campus antisemitism - Brandeis Center

Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin will present in this “Touro Talks 2024 Distinguished Lecture Series” Zoom event co-sponsored by Robert and Arlene Rosenberg and the Jewish Law Institute at Touro Law Center. Read more information about this event here.

Contact: Nicole Rosen 202-309-5724

Complaint accuses Harvard of being “deliberately indifferent” and adopting double standard when it comes to Jew-hatred

Washington, D.C., May 22, 2024: The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law is suing Harvard University for leaving “cruel anti-Semitic bullying, harassment, and discrimination” unaddressed for years, pre- and post-10/7. According to the complaint, “when Harvard is presented with incontrovertible evidence of anti-Semitic conduct, it ignores and tolerates it. Harvard’s permissive posture towards anti-Semitism is the opposite of its aggressive enforcement of the same anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies to protect other minorities.”

The waffling this week and last when it came to enforcing consequences for protestors who violated numerous university rules and harassed, threatened and intimidated Jewish students is another example of what is described in this lawsuit.

The complaint was filed today in the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The legal team includes Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC, as well as Vogel Law Firm PLLC, Libby Hoopes Brooks & Mulvey PC, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, and the Brandeis Center.

According to the complaint, daily since 10/7, Harvard students and faculty have called for violence against Jews and celebrated Hamas’ terrorism. Student protestors have occupied and vandalized buildings, interrupted classes, and exams, and made the campus unbearable for their Jewish and Israeli classmates. Professors, too, have explicitly supported anti-Jewish and anti-Israel terrorism, and spread anti-Semitic propaganda in their classes. Jewish students are bullied and spat on, intimidated, and threatened, and subject to verbal and physical harassment.

Harvard’s student message board provides a window into the toxic environment for Jewish students. It is filled with vile anti-Semitic slurs, threats and conspiracy theories, including calls for Jews to “cook” and the Harvard Hillel to “burn[ ] in hell,” and an anti-Semitic cartoon resembling Nazi-era propaganda that depicts a hand etched with a Star of David and a dollar sign holding a noose around the necks of what appear to be a black man and an Arab man. The cartoon was posted not only by student groups but also by faculty.

Jewish students report self-censoring, both in and out of the classroom, and avoid taking certain classes, attending certain events, or traversing certain areas on campus out of fear that they will be physically or verbally abused. Jewish and Israeli students report feeling isolated, unwelcomed, and unable to enjoy the educational rights and benefits to which they are legally entitled. One of the students mentioned in the complaint describes how she literally hides in her room and avoids public spaces, including her research lab, for fear of being harassed and attacked.

Detailed in the complaint are numerous examples documenting how Harvard, pre- and post-10/7, has deliberately ignored anti-Semitic incidents and threats to Jewish students, while supporting and protecting students and faculty perpetrators, allowing anti-Semitism to grow and flourish. According to the complaint, “Harvard’s message was clear: discrimination, harassment, or violence is acceptable so long as it is directed at Israelis and Jews.”

For example, when right after 10/7 a thousand protestors showed up at Harvard calling for genocide against Jews and began harassing, intimidating, and threatening Jewish students, Harvard’s first action was to form a task force to protect the individuals spewing the vile anti-Semitic hatred. In fact, according to the complaint, Harvard held itself out as a resource for helping perpetrators erase their digital footprint and hide their actions.

Another example involves the physical assault of a Jewish student. When protestors realized a student was Jewish and/or Israeli, from a blue bracelet he was wearing in solidarity with Israel, a mob swarmed and surrounded him, and began physically accosting him and yelling in his face. The student pleaded with them to stop but, assailants violently grabbed him, pushed him, and he was physically attacked until he was ultimately able to escape the mob. The assault was captured on video, yet Harvard took no action to redress the physical assault. And even now that the perpetrators have been charged with criminal assault and battery, Harvard has yet to discipline, suspend, or expel the attackers, or remove them from their leadership positions. In fact, it is believed that Harvard staff have assisted some of the perpetrators in their criminal hearing.

A further example involves an incident from a year ago when three Israeli students were intentionally discriminated against and tormented throughout a course that they took at Harvard Kennedy School with Professor Marshall Ganz. After they proposed a project about their Israeli Jewish identity, Arab and Muslim classmates objected, complaining that the idea of a “Jewish democracy” was “offensive.” The professor and teaching fellows agreed. The professor compared the existence of a “Jewish state” to “white supremacy,” and threatened the students with “consequences” if they proceeded with the topic. When the students persisted, Ganz’s misconduct metastasized into repeated taunting and humiliation throughout the course. Ganz then lowered the students’ grades as a “consequence” for their refusal to change their topic.

