedicated to combating on-campus anti-Semitism was founded in 2015: <a href="https://www.maccabeetaskforce.org">Maccabee Task Force</a>. The question now facing the American Jewish and pro-Israel communities is simple: How can we begin to shift the on-campus narrative away from anti-Semitism and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46068/hammer-yes-united-states-was-right-deny-entry-bds-josh-hammer">Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions</a> movement and back toward a pro-Jewish, pro-Israel stance?
I have personally observed this ongoing fight across numerous college campuses and have been a part of more than one pro-Israel university event that was protested and/or forcibly shouted down by the Jew-hating miscreants of the misnamed hate group &#8220;Students for Justice in Palestine.&#8221; I have seen the vicious faces of those who yell &#8220;<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/nakba-day-catastrophe-palestinians-israel-benjamin-netanyahu-gaza-west-bank-hamas-a8346156.html">Nakba</a>!&#8221; and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/38814/watch-cnns-hill-appears-call-elimination-israel-ryan-saavedra">genocidal eliminationist phrase</a>, &#8220;from the river to the sea, &#8216;Palestine&#8217; shall be free.&#8221; (One must wonder whether these people feel similarly about liberating other legally fictitious locales, such as Mordor or Narnia.) I also have seen many Israeli flag-wielding students push back with hapless pleas for &#8220;peace!,&#8221; &#8220;tolerance!,&#8221; and (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50850/hammer-yes-palestinian-state-far-more-dangerous-josh-hammer">unfortunately</a>) &#8220;two states!&#8221;
Do my fellow proud Zionists see the problem here? The Palestinian-Arab side of the argument may be genocidal and jihad-loving, but at least they present a morally framed narrative (no matter how grossly immoral that narrative actually is). The pro-Jewish/pro-Israel side, by contrast, tends toward an overly defensive, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/45203/hammer-what-exactly-current-role-aipac-josh-hammer">AIPAC-inspired</a> defensive posture that relies on a non-substantive, purely procedural narrative.
Interestingly, then, the fight against Israel-inspired Jew-hatred on the university campus can actually learn much from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51891/hammer-american-mind-our-constitutional-order-josh-hammer">ongoing conservative dialogue</a> between the New York Post’s Sohrab Ahmari and National Review’s David French. Procedure-based arguments, especially when confronted with a substance-based argumentative opposition, are unlikely to be sufficient; the only way to truly make a dialectic dent is to argue on the substantive merits of an issue and argue in overtly moral terms. I <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/47964/hammer-conservatives-must-make-their-arguments-josh-hammer">wrote as much</a> in June: &#8220;Advocates for Israel on the American university campus must transition away from pleas for &#8216;peace&#8217; and &#8216;tolerance&#8217; and toward arguments grounded in the inherent, biblically derived morality of a Jewish state existing between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.&#8221;
This simply must be the path forward for Jewish and pro-Israel students on campus who are invested in helping to turn back the tide of rising on-campus anti-Semitism. Jewish and Zionist students must make the moral, historically informed case that Zionism — which is simply the Jewish right to self-determination in the Jews&#8217; biblical, ancestral homeland — is an inherently beautiful phenomenon. These courageous students must argue that the culmination of Herzl&#8217;s Zionist vision, the establishment in 1948 of a sovereign Jewish state in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Israel">Eretz Yisrael </a>for the very first time in millennia, represents one of the most profoundly beautiful developments in human civilization over the course of the last century. These students must advance direct, overt, morally based arguments that defend the beauty of that Zionism. These students must also advance historically and legally informed arguments that rebut the utter <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYZBjoeeehg">mendacity that is &#8220;Nakba&#8221;</a> and other purported Palestinian-Arab <a href="https://www.prageru.com/video/why-isnt-there-a-palestinian-state/">&#8220;national&#8221; humiliations</a>.
Appeasement and unilateral disarmament — here, in terms of the use of overt moral terminology — never work. The students who take the lead on this initiative will necessarily be bold. They will be valiant. And they will face mighty resistance from the leftist/Islamist alliance all across the nation. But these students will have the benefit of standing for truth, morality, and, fundamentally, justice. It&#8217;s time to get the ball rolling and begin to defeat on-campus Jew-hatred in America.

