Brandeis Brief: April 2022 Advocates for equality, coexistence, and peace all screamed for our hard work on the legal case against ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s and parent company Unilever. Here’s more LDB news you may have missed this month: Our client, Avi Zinger of Ben & Jerry’s Israel, showed in a moving op-ed the harm from anti-Israel boycotts – undermining progress towards peace and coexistence. The Jewish Press editorial board recognized the Brandeis Center as having “entered the arena [of fighting anti-Semitism] in a meaningful way.” We published a vital new fact sheet explaining the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism’s impact on American law. In an op-ed for the Washington Times, Brandeis Center Founder and Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus explored efforts to combat anti-Semitism on the next battleground: Corporate America. In a piece for The Hill, LDB Scholar-in-Residence Diane Kunz explained the importance and impact of expanding the Education Department’s Civil Rights data-gathering about religious bias incidents in K-12 schools. LDB President Alyza Lewin led a webinar for the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation on how to counter anti-Semitism on campus. Brandeis Center intern Davis Allen authored a pair of deep dive blog posts about the momentum surrounding the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism and the impact on campus for Jewish students of the annual ‘Anti-Israel Hate Week.’ Read about these and other developments at the Center in this month’s Brief. As always, we thank you for your tax-deductible donations and acknowledge that without you our work could not be done. Brandeis Center Brings Suit Against Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever In a move as on-brand as Unilever’s anti-Israel boycott is off-limits, the Brandeis Center and its team of attorneys filed suit in federal district court against Unilever and its subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s for unlawfully terminating its 34-year business relationship with the manufacturer and distributor of Ben & Jerry’s in Israel. According to the lawsuit, what Unilever demanded Ben and Jerry’s Israel do – boycott certain parts of Israel while continuing to sell in other parts of the country – is illegal under Israeli law, as well as U.S. law and policy. When the company, also known as American Quality Products (AQP), refused to comply with Unilever’s unlawful demand, Unilever refused to renew its license. LDB followed up the suit’s announcement by filing a formal preliminary injunction motion on behalf of AQP’s owner, Avi Zinger, urging the court to prevent Unilever from terminating his license pending the outcome of litigation. According to the motion: “It is hard to imagine a clearer case of classic breach” of contract. Zinger’s case demonstrates that Unilever’s termination of AQP’s license is unlawful, because their only reason for termination is Zinger’s refusal to break the law. Our client, CEO of Ben & Jerry’s in Israel Avi Zinger, showed in a moving op-ed the real harm from anti-Israel boycotts – undermining progress towards peace and coexistence. Zinger explained: “Ben & Jerry’s claim that this is not a boycott of Israel is disingenuous. Under the law, no one can lawfully do what Ben & Jerry’s is demanding I do….Terminating my license solely because I refused to commit a crime is a violation of U.S. law. You cannot, as a condition of a contract, demand that a party do something illegal.” “The hypocrisy of the BDS movement is truly reprehensible,” stated Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid. “The truth is that BDS actually harms those it ‘claims’ to help. Today it’s ice cream, but tomorrow it could be medicine, or lifesaving Israeli technology that will be denied to the Palestinian people in the name of BDS. Media coverage highlighting the case announcement and preliminary injunction motion included: Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Haaretz, Algemeiner, Times of Israel and the Australian Jewish News. Jewish Press Editorial Board Recognizes LDB’s Work Fighting Anti-SemitismThe Jewish Press editorial board detailed the Brandeis Center’s work fighting Unilever’s anti-Israel boycott and anti-Semitism on campus at Brooklyn College, Stanford University, University of Illinois and USC. LDB is gratified to be recognized as having “entered the arena in a meaningful way.” LBD Fact Sheet Explains IHRA Definition’s impact on American law Much has been written about the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism and its included examples which explain when delegitimization, demonization or double standards applied to Israel are anti-Semitic. Less understood is the definition’s impact on American law. The Brandeis Center has meticulously assembled a clear explanation of the ways that interconnected American statutes and laws establish the IHRA definition as legally binding in the U.S. This new and invaluable resource will significantly help people and institutions – from students and parents to college administrators and faculty – understand the legal obligations U.S. universities must uphold to keep Jewish students, faculty and staff safe. LDB Urges the Education Department to Expand its Civil Rights Data Collection in K-12 schoolsBrandeis Center Scholar-in-Residence Diane Kunz authored an op-ed for The Hill discussing the need for the U.S. Department of Education to expand its Civil Rights Data Collection so that they will finally track anti-Semitic incidents as well as harassment of other religious groups. “Schools, local educational authorities and the federal government …need to understand precisely which religious groups are being victimized and which specific hate crimes students face to know how to effectively reverse the trend in religious harassment,” declared Kunz. Last month, the Brandeis Center formally urged the Education Dept. to close the data gap. LDB Chairman Kenneth Marcus Discusses anti-Semitism in the Corporate World and on CampusLDB founder and chairman Kenneth L. Marcus published a Washington Times piece clarifying the increasingly popular term ‘antiracist’ in campus and corporate trainings – and how the concept holds its own dangers. “Antisemitism is the canary in the coal mine,” explained Marcus, pointing to the Google diversity executive officer who said: “If I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in defense of myself.” Marcus emphasized that the problem is not limited to Google but instead pervades so-called “antiracist” training: “‘Antiracism’ depends upon a binary: whiteness versus people of color. In order to preserve this binary, antiracist trainers must diminish or erase the identities of people who don’t fit the narrative, including ‘white-adjacent’ Asians or ‘white-passing’ Jews. A prime example is Stanford, where Jewish staff have been cajoled by diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff to join a ‘whiteness accountability’ affinity group, created for ‘staff who hold privilege via white identity’.” Interviewed by the Jerusalem Post for an article about inherent anti-Semitism in many campus and corporate DEI programs, Marcus stated: “Some of the bias and hate incidents are appearing in the very institutions that are intended to address hate and bias…. In the DEI programs, we’re seeing anti-Jewish stereotypes, biases, defamations, separation of Jews from other groups, and so-called ‘erasive antisemitism,’ which is to say denial of what it means to have a Jewish identity.” Alyza Lewin Presents on Using the Law to Combat Campus Anti-Semitism Brandeis Center President Alyza Lewin spoke about how to use the law to combat anti-Semitism on campus at a webinar hosted by the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation and co-sponsored by dozens of other organizations. Over 200 viewers tuned in to hear Lewin share approaches used by the Brandeis Center in the U.S. that could serve as models for efforts to combat anti-Semitism on campuses around the globe. Interested parties who missed Lewin’s insights and experience on this vital topic can still watch the recorded program on YouTube, accessed via CAEF’s website. LBD Intern Davis Allen Pens Blog Posts on IHRA and Anti-Israel Hate WeekIn a blog post this month, LDB intern Davis Allen takes a close look at the IHRA Working Definition’s global adoption momentum as institutions and governments worldwide continue to embrace the definition, while anti-IHRA recent challenges at Florida State University and the University of Texas Austin were defeated. In the blog, Allen also covers recent webinars about IHRA by Canada’s former Attorney General and Minister of Justice – and LDB advisory board member – Irwin Cotler. Anti-Israel Hate Week is right now spreading hate and lies about Israel and Jews across the world’s college campuses until April 18. In another timely blog post, Allen reviews the history of this perennial anti-Israel harassment and notes that other world events could potentially supersize the anti-Semitic hate this year. He also explains how this hate-fest fuels anti-Jewish hostility on campus and highlights the ways that groups like SSI and Jewish on Campus are countering anti-Semitic disinformation.