Published 2/28/24 in Los Angeles Times; Story by Jenny Jarvie

The week after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Ilana Pearlman asked her 14-year-old son, Ezra, a ninth-grader at Berkeley High School who is Black and Jewish, if he felt safe.

“Oh, yeah, I’ll be fine,” he told her. “I’m Black.”

Pearlman, a 38-year-old midwife, wanted to cry. She moved to Berkeley thinking it would be a space where her son would not be a token Jewish Black kid, that he could be celebrated for all the things that make him who he is.

Instead, she said, she watched Ezra erase his Jewish identity as the climate at his high school became more hostile to Israel and Jews. His art teacher, he told her, projected “resistance art” — including a fist punching through a Star of David on a map of Israel — on a large screen. Day by day, his classroom wall filled with signs promoting a “walkout against genocide” and posting the daily death toll of Palestinians.

“He never tells me anything,” Pearlman said of her son, a typical video-game-loving teen. “The fact that he shared this was unusual.”

On Oct. 18, Pearlman said, Ezra’s classmates joined a walkout in which some students shouted, “Kill the Jews.”

In the months after the Hamas attack, administrators at Berkeley Unified School District failed to stop teachers and students engaging in “severe and persistent” harassment and discrimination against Jewish children, according to a federal civil rights complaint filed Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Education.

The complaint, filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the Anti-Defamation League, alleges Berkeley public schools ignored reports of bullying and harassment of Jewish students on the basis of their ethnicity, shared ancestry and national origin. District leaders, it alleges, “knowingly allowed” classrooms and schoolyards to become a “viciously hostile” environment.

Since Hamas’ brutal surprise attack and Israel’s relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip, students, parents and politicians have warned that antisemitism is rife on college campuses.

But this complaint — the first antisemitism case filed with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights against a public school district since Oct. 7 — claims antisemitism pervades public schools that teach students as young as second grade.

In Berkeley, it alleges, middle school and high school teachers organized walkouts for Gaza during school hours, sometimes leaving no instruction for students left behind in class. In another case, it says, an elementary school teacher directed second-graders to write “anti-hate” messages, such as “Stop Bombing Babies,” on sticky notes — and then posted the notes outside the classroom of the school’s only Jewish teacher.

The complaint alleges that students followed their teachers’ lead. At one middle school, students chanted “Kill the Jews” on a walkout. Some Jewish children reported that their classmates asked what their number is — a reference to the numbers tattooed on Jews during the Holocaust.

“The Israel-Gaza conflict has spiked a huge antisemitism crisis in schools,” said Rachel Lerman, general counsel and vice chair of the Brandeis Center. “We can see from the Berkeley schools that what’s going on is clearly antisemitic: When you have rallies for Gaza, with students yelling ‘F— the Jews’ or ‘Gas the Jews,’ then you have an antisemitism problem. It’s [as] plain as day.”

Responding to the federal complaint, Berkeley Unified School District Supt. Enikia Ford Morthel said the district continuously encourages students and families to report “any incidents of bullying or hate-motivated behavior” and “vigorously investigates” every report.

The district had not received official notification of the federal complaint, Ford Morthel said, but would work with the Office of Civil Rights to support a “thorough investigation.”

“We believe that classrooms are spaces where all students need to feel safe, seen, felt, and heard,” Ford Morthel said in a statement. “We work to make these spaces responsive and humanizing for our diverse students, today and every day.”

Ezra stayed in school when many of his classmates joined the Oct. 18 walkout. Pearlman said other Jewish students who attended — because they supported the Palestinian cause — left as the chants moved swiftly from “From the river to the sea” to “Kill the Jews.”

“It dawned on them: ‘This is not good,’” Pearlman said.

At a later walkout at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, Pearlman watched grown-ups unlock and open the gates for students to leave campus. Pearlman wasn’t bothered as students chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a chant that Palestinian activists say is an expression of solidarity for Palestinians but many Jews interpret as a call for Israel’s destruction.

But then, she said, the chants morphed to “KKK.” She felt she was living in an upside-down world as she watched kids moving through the crowd, asking marchers, “Are you Jewish? Are you Muslim?”

“Oh, hell no,” she said she heard students respond: “F— Israel. F— the Jews.”

She said she approached school administrators, but they did nothing.

“I don’t blame the kids,” she said. “I hold administrators responsible for not shutting hate speech down. When it comes to Jews, it’s just, ‘Eh, they’ll get over it.’”

Pearlman pushed administrators to let Ezra attend a different art class. But his new art teacher wore “Free Palestine” patches on her clothes, and told students about the mental health day she says she needed because of the war in Gaza and the protests she had to attend.

Ezra stopped going to Jewish teen events every Wednesday night. When she went over his ancestry project for ethnic studies, the only part of his ancestry he included was his Black side. He didn’t mention he was Jewish or that his ancestors were Holocaust survivors.

“I’m a little offended, dude,” she told him. “What about your entire Jewish side?”

“Eh, it’s not really the right climate for that,” Ezra said.

Chiara Juster, the mother of an eighth-grader at Willard Middle School, said students called her daughter, 13, a “midget Jew” in the hallway between classes the week before Oct. 7. After changing classes to avoid bullying from her peers, her daughter found herself in a homeroom with a history teacher who displayed a Palestinian flag and posters calling for a cease-fire. She began to feel unsafe when her teacher urged students to join the after-school watermelon club — the watermelon has become an unofficial symbol of Palestinian solidarity in protests — if they wanted to learn the truth about what’s happening in Gaza.