Israeli Flag

HAMMER: How Pro-Israel Students On Campus Can Fight Back Against Jew-Hatred

Students

While Duke University’s student newspaper, <a href="https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2019/02/aipac-ilhan-omar-and-the-blockade-on-critiquing-israel">The Chronicle</a>, characterizes Israel as a “murderous” country with “genocidal policies” and defends Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) anti-Semitic tropes, the Ford Foundation makes the Tar Heel State the focus of intense “social-justice investing.”
Long a hotbed of anti-Israel activism, the left-wing, New York-based philanthropic institution is the fifth-largest in the United States as of 2017, reporting $13.7 billion in assets.
The foundation’s original benefactor, automaker Henry Ford, was a Nazi sympathizer admired enough by Adolph Hitler to be mentioned by name in “Mein Kampf.” Ford distributed anti-Jewish propaganda in the form of a book titled “The International Jew,” and promoted the fraudulent work of anti-Semitic hatred known as “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
The Ford Foundation today carries on Henry Ford’s shameful legacy by funding anti-Israel activism.
In 2003, Ford’s grantmaking was too much even for far-left U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), now House Judiciary Committee chairman, who <a href="https://nadler.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=390565">complained</a> when the Ford Foundation was caught funding “organizations that openly instigate anti-Semitism, call for the destruction of Israel, or engage in the promotion of violence.”
Ford gave the notorious New Israel Fund $42.3 million from 2000 – 2011, according to IRS filings. New Israel Fund, in turn, <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2013/10/31/edwin-blacks-financing-the-flames-connects-new-israel-fund-to-historic-ford-foundation-anti-israel-activism/">donated</a> to hundreds of smaller nonprofits, many of which engaged in anti-Israel advocacy.
But nowadays, Ford advances its anti-Israel agenda more stealthily.
Ford <a href="http://www.fordfoundation.org/ideas/equals-change-blog/posts/why-black-lives-matter-to-philanthropy/">embraces</a> the controversial Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. In August 2016, BLM <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/black-lives-matter-offshoot-embraces-anti-semitism-engages-with-terrorists">singled out Israel for condemnation</a>, declaring it an “apartheid” state engaged in “genocide.” The decision to single out the only Jewish state is blatantly anti-Semitic.
In North Carolina, Ford has funded a number of groups that promote the Hamas-supported BDS movement, which aims to use boycotts, divestment and sanctions to cripple the State of Israel.
One of the key groups in Ford’s Black Lives Matter portfolio is Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), which unites leftist radicalism with a hatred of Israel. Ford gave the group $1.7 million in 2017 for “youth organizing.”
Ford also funded the North Carolina-based Southern Vision Alliance (DVA), whose staff overlaps with BYP100, giving the group $100,000 in 2017. SVA promotes BDS propaganda.
Ajamu Amiri Dillahunt of BYP100 <a href="http://blackyouthproject.com/continuing-the-tradition-of-black-youth-organizations-solidarity-with-palestine/">laid bare the radicalism</a> of his group in a 2018 op-ed. The Durham chapter was “a coalition partner with the Demilitarize! Durham2Palestine campaign connecting our struggle against police violence to the Palestinian struggle against the violence of the IDF,” he wrote.
