Brandeis Center General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman discusses the complaint LDB co-filed with the Anti-Defamation League to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD). The federal complaint cites BUSD for failing to take action to end nonstop bullying and harassment of Jewish students by peers and teachers since Oct. 7, 2023. According to the complaint, Berkeley administrators have ignored parent reports and knowingly allowed its K-12 schools to become hostile environments for Jewish and Israeli students. Read more about our case here. Play videoTextBlockModalTitle × Your browser does not support the video tag.
Segment aired 3/18/24 on CNN program “The Lead with Jake Tapper;” Segment reporter Nick Watt, producer Kat Jaeger. Includes interviews with Jewish students from Berkeley Unified School District schools, who experienced anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment. To learn more about the Brandeis Center’s complaint against BUSD filed with the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR), visit our case page for Berkeley Unified School District. Play CNN’s ‘The Lead with Jake Tapper’ segment on Brandeis Center complaint against BUSD – 3/18/24 videoTextBlockModalTitle × Your browser does not support the video tag.
Published in Times of Israel on 3/14/24; Story by Tal Schneider The Gulf kingdom has lavished billions on US higher education as it seeks soft power, but some allege the money may also be fueling anti-Israel and anti-Jewish trends at schools One will not find many Qatari flags fluttering in College Station, the town that Texas A&M University calls home. The tiny Middle Eastern state does not have its name on any of the buildings across the school’s sprawling campus, nor are those of Qatar’s ruling sheikhs engraved in Legacy Hall at the Jon L. Hagler Center, where the university’s major supporters are recognized. According to public documents, though, the land-grant university is awash in Qatari money. Between 2015 and 2023, $404 million worth of Doha’s cash made its way into school coffers, according to a federal register. Data recently obtained by a watchdog through the courts appear to show that the school actually received tens of millions more. The Aggies are hardly alone. According to a 2022 study, Qatar contributed $4.7 billion to dozens of academic institutions across the United States between 2001 and 2021. Some of the amounts are classified as “gifts” while others are labeled as “restricted agreements.” In recent months, as institutions of higher education across the US have been rocked by anti-Israel protests and allegations of inaction or apathy in the face of antisemitic rhetoric or worse, Qatar’s outlays have come under increased scrutiny over the role they may play in influencing attitudes toward the Jewish state in academia. “Qatar’s goal is not to promote antisemitic or pro-Palestinian messages, I believe, but antisemitism and pro-Palestinian sentiments are byproducts of policies convenient for them,” said Ariel Admoni, a PhD student at Bar Ilan University who specializes in foreign and domestic relations of Qatar and the Arabian Gulf. The 2022 study, conducted by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), argues that as funding from Middle Eastern countries increases – and becomes less transparent to the public – certain campuses experience campaigns to silence academics, an erosion of democratic values, and a lack of response to attacks on students’ freedom of expression. Using statistical analysis, the authors posited a correlation between schools that receive foreign funding and antisemitic or anti-Israel rhetoric, as well as allegations of antisemitic activity. According to the research, universities receiving the largest sums from Qatar have shown a willingness to align with anti-democratic norms fostered by repressive Middle Eastern petrostates, such as intolerance of certain types of speech. Oftentimes, these standards dovetail with movements in academia tamping down on freedom of expression in the name of creating a safe space for multicultural inclusion. However, critics say that the commitment to inclusion stops where support for Zionism or the Jewish community begins, with the result being an atmosphere on many of the top campuses in the US where Jews and Israel supporters feel unwelcome and unsafe. Academic investments Universities are supposed to report foreign investments, and the data is made public by the US Department of Education, which has a database online. Records published by the department show the breadth and depth of Qatari investments in US higher education. Among other schools, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh received $301 million from Qatar between 2020 and 2023. The Virginia Commonwealth University received $125 million between 2019 and 2023, and Georgetown University received $210 million between 2015 and 2023, according to the federal register. Harvard, which has been embroiled in an antisemitism scandal that led to its president’s resignation, has taken over $8 million from Qatar since 2020. At the top of the list is Cornell, which has received a whopping $1.5 billion from Qatar since 2015. Nearly every country appears on the Department of Education database, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. That includes Israel, though the amounts, which are rarely more than a few hundred thousand dollars, are almost always tied to research agreements in life sciences and rarely come from the government itself. Other countries give heftier sums, which have come with their own questions. In 2021 Saudi Arabia provided $74 million to the University of Idaho and a year later gave $47 million to Chapman University. Both amounts were reported as tuition fees or guarantees for Saudi nationals. Germany is another country that has thrown money at schools, such as the $1.2 billion it gave to the University of Pennsylvania in 2018 alone. In 2021, US President Joe Biden, who situated a namesake think tank at Penn and was paid nearly $1 million by the school in 2018 and 2019, named its president as ambassador to Germany. Public conversations in the past had focused on Chinese money and influence flowing into US universities, which also reach astronomical amounts, such as contracts worth over $140 million paid to New York University between 2020 and 2023. Qatari connections go back decades According to Admoni, Qatar’s links to American academia date back to the 1970s and 1980s. “The Qataris utilize the academic institution as an unofficial arm of the government, providing a platform where they can convey messages not officially attributed