“Students are not feeling safe,” said Juster, 43, a former attorney. “Inside the classroom, schools need to create a really safe environment. Don’t brainwash; don’t try to influence kids with a particular set of beliefs.”

Juster pulled her daughter out of Willard. But she didn’t feel comfortable sending her to neighboring Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School after hearing students had chanted “Kill the Jews.” She is now homeschooling her daughter.

“We came to Berkeley because we thought it would be safe,” Juster said. “I never thought I’d be taking my kid out of school over antisemitism. If this were any other ethnic minority, it would not be tolerated.”

At a time when educational institutions across the country are grappling with how to balance public teachers’ and students’ free speech with rhetoric that can be interpreted as hostile or discriminatory, the complaint argues that Berkeley went too far in allowing teachers to promote personal political views.

Teachers, the complaint alleges, violated the district’s “Controversial Issues” policies that state, “Teachers within BUSD are dedicated to creating safe spaces where students can explore differing viewpoints.” Another district policy prohibits teachers from using their positions to promote a “historical, religious, political, economic, or social bias.”

The complaint accuses Berkeley teachers of using class time to “indoctrinate other students with anti-Semitic rhetoric, tropes and false information about Israelis and Jews.” It cites the example of a teacher who posted a photo on social media on Oct. 7 of a bulldozer breaking through a fence: “A historic act of resistance happened in Palestine today,” the teacher wrote.

“While this complaint is not intended to regulate the private speech of BUSD teachers,” the complaint argues, “these teachers bring their personal, biased viewpoints into the classroom and make their students feel more unsafe with their public viewpoints.”

The complaint alleges that parents’ concerns about BUSD schools went ignored for months.

In November, more than 1,300 Berkeley community members signed a letter to the Berkeley superintendent and Board of Education stating that they were “dismayed, disappointed and frightened by the district’s lack of care” for Jewish children. The letter also urged administrators to “take active steps to ensure our Jewish kids feel physically and psychologically safe at school.”

The complaint alleges a number of incidents of harassment of Jewish students by classmates and teachers. As a result, children who once wore Star of David pendants were hiding visible displays of their Judaism, the complaint states. Although some Jewish and Israeli students have left the district, the complaint asserts, others remain enrolled but afraid to go to school.

“There is no more solemn or basic obligation than protecting our children from the moment when they walk into the doors of their schools,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. “To fail so monumentally that children feel forced to hide their Jewish identity for fear of reprisal is downright shocking.”

Since Oct. 7, communities across the country have alleged that antisemitism is soaring, including graffiti and vandalism at Jewish stores and synagogues as well as physical attacks on people wearing Star of David pendants.

The Anti-Defamation League tracked 3,283 reported antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7 — a 361% increase from the 712 incidents reported during the same period the year before.

Palestinian Americans also have noted a spike in incidents of hate and discrimination. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said last month it received 3,578 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian discrimination during the last three months of 2023 — a 178% increase from the same period the year before.

Contact: Brandeis Center, Nicole Rosen 202-309-5724

ADL, Todd Gutnick 212-885-7755 | adlmedia@adl.org

Washington, D.C., Feb. 28, 2024: The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) for failing to take action to end nonstop bullying and harassment of Jewish students by peers and teachers since Oct. 7. 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.

Incidents include students repeatedly hearing anti-Semitic comments in classrooms and hallways, such as “kill the Jews,” non-Jewish students asking Jewish students what “their number is,” referring to numbers tattooed on Jews during the Holocaust, and Jewish students being derided for their physical appearance and demonized as evil. Students have also had to endure anti-Semitic teacher rants and class activities, teacher-promoted “walkouts” that praise Hamas, and even a second-grade teacher leading a classroom activity where children were writing “Stop Bombing Babies” on sticky notes to display in the building.

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, hide their Judaism and move through their school days in fear. Some students have left the district due to the pervasive bullying.

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. Instead of addressing teachers’ anti-Semitic behavior, BUSD officials have chosen to disrupt the Jewish students by moving them into new classes, further ostracizing and marginalizing them from their peers, and normalizing anti-Semitic behavior.

“The eruption of anti-Semitism in Berkeley’s elementary and high schools is like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” said Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations. “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?”

“It is beyond deplorable that in a moment of rising anti-Semitism both here in the U.S. and abroad that teachers and administrators at BUSD are falling down in their obligation to protect Jewish students,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “There is no more solemn or basic obligation than protecting our children from the moment when they walk into the doors of their schools, and to fail so monumentally that children feel forced to hide their Jewish identity for fear of reprisal is downright shocking. We must demand more from our educational leaders.”

Teacher-Organized Walkouts

Berkeley K-12 teachers have used BUSD resources and facilities to promote, support, and organize walkouts and activities denigrating Israelis and calling for the elimination of Jews. Walkouts have taken place during school hours and have entailed students leaving their classrooms, missing lessons, and exiting school buildings without parent permission.

While many schools permit excused absences only for “illness, medical appointments, funerals, religious holidays and court appearances,” teachers have offered students excused walkout absences to encourage attendance at rallies, leaving one or two Jewish students in class alone and without instruction.

Teachers watched from the sidelines while students shouted vile anti-Semitic chants, such as “Kill the Jews,” F— the Jews,” F— Israel,” “KKK,” “Kill Israel,” “I hate those people,” and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” a chant deemed anti-Semitic for its call for the removal of all Jews from the State of Israel.