In a <a href="https://youtu.be/ElYUODNsWb4">Real News video</a>, Dillahunt said: “The Israeli Defense Force [sic] brutalizes and terrorizes the people of Palestine and so does the Durham Police Department. Here they brutalize and terrorize black and brown communities. So the U.S. funds billions of dollars to the Israeli occupation.”
BYP100 teamed up with the anti-Israel group Students for Justice in Palestine and others to pass the first municipal BDS policy in the U.S. in Durham, North Carolina.
In April 2018, Durham <a href="https://www.jns.org/durham-n-c-becomes-first-american-city-to-ban-police-training-with-israel/">became the first U.S. city</a> to prohibit its police from participating in “military-style training” with police abroad, a move interpreted by critics as part of an effort to isolate Israel and erode support for the Jewish state inside the U.S. The <a href="https://indyweek.com/news/archives/drawing-accusations-anti-semitism-durham-city-council-passes-statement-police-exchanges/">resolution</a>, approved 6-0 by the city council, states: “The council opposes international exchanges with any country in which Durham officers receive military-style training since such exchanges do not support the kind of policing we want here in the City of Durham.”
The coalition claimed in a petition that the IDF and Israeli police “have a long history of violence and harm against Palestinian people and Jews of Color … using tactics of extrajudicial killing, excessive force, racial profiling, and repression of social justice movements. … These tactics further militarize U.S. police forces that train in Israel, and this training helps the police terrorize Black and Brown communities here in the U.S.”
Ford funding has no doubt helped to advance the anti-Israel cause in North Carolina, spurring activism it has not underwritten.
The U.S. Department of Education (DoE) is <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/education-department-unc-duke-gaza-conference-anti-semitism-allegations">investigating</a> whether anti-Semitism played a part in a <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/46045/hammer-duke-and-unc-should-both-be-ashamed-their-josh-hammer">taxpayer-supported conference titled “Conflict over Gaza: People, Politics, and Possibilities,”</a> held March 22-24 at UNC-Chapel Hill. Rep. George Holding (R-NC) wrote Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in April, claiming the conference featured “severe anti-Israeli bias and explicit anti-Semitism.” Funds from a DoE grant were used to produce the conference.
Speakers and panelists “distorted facts and misrepresented the complex situation in Gaza,” and several speakers are involved in the BDS movement, Holding wrote.
The UNC Center for Middle East &amp; Islamic Studies <a href="https://mideast.unc.edu/conflict-over-gaza-conference-report/">acknowledged</a> hip-hop artist Tamer Nafar performed his song, “Mama, I Fell in Love with a Jew,” at the conference.
Calling it “my anti-Semitic song,” Nafar asked the audience to sing along, saying, “I need your help. I can’t be anti-Semitic alone, try it with me together.”
Taxpayers, alas, are funding hate at UNC.
Vadum is formerly Senior Vice President and Senior Fellow at Capital Research Center. He is a contributor to the news and public policy group <a href="https://salomoncenter.org">Haym Salomon Center</a> and an independent investigative reporter in Washington, D.C. Vadum is the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Team-Jihad-Sharia-Supremacists-Collaborate-Civilization/dp/1545237654">&#8220;Team Jihad: How Sharia-Supremacists Collaborate with Leftists to Destroy the United States&#8221;</a> (Center for Security Policy Press, 2017).
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46045/hammer-duke-and-unc-should-both-be-ashamed-their-josh-hammer">&#8220;Duke And UNC Should Both Be Ashamed Of Their Co-Hosted Jew-Bashing Conference</a>.&#8221;