to them,” he said. Much of the money comes from the Qatar Foundation, which was set up to advance education and Arab culture within Qatar and to “promote and engage in dialogue internationally to address and influence global topics,” according to a fact sheet. The fund’s landmark project is Education City in Doha, which hosts satellite campuses of six American universities, including Texas A&M, Cornell and Georgetown. The foundation is headed by Moza Bint Nasser, mother of the Qatari emir, who has been asked repeatedly to use her high profile to intercede on behalf of hostages being held in Gaza, including by Sara Netanyahu. Online and in public appearances, though, Bint Nasser has been critical of Israel’s war against Hamas and silent on the hostages. “If the government wants to communicate a message, they organize an academic conference, set up a forum with symposiums in the capital of Qatar, and within it, statements may be made, such as expressing dissatisfaction towards the United States by the speakers,” Admoni said. “The academic framework allows them to articulate things indirectly. In other words, Qatar pursues its own agenda, and for Qatar, an academic institution is a legitimate tool to achieve their foreign policy goals.” Universities justify their ongoing collaboration with Qatar and other schools by citing the need for international dialogue, mutual cultural enrichment, and the enhancement of academic research through social diversity. Academics in the United States argue that bringing the spirit of American academia to places like Doha will strengthen liberal values and academic freedom in the face of dictatorial societies, constituting a form of soft power diplomacy. Kenneth Marcus, who leads the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which provides legal aid to students experiencing antisemitism on campus, said the cross-cultural exchanges can often bring students “indoctrinated with anti-Jewish propaganda” to campus, or send American students to places where they absorb antisemitic attitudes. “They may come in peace, but also in many cases, bring with them cultural attitudes towards Israel and Jewish communities in a way that is harmful in the United States,” he said of foreign students. “While we should welcome all people into our country, we should be very concerned about those foreign students who are bringing anti-Jewish, and in some cases anti-American attitudes.” “US students are increasingly studying on Qatari and other Gulf State campuses, which don’t have even remotely the academic freedom standards that we have in the United States,” he added. “Where there is reportedly a very high level of indoctrination, so that American students come back from foreign campuses having been propagandized and indoctrinated for a semester or a year, this then becomes a significant aspect of the climate at their home institutions.” Rising concerns On February 8, Texas A&M’s Board of Regents voted to close its Qatar campus, citing “heightened instability in the Middle East,” an oblique reference to Israel’s war with Hamas. Many, however, believe the move was tied to questions that have emerged over its ties to Qatar, particularly concerns voiced by conservatives that nuclear secrets could be leaked via the partnership. “When Gulf states invest in American universities, they might have a variety of motivations, including not only influencing the United States, but also building up their own educated citizenry. There are undoubtedly, though, a host of ramifications of these partnerships,” said Marcus, who served as assistant secretary for civil rights at the US Department of Education from 2018 to 2020. He noted that over the last 20 years, anti-Israel attitudes in academia had expanded, having once been largely isolated to Middle Eastern studies programs but now being present in a wide range of fields of study. “Even mental health programs, psychology programs, and medical schools are now badly infected with anti-Zionism,” he said. As campuses have become battlegrounds over Israeli and Palestinian narratives in the wake of the October 7 massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas terrorists, many have found it hard to ignore Qatar’s university funding and what that funding could buy. Though presenting itself as a fair mediator in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, including over terms for the release of hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 and still held in Gaza, Qatar has long hosted Hamas’s leadership and has been harshly critical of Israel. In a statement released as Hamas terrorists were carrying out atrocities across southern Israel, Doha declared Israel “solely responsible for the ongoing escalation” and justified the terror onslaught. “The Qataris excel at leveraging the Palestinian issue to draw attention to what suits them,” Admoni said. “In Western countries, particularly within educated circles, the pro-Palestinian struggle is perceived as a ‘convenient’ cause. Consequently, from the Qatari perspective, this portrayal positions them favorably on what they consider to be the right side of public opinion, especially among the youth.” According to Marcus, the draw of Qatari money also means school administrators may be less willing to call out antisemitism on campus. “It’s not at all surprising when US administrators are reluctant to impose the same discipline on foreign students when they’re getting foreign money because there is a range of pressures on them to avoid doing the right thing,״ he said. Doha’s ‘pragmatism’ As shown by the fact that it hosts both a major American military base and a Taliban embassy, Doha excels at maintaining alliances while navigating shifting and often discordant interests. Admoni noted that when Qatar was accused of funding the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda in 2017, Doha launched a charm offensive aimed at keeping Washington in its court, including cozying up to Jewish leaders. “They are very pragmatic and cynical politicians, and if they have a global goal like appearing as those who solve the Palestinian issue, they will do whatever it takes for that,” he said. “The Qataris aim to be tone-setters, active participants in the discourse, exerting influence wherever they can impact and where decision-makers gather,” Admoni added. “This involves investing in global sports, culture, politics, and academia to establish ‘soft power’ influence. It’s a form of soft diplomacy, ensuring that they cannot be ignored.” Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misidentified the Virginia university which received money from Qatar. We regret the error.
