February 11, 2014 Berlin Anti-Anti-Semitism Center Publishes New Research The Berlin International Center for the Study of Antisemitism (BICSA), headed by German political scientist Clemens Heni, has just issued its first newsletter. It is available on the internet, and it consists of several articles that may be of interest to Brandeis Center readers. An article by Ron Jontof-Hutter addresses the abuse of the South […] Blog Anti-Semitism
February 11, 2014 First Amendment Experts Debate Anti-BDS Bill Can Congress withhold funds from universities that adopt anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) policies? Two widely respected First Amendment experts disagree. Floyd Abrams, a leading First Amendment practitioner, argues that the new Roskam-Lapinski Bill is unconstitutional. Eugene Volokh, a leading First Amendment scholar at UCLA, disagrees. Readers of the Brandeis Center Blog will remember […] Blog Anti-Zionism
February 10, 2014 Symposium at U.K. Parliament Examines European Anti-Semitism Several important English institutions, including especially the Pears Institute at Birkbeck College London, are bringing public attention to the troubling recent findings of the major survey into antisemitism in Europe carried out by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). These groups will conduct a symposium at the House of Commons on the afternoon of Tuesday March 18 to consider […] Anti-Semitism Blog
February 10, 2014 Jewish Prisoners’ Kosher Food Case Successfully Resolved in Florida It is good to see the successful resolution today of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s lawsuit establishing the right of Florida prison inmates to kosher food. Earlier today, Bruch Rich, an Orthodox Jewish Florida prisoner, withdrew his four-year-old complaint seeking a kosher diet, as a result of a a recent court order that requires […] Litigation
February 10, 2014 LDB Congratulates ADL’s Abraham Foxman Upon His Retirement JTA is announcing Abraham Foxman’s retirement from the Anti-Defamation League. His departure comes at a delicate time as anti-Semitism continues to surge around the world and on many American college and university campuses. LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus congratulates Abraham Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League’s longtime national director, upon his upcoming retirement. “Mr. Foxman has had […] Blog Anti-Semitism
February 9, 2014 Introducing BICOM and Fathom: working to provide a more supportive environment for Israel in Britain BICOM, the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre, is an independent British organisation dedicated to providing a more supportive environment for Israel in Britain. BICOM pursues its objectives through a range of activities, one of which is the publication of the quarterly Fathom journal under the editorship of Professor Alan Johnson. With its aim stated […] Blog Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism
February 9, 2014 British High Court Denies Ahava Boycotters’ Appeal Various news outlets are reporting that England’s high court has denied an appeal by the four anti-Israel protesters who had been convicted for trespassing inside a London branch of Ahava, the Israeli cosmetics company. The four had been convicted in 2011 of illegal trespassing for chaining themselves to a concrete block in an Ahava store in […] Blog
February 7, 2014 Roskam & Lipinski Introduce Federal Anti-Boycott Legislation Yesterday Congressmen Peter Roskam and Dan Lipinski introduced anti-boycott legislation to prevent academic boycotts against the State of Israel. This bill would supplement existing federal and state anti-boycott statutes that were passed decades ago in response to the Arab boycott of Israel. Specifically, this bill would block federal funding for universities that engage in anti-Israel boycotts. Rep. Roskam’s […] Blog Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism
February 7, 2014 Jeff Robbins on Scarlett Johansson and the Anti-Israel Crowd Boston attorney Jeffrey S. Robbins has a great new piece on Scarlett Johansson in the Boston Herald today. It begins like this: Scarlett Johansson takes on anti-Israel crowd In front of the SodaStream plant just outside Jerusalem there is a statue that contains the prophet Isaiah’s exhortation: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, […] Blog Anti-Zionism
February 6, 2014 Civil Rights Hero Irwin Cotler to Step Down from Canadian Parliament The Brandeis Center congratulates former Canadian Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler for his distinguished service to Canada and the world upon the announcement that Cotler would not seek reelection to the Canadian parliament. Cotler is Honorary Chair of the Brandeis Center’s Academic Advisory Board. LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus commented, “Irwin Cotler is truly a living legend in human rights law, and […] Blog
February 5, 2014 News from London Our friends at UK Lawyers for Israel have just issued another impressive newsletter chock-full of interesting information (UKLFI Bulletin No. 62) under the leadership of Jonathan D. C. Turner. Several highlights from the current Bulletin appear below: UKLFI BULLETIN NO. 62 Hope University Liverpool allows the truth to be told Mike Fryer of Christians for […] Blog Anti-Zionism
February 5, 2014 ASMEA Research Grants Our friends at the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) have announced these research grants for academic research papers. Members of LDB law student chapters should be aware that law students are eligible for grants for research on topics such as various aspects of the law of the Middle East […] Blog
February 3, 2014 Barry Rubin, R.I.P. I was saddened this morning to learn that Barry Rubin, a brilliant and prolific scholar of Israel and Middle East Studies, had passed over the weekend. Barry had been struggling with cancer for quite some time, and his continued surge in productivity over the last year, while battling serious illness, was nothing short of heroic. […] Blog Anti-Zionism
January 31, 2014 ISGAP Announces New Lineup of Lectures on Anti-Semitism Our friends at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy have just announced this impressive lineup of upcoming events. ISGAP, as our readers may recall, is headed by LDB Academic Advisor Charles A. Small, who founded and headed the former Yale Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA). ISGAP | The Institute for […] Blog Anti-Semitism
January 16, 2014 UC Santa Barbara Agrees to Strengthen Civil Rights Protections for Jewish Students Here’s an important new success story: The University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) has pledged to implement recommendations from the Brandeis Center, and in return the Center has agreed to withdraw its U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Title VI complaint asserting that the university had created a hostile environment for […] Anti-Semitism Blog Anti-Zionism
January 16, 2014 The Misplaced Crusade to Circumcise Moby Dick—and Make “White Racism” Quintessentially Jewish Last Purim, Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind “blacked up” in an incredible display of bad taste. Jews in particular were appalled, but there’s a subgroup of Jewish professors who may have felt vindicated. Practitioners of “the whiteness school”—prominent names include the late Michael Paul Rogin, Edward L. Goldstein, Jeffrey Melnick, and Karen Brodkin—argue that for performers […] Blog
January 9, 2014 The Brandeis Center Hosts Its First National Law Student Conference The Brandeis Center held its first National Conference for Law Students in Los Angeles on January 2nd and January 3rd. This is part of the new initiative for law school chapters of the Brandeis Center. The conference focused on educating and engaging law student members of the LDB law school chapters by offering a series […] Blog Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism
January 9, 2014 The MLA’s Top Five BDS Blunders This Week LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus describes the Modern Language Association’s top five BDS blunders at The Algemeiner today. An excerpt appears below: The Modern Language Association (MLA) has blundered repeatedly over its treatment of Israel in the run-up to its annual conference this week. Technically the 30,000 member association is not contemplating a resolution to boycott, […] Blog Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism
January 8, 2014 The Purim Miracle in a Courtroom Having analyzed the decisions and judgments of Polish prosecutors and judges in cases concerning anti-Semitic and racist hate speech one may wonder what makes them so lenient and sympathetic towards the views voiced by bald and well-muscled men who are eager to extend the right arm in the air with a straightened hand and make the […] Anti-Semitism Litigation Blog
January 6, 2014 The ASA Repeatedly Chastised Over BDS Resolution The public chastisement of the American Studies Association continues. By some counts, over 100 higher education institutions have now rebuked the ASA for its controversial decision to endorse an academic boycott of Israel. But even this enumeration may substantially undercount the number of institutions that have treated the ASA like an unruly child for its […] Blog Anti-Zionism