VADUM: The Radicalization Of Campus Anti-Semitism In North Carolina

Black Lives Matter

Ford Motor Co.

North Carolina

Police

On <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2323471524380525/?acontext=%7B%22source%22%3A5%2C%22action_history%22%3A%5b%7B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%2C%22mechanism%22%3A%22main_list%22%2C%22extra_data%22%3A%22%5C%22%5b%5d%5C%22%22%7D%5d%2C%22has_source%22%3Atrue%7D">June 2</a> at 1:00 PM local time, six men performed Islamic prayers on the sidewalk in front of an emerald green building in Los Angeles’ Japantown neighborhood.
They waited for more people to gather, until a small crowd of approximately 25 Muslim-American men and women and a handful of non-Muslim supporters had gathered outside the local consulate of Saudi Arabia. The group began unfurling signs and chanting slogans in defense of “our scholars” who were scheduled to be executed by the Saudi government.
“Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Saudi’s crimes!” “Rest in peace Jamal Khashoggi!” “Down! Down! With [Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman]!” “Free expression, no oppression!” And, of course, the traditional activist chant: “No justice! No peace!”
These protestors were not just ordinary Muslim-Americans, however, but members of the Muslim American Society&#8217;s Greater Los Angeles chapter (MAS-GLA). And the scholars were leading clerics with a history of ties to Islamic extremism and terror: <a href="https://www.nysun.com/foreign/islamist-threat-arrives-in-switzerland/55439/">Salman al-Odah</a>, who issued calls for killing American troops in Iraq and was linked by Spanish prosecutors to the 2004 Madrid train bombing carried out by al-Qaeda; Ali al-Omari, a member of the <a href="http://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/a-public-apology-by-aidh-al-qarni,-salafi-scholar,-sheds-a-light-on-mohammed-bin-salman’s-version-of-‘moderate-islam/d/118847">International Union of Muslims Scholars</a>, which the Saudi government has designated as a terrorist organization and which called for the <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/reactions-sheikh-al-qaradhawis-fatwa-calling-abduction-and-killing-american-civilians-iraq">killing of Americans in Iraq in 2004</a>, and <a href="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/defenddemocracy/uploads/documents/facebook_fatwa_low_res_2.pdf">Awad al-Qarni</a>, who once offered $100,000 to any Palestinian who successfully kidnapped an Israeli soldier.
Why did this particular organization come out in support of these radical three clerics?
First, MAS has been named by federal prosecutors as the “<a href="http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/542.pdf">overt arm</a>” of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in the United States, and the group often does little to hide its radical sympathies. MAS was <a href="https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/uae-publishes-list-of-terrorist-organisations-1.1412895">designated a terrorist group</a> in 2014 by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Describing the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/qatar-terror-ties-friend-foe-or-both">decision to designate</a> MAS and similar groups, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said that the small Gulf state “&#8230; cannot accept incitement or funding” of terrorism.
At last year’s <a href="http://www.maslaconvention.org/">MAS’s west coast convention</a>, the keynote speaker was Tareq Al-Suwaidan, a Kuwaiti-based Brotherhood leader and open <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/kuwaiti-muslim-brotherhood-leader-and-director-saudi-al-risala-tv-tareq-al-suwaidan-tours">anti-Semite</a> — who, incidentally, is <a href="https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/kuwait/kuwaiti-preacher-barred-from-makkah-pilgrimage-1.1238437">banned</a> from entering both Saudi Arabia and <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-sunday-telegraph/20100124/282209416988562">the United States</a> — who spoke via Skype. Suwaidan has previously called for jihad to liberate Palestinians, including once <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/2439.pdf">boasting</a> that “the Jews will meet their end at our hands.”
Both Suwaidan and al-Odah are leading members of the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign (GAAC), a <a href="https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/NGO_Doha_Terror.pdf">Qatari sponsored network</a> of radical clerics, which includes multiple MB acolytes and other Islamist clerics. It was this association that formed part of the justification for the <a href="https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2017/09/28/saudi-university-dismissing-muslim-brotherhood-linked-academics/">arrest</a> of the three clerics and 27 others in September of 2017.