Published in Jewish Insider 3/7/24; Story by Haley Cohen Task force punts on whether some slogans chanted at anti-Israel rallies are antisemitic The recommendations handed down earlier this week from Columbia University’s task force on antisemitism painted a picture of Jewish students feeling “isolation and pain” in the wake of pro-Palestinian protests that have gripped the campus since Oct. 7. They also cited a lack of disciplinary response from the university regarding unauthorized protests of the Israel-Hamas war as contributing to Jewish students’ struggles on campus, and called for the university to more effectively investigate policy violations by creating an easier process for filing complaints. But on the pivotal question of whether some of the slogans chanted at those rallies veer from legitimate political speech into antisemitism the task force’s recommendations are ambiguous. The report states, “Obviously, the chants ‘gas the Jews’ and ‘Hitler was right’ are calls to genocide, but fortunately no one at Columbia has been shouting these phrases… Rather, many of the chants at recent Columbia protests are viewed differently by different members of the Columbia community: some feel strongly that these are calls to genocide, while others feel strongly that they are not.” The report does not, however, specifically address the slogan “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free,” which has frequently been chanted at protests on Columbia’s campus and is widely viewed by Jewish groups as a call for genocide of Israelis. According to David Schizer, a professor of law and economics and dean emeritus of Columbia’s law school, who is one of the three co-chairs of the task force, the key issue that the 24-page report addresses is the thorny matter of campus free speech — emphasizing that “everyone needs to have a right to speak and to protest,” he said. “How can we make sure the people have the right to speak and protest, while at the same time ensuring that protests don’t interfere with the ability of other members of the community to teach classes, study for a test, to hear their professors,” Schizer, who is also the former CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, continued. While the report emphasizes the right to peaceful demonstrations, it also condemns faculty for participating in unauthorized demonstrations. But some prominent leaders of the movement to fight antisemitism in higher education expressed skepticism that a set of recommendations could fix the raging antisemitism on Columbia’s campus — which has included repeated violations of the rules on protests and physical assault and other serious attacks on Jewish students. “The new recommendations have some technically good work which could provide incremental advances, but it’s certainly not the kind of thing that will solve Columbia’s problems,” Kenneth Marcus, founder of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, told JI. The Brandeis Center recently filed federal complaints against the University of California for antisemitism at UC Berkeley and American University, while the Department of Education is currently investigating Brandeis Center complaints filed against Wellesley, SUNY New Paltz, the University of Southern California, Brooklyn College and the University of Illinois for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and for discrimination against Jewish students. The recommendations come as Columbia faces pressure from donors and investigations by Congress and the Biden administration over antisemitism. It also comes in the wake of scrutiny regarding a number of antisemitism task forces set up at elite universities as a response to the surge in antisemitism that erupted following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Five months later, questions remain over the effectiveness and direction of such groups — with some experts claiming task forces have been all talk with minimal action so far. But Schizer said that in Columbia’s case, there have been months of ongoing research of university policies, including interviewing students. It aims to release a series of reports in the coming months with the goal of gaining a deeper understanding of the campus climate and providing further recommendations. The report states that while it agrees with the university’s principle that calls for genocide, like other incitement to violence, violate the rules, “the application of it should be clarified.” It goes on to encourage the university’s legal team to “provide more guidance on this issue,” and emphasizes that clearer guidance is needed, like the university has done with its rules on gender-based misconduct to include “scenarios,” “to provide greater clarity help to provide fair notice, so Columbia affiliates have more of a sense of what is permissible (even if offensive) and what is not.” Columbia administration plans to review the task force’s interim policy at the end of this semester. Minouche Shafik, the university’s president, said in a statement that the new recommendations — the first set in a series — are welcomed by the university and “will continue across a number of fronts as the University works to address this ancient, but sadly persistent, form of hate.” Marcus said it’s “good that Columbia finally has good people asking serious questions about harassment and disruptive protests,” but he added, “What’s needed is not just a few recommendations regarding the rules on protest. The fact is that there’s been antisemitic bigotry [at] Columbia University for decades now.” “It’s not as if a few changes to the protest policies are going to substantially change the institution as long as they continue business as usual,” he continued. “Much of what’s in this new set of recommendations could have been written on Oct. 6 given everything that’s happened since. What’s needed is not a series of incremental measures, but a rethinking of what Columbia is doing to cause harm, not just to Jewish students but also to the surrounding community. These recommendations may lead to technical and marginal changes in the ways that the university responds to specific incidents, and generally speaking that’s a good thing. But it’s certainly not a solution to the problem.” Marcus noted that the recommendations are “framed fairly narrow, with response to only one narrow piece of the problem.” “I know this is only one of the series of reports that we can anticipate, but if this is an indication of what’s to come, it may provide some useful professional iteration but not a truly substantial change,” he said. “It does not indicate a new mindset that is ready to deal with the problems Oct. 7 has revealed.” Mark Yudof, chair of the Academic Engagement Network, expressed a similar sentiment as Marcus, but added that he’s “hopeful” the report will bring change. Schizer, as well as the two other co-chairs of the task force, Ester Fuchs and Nicolas Lemann, are all longtime members of AEN. “We need adequate rules about speech and we need to put teeth into it and have reasonable procedures in which people are actually disciplined for violating the rules,” Yudof said, calling the report “complex.” While skeptical, Yudof also expressed praise for the recommendations — “I think Columbia’s report gets at the core problem of education and I applaud them,” he said. “I like the report and am hopeful… I would urge the Columbia administration to adopt the recommendations of the task force, but the proof will be in the pudding.”
Staff attorney Deena Margolies will lead a discussion on post-October 7 Title VI cases the Brandeis Center is actively litigating — with LDB’s Cardozo Law Student Chapter on Monday, March 11 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. While the in-person event is open only to Benjamin Cardozo School of Law students, anyone else interested in attending may join via a public Zoom link.
