February 18, 2014 Anti-Boycott Legislation, Free Speech and Academic Freedom: A Response to Ed Beck and the International Grass Roots Faculty Committee For Academic Freedom and Integrity Yesterday, The Algemeiner published my article on “Legislating Against BDS.” In this article, I argue that Representatives Roskam and Lipinski have done creditable service in introducing legislation that would bar federal funding of universities that boycott Israel. Although their initial bill may not be perfect, it has provoked a healthy conversation about how legislatures can […] Anti-Semitism Anti-Zionism Blog
February 17, 2014 Securing a Thriving Jewish Future The Jewish Faculty Roundtable (JFR) has brought to our attention an interesting set of seven online focus groups that the Government of Israel and the Jewish Agency are currently running on “Securing A Thriving Jewish Future.” Like JFR, the Brandeis Center is most interested in higher education issues, so we were drawn to the focus […] Blog
February 17, 2014 Max Blumenthal’s ‘Goliath’ and the Mainstreaming of Anti-Semitism Activists devoted to promoting boycott campaigns against Israel and maligning the Jewish state as illegitimate and uniquely evil knew already what to expect when Max Blumenthal’s book Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel was published last October. As Blumenthal himself emphasized in the acknowledgements at the end of his book, sites like the Electronic […] Anti-Semitism Anti-Zionism Blog
February 17, 2014 Legislating Against BDS LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus has just published this article in The Algemeiner: The backlash continues against the anti-Israel boycott resolution that the American Studies Association adopted last month. Over 200 university presidents have distanced themselves from it. Numerous other organizations, including the American Association of University Professors, have condemned it too. Some critics argue that […] Anti-Semitism Anti-Zionism Blog
February 16, 2014 Pro-Israel Lawyers’ Groups Forming in South Africa and the Netherlands Our friends at the London-based UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) have announced, in their latest bulletin, the upcoming formations of promising lawyers’ groups in South Africa and the Netherlands. UKLFI notes that the only NGO in the world that does casework similar to their own is the Louis D. Brandeis Center and that the creation of […] Anti-Semitism Anti-Zionism Blog
February 16, 2014 French Courts Treat BDS as a Hate Crime The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) has an interesting article on successful French efforts to prosecute BDS activists for hate crimes. The article, appearing this weekend in Ha’aretz and elsewhere, is entitled, “BDS a hate crime? In France, legal vigilance punishes anti-Israel activists.” JTA reports that “some 20 pro-BDS activists have been convicted under the so-called Lellouche […] Anti-Semitism Anti-Zionism Blog
February 13, 2014 BDS Fail at Riverside Jewish students and activists are claiming victory this morning after beating back yet another anti-Israel boycott resolution at the University of California at Riverside in the early hours of this morning. Professionals at StandWithUs, a leader in the battle against Israel boycotts, divestments, and sanctions (BDS), report that the final vote on this divisive measure was […] Anti-Semitism Anti-Zionism Blog
February 12, 2014 Anti-Semitism Around the World Last Week An organization called “Students for Israel” disseminates a useful weekly digest of anti-Semitic incidents, as well as articles about anti-Semitism, from around the world. Here is a selection of the incidents that SFI is reporting this week: Why does Facebook do such a terrible job dealing with Antisemitism on their website? Dexter Van Zile on Antisemitism […] Anti-Semitism Blog
February 11, 2014 BDS Returns to Campus — And it is Time to Fight Back BDS is back on American college campuses, especially on the West Coast — if indeed it ever left. For the last several months, public attention has been focused on successful boycott campaigns staged by anti-Israel groups at American academic associations such as the American Studies Association and the Asian American Studies Association. Now the […] Blog
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 […] Anti-Semitism Blog