It should come as no surprise that MAS’s declaration of the three imams as “our scholars” indicates a shared association with the Brotherhood.
And the ties are even more direct in the case of al-Qarni, who has had previous involvement with MAS. <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/3864/cair-protests-saudi-radical-exclusion-from-us">In December 2012</a>, al-Qarni was scheduled to speak at MAS’s annual national convention but was blocked from entering the country because of his inclusion on the U.S.’s no-fly list — a direct result of his advocacy for jihad.
The protests were led by five California-based Islamist activists, most notably Yasmeen Azam, a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/yasmeen.azam.5/about?section=contact-info&amp;lst=20704912%3A100003030329134%3A1560447252">23-year-old activist</a> who <a href="https://www.facebook.com/yasmeen.azam.5/about?section=education&amp;lst=20704912%3A100003030329134%3A1560447252">currently works</a> as the assistant regional coordinator for MAS-GLA. She was among the protest’s primary organizers. It is worthwhile to learn about Azam and keep an eye on her now, as she is just beginning to establish herself as an activist — rather than waiting until she becomes more prominent and effective. Opponents of the domestic Islamist movement in America do not need another Zahra Billoo or Linda Sarsour.
Azam has been making a name for herself in L.A. Islamist circles for years now, including a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/cair-greater-los-angeles/cair-las-socal-muslim-of-the-week-yasmeen-azam/10153973288967831/">profile</a> in September 2016 as the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ “SoCal Muslim of the Week.” The fawning write-up noted that Azam gave a speech at the United Nations based on an essay she submitted into a contest, “The Call to Light,” which described “her personal spiritual awakening.” It also noted Azam’s involvement with <a href="https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2014/2/2/the-ten-worst-u-s-purveyors-of-antisemitism-2-students-for-justice-in-palestine?print=true&amp;singlepage=true">Students for Justice in Palestine</a> and the MSA chapter at California State University Long Beach, for which she would serve as president. Today the MSA is <a href="http://www.nypdshield.org/public/SiteFiles/documents/NYPD_Report-Radicalization_in_the_West.pdf">described</a> by law enforcement as a “radicalization incubator.” Azam is also a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, with her anti-Israel campus activism documented in an <a href="https://canarymission.org/individual/Yasmeen_Azam">extensive profile</a> at the indispensable Canary Mission website.
Others who led the group, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=392262191631804">giving speeches</a> and booming slogans through the bullhorn, included such familiar voices in Southern California Islamist circles as Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl (described by Daniel Pipes in 2004 as a <a href="http://www.danielpipes.org/1841/stealth-islamist-khaled-abou-el-fadl">“stealth Islamist”</a>), <a href="https://shuracouncil.org/muslim-of-the-week/imad-bayoun">Imad Bayoun</a> (a regular MAS lecturer who has <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/7003/cal-state-professor-bin-laden-islamist">praised</a> MB founder Hassan al-Banna and defended MB theorist and jihad apologist Sayyid Qutb), Shakeel Syed (who has <a href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/25693/shakeel-syed-wants-tariq-ramadan-freed">advocated</a> for the release of al-Banna’s Islamist intellectual leader grandson Tariq Ramadan, who is currently held in France on rape charges), and MAS-GLA’s Director Tareq Purmul.
Putting together these varied data points from the protests, the promotion of international MB figureheads, and the activist priorities of Azam, MAS’s role in Islamist activism comes into clearer focus: Much more so than other groups, MAS takes a particular concern in international issues and strives to provoke American Muslims to see themselves as one part of a global <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Ummah">“ummah.”</a> What’s so problematic about this is that in MAS’s formulation, this ummah is one that consists of MB activists and ideologues linked with terrorists — and is dead set on the destruction of Israel, to boot.
David M. Swindle is the Southern California associate for the <a href="https://counterislamist.org/">Counter-Islamist Grid</a>. He also works as the Director of Research for <a href="https://theisraelgroup.org/">The Israel Group</a>. Follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/daveswindle">@DaveSwindle</a>.