Anti-Semitic Bullying by Teachers During Class

One high school art teacher spent significant class time imposing his anti-Semitic views on students, showing them violent pro-Hamas videos, projecting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic images during class, and papering his classroom walls with these images. In one image, a fist holding a Palestinian flag is seen punching through a Star of David. Other examples illustrated clear celebrations of the Hamas massacre and images that condone violence against civilians. While the principal assured parents that the inflammatory and anti-Semitic materials would be removed, they remain on classroom walls.

A high school history teacher regularly expresses anti-Semitic stereotypes and defamations in class and goes on long anti-Israel tirades. For example, the teacher recently called Israel an “apartheid” state. And she recently required her students to respond to the following prompt in class: “To what extent should Israel be considered an Apartheid State?” She then showed a one-sided anti-Israel video to her class, claiming she could not find one that presented the Israeli side and that articles that oppose the apartheid narrative were “laughable.”

A second-grade teacher taught a lesson where students were instructed to write “messages of anti-hate” on sticky notes to hang in the school hallway. The teacher wrote, “Stop Bombing Babies,” on her sticky note, and many second-graders followed suit, writing “Stop Bombing Babies” on theirs. These notes were then displayed, not outside the teacher’s own classroom, but outside the classroom of the only Jewish teacher in the school.

Peer-on-Peer Bullying

According to the complaint, “peer-on-peer anti-Semitic bullying has escalated, as students are emboldened to emulate their teachers and perpetuate the hostility against their Jewish classmates.”

Some examples cited in the complaint include how, after a Jewish student presented a project related to his Jewish ancestry, a peer student crossed out the word “Jewish” on the presentation handout and wrote “free free Palestine.” Another Jewish student was told, “You have a big nose because you are a stupid Jew” and “I don’t like your people.” That student was also told that his traditions are dumb and not welcome. Another student was called a “midget Jew,” and after a mistake was made by a few students during a lab experiment, a student commented aloud, “of course it was the Jews.”

BUSD Ignores Parent Complaints

While BUSD has received a record number of complaints of anti-Semitism since Oct. 7, including a letter signed by 1,370 Berkeley community members to the Berkeley Superintendent and Board of Education, it has ignored parent concerns, refused to discipline teachers and students who have engaged in anti-Semitic harassment, and failed to ensure the physical safety or mental well-being of the victims, many of whom are young children.

Instead of addressing the anti-Semitism occurring in classes, principals moved offended students to other classes, which caused major schedule disruptions for students who spoke out, or offered to have them sit in the health center or library, making Jewish students feel isolated, marginalized, and ostracized, and putting them in the role of defending verbal attacks from peers against Jews and Israel. According to the complaint, forcing these students to move to new classes mid-semester has only allowed the teachers’ anti-Semitic rhetoric to infect the remaining students, while forcing Jewish students to catch up on class material they missed during the first half of the semester, adjust to new teachers and rooms full of new students, and manage emotions associated with mid-semester moves. Jewish and Israeli students were also left isolated and abandoned during walkouts with no educational instruction.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin, including discrimination against Jews on the basis of their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, in educational institutions that receive federal funding.

Under the law, harassing, marginalizing, demonizing, and excluding Jewish students based on the Zionist component of their Jewish identity is just as unlawful and discriminatory as attacking a Jewish student for observing the Sabbath or keeping kosher. UNESCO has cautioned that “Jew” and “Zionist” are often used interchangeably today in an attempt by anti-Semites to cloak their hate.

The Brandeis Center and ADL, along with other Jewish organizations, recently filed a lawsuit to stop anti-Semitic content from being taught in Santa Ana, California public schools. Both organizations, along with Hillel International, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and other leading law firms and Jewish organizations, launched the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), a free legal protection helpline for college students who have experienced anti-Semitism.

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 the University of California, for anti-Semitism at UC Berkeley, and American University.

Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin will speak on the panel “Suing the Ivies: An Evening with the Leading Lawyers Fighting Antisemitism on Campuses” at Park East Synagogue, March 6, 2024.

Light dinner at 6:30 p.m. ET, program begins at 7:00.

Purchase tickets here. $25 for non-members; $20 for members. Students welcome free of charge with student ID.

Published in vtdigger on 2/20/24; op-ed article by Matt Vogel, executive director of UVM Hillel

In the wake of a landmark settlement with the federal government, there has been a remarkable evolution in visible support for Jewish students.

Jewish life at the University of Vermont has improved remarkably since April 3, 2023, when the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights resolved the investigation into antisemitism under a Title VI complaint from Jewish on Campus and the Brandeis Center for Civil Rights. In the wake of this landmark settlement — the first of its kind — there has been a remarkable evolution in visible support for Jewish students, updated policies, and improved systems and processes for bias reporting.

Since the resolution, Jewish life at UVM has improved in many tangible ways including:

Even as we have seen more students feeling comfortable disclosing antisemitic bias and harassment to our staff, we feel that comfort is indicative of a culture that encourages reporting rather than one that seemed to stifle Jewish students’ voices.

Jewish students also report that they are largely able to fully express their Jewish identity without fear of repercussion or social ostracization. There remain isolated incidents of challenging conversations among friend groups related to Israel and Gaza, both in person and on social media. However, UVM students are incredibly resilient and are able to approach the issues with nuance and depth that mirrors their academic pursuits on campus.

These leadership-level changes by the university have led to an increase in Jewish clubs and organizations and higher levels of participation in Hillel programs. Prior to the OCR resolution, there was Hillel and Chabad. Now there is a Jewish Student Union recognized by the University of Vermont and 11 additional Jewish and Israel-oriented student clubs on campus. We have seen an increase in Jewish parents reaching out to Hillel during their on-campus visits, and the Burack Hillel center at 439 College St. has seen an increase of nearly 40% in daily usage from students. 