Featuring LDB President Alyza D. Lewin, NY Attorney General Letitia James, ADL Senior Director of National Litigation James Pasch, and Jones Day Partner Justin Herdman Thursday, March 7, 8:30-9:30 a.m. EST; All Never Is Now attendees welcome; a CLE credit-eligible event In a world grappling with social and cultural divisions, the legal system has become a battleground for addressing antisemitism, hate speech, discrimination and intolerance. This panel brings together legal experts to delve into the complexities, challenges and ethical considerations of tackling hate in courtrooms and with Title complaints. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the legal complexities surrounding antisemitism, hate speech and crimes, the challenges faced in pursuing such cases, and the potential pathways toward a more inclusive and just society. Breakout session generously sponsored by Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. CLE Session Materials Register to attend virtually More information
The Department of Education has opened 48 cases tied to antisemitism at colleges and universities since Oct. 7, most related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Published 3/1/24 in The Forward; Story by Arno Rosenfeld A federal investigation or lawsuit related to antisemitism on college campuses has been opened or filed nearly every other day on average since Oct. 7, according to a Forward analysis. The complaints describe a range of incidents, including white supremacist flyers at Montana State University and a drunken assault at the University of Tampa. Many complaints center on speech related to Israel. A student at the New School said he heard someone comment, “I wish you had been in Israel on Oct. 7 so you would have been raped, too.” This unprecedented flurry of civil rights lawsuits and Education Department investigations reflect spikes in antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents nationally during the Israel-Hamas war. But it’s also driven by an increased reliance on a legal doctrine — rooted in the idea that Zionism is part of Jews’ “shared ancestry” — that has been crafted to expand legal protections for Jewish students, especially those who support Israel. The Biden administration has encouraged Jewish students who feel targeted by increasing hostility toward Israel and its supporters on many college campuses to look to the department for protection. “This became an all-hands-on-deck moment after the terrorist attack,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said at a public briefing this month. “No student should ever feel that they are going into a learning environment where people are openly spewing hate.” The Department of Education is currently looking into 46 cases related to shared ancestry at higher education institutions, along with dozens more at the K-12 level, although they represent a tiny fraction of overall civil rights investigations. But it is difficult to discern the nature of each complaint, because the department makes little information public, and several cases allege Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism since Oct. 7. Harvard, for example, is being investigated over claims of both antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias. The cases are often called OCR or Title VI investigations, referring to the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, which oversees them. Schools are compelled to cooperate or risk losing massive sums of federal funding. In addition, there are at least nine federal lawsuits against universities tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — most also alleging antisemitism — making their way through the court system. The caseload takes so long to adjudicate, and the number of final resolutions to date so sparse, that it’s not clear whether the federal government and courts can deliver the relief that students and their supporters are demanding. But proponents of the litigation strategy say that more complaints and lawsuits are in the works, and that the escalation in campus antisemitism deserves an aggressive legal response. “Oct. 7 just poured fuel on a fire that was already out of control,” said Mark Ressler, an attorney who is suing several Ivy League universities on behalf of Jewish students. “Our view was that the appropriate way to address antisemitism on campus was to force universities to do what they’re required under federal law.” Even as some critics warn that some of the complaints are based on flimsy allegations, these remedies have offered a degree of validation for some Jewish students and the advocacy organizations supporting them. Katy Joseph, deputy director for faith-based partnerships at the Education Department, recalled meeting with a Yeshiva University student whose parents immigrated from the former Soviet Union and were flabbergasted by the country’s civil rights apparatus. “They said, ‘You’re meeting with someone from the federal government about addressing antisemitism — who could imagine that the federal government would care about what Jewish students are experiencing?’” Joseph recounted. A new doctrine covers Jews — and possibly Israel Investigations into alleged antisemitism in American schools is a relatively new phenomenon for the Education Department because religious discrimination falls outside its purview and, until 2004, that is how it categorized discrimination against Jews. This had long frustrated some Jewish civil rights leaders, who felt that Jews were getting short shrift from the federal government for viewing them too narrowly as a religious group. When Ken Marcus took over the department’s civil rights office during the George W. Bush administration, he started looking for test cases for a new category of “shared ancestry” that would allow officials to investigate cases that touched on religion. He found one when a Sikh child in New Jersey was beaten by classmates who saw his turban and taunted him as “Osama,” a reference to the infamous Muslim terrorist. Marcus believed that the discrimination wasn’t strictly religious in nature because the bullies weren’t intending to go after the boy’s Sikh identity. And it wasn’t obviously racial, either, since it was the turban that had drawn the bullies’ attention. He authorized the department to investigate these types of cases under its authority to prohibit discrimination based on race or national origin, creating a new category called “shared ancestry.” Every subsequent administration has agreed that these cases fall under the department’s purview. More controversial is the question of what, exactly, constitutes discrimination against Jews based on their shared ancestry. Marcus and many Jewish advocacy groups have taken the position that anti-Zionism — opposition to a Jewish state in Israel — is often antisemitic because many Jews identify with Israel as part of their shared ancestry. Organizations like Hillel have made this argument to colleges and universities for several years, with mixed success, and Marcus successfully lobbied the Trump administration to require the Education Department to use a definition of antisemitism that classifies much anti-Zionism as antisemitic. Many recent complaints reflect this view. A Rutgers law student, for example, taking issue with a text group chat in which other students were expressing support for the Palestinian cause, filed a complaint with the department. And a lawsuit against Harvard objects to a screening of Israelism, a film about American Jews who have become disillusioned with Israel, as antisemitic. Shabbos Kastenbaum, one of the students suing Harvard, said he was especially upset that one of the panelists who spoke after the screening suggested that Jews had internalized the trauma they suffered during the Holocaust and were now lashing out against the Palestinians. “The crux of the complaint is that someone is engaging in antisemitic tropes,” he said. Some of the smaller number of complaints filed on behalf of Arab and Muslim students also reference incidents involving speech about the conflict. San Diego State University is under investigation for