SWINDLE: California Islamist Activists Protest At Saudi Consulate In Support Of Terror-Linked Clerics

Al Qaeda

California

Islam

Los Angeles

Saudi Arabia

Anti-Semitism at New York University (NYU), the large private institution in the city that is home to the nation&#8217;s largest Jewish population, is unfortunately hardly new. As far back as 2014, The Times of Israel <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/nyu-jewish-students-the-target-of-latest-sjp-propaganda-attacks/">noted</a> how the <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1126661832578564096">egregiously misnamed</a> anti-Semitic hate group &#8220;Students for Justice in Palestine&#8221; was harassing Jewish students at NYU by means of &#8220;distribut[ing] mock eviction notices to students in [a] dorm [that] is known across campus as one with a high concentration of Jewish residents, and is the only NYU dorm with a Shabbat elevator, listing distorted facts, and with the stated purpose of &#8216;draw[ing] attention to the reality that Palestinians confront on a regular basis.'&#8221;
But the problems at NYU for Jewish students and pro-Israel activists have continued unabated. Aaron Bandler <a href="https://jewishjournal.com/news/nation/297574/pro-israel-students-file-complaint-against-nyu/">reported</a> last month for the Jewish Journal:
<blockquote>
A group of pro-Israel students has filed a complaint against New York University (NYU) with the Department of Education&#8217;s Office of Civil Rights (OCR).
The complaint was filed following an April 17 ceremony where the university&#8217;s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), received the NYU&#8217;s President&#8217;s Service Award.
The April 22 complaint obtained by the Journal was filed on behalf of NYU students who are members of student organizations supporting Israel or Jewish issues, and senior Adela Cojab, who was the 2018 president of the student group Realize Israel.
The complaint argues there have been &#8220;two years of extreme anti-Semitism on the NYU campus&#8221; due to NYU SJP&#8217;s actions, and the administration&#8217;s inability to properly handle them constitutes a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which &#8220;prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin.&#8221;
</blockquote>
SJP has extensive <a href="http://www.investigativeproject.org/3346/american-muslims-for-palestine-web-of-hamas">financial ties with Hamas</a>, the Sunni sharia supremacist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46830/hammer-israels-election-over-time-now-operation-josh-hammer">death cult</a> that serves as the Palestinian-Arab branch of the international <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46714/hammer-designating-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-josh-hammer">Muslim Brotherhood</a>. More generally, SJP is a prominent association at the heart of the broader anti-Semitic &#8220;Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions&#8221; movement (BDS) against Israel &#8212; a movement that has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43033/israeli-government-reveals-stunningly-close-ties-josh-hammer">stunningly close ties</a> with many internationally recognized terrorist organizations.
As senior Adela Cojab explained to The Daily Wire, her formal Title VI complaint against NYU filed with OCR accuses the NYU administration of generally failing to act to protect Jewish students from constant harassment and discrimination &#8212; let alone to create a campus environment anchored in mutual respect, communal values, or student safety. Attempts to directly discuss the underlying incidents with the NYU administration have generally been rebuffed or ignored.
Susan Shapiro elaborated in a Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/anti-semitism-at-nyu-11555873457?mod=article_inline">op-ed</a> last month:
<blockquote>
Jewish students were assaulted at an Israeli Independence Day celebration last year in Washington Square Park, where two anti-Israel student agitators were arrested after desecrating Israeli flags. The NYU Jewish Center received threats; swastikas were found in a residence hall. The student government passed an anti-Israel BDS &#8212; boycott, divestment and sanctions &#8212; resolution. NYU activists confronted a pregnant Chelsea Clinton and insanely blamed her for the massacre at a New Zealand mosque because she criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar&#8217;s anti-Semitic slurs.
</blockquote>
The president of NYU responded to Ms. Shapiro in a subsequent <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/nyu-is-committed-to-its-jewish-community-11556563244">letter to the Journal</a>.
Alas, the saga continues. Ms. Cojab, who filed the Title VI complaint, told The Daily Wire via email: &#8220;According to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, schools are required to take immediate and effective action against student-on-student harassment, eliminate its occurrence, and address its effect on the affected community. NYU has done none of those things &#8212; instead, they decided to award the very organization that promotes discrimination and supports physical harassment. Jewish students are increasingly hesitant to openly display their identity, and as a graduating senior, I could not be more ashamed of my university.&#8221;

