In early February, Judge Stephanie Rose from the Southern District Court of Iowa issued a partial ruling in the legal battle between Business Leaders in Christ (BLinC) and the University of Iowa (UI). The case dates back to 2017, when the University revoked BLinC’s status as a registered student organization (RSO) for denying a leadership position to an openly gay student who refused to reject homosexuality.

The University of Iowa crest (Wikipedia).

Membership in BLinC is technically open to all UI students. However, as a way to preserve its religious mission, the group asks its leaders to affirm that they believe in the group’s religious beliefs, which includes a rejection of homosexuality. In response to the fall out from BLinC’s exclusive membership policy, UI officials issued a statement claiming that the institution “does not tolerate discrimination of any kind in accordance with federal and state law.” They charged BLinC for violating the school’s Human Rights Policy and the Iowa Civil Rights Act by “discriminating against a student on the basis of sexual orientation.”  When the group refused to revise its Statement of Faith and submit a more inclusive policy, it was kicked off campus.

Losing its RSO designation has serious implications for BLinC’s activity on campus. The group can no longer reserve campus meeting space, participate in student recruitment fairs, apply for funding, or use university-side communication services. Daniel Blomberg, an attorney from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty which is representing BLinC in court, highlighted the sensitivity of the case by explaining how it “goes to the heart” of First Amendment rights. Mandating that BLinC rewrite its policies is a violation of free expression because it asks the organization’s leaders to change the content of their beliefs. Further, Blomberg argues that UI’s application of its Human Rights Policy is selective because other groups that restrict membership and leadership positions based on gender, such as fraternities and sororities, are not subject to the same treatment.

All of this was taken into consideration by Judge Rose in her ruling of BLinC v. University of Iowa. Her decision charged the University for operating outside of its rights by deregistering BLinC.  Judge Rose further criticized UI officials for enforcing the Human Rights Policy, which “promotes valuable goals for both the University and society at large,” without showing how sidelining the religious student group was “necessary to serve a compelling state interest.” Vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund, Eric Baxter, lauded the federal court ruling as “a win for basic fairness” and an “eloquent plea for civility in how governments treat Americans in all their diversity.”

Even though its legal battle with BLinC has come to an end, the University of Iowa remains steeped in related controversies over its discriminatory treatment of other religious student groups. The Chinese Student Fellowship, the Imam Mahdi Muslim organization, the Latter-day Saint Student Association, and the Sikh Awareness Club were also deregistered by the University. They are also facing a parallel lawsuit by the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, which was kicked off campus in August for reasons similar to the BLinC controversy. This case is pending before Judge Rose, who will likely issue a ruling later this year. These UI acrimonies highlight the continued relevance and heightened awareness of First Amendment rights on campus.

A group of French lawmakers have proposed a bill that would make anti-Zionism a criminal offence. The bill would conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism and comes on the heels of an increase in anti-Semitic attacks in France.

Sylvian Maillard, a deputy from French President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party, currently leads the Antisemitism Study Group in the country’s National Assembly. Maillard said that the group has been examining the roots of anti-Zionism and antisemitism for “several weeks” and that they have concluded that “hatred of Israel is the new way of hating Jews.” He went on to say, “We can criticize the government of Israel, but not question the very existence of this state. Nobody questions the existence of the French state or the German state.”

 

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) has applauded the debate in the French Parliament. President of the EJC Dr. Moshe Kantor said,

“We absolutely welcome this discussion and hope to see it lead to concrete action because it is clear that the overwhelming majority of those who claim to be anti-Zionist use it merely as a cover for their anti-Semitism. We are, of course, making a huge differentiation between completely legitimate criticism of Israel and its policies, and singling out and isolating the Jewish people as not being allowed to express its right to self-determination and to live in its national homeland.”

Referring to Natan Sharansky’s 3D Test of Anti-Semitism  (which has been incorporated into the definition of anti-Semitism used by the U.S. Department of State and countless worldwide government bodies and agencies), Dr. Kantor pointed out the fact that “Anti-Zionists never claim that any other nation on earth, apart from the Jewish State, should be dismantled or is illegitimate, so it is clear that this meets any standard of delegitimization, demonization, and double-standards.”

On February 19th, thousands of people rallied in the streets of Paris against recent anti-Semitic attacks. Attendees included Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and former French presidents. Parliament suspended their work for several hours to enable MPs to attend the protests, while 18 different political parties encouraged citizens to attend. These rallies come after a recent wave of anti-Semitic attacks. A Jewish cemetery in eastern France became the most recent target of anti-Semitic attacks. 96 graves were desecrated with swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans. “Yellow Vest” protesters were also recently caught hurling anti-Semitic insults like “Dirty Zionist” and “Dirty race” at Alain Finkielkraut, a French Jewish philosopher and writer. A new study exposed just how dire the situation is, showing that there were more than 500 anti-Semitic attacks perpetrated in France in 2018, which is a 74% increase from 2017.