Albany, New York, city seal Last week, the Brandeis Center was in touch with the Albany, New York, Superintendent of Schools, after an Albany High School teacher had assigned her class to write persuasively that Jews are evil. The Superintendent has now apologized to Albany families for the teacher’s misconduct. The Albany Times Union describes the assignment: Think like a Nazi, the assignment required students. Argue why Jews are evil. Students in some Albany High School English classes were asked this week as part of a persuasive writing assignment to make an abhorrent argument: “You must argue that Jews are evil, and use solid rationale from government propaganda to convince me of your loyalty to the Third Reich!” Students were asked to watch and read Nazi propaganda, then pretend their teacher was a Nazi government official who needed to be convinced of their loyalty. In five paragraphs, they were required to prove that Jews were the source of Germany’s problems. The Times Union reports that Albany’s superintendent has now issued a formal apology: (more…)
University of Manitoba In a major decision of international signfiicance, the University of Manitoba’s student union has stripped the Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) of official recognition. The Manitoba student’s union is the first such group to bar this anti-Israel campus group based on the anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination that take place each year during Israel Apartheid Week. This issue has been raised at many American universities, but none has so far acted as forcefully as Manitoba. The National Post (Canada) reports: The motion bars SAIA from receiving student union funding or using activity space in student-union controlled buildings. The motion was adopted despite an opinion by the student union’s lawyer, who argued that it could leave the union open to litigation. SAIA reportedly organizes the Israeli Apartheid Week each year on Canadian campuses. Significantly, the Student Union’s successful resolution is based on civil and human rights violations during Israel Apartheid week: The two-page resolution justified the delisting of SAIA under the terms of the Manitoba Human Rights Code, claiming that the group was guilty of “discrimination” and “harassment.” The document also claimed that certain student union members “being Zionists, experience fear for their safety during ‘Israeli Apartheid Week.’” The Student’s Union disregarded legal advice in taking a stand against anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli bigotry in the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Now the question is whether student organizations in other countries, including the United States, will also acknowledge the civil rights problems underlying the BDS movement.