In short, Jewish life at UVM is thriving. Even as we face rising levels of antisemitism around the country and flurries of activity on campus, the Title VI resolution and subsequent policy, systems, and process changes on campus have helped Jewish students feel better supported at UVM. In the wake of Oct. 7 and rising antisemitism around the world, Jewish students, their friends, and allies still need your tangible support, and here are five ways you can do just that including letters, baked goods, and donations. As Pirkei Avot reminds us, we are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are we free to desist from it. 

In her new volume on Judging Jewish Identity in the United States, Annalise E. Glauz-Todrank devotes ample space to the 1987 case of Shaare Tefila v. Cobb.

Shaare Tefila is critical in that it established that ethno-religious group members, 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. Shaare Tefila, together with its companion case St. Francis College v. Al-Khazraji, has since played an instrumental role in providing a legal foundation for the protection of ethno-religious groups under analogous Twentieth Century racial discrimination laws in the United States.

Glauz-Todrank though does not address Shaare Tefila’s instrumentality in enabling a large-scale revision in the way that Jewish Americans and other religious groups are treated under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, 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.

The Marcus Doctrine has since been widely adopted by federal agencies, most recently as part of the Biden Administration’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. While Glauz-Todrank omits highlighting Shaare Tefila’s vital role in such developments, her work still sheds well-deserved light on the case and allows a deeper understanding. But it is time to reappraise the importance of the Shaare Tefila case, and to recognize it as the landmark decision that it clearly was.

Published 10/25/23 by The College Fix; Story by Terrance Kible.

‘The world is watching,’ human rights group told universities. ‘Will you rise to the occasion?’

Amid rising campus antisemitism, civil rights groups wrote to more than 500 university presidents reminding them of their obligations to Jewish students and demanding protections that reportedly had been denied.

Alyza Lewin, president of The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, told The College Fix that grieving Jewish students had been denied accommodations following the Hamas attacks, which for many occurred during midterm exams.

This failure contrasted with the willingness of universities to grant accommodations after the murder of George Floyd or the election of President Donald Trump, she said.

Brandeis Center issued its letter to universities on October 12, with the Anti-Defamation League and eight other “Jewish and civil rights organizations” signing on to “express [their] shared concern about the safety and well-being of Israeli and Jewish members” on campus after “the worst pogrom committed against Jews since the Holocaust.”

“The world is watching,” the groups wrote. “Will you rise to the occasion?”

The Fix emailed Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the California State University System, Yeshiva University, and Texas A&M University to ask whether they had received the letter and to confirm or deny that grieving Jewish students had been denied accommodation requests. No response has been received.

The letter reminds universities of their commitment under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect Jewish and Israeli students from a “hostile environment.”

“Events that celebrate Hamas’ cold-blooded murder of Jews” create such an environment, according to the letter.

In a webinar accompanying the letter, posted to YouTube last week, Lewin called the denial of protections “unconscionable” in light of “what has been going on and what continues to be going on in Israel.”

Denise Katz-Prober, the Brandeis Center’s Director of Legal Initiatives, spoke in the video on hostility toward “Jewish and Israeli students on college and university campuses.”

Universities “should be issuing strong statements that demonstrate support for the Jewish community but that condemn the actions of Hamas,” Katz-Prober said.

“Pro-Palestinian anti-Zionist groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and others on campus are sounding more aggressive . . . in their language since the Hamas attacks,” she stated.

“These groups are openly and loudly supporting, celebrating, justifying, and glorifying last weekend’s massacre of Jews and Israelis by Hamas,” Katz-Prober said. “They are often described by these groups as essential or as legitimate Palestinian resistance.”

Many groups used National Students for Justice in Palestine-created banners depicting Hamas paragliders descending on Israeli civilians at the start of the attack, she said.

Protestors under the NSJP banner coincided with Hamas’s call for “a global jihad against Jews,” which was “adding to a very real sense of physical fear for students,” Katz-Prober said.

Earlier this month, dozens of Harvard University groups signed a letter that “h[e]ld the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” against Israeli civilians, The Fix reported at the time.

This is the default image
Community-Letter-to-University-Presidents-Oct-12-2023Download

Published by JNS on 2/8/24; Story by Mike Wagenheim

“If the remaining BDS controversies come off Israeli companies after this, we can finally say that Morningstar is BDS free,” said Rich Goldberg of FDD.

Morningstar, an investment firm headquartered in Chicago that manages and advises on about $264 billion in assets, released a comprehensive report on Wednesday that it commissioned to address concerns that one of its subsidiaries has engaged in anti-Israel bias.

Sustainalytics, which rates the sustainability of investment products, has long been accused of downgrading assets associated with companies that operate in Judea and Samaria, as well as in eastern Jerusalem. Morningstar convened a pair of independent experts—one of whom it selected and the other chosen by a coalition of organizations, including many Jewish ones, that have expressed concern about the anti-Israel bias—to assess whether there was a need to change course.

Michael Newton, director of Vanderbilt University’s international legal studies program, and Alejandro Daniel Wolff, a retired U.S. diplomat who served as ambassador to the United Nations, compiled the report, which investigated the assumptions, sources and language that Sustainalytics’s researchers and analysts used. 

It made seven core recommendations, including that Sustainalytics should stop taking into account the geographical location of Israeli companies and it ought to eliminate the category “occupied territories/disputed regions” when suggesting negative associations with an investment.

“This report reaffirms how easy it is for anti-Israel bias to become entrenched, and how important it is for our community to remain vigilant and engaged,” stated Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, which has acted as the coalition’s point organization.