an email sent to students following Oct. 7 that condemned the “horrific” Hamas attack, while expressing sympathy for both Israelis and Palestinians who had been killed. ‘A very low bar’ Advocacy groups often herald the Education Department’s opening of an investigation as evidence that their case has merit. That used to be the case, according to Miriam Nunberg, a former civil rights staffer at the department, who told JTA that a decade ago her team would only open investigations if the complaints seemed serious enough. But now the policy is to open investigations into any complaint that claims a school violated a civil rights law over which it has jurisdiction, as long as the alleged violation took place within the last six months. “The opening of an investigation does not mean the law was violated,” said a senior Education Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the department did not permit her to speak publicly on the matter. “There’s a very low bar for opening complaints.” The law also allows anyone to file a complaint, including those who have no affiliation with the school or firsthand knowledge of the incidents. Advocates say that’s important, so the onus is not on a potentially vulnerable victim of discrimination to report a problem, and because civil rights violations have a negative impact on society — not just on the handful of people directly impacted. But this low bar, critics point out, also means the department must open cases even when there is not a clear victim of discrimination, or when investigators do not believe the claims have merit. If the “shared ancestry” category has made it easier to file a suit against a college, so has the fact that no one in an alleged incident has to go to school or work there to file a complaint against it. Tulane, for example, is being investigated over the assault of a Jewish student at a protest although all four people arrested in the incident were unaffiliated with the New Orleans university and the student’s attorney has said the school is not responsible. Two years ago a single anonymous individual was responsible for nearly 40% of the 18,804 investigations that the department opened, mostly centered on allegations of sex discrimination based on the person’s review of school data about athletics. Who’s filing these cases? Though the department doesn’t reveal the details of what it’s investigating, many organizations have shared complaints they have filed about antisemitism in recent months. The Forward created a database of all known federal investigations and lawsuits based on the limited information released by the Education Department and lawsuit announcements. Though the department began releasing a list of its shared ancestry investigations in November, it does not share details of those cases, including whether the allegations involve antisemitism. According to the Forward’s review, most of the complaints filed by organizations came from legal advocacy groups like the Brandeis Center and the Lawfare Project, which focus on defending Jewish students and Israel. But these groups have a higher standard for taking a case than some other complainants. Alyza Lewin, president of the Brandeis Center, said the organization has declined to represent several students who may go on to file some of the weaker complaints independently. “They’re filed by people who are unhappy, who are upset and who feel that they want to do something, and they’re very well-intentioned when they file them, but they may very well be filing complaints that might not have a successful resolution,” Lewin told JTA in a piece published Thursday detailing the recent uptick in cases. More partisan actors have also joined the fray, including Campus Reform, a news outlet run by a conservative training center whose editor has filed at least nine federal complaints accusing various universities of antisemitism. Cardona said that his team knows that some of the antisemitism complaints are coming from people who may have political motivations, but that doesn’t change the department’s obligation to investigate. “I can’t say that we’re not aware of it,” he said. “There are a lot of things that have become politicized in this country and at the end of the day it’s our responsibility to make sure we’re thinking about the students.” ‘Vindicating their rights’ in court While the Education Department investigates potential violations of federal law, complaints filed with the agency are not lawsuits. That means students or outside organizations don’t need to hire lawyers to sue a college or university. But it also means adjudication may be very slow, and they are unlikely to receive monetary damages even if the school is found to have violated their rights. Of the 10 lawsuits filed against higher education institutions since Oct. 7 related to antisemitism or Israel on campus, four have been filed by one law firm, Kasowitz Benson Torres, whose lead partner Marc Kasowitz served as former president Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney. Ressler, the attorney overseeing the cases, has sued Harvard, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Barnard, and said he is looking for more schools to sue. Ressler said his firm started recruiting student plaintiffs well before Oct. 7. Several individuals, who Ressler described as prominent Jewish leaders but declined to name, approached Kasowitz over the summer and told him they wanted to use the courts to fight antisemitism, including campus diversity initiatives they found problematic. Federal lawsuits generally supersede administrative complaints, like those made through the Education Department, where officials said they have closed investigations into Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania after those schools were sued. Ressler said litigation, far more effectively than filing a complaint with the Education Department, can force college administrators to hand over emails and other evidence of potential discrimination, and to defend themselves in public. “American citizens vindicate their civil rights by going to federal court,” he said. ‘Pleading’ for resources It can take years to resolve a complaint at the Education Department. Investigators are handling an average of 50 cases each compared to 36 cases two years ago and fewer than 10 each during the Bush administration. Education Department officials and Democrats, along with some Jewish advocacy groups, have been lobbying to increase funding for the department’s civil rights office, arguing that it needs more investigators to handle the caseload and require schools to better protect students. The office currently receives $140 million in annual funding and has requested an increase to $177 million, although an outside coalition of civil rights groups wrote a recent letter calling on Congress to double its allocation to $280 million. “It is astonishing to me that the complaint volume is so high,” said the senior department official. “And we have been pleading for years for Congress to increase our budget.” Congressional Republicans have held hearings and launched investigations into campus antisemitism, but generally oppose increased funding for the department, calling for overall cuts to the federal budget. Marcus said the funding question was largely a partisan battle, and that only a tiny fraction of any new dollars would go toward addressing antisemitism because most of the office’s 19,000 annual cases are about discrimination against students based on gender and disability. “Antisemitism cases — even post-Oct. 7 — are such a small percentage of OCR’s total caseload,” said Marcus, who now runs the Brandeis Center, which has filed at least four complaints with the department since October. “Antisemitism should be left out of this.” Liz King, with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition that sent the letter to Congress demanding more funding, said that the “shared ancestry” cases — including those about antisemitism — represent some of the most time-consuming. “We really resent the idea that more complicated cases would fall to the bottom of the pile,” she said.
