August 6, 2018 Department of Justice Hosts Religious Liberty Summit On July 30th, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) hosted a religious liberty summit, “Religious Liberty: Our First Freedom and Why it Matters.” Blog
July 26, 2018 Austrian Freedom Party Proposes Jewish Registries for Kosher Food The far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) proposed a plan that would require Jews to add their name to a government registry in order to be allowed to purchase kosher meat. The same rules would apply to Muslims who intend to purchase halal meat. Anti-Semitism Blog
July 26, 2018 Congress Introduces Bill Banning Boycotts of Countries Friendly to U.S. On June 13, a bill banning the boycotting of countries friendly to the United States was introduced in the House of Representatives. The Export Administration Anti-Discrimination Act (EAADA), or H.R. 6095, was introduced by Ron Desantis (FL-06) and co-sponsored with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (VA-06). Anti-Zionism Blog
July 26, 2018 Israel Passes Jewish Nation-State Law On Thursday, July 19th, the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, passed a law declaring Israel to be a Jewish nation-state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition praised the move as “historic”, but it has also garnered significant controversy. Blog
July 26, 2018 Congress Introduces Bill to Review Palestinian Educational Material In June, members of the House of Representatives introduced a bill to review Palestinian textbooks. The bipartisan bill, known as the Palestinian Authority Educational Curriculum Transparency Act, was introduced by Rep. David Young (R-Iowa), and co-sponsored by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA). Blog
July 19, 2018 UK Government Investigation Allows Allegation that Top Accounting Firm Ignored Palestinian Authority Terrorist Payments to Proceed A United Kingdom (UK) government investigation has allowed a complaint to proceed that alleges top accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) ignored payments to terrorists when it audited the Palestinian Authority (PA). Major donors, like the United States, United Kingdom, and World Bank, rely on such audits to ensure millions of taxpayer dollars are not diverted […] Blog
July 19, 2018 Labour Anti-Semitism Affecting Jewish Students in the United Kingdom Jewish students in the United Kingdom are blaming the British Labour Party’s recent spate of anti-Semitic statements and actions on the rise in campus anti-Jewish discrimination in the England. Anti-Semitism Anti-Zionism Blog
July 19, 2018 South Carolina Governor Signs Anti-Semitism Definition Bill Into Law On July 6th, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed an anti-Semitism definition bill into law, making South Carolina the first state to do so. Anti-Semitism Blog
June 28, 2018 German Bank Draws Criticism for Enabling BDS A new report, published by Action Forum Israel (Aktionsforum Israel) in Germany, questions the German Bank for Social Economy (BfS)’s decision to give a bank account to Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East, which Action Forum Israel maintains is affiliated with the international BDS movement. Anti-Zionism Blog
June 19, 2018 Call for Papers: The Future of Holocaust Testimonies The following Call for Papers on Holocaust testimonies, recently received by the Louis D. Brandeis Center, may be of interest to some of our readers: The Holocaust Studies Program of Western Galilee College, the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research, University of Southern California, and the Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies, […] Anti-Semitism Blog
June 18, 2018 Letter to President of Florida State University Last week, the Brandeis Center’s Director of Legal Initiatives Aviva Vogelstein sent a letter to Florida State University (FSU) President John Thrasher, urging his administration to address numerous hateful social media postings by FSU students, targeting those who are Jewish, Israeli, or simply pro-Israel. These students, who were affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine […] Anti-Semitism Anti-Zionism Blog
June 14, 2018 University of Oregon Students Pass BDS Resolution Despite Wide Opposition After several BDS fails this semester on campuses like the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Texas A&M University, and the University of Arkansas, the Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) Senate passed a BDS resolution on Wednesday, May 23rd. Anti-Semitism Anti-Zionism Blog
June 13, 2018 Mourning the Loss of Professor Robert Fine (1945-2018) The Brandeis Center mourns the loss of Professor Robert Fine, who passed away just a few days ago. A Professor Emeritus at Warwick University and leading scholar on the history of social and political thought, Professor Fine’s scholarship frequently forced critical thinkers to re-examine their assumptions and ideas as they confronted new philosophies. Blog
June 11, 2018 Columbia Professor Provokes Controversy with Anti-Semitic Statements Professor Hamid Dabashi, a tenured professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, recently posted anti-Semitic statements on his public Facebook page. These egregious statements prompted Columbia faculty, alumni, and students to send a letter to the university urging it to take action. Anti-Semitism Blog
June 10, 2018 LDB Welcomes New Law Clerks and Interns The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law is proud to announce its new summer law clerks and interns for 2018: Emma Enig, Hannah Stanhill, and Julian Yigal Krtiz. Blog
June 8, 2018 King’s College London Adopts International Definition of Anti-Semitism King’s College London unanimously adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, becoming one of the first British universities to do so. The decision follows a number of instances of harassment of Jewish students at the university. Anti-Semitism Blog
June 7, 2018 Anti-Semitic Cartoon to be Removed from Textbooks in Belgium An overtly anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comic featured in Belgian geography textbooks, to which the International Legal Forum first brought attention to, will now be removed from subsequent editions of the textbook. Anti-Semitism Blog
June 6, 2018 German Intelligence Agency Classifies BDS as Anti-Semitism The German domestic intelligence agency, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, has recently labeled the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement as anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism Anti-Zionism Blog
June 6, 2018 Trial Date Set for Lawfare Project Anti-Semitism Lawsuit Against SFSU A trial date of March 4, 2019 has been set for a lawsuit brought against San Francisco State University (SFSU) by two Jewish students. This lawsuit, which was originally filed in June of last year and re-filed on January 30, 2018, alleges that SFSU was complicit in the “intentional and discriminatory exclusion of Hillel and its members from the ‘Know Your Rights’ fair.” Blog Litigation
June 1, 2018 American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists Speaker Series with Richard D. Heideman Our colleagues at the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (AAJLJ) are hosting Richard D. Heideman, Senior Counsel of Heideman Nudelman & Kalik, P.C., on June 11th as part of their speakers’ series. Blog
June 1, 2018 Rachel Lerman Explains the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act in Newsweek The Louis D. Brandeis Center’s Vice President, L. Rachel Lerman, Esq., published an op-ed yesterday in Newsweek, supporting the newly introduced Anti-Semitism Awareness Act. Anti-Semitism Blog