Fingerhut added that the Federations commend Morningstar “for both its active engagement with our community, its strong stance against the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, and the significant progress it has made toward reinforcing the fact that bias has no place in financial ratings.”

Better conditions

Liad Ortar, director of Shibolet ESG, which assists businesses in implementing environmental, social and governance (ESG) guidelines and standards, told JNS there isn’t adequate research available to determine whether and how much damage Morningstar’s previous ratings processes may have cost businesses operating in so-called occupied territory.

“At the end, the role of ESG, or integrating human rights concerns in the supply chain, is to safeguard the human rights of the people that work in corporations and manufacturers,” he said.

Israeli-owned companies operating in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas or Arab-majority parts of eastern Jerusalem tend to provide better working conditions for their employees than the PA does, which ESG ratings firms don’t tend to recognize, according to Ortar.

“The Palestinian employees are much better safeguarded by Israeli regulation,” he said. “The workers are receiving pension and social benefits, insurance and holiday gifts, like any other Israel-based employee.”

The recommendations Morningstar says it will implement will be unique to their company, as there are no overarching ESG guidelines or standards that are uniform to the ratings industry, Ortar added.

“One of the main things you expect out of rating agencies is that if you bring to the table or examine very similar companies, you will get very similar results,” he said. “One of the things in general that is very challenging in the world of ESG ratings are the differences between the different companies and their outputs.”

A ‘complex’ topic

Morningstar and Sustainalytics have been under fire for several years for developing investment ratings which, by definition, lowered scores for businesses simply by virtue of operating in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, labeled as “occupied territory.”

Though Morningstar has vehemently denied being engaged in practices intended to harm Israel economically, the company has come under investigation by some 20 agencies from states across the country looking into whether its practices amounted to violations of anti-BDS laws.

Investors use Sustainalytics’s ESG ratings to make decisions about where to park their money, based on factors like how companies address climate change and how they treat their employees, along with compliance with international law.

A coalition of Jewish American and pro-Israel groups pressured Morningstar into gradual changes in its use of sources and processes to develop its ratings, leading to the removal of potentially unfair controversy ratings from more than 100 firms, signaling a 94% decrease.

“The topic of human rights is complex, and while it represents a small part of Sustainalytics’s research and ratings, it is important to many investors when they evaluate risks in their portfolios,” a Morningstar spokesperson told JNS in a statement.

“Morningstar is committed to continuing rigorous, independent research in this space, and following concerns of anti-Israel bias, we engaged in a productive and transparent process to fortify objectivity, transparency, and consistency in our work,” the spokesperson added.

The recommendations of the new report are to be implemented before the end of the year, according to Morningstar.

The report found that referring to “occupied territories/disputed regions” as a negative element of a business’s profile “is neither statistically meaningful nor analytically necessary to assess a company’s engagement in human rights violations.”

The experts stated in the report that the “focus on the affected companies and the emotive issues associated with the Israel-Palestinian Conflict Area viewed primarily through the lens of ‘occupation’ or ‘dispute’ renders this incident type particularly susceptible to actual or perceived bias.”

Another key recommendation is to evaluate human rights violations by “examining facts on the ground” rather than by “relying solely on uncorroborated media accounts.”

Critics of Sustainalytics had long pointed to its propensity for incorporating material from media outlets and other sources tied to the boycott Israel movement. This sometimes meant that unfavorable media coverage of Israel could lead to manipulated ratings.

“Reliance on credible sources does not necessarily equate to credible information that should drive objective risk analysis,” per the report. “Interested parties or non-governmental actors can generate media reporting to advance their own objectives by besmirching legitimate business activities in the Israel-Palestinian Conflict Area.”

The experts recommended that Sustainalytics “establish more rigorous procedures for assessing the underlying facts contained in media reports, regardless of the purported reliability of the media entity.”

Coinciding with that, Sustainalyitcs, per the expert recommendations, will be required to “clearly define what specific human rights a business is alleged to be violating.”

‘Cautiously optimistic’

Critics previously noted that Sustainalytics issued negative ratings to business operations on the sole basis of their operating in “occupied” territories rather than violation of international law.

Rachel Lerman, general counsel at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, has been involved with the coalition seeking changes at Morningstar. “You can treat a disease by treating the symptoms or by treating the body, and I think they’ve elected to treat the body,” she told JNS.

Rather than focusing on one business or another, the recommendations are structural and could be applied at other ESG rating agencies, according to Lerman. “What they recommend would make the product a lot better,” she said.

Lerman is “cautiously optimistic” that Morningstar will adopt the recommendations. The experts who compiled the report are due to issue a follow-up report on the implementation of their guidance.

“All of us had a tendency to be very skeptical, including myself. So, I feel like this report was a real shot in the arm,” Lerman said. “If they don’t do anything with this, then of course, it’ll be for naught. But if they do, and if we can convince other companies to do the same, I think there’s hope.”

Rich Goldberg, senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a harsh critic of Morningstar’s practices, told JNS that the true test is whether the handful of companies remaining on Morningstar’s controversies list doing business in Judea and Samaria are removed.

“The bottom line question is whether the recommendations translate to actions,” he said. “If the remaining BDS controversies come off Israeli companies after this, we can finally say that Morningstar is BDS-free.”

The Brandeis Center and Jewish on Campus filed a complaint with the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights against American University on behalf of numerous Jewish students who have been assaulted, threatened, and intimidated on campus because of their Jewish identity. Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin was the subject of a magazine cover story. And Facebook’s parent company Meta accepted LDB’s recommendation on Holocaust denial.