This month, the Brandeis Center and ADL filed a federal antidiscrimination complaint with the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights against the Berkeley Unified School District, over its failure to address rampant anti-Semitic bullying and harassment of Jewish students after October 7 at schools throughout the District. In partnership with the ADL and law firms Covington & Burling LLP; Akin; Dechert LLP; and Davis Polk, LDB also launched a legal helpline for parents whose children are experiencing anti-Semitism in K-12 public schools in California. And we unveiled a new website! LDB + ADL File Federal Complaint Against Berkeley Unified School District for ‘Severe and Persistent’ Anti-Semitic Bullying The Brandeis Center and Anti-Defamation League filed a complaint with the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights against the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) for failing to take action to end pervasive bullying and harassment of Jewish students by peers and teachers since October 7 at numerous schools across the District. Berkeley administrators have ignored parent reports and knowingly allowed its K-12 schools to become hostile environments for Jewish and Israeli students. Parents have repeatedly reported anti-Semitic incidents to the administration, but BUSD has done nothing to address, much less curtail, the hostile environment that has plagued BUSD for more than four months. “The eruption of anti-Semitism in Berkeley’s elementary and high schools is like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” said LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “It is dangerous enough to see faculty fanning the flames of anti-Semitism on college campuses, but to see teachers inciting hate in the youngest of grades while Berkeley administrators sit idly by as it continues to escalate by the day is reprehensible. Where is the accountability? Where are the people who are supposed to protect and educate students?” LDB, ADL and other Jewish organizations, recently filed a lawsuit to stop anti-Semitic content from being taught in Santa Ana, California public schools. Play KPIX-TV (CBS, Bay Area): Berkeley Unified targeted with federal complaint over antisemitic harassment of Jewish students videoTextBlockModalTitle × Your browser does not support the video tag. Brandeis Center, ADL, StandWithUs and Law Firms Launch Second Legal Protection Helpline – for K-12 Anti-Semitism in California In partnership with the ADL, StandWithUs, and law firms Covington & Burling LLP; Akin; Dechert LLP; and Davis Polk, LDB launched a legal helpline for parents whose children are experiencing anti-Semitism in K-12 public schools in California.The K-12 helpline, which will gather data about incidents of anti-Semitism in K-12 schools in California, is a separate initiative from the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), which primarily serves college students and was launched by LDB, ADL, Hillel International and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in response to the surge of anti-Semitism that erupted on campuses across the country in the aftermath of October 7 Hamas attacks. “Frankly, school principals and administrators should themselves be cracking down on the surge in anti-Jewish bullying we are witnessing. That is what the law requires,” stated Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “However, far too many are failing in their legal responsibilities and choosing to sweep escalating anti-Semitism under the rug. Our legal team stands ready to step into this gap and demand the protections Jewish students are guaranteed under the law.” Alyza Lewin Profiled on ‘Nice Jewish Girls’ Podcast Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin was the focus of an episode of the ‘Nice Jewish Girls’ podcast, where she discussed “The Case Against Antisemitism.” Lewin discussed her work leading the litigation team that represented the Israeli licensee of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, in the successful lawsuit filed against Unilever to prevent Ben & Jerry’s unlawful boycott of Israel. She also discussed her achievement arguing the “Jerusalem Passport” case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which paved the way for President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Play Alyza Lewin: The Case Against Antisemitism videoTextBlockModalTitle × Your browser does not support the video tag. Brandeis Center Launches New Website The Brandeis Center unveiled its new website in February. LDB’s new website puts its groundbreaking casework and resources at your fingertips. Visitors to the new website are invited to explore the Brandeis Center’s work, which rests on the “four pillars” represented in our recently redesigned courthouse logo: advocacy, education, leadership and research . Some highlights of our new website include: our Case Materials directory, which allows members of the public to search for legal filings and other documents related to our casework; an “Our Cases” page featuring key materials and information about prominent Brandeis Center cases; and a “Resource library” to help users find materials related to our work combating campus and workplace anti-Semitism – including our white papers, legal letters, webinars, surveys, and academic articles. Thank you for making us your destination to stay up-to-date about combating anti-Semitism on and off American campuses. LDB Joins Joint Statement by Coalition Working with Morningstar to Eliminate Anti-Israel Bias The Brandeis Center and a coalition of Jewish American organizations issued a statement responding to an independent experts’ report of recommended actions to remove anti-Israel bias from financial services company Morningstar’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) subsidiary.The coalition – which includes The Jewish Federations of North America, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, JLens, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and LDB – has been working for over two years to achieve this goal. The joint statement commends Morningstar for its stated commitment to implementing these recommendations by the end of 2024. Morningstar has already commissioned a follow-up report by the same experts to evaluate its progress.Stated LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus: “We commend Morningstar for engaging with us, examining their ESG product, and committing to make the changes necessary to ensure that their rating system is apolitical, objective, and honest. We believe that implementing the experts’ report is critical to achieving this goal.” LDB General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman told JNS she is “cautiously optimistic” that Morningstar will adopt the recommendations: “If they do, and we can convince other companies to do the same, I think there’s hope.” The Brandeis Center Welcomes New Staff As the demand for LDB’s services and legal expertise increases, we are pleased to welcome several new staff members to our rapidly expanding legal team, including Education Counsel Marci Lerner Miller, New York Senior Counsel David M. Dince, and Senior Counsel Robin N. Pick. “The alarming and hateful environment affecting Jewish students, faculty and staff on campuses across the country – plus recognition of the Brandeis Center’s legal successes – has led to 10 times the volume of legal inquiries we experienced before October 7,” said Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Adding Robin, David, Marci, and other new lawyers to our staff helps the Brandeis Center further deliver on its mission – to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all.” The Brandeis Center will continue to hire legal staff throughout 2024. Attorneys with an interest in using their legal skills and experience to combat anti-Semitism on campus and the workplace are encouraged to visit the job opportunities section of LDB’s new website – and subscribe to the organization’s mailing list. LDB continues to accept applications for civil rights legal fellows and law student clerkships. New LDB Fact Sheet on Holocaust Denial The Brandeis Center published an important new resource to combat rising anti-Semitism: a fact sheet on Holocaust denial. LDB’s latest fact sheet defines Holocaust denial; provides a brief overview of its history; explains why it is anti-Semitic; explains who Holocaust deniers are and the common arguments they use; and discusses Holocaust education. “Holocaust denial requires that the denier believe and perpetuate the notion that Jews are capable of a hoax so massive that Jews are capable of misleading the entire world … It is built on many of the age-old defamations of the Jewish people,” said Brandeis Center Founder and Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. To learn more about Holocaust denial, access our new fact sheet here. Julie Strauss Levin Joins Brandeis Center Legal Advisory Board The Brandeis Center added additional