SHOCKING: There Is Absolutely Appalling Anti-Semitism At New York University

New York University

Stanford University&#8217;s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine have been accused of posting cartoons caricaturing Daily Wire Editor-In-Chief Ben Shapiro at a Passover Seder dinner saying the Jews who were enslaved in Egypt millennia ago were &#8220;terrorists&#8221; so Egypt had the right to &#8220;limit their birthrates.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Is this depiction of Ben Shapiro &#8211; to advertise an anti-Israel event at <a href="https://twitter.com/Stanford?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Stanford</a> &#8211; like &#8220;donning black face and hoping to have a nuanced conversation about race&#8221;?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IsraelUnderAttack?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IsraelUnderAttack</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Zionist?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Zionist</a> <a href="https://t.co/Fd0MT1bYH4">pic.twitter.com/Fd0MT1bYH4</a>
&#8212; The College Fix (@CollegeFix) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollegeFix/status/1125732762785320961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
As <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/stanford-pro-palestine-group-vandalizes-college-republicans-flyers-with-anti-semitic-cartoons/">The College Fix</a> reports, the Stanford College Republicans claimed on Facebook that SJP placed the cartoons, drawn by the viciously anti-Israel cartoonist Eli Valley, over SCR&#8217;s posters advertising an event with Andrew Klavan of The Daily Wire:
<blockquote>
We are not surprised that Stanford leftists have resorted to ripping down flyers advertising our upcoming event with Andrew Klavan. Leftists routinely vandalize our flyers, as they refuse to accept the right of conservatives to speak on the campus. However, this time, not only did leftists destroy our flyers, but members of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StanfordSJP/?__tn__=K-R&amp;eid=ARC7WhKx2YAXWun5XxsCRLx8Z_6lMQmkAnSCYD2Aq5PAdi4gc6z2UkUpWFMTSeikZ_SVoXY4pohK9R3q&amp;fref=mentions&amp;__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDTJpNu72sCSO-wPtic23_Vi1qcOVgOL629SUX3GQ9nIyLaJUWCkQmkws3ghrTFHM6ZZANNkKRvXS2XW3PHqigBT47CI6EXeX-3h_0W8Wz5GyoLZwPkSexTdF-iPCZ5AyOb0Vf5DJJaDLXh0GCvzPGYSFlg63ti4SDVxlWd3RuinHKHC-nw9dF6x3_Vbi5NCmgTptYgAsrj0Zn4Tnp92-KvjLrqlXSSp707ji43DBtasE8wqNgA8mGrQ-zVYdVPF8lRE_wwEHLpqkB3JCK6Gq2KK04jvw_IN-IbZCYuakJjqan-LlmPlnjhHIYzQEYKntK1BRoypgZXT0sEAklpFBYShQ">Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine</a> have been covering our posters with anti-Semitic cartoons by Israel-hating propagandist, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/elivalley?__tn__=K-R&amp;eid=ARDmFVNmW4MoBlykz_W1pf-vccIAJibPouti-lvc-xOnUPFUA1dawpZxeZUa_kKTUrH1Cc8iJsK4FmC-&amp;fref=mentions&amp;__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDTJpNu72sCSO-wPtic23_Vi1qcOVgOL629SUX3GQ9nIyLaJUWCkQmkws3ghrTFHM6ZZANNkKRvXS2XW3PHqigBT47CI6EXeX-3h_0W8Wz5GyoLZwPkSexTdF-iPCZ5AyOb0Vf5DJJaDLXh0GCvzPGYSFlg63ti4SDVxlWd3RuinHKHC-nw9dF6x3_Vbi5NCmgTptYgAsrj0Zn4Tnp92-KvjLrqlXSSp707ji43DBtasE8wqNgA8mGrQ-zVYdVPF8lRE_wwEHLpqkB3JCK6Gq2KK04jvw_IN-IbZCYuakJjqan-LlmPlnjhHIYzQEYKntK1BRoypgZXT0sEAklpFBYShQ">Eli Valley</a>, who will speak at Stanford at SJP&#8217;s invitation next Friday. These cartoons specifically attack Ben Shapiro, using vile anti-Semitic caricatures. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/elivalley?__tn__=K-R&amp;eid=ARDtvZq5l6Qh3rkCgBo9Ea_tdFFJ8lph1_aLpdSjJMB_wAfDLzFteIUucjwZELPWdLYorPljpxYuyoVy&amp;fref=mentions&amp;__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDTJpNu72sCSO-wPtic23_Vi1qcOVgOL629SUX3GQ9nIyLaJUWCkQmkws3ghrTFHM6ZZANNkKRvXS2XW3PHqigBT47CI6EXeX-3h_0W8Wz5GyoLZwPkSexTdF-iPCZ5AyOb0Vf5DJJaDLXh0GCvzPGYSFlg63ti4SDVxlWd3RuinHKHC-nw9dF6x3_Vbi5NCmgTptYgAsrj0Zn4Tnp92-KvjLrqlXSSp707ji43DBtasE8wqNgA8mGrQ-zVYdVPF8lRE_wwEHLpqkB3JCK6Gq2KK04jvw_IN-IbZCYuakJjqan-LlmPlnjhHIYzQEYKntK1BRoypgZXT0sEAklpFBYShQ">Eli Valley</a> and his supporters in Stanford&#8217;s SJP would make any neo-Nazi proud.