LDB and Jewish on Campus File Federal Complaint against American Univ. for Rampant and Pervasive Anti-Semitism

The Brandeis Center and Jewish on Campus (JOC) filed a complaint with the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on behalf of numerous Jewish students at American University (AU) who have been assaulted, threatened, harassed and intimidated in dormitories, classrooms and campus spaces. According to the complaint, AU was fully aware of the pervasive and hostile environment for Jewish students, and not only ignored it, in some cases, it chose to subject Jewish whistleblowers to harassment and disciplinary proceedings.

“Shamefully AU has repeatedly chosen to turn a blind eye to the anti-Semitism snowballing on its campus,” stated Brandeis Center chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Not only has the university failed in its legal obligation to protect Jewish students from illegal targeting and harassment, it is attempting to bully those brave enough to speak up. The university’s delinquency is reprehensible, and it only signals to the AU community there are no consequences for those who harass, threaten, assault or shun Jewish and Israeli students, emboldening those hostile to Jews even further.”

The Dept. of Education is currently investigating Brandeis Center and Jewish on Campus complaints filed against Wellesley and SUNY New Paltz, as well as LDB complaints filed against the University of Southern California, Brooklyn College, and the University of Illinois. And the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee is investigating Harvard for its failure to take action against a professor even after Harvard itself admitted the professor discriminated against LDB-represented Jewish Israeli students. The Brandeis Center also recently sued the University of California in federal court over UC Berkeley’s longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism. In response to a complaint filed by the Brandeis Center and JOC, the Dept. of Education last year reached an unprecedented agreement with the University of Vermont to address anti-Zionist forms of anti-Semitism on its campus.

This is the default image

Brandeis Center Staff Attorney Deena Margolies and an AU student
discuss campus anti-Semitism at American University

Kenneth L. Marcus Offers Insights about Harvard’s Anti-Semitism Problem

News outlets continue seeking Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus’s insights about Harvard’s ongoing failure to effectively address anti-Semitism on its campus.

Regarding U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx’s launch of an investigation into the handling of anti-Semitic incidents at Harvard and other elite universities, Marcus told the Boston Globe: “Harvard has not been willing on its own to take the type of action that is clearly required, so unfortunately more action is required from Congress, the courts, and perhaps the executive branch as well.”

In an Aish.com story on the downfall of Harvard’s and UPenn’s presidents and the double standard applied to Jewish students by campus Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, Marcus stated: “DEI offices have often acted as if Jewish Americans were outside their scope of responsibility.” When Jewish students go to DEI offices seeking support, “they will receive a cold shoulder from administrators who are quicker to support members of other groups such as African-American, Hispanics, or gay or lesbian students.”

And regarding a new lawsuit filed by Jewish students alleging a hostile, anti-Semitic environment at Harvard, Marcus told JNS: “Harvard is a ripe target for anti-Semitism litigation, and no one should be surprised to see this lawsuit filed. It may be the first but probably won’t be the last – in light of both the nature of the events they faced and also the feebleness of their responses.”

In a separate matter, the Brandeis Center represents three Israeli students who were subjected to anti-Semitic discrimination at Harvard’s Kennedy School and were met with a similarly inadequate response by the Harvard administration. Explaining the broader context for the lawsuit, Marcus added: “This is not just one random complaint. It is part of a broader effort to hold Harvard responsible for its failure to comply with federal civil rights laws when it comes to Jewish students.” In a wide-ranging Q&A story for JewishPress.com, Marcus discussed the disastrous testimony given by presidents at Harvard, UPenn and MIT: “I don’t think [UPenn] President Magill was notably worse than [Harvard] President Gay who also failed to respond in a presidential way. To me, the bigger issue…is whether these universities are willing to tackle these issues in a very serious way. Simply removing a president is hardly enough, if there isn’t a will to make substantial changes both in the policies and the culture.”

Alyza D. Lewin Profiled in Cover Story for Washington Jewish Week

Washington Jewish Week, the Jewish newspaper of record in the nation’s capital since 1930, profiled Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin in a January cover story.

The story explored Lewin’s background working with her father, and Brandeis Center legal advisory board member, Nathan Lewin to “ensure that Jews in America could practice their faith freely and with pride.” Lewin discussed her realization of “the need to make sure that society recognizes Jews are not just a religion – we’re a people with a shared history and a shared heritage…and shared ancestry.”

Regarding the hostile, anti-Semitic climate many Jewish students are currently experiencing on campuses across the U.S., Lewin told the news outlet that there is a “tremendous demand for the services that we provide at the Brandeis Center….Especially with our focus on the university campuses, anti-Semitism is spreading like wildfire.” Lewin continued: “And so, one of the things that we’re going to be working on in the coming year is growing the Brandeis Center to be able to address the dramatic increase in the demand for our services to try and ensure that every student and every faculty member and staff member on campus that’s experiencing anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination is given the support they need. And to try and better educate the administrators on those campuses to recognize and see the anti-Semitism and to take effective steps to address that harassment and discrimination so that the campuses will once again become truly safe welcoming spaces for everyone.”

Rachel Lerman Addresses LDB Tracking Anti-Semitic Incidents Across California

Speaking in the Washington Post, Brandeis Center General Counsel and Vice Chair L. Rachel Lerman stated that LDB is tracking anti-Semitic incidents across the country, with an initial emphasis on California, where some school districts have seen a wave of anti-Semitism since the October 7 massacre perpetrated on Israeli civilians by Hamas.

In Inside Higher Ed, Marcus Discusses the Recent Increase in Anti-Semitism Complaints Investigated by the Education Dept.

Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcusdiscussed the significance of the recent increase in the volume and speed with which the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened investigations of campus anti-Semitism complaints since October 7.

“They certainly seem to be trying to get the word out about these complaints and about the fact that they are open for business.” Marcus, who oversaw the OCR during the Trump administration, said that while the department has been quick to open investigations, he’s not seeing the same promptness when it comes to closing the inquiries. The lack of resolution is “becoming problematic,” he said. “It would make an even bigger difference if OCR were closing more of these complaints with changes, but the mere fact that they’re opening them and providing transparency is helpful.”

Lewin Featured in Webinars for American Bar Association and Hadassah Magazine

This month, Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin was a panelist in two separate webinars about anti-Semitism hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA) and Hadassah Magazine.

Speaking to the ABA on the topic of “How to be an Anti-Antisemite: Responding to the Growth of Antisemitism in 21st Century America”, Lewin explained how Jewish identity is made up of more than just religious practice: “The Jews are much more than a religion. We are also a people. And what makes us the Jewish people is that we have this shared, common history, this common ancestry….And the life of the Jewish people was established in Israel.”

In her remarks to Hadassah Magazine, Lewin said: “Everyone has a right to define their identity for themselves. No matter how radical that identity may seem, we respect and we welcome you to come to the table with your full identity. Yet the only people who are being told NO are the Jewish Zionists.”

Watch both webinars below:

This is the default image

Hadassah webinar featuring LDB President Alyza D. Lewin:
‘Safeguarding Jewish Students on Campus’

This is the default image

ABA webinar featuring LDB President Alyza D. Lewin:
‘How to be an Anti-Antisemite:
Responding to the Growth of Antisemitism in 21st Century America’

Meta’s Board Accepts LDB’s Recommendation on Holocaust Denial

In a notable decision, the oversight board of Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has concluded that Holocaust denial should be treated consistently with other forms of hate speech. The decision concluded that Holocaust denial is anti-Semitic hate speech, as the Brandeis Center argued in its public comment, and consequently violated Meta’s content moderation policies.

LDB President Alyza D. Lewin lauded the work of colleague Arthur Traldi, who prepared the Brandeis Center submission: “Congratulations to Arthur Traldi, whose scholarly and persuasive work was quoted by the oversight board in its opinion. We are proud of have contributed to this resolution.”

In Wall Street Journal, Rory Lancman Discusses “anti-Israel and anti-Zionist Animus” in U.S. Workplaces

In a feature about the increased scrutiny on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, Brandeis Center Director of Corporate Initiatives Rory Lancman explained that DEI’s problems extend beyond America’s campuses – and into its workplaces.
 
Lancman shared that in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks, LDB is fielding an increased volume of calls from Jewish and Israeli employees who are experiencing a hostile work environment due to “anti-Israel and anti-Zionist animus” fueled by the Hamas-Israel war.
In addition, Lancman said: “Jewish concerns and anti-Semitism have been erased from corporate DEI programs to the point where there is no training on combating anti-Semitism.” Some workers are also finding that their requests to have workplace affinity groups, also known as employee resource groups, are being denied, often on the grounds that companies have a policy of not allowing religiously-based employee groups.

Brandeis Center Holds New Capitol Hill Policy Event: ‘Defining Anti-Semitism: IHRA Briefing’

On January 30, the Brandeis Center, Jewish Federations of North America, and the Combat Antisemitism Movement hosted a bipartisan briefing on Capitol Hill, discussing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-17) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) provided opening remarks, while Eric Fingerhut moderated a panel between LDB President Alyza Lewin and former Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism Elan Carr.

This is the default image

LDB co-hosted a Capitol Hill policy event ‘Defining Anti-Semitism:
IHRA Briefing’ with the Jewish Federations of North America
and the Combat Antisemitism Movement

eJewish Philanthropy Recognizes LDB’s Leadership in Response to Increased Anti-Semitism after October 7

The Brandeis Center is pleased to have been recognized in an article by Yossi Prager in eJewish Philanthropy for our work fighting campus anti-Semitism.
 
“The Louis D. Brandeis Center…is taking the lead in helping students bring discrimination cases against their universities; and Hillel, the Brandeis Center, and the Anti-Defamation League are coordinating with the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to guide legal strategy and provide pro bono legal services to students who have experienced antisemitism on campus.” Thank you to eJewish Philanthropy, and all people and institutions who support our work .

Theater Benefit Raises Awareness and Funds for the Brandeis Center

Here’s something a little lighter for you.
 
On January 19, the organization was the beneficiary of its first-ever theatrical fundraiser. Carl Kissen’s “Jewish in an Hour.”
 
The performance educates about Judaism’s major holidays and traditions through comedic monologues and songs. A portion of the proceeds raised supported the Brandeis Center, and the creator read LDB’s mission statement to the audience. Take a look, and enjoy!

This is the default image

First-ever theater fundraiser benefitting LDB:
Carl Kissin’s “Jewish in an Hour,” produced by Little Red Light Theatre

Welcome and Blog Posts by LDB’s Spring Law Clerks and Interns

The Brandeis Center is delighted to welcome another fantastic group of spring law clerks and undergraduate interns to our team. Law clerks will assist LDB attorneys with legal casework, and interns will work with LDB’s Director of Communications on communications and policy projects.

Incoming spring 2024 intern Mika Chin (American Univ, ’27) authored a blog post introducing herself and her fellow LDB clerks and interns: Elana Shapiro (Georgetown Law, ’24), Hannah Fischman (NYU School of Law, ’24), Annabelle Enig (Emory Univ, ’25), and Samantha Wlodawsky (Univ. of Texas at Austin, ’25). Students interested in Summer internship, clerkship, and fellowship opportunities are encouraged to apply here.
 