legal might to its already-impressive Legal Advisory Board: Julie Strauss Levin, a legal and business expert in the for-profit and nonprofit spaces. Ms. Levin was appointed by President Trump to sit on two Presidential Commissions and by VA Gov. Glenn Youngkin to sit on his Commission to Combat Antisemitism. She also serves on the Virginia Israel Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the Gross Family Center for the Study of Antisemitism and the Holocaust, the Board of Directors for Our Community Salutes, and the lay Advisory Council of the Coalition for Jewish Values. Levin’s experience includes tenure as Senior Counsel at America First Legal Foundation, Principal of IGMP, LLC, General Counsel at Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, and Deputy General Counsel at Feld Entertainment. “We are extremely pleased about Julie joining our legal advisory board, given her legal savvy and sound judgment,” said Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “As our work becomes increasingly complex, her expertise is an invaluable asset to us.” LDB Law School Chapter Launches at Georgetown University Law Center On February 12, The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law at Georgetown University Law Center was formally recognized as a student organization. LDB’s newest law student chapter was formed by a group of students dedicated to combatting anti-Semitism on campus at Georgetown Law and in the larger DC community. The Georgetown chapter has already hosted vigils, educational sessions, and community building events, including events with notable speakers such as Matthew Levitt, Robert Garson, Alyza D. Lewin, and Cliff Rieders. The Brandeis Center is excited to expand their partnership with students at Georgetown Law Center and to provide the students with access to a wide network of experts, legal guidance, educational materials, and advocacy opportunities. LDB Events at NYU Law School + Brooklyn Law School Brandeis Center New York Senior Counsel David M. Dince and Staff Attorney Deena Margolies attended back-to-back events on February 28 at schools with LDB law school chapters. The NYU Law School LDB chapter Law Students Against Antisemitism hosted a “Coffee Chat” on campus. Margolies spoke to students at this event and answered questions about Title VI of the Civil Rights Act on campuses, post-October 7. At Brooklyn Law School, Dince and Margolies joined a panel titled “A Night of Education and Remembrance: A Conversation with Holocaust Survivor Sammi Steigman.” The event was co-hosted by the Jewish Law Student Association and Students Against Antisemitism. Members from Brooklyn Law School LDB chapter Brooklyn Law Students Against Antisemitism were in attendance. LDB Book Review: ‘Judging Jewish Identity in the United States’ Check out Brandeis Center Law Clerk Hannah Fischman’s review of the newly released book, Judging Jewish Identity in the United States, by Annalise E. Glauz-Todrank. The book devotes ample space to the landmark 1987 case of Shaare Tefila v. Cobb, which established that members of ethno-religious groups , such as Jews and Sikhs, could avail themselves of civil rights protections that were established in Nineteenth Century civil rights legislation to protect against race discrimination but not religious discrimination. As Fischman writes, “Shaare Tefila paved the road to the passage of the 2004 policy known as the Marcus Doctrine (after LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus), under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which announced that discrimination on the basis of ancestral or ethnic characteristics is no less permissible against groups that also have religious attributes than against those that do not.”
Washington, D.C. (March 1, 2024) – The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (LDB) is pleased to welcome three new staff members to its rapidly expanding team: Senior Education Counsel Marci Lerner Miller, New York Senior Counsel David M. Dince, and Senior Counsel Robin N. Pick. The addition of three more attorneys to the Brandeis Center’s legal team brings the total of full time LDB attorneys to 13. Including paralegals and law students on staff, and among its law clerk and fellowship programs, the Brandeis Center’s full legal team now numbers 28 members. Mr. Dince is a former Assistant District Attorney for the Kings County, NY, District Attorney’s Office, an accomplished trial lawyer, and a veteran of several prominent New York City law firms. He has been recognized as one of NY-Metro’s “Super Lawyers.” He is an adjunct clinical professor at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches one semester each year. He was active for many years in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation where he served as President of the New York Chapter and was a member of the International Board of Directors. Mr. Dince is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He is a graduate of New York Law School. Ms. Miller, a graduate of the New York University School of Law, will work on the growing problem of anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination in K-12 public education, including LDB’s coalition lawsuit to stop anti-Semitic content from being taught in Santa Ana public schools. She is a partner in the Litigation and Government Investigations and Education Practice Groups at Potomac Law Group, PLLC and the founder of Miller Advocacy Group PC, a public interest law firm specializing in high impact litigation and education law. Ms. Pick, a University of Pennsylvania Law School graduate and civil rights attorney with extensive experience fighting anti-Semitism through litigation, will work on LDB’s swelling docket of higher education investigations – a product of surging campus anti-Semitism following the October 7 Massacre and onset of the Hamas-Israel war. The Brandeis Center recently filed a Title VI civil rights complaint against American University, with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and LDB expects to file OCR complaints against additional schools soon. The Brandeis Center also announced a lawsuit against the University of California’s regents, president, chancellor, and other officials for the “longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism” on UC Berkeley’s campus. “The alarming and hateful environment affecting Jewish students, faculty and staff on campuses across the country – plus recognition of the Brandeis Center’s legal successes – has led to 10 times the volume of legal inquiries we experienced before October 7,” said Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Adding Robin, David, Marci, and other new lawyers to our staff helps the Brandeis Center further deliver on its mission – to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all.” “David, Marci and Robin are joining our Brandeis Center staff when the demand for our services is at an all-time high,” stated Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin. “Their professional experience, legal intelligence, and passion for defending civil rights in education and beyond are a boon to our capacity to fight this rising tide of anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination. We are blessed to have them on our team.”“I am honored to be part of the Brandeis Center, doing the vital work of combating antisemitism, particularly on college campuses where Jewish students are being ostracized, bullied, marginalized and excluded – just because they are Jewish,” said Ms. Pick. “The Brandeis Center’s legal advocacy is critical in fighting hate against the Jewish people in all its forms and promoting justice for all. I am grateful to be a part of this highly talented and dedicated legal team whose cutting-edge work is having a significant impact on the legal landscape and climate for Jewish students at a time when it is desperately needed.”“I’m grateful for the opportunity to become part of the Brandeis Center’s rapidly expanding team – offering my legal experience and skills for such an important mission,” said Mr. Dince. “On college campuses and in places of employment, Jewish students and workers deserve to live their lives free of harassment and discrimination – the same as every other American minority group.” “It is truly an honor to work with and learn from the Brandeis Center’s experienced and groundbreaking legal team on the urgent issues impacting Jewish and Israeli students on campus and in the classroom,” stated Ms. Miller. “The determination I feel to spread the Center’s mission advancing civil and human rights for the Jewish people and promoting justice for all is more powerful than ever before.” The Brandeis Center is continuing to hire legal staff throughout 2024. Attorneys passionate about these issues are encouraged to watch the opportunities section of LDB’s website – and subscribe to the organization’s mailing list. LDB continues to accept applications for civil rights legal fellows and law student clerkships.