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Klavan&#8217;s speech is titled, &#8220;Yes, American is a Judeo-Christian nation.&#8221;
As The College Fix noted, &#8220;The cartoons are advertising SJPs&#8217; own <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2324280297821371/?ref=3&amp;action_history=null&amp;__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDPeAggI0lVFL3R1Q8lzGsn0A6uy-CMUXprLcmhnB1ex3hmYjPG-xE5CBPUbqyfYUIxbf2AOZ75sVPocnvbbtF7sknY7nTdRM5TGKg3ouIEME7pQvkqk8Bxz_GECFr1B8kvDj9YVaIld3uTv6lQlLAjtzl0Oqh43uSNKdMoDATfCBtihs-Fx4VVzgkUp3ibRuNCzT9o_eiwRdQjWuoo3g2NHJB5ZETSsKYmsPiAfE1AUHDZkSpmoUJ_jd09ZgDwiitV7f2XrbSpmq_CQNdpvh2-&amp;__tn__=-R">May 10 event</a> with the cartoonist who drew them, Eli Valley. &#8220;
Ari Hoffman, a student at the Stanford Law School, wrote an <a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2019/05/06/op-ed-a-disgrace-in-the-valley-co-sponsoring-anti-semitism-at-stanford/">op-ed</a> in The Stanford Daily in which he stated:
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I had been under the mercifully mistaken impression that Der Stürmer, the Nazi newspaper edited by Joseph Goebbels, had long ago ceased publication &#8230; Imagine my surprise when a flood of images seemingly drawn from Der Stürmer&#8217;s archives appeared on campus at Stanford University, where I am a law student, as an advertisement for a talk by cartoonist Eli Valley, a cartoonist and the keynote speaker for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/387697561820393/">Palestine Awareness Week</a> (May 6 &#8211; 10) on campus, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). When it comes to anti-Semitism and cartoons, what is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/opinion/cartoon-nytimes.html">old is new again.</a>
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&#8230; Let me be as clear as I can: the images are indefensible in any context. They are not justifiable, and they are not explainable. The sin is not against sensitivity. It is one of smearing a Jewish minority under attack here and abroad in the name of a skewed vision of a foreign conflict. SJP&#8217;s promise that &#8220;Eli&#8217;s knowledge and guidance&#8221; will ameliorate these facts is akin to entrusting fire safety to an arsonist. To apologize for the flyers but insist on continuing with the event is equal parts absurd and appalling.
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Stanford&#8217;s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HillelatStanford/posts/2284009038309024?__tn__=-R">Hillel chapter</a> said that the acting Dean of Students, who joined a group of 30 student leaders to discuss the issue, &#8220;was with us during this conversation, would reach out to the Resident Fellows and staff right away to alert them to the concerns raised by our community.&#8221;
The College Fix noted of Hoffman, &#8220;He said SJP had apologized for sharing the cartoons &#8216;out of context&#8217; in a Sunday message to a Stanford Jewish community listserv. SJP&#8217;s Facebook page makes no mention of an apology, and the Daily news section does not mention it.&#8221;

Anti-Semitic Cartoons Of Shapiro Posted At Stanford University

Ben Shapiro

Stanford

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