Incoming spring intern Samantha Wlodawsky authored a blog post about an AMCHA Initiative coalition letter, signed by LDB and 118 other organizations, which was sent to the University of California Regents, President and CA Attorney General, expressing concerns about anti-Zionist activities at UC Santa Cruz.
Returning intern Annabelle Enig authored a post about the first-ever theatrical fundraiser benefitting the Brandeis Center.

Published 2/7/24 by JFNA’s ‘FedBeat‘

The coalition of organizations that has worked for over two years to remove bias from ratings in Morningstar’s Sustainalytics ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) welcomes the independent expert report released this morning. This coalition along with other stakeholders pressed the company to engage independent experts to evaluate its methodology, and we believe the report will lead to positive changes–changes that could inform and possibly reform the entire ESG industry.

The experts chosen by Morningstar, Prof. Michael Newton and Ambassador (ret.) Alex Wolff, made seven recommendations to eliminate anti-Israel bias in company ratings and ensure that Sustainalytics’ ESG product is among the most objective and accurate available.

We commend 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.

The coalition’s efforts built off work by JLens, supported by the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, which identified that Sustainalytics ESG methodology resulted in poor “human rights controversy” ratings for an extraordinarily disproportionate percentage of Israeli companies or companies operating in Israel. Faulty assumptions, poor sourcing, and flawed models threatened to deny these companies access to capital from ESG funds and mar their reputations.

Morningstar’s engagement with our coalition has already resulted in significant change. Last year, Morningstar removed unfair controversy ratings from over 100 firms operating in or doing business with Israel, a 94% decrease.

The expert recommendations, if implemented to their full extent, will ensure that Morningstar has a superior ESG product. As the expert report notes, a neutral and objective ESG rating system must operate on the assumption that companies operating in Israel should “be held to the same standards of corporate responsibility and action as any other companies operating anywhere else in the world.” The report offers pointed guidance on how this neutrality can be achieved, and why such neutrality is essential to maintaining the integrity of the ESG process.

We look forward to continuing to monitor the implementation of the report’s recommendations to ensure further progress and prevent backsliding. The ultimate measure of success remains how companies connected to Israel are rated, watchlisted and engaged.

The steps advocated by the coalition and Morningstar to improve its ESG product can serve as a model for other financial firms. We call on other firms to embrace openness and transparency, as well as the rigorous, consistent and objective methodology outlined in the report to reassure the public that their financial advice is not politicized and that Israeli companies and companies operating in Israel are treated like all other companies.

The groups engaged in these efforts include The Jewish Federations of North America, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, JLens, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, in coordination with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Hadassah the Women’s Zionist Organization, Jewish Funders Network, Combat Antisemitism Movement, Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford, and UJA-Federation of New York.

“This report reaffirms how easy it is for anti-Israel bias to become entrenched, and how important it is for our community to remain vigilant and engaged,” said Eric Fingerhut, President and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America. “We commend Morningstar for both its active engagement with our community, its strong stance against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, and the significant progress it has made toward reinforcing the fact that bias has no place in financial ratings.”

The report’s recommendations included, among others:

  • Eliminating the “occupied territories/disputed regions” incident type to prevent geographic assumptions from biasing the ratings process 
  • Examining facts on the ground in evaluating human rights violations rather than relying solely on uncorroborated media accounts
  • Ensuring international legal standards are applied in their full scope
  • Preventing third parties from manipulating ratings through generation of unfavorable media
  • Incorporating additional legal expertise, including considering appointing a designated expert under the company’s Chief Legal Officer, to evaluate human rights law-related issues
  • Requiring analysts to clearly define what specific human rights a business is alleged to be violating

“We welcome Morningstar’s commitment to eliminate anti-Israel bias in Sustainalytics research products,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). “We look forward to ongoing engagement with Morningstar to ensure the expert recommendations are fully and effectively implemented.”

“This welcome result shows what the Jewish community can accomplish when it works together cooperatively. We demonstrated that Morningstar’s ESG ratings were slanted to the detriment of Israel and companies doing business in Israel, which the ratings attempted to hold to a different standard than any other nation. This excellent report shows the Jewish community that Morningstar is committed to ensuring that doesn’t happen again,” said Ted Deutch, CEO of  American Jewish Committee.

“Anti-Israel external forces are doing everything they can to infiltrate campuses, boardrooms, the U.N., sports leagues, and the securities industry. 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. We look forward to continuing to work with Morningstar in its execution of these recommendations, and we urge other companies to follow suit,” said Kenneth L. Marcus, Founder and Chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

“Investors are entitled to research that is both objective and devoid of any anti-Israel bias,” said Ari Hoffnung, Managing Director of JLens. “Our ongoing collaboration with fellow Jewish community organizations aims to ensure financial data providers remain uninfluenced by Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions activists seeking to deter companies from doing business with Israel.”

Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus will feature as a panelist in a webinar for NYU School of Law’s Institute of Judicial Administration: “Dealing with Campus Unrest: Law & Policy,” taking place Tuesday, February 21 at Noon ET.

Click this link to register now and learn more about the other panelists.

The degree of campus unrest and conflict is the worst our country has seen since the Vietnam War. Administrators who are under attack from all sides, wonder what actions they can take to protect students and maintain a conducive learning environment without running afoul of first amendment, civil rights, and other laws.  How do administrators balance the rights of their diverse student and staff constituency? What are school entities own rights and their responsibility to public policy and society as well?