Contact: Brandeis Center, Nicole Rosen 202-309-5724 ADL, Todd Gutnick 212-885-7755 | adlmedia@adl.org StandWithUs, Jennifer Kutner, 310-245-4109, jenniferk@standwithus.org Washington, D.C., Feb. 29, 2024: The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, ADL (the Anti-Defamation League), and StandWithUs, along with four leading law firms, today announced a new pilot helpline to provide pro bono legal assistance to parents whose children are experiencing anti-Semitism in California’s K-12 schools. The pilot program selected California as the first state given a series of troubling incidents of anti-Semitism in the state’s K-12 schools. Dozens of Jewish families have requested transfers out of California school districts because of severe and persistent anti-Semitic bullying. Earlier this week, the Brandeis Center and ADL filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against the Berkeley Unified School District for its failure to address severe and persistent bullying and harassment of Jewish students by peers and teachers. Jewish students report being worried about mob violence, including being “jumped” at school. Many have said they remove their Stars of David and no longer wear Jewish camp t-shirts, and that they are learning to keep their heads down and hide their Judaism while they move through their school days in fear. In the three months after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, ADL recorded a total of 256 antisemitic incidents in U.S. elementary, middle and high schools. This represents a more than 140 percent increase from the 105 incidents reported during the same time period the previous year. Parents and other interested adults in California can go to the Legal Protection K-12 Helpline to report incidents of anti-Semitic discrimination, intimidation, harassment, vandalism or violence that may necessitate legal action. Lawyers will conduct in-depth information-gathering interviews with persons who file reports. In some cases, they may provide pro bono representation on behalf of victims and provide referrals to organizations that can provide non-legal assistance. The lawyers will also, with permission of the individuals involved, use the data they obtain to better understand the scope of the problem and report it to officials responsible for ensuring the laws are followed. If officials do not take action, they will be held accountable. “Frankly, school principals and administrators should themselves be cracking down on the surge in anti-Jewish bullying we are witnessing. That is what the law requires,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations. “However, far too many are failing in their legal responsibilities and choosing to sweep escalating anti-Semitism under the rug. Our legal team stands ready to step into this gap and demand the protections Jewish students are guaranteed under the law.” “With reports of antisemitism in K-12 schools rising significantly since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, we wanted to ensure that parents and students have a place to turn to for legal help when they need it,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “If this pilot helpline is successful in California, ADL and our partners will look toward expanding it to other states where antisemitism in schools is surging.” “Spikes in antisemitic incidents in the K-12 schools, coupled with the failure of administrators to respond with meaningful corrective action, has created the need for a more unified and coordinated educational and legal response,” said Carly Gammill, director of legal strategy at the StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department. “All students deserve an educational environment free from discrimination and harassment based on their protected identities. StandWithUs is proud to partner with this coalition to achieve this goal and further protect Jewish and other Zionist students.” The law firms that have stepped up to assist the Jewish organizations in providing pro bono legal protections are Covington & Burling, Dechert LLP, Akin, and Davis Polk. In November 2023, Brandeis and ADL, along with Hillel International, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and other leading law firms, launched the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), a helpline to assist students and faculty experiencing anti-Semitism on college campuses. More than 400 college students and faculty have reached out to report incidents and request assistance. And the Brandeis Center, ADL, AJC, the Potomac Law Group, and Covington & Burling filed a lawsuit in September 2023 challenging the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) on grounds that it failed to abide by the open meeting laws in order to introduce courses with anti-Semitic content into its ethnic studies curriculum. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits educational institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating against, or allowing others to discriminate against, students on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, and national origin. Title VI protects Jews based on their shared ancestral and ethnic identity. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights recognizes that harassing, marginalizing, demonizing, and excluding Jewish students based on the Zionist component of their Jewish identity is unlawful under Title VI. The Department of Education is currently investigating Brandeis Center complaints filed against Wellesley, SUNY New Paltz, the University of Southern California (USC), Brooklyn College, and the University of Illinois, and the Brandeis Center recently filed federal complaints against American University and the University of California for anti-Semitism on UC Berkeley’s campus. To view this press release in PDF form, click here. The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law is an independent, unaffiliated, nonprofit corporation established to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all. LDB engages in research, education, and legal advocacy to combat the resurgence of anti-Semitism on college and university campuses, in the workplace, and elsewhere. It empowers students by training them to understand their legal rights and educates administrators and employers on best practices to combat racism and anti-Semitism. ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all. More at www.adl.org. StandWithUs is an international, nonprofit, and non-partisan Israel education organization that works to inspire and educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism. Through university fellowships, high school internships, middle school curricula, conferences, materials, social media and missions to Israel, StandWithUs supports people around the world who want to educate their schools and communities about Israel. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters and programs throughout the U.S., Israel, the UK, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, Australia and the Netherlands.