After the Brandeis Center sent a complaint to the university, in March 2023, Harvard launched a third-party-investigation, which agreed with the Brandeis Center and concluded Ganz had illegally created “a hostile education environment,” denied the Israeli students “a learning environment free from bias,” and “denigrated” them “on the basis of their Israeli national origin and Jewish ethnicity and ancestry.” Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf accepted the investigator’s findings and committed to addressing the illegal harassment and discrimination. Yet to date Harvard has not announced the incident, publicly apologized for the discrimination, fired or suspended the professor or disciplined the teaching assistants. It has not even provided training to prevent anti-Semitism or anti-Israel bias in the future. Instead, Harvard’s magazine profiled Ganz and touted him as a civil rights hero.

“For years Harvard’s leaders have allowed the school to become a breeding ground for hateful anti-Jewish and radical anti-Israel views,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. “An outside investigator warned of the problem more than a year ago, Harvard Kennedy School’s Dean acknowledged it, and yet crickets. When are university leaders going to learn that in order to prevent your school from becoming a cesspool of anti-Semitism action is required? Schools must hold students and faculty accountable. They must follow through with public consequences when Jews are harassed and discriminated against like they would for any other minority group, as required by law.”

According to the Brandeis Center complaint, “Jews are fair game” at Harvard. “Students and faculty can harass and discriminate against Jews, and they can do so openly and with impunity.” And making matters even worse, “Harvard will go out of its way to protect anti-Semitic protestors and conspiracy-theorists.” It goes on to say that had Jewish students been “members of any other protected class, Harvard would have disciplined the offenders swiftly and vigorously.”

The complaint documents how Harvard aggressively enforces anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies to protect other minorities, and it cites numerous examples over the last few years where the school has been vigilant to oust students or force out professors for taking positions that do not fit with school’s philosophy, vision, and policies.

The lawsuit alleges that Harvard has violated numerous of its own policies as well as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of 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 on the basis of 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. In fact, according to President Biden’s U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, released in May 2023, “Jewish students and educators are targeted for derision and exclusion on college campuses, often because of their real or perceived views about the State of Israel. When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or their identity, when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism. And that is unacceptable.” In 2023, Harvard received $676 million in federal funding. The Department of Education and the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee are currently investigating Harvard for anti-Semitism.

Contact: Nicole Rosen 202-309-5724

Washington, D.C., May 16, 2024: The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law today filed a federal civil rights complaint against the University of Santa Barbara (UCSB) for leaving its own student government president, Tessa Veksler, utterly vulnerable to severe and persistent anti-Semitic bullying, harassment, intimidation, and threats. The harassment escalated to such a degree it forced Veksler to stay off campus during the end of the fall semester and take her exams online. The Brandeis Center is representing Veksler.

Veksler was elected president of the UCSB Associated Students (AS) in April 2023, making history by becoming the school’s first Sabbath observant student body president. She is the daughter of Soviet refugees who fled Jewish persecution, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine compelled her to run. According to Veksler, her parents came to the U.S. in search of a society where they could live freely from anti-Semitism. Yet, a generation later, she is facing anti-Semitic hate for serving her university.

According to the complaint, Veksler has been targeted relentlessly on social media and at her student government office by her peers on the basis of an integral component of her Jewish identity, namely, her “Zionism,” which recognizes that Jews are part of a people with an ancestral connection to Israel. Threats such as, “you can run but you can’t hide, Tessa Veksler;” attacks calling her a Zionist dog, racist, and fascist; and repeated accusations that she is unfit to serve in her elected position due to her Jewish identity, have plagued her since October 7. Just last month, in a poster featuring Veksler and other students, a photo of Veksler’s face was violently slashed. The constant harassment has left Veksler fearful for her physical safety on campus, negatively impacted her mental health, adversely affected her academic performance, and undermined her ability to lead student government.

“No individual should ever have to experience what I went through as a Jewish student at UCSB – harassment, intimidation, threats, and character assassination all in the form of pure anti-Semitic hatred,” stated Veksler. “Despite the challenges I have faced, I knew that nothing would stop me from standing up for the Jewish community, maintaining my democratically-elected position, and pursuing justice for myself after being relentlessly targeted on the basis of my Jewish identity.”

The situation began online where Veksler was repeatedly cyberbullied and doxed. And after it was left unchecked by the university for numerous months, the harassment migrated to the campus. In February, students plastered signs throughout the Multicultural Center, where Veksler’s student government office is located, threatening her and making it clear Veksler is unwelcome on campus and should be excluded. The messages on posters stated: “Zionists are not welcome,” “Zionists not welcome,” “Ziofascists GTFO [get the f**k out],” “Zionists not allowed,” “AS president is racist Zionist,” and “Get these Zionists out of office.” Some of the posters contained ominous warnings directed at Veksler.

The harassment was further publicized to the entire student body community when photographs were posted on UCSB Multicultural Center’s official Instagram account. The harassment continued online with demeaning messages and veiled threats that included, “You are disgusting. Zionists are NOT welcome in the MCC [Multicultural Center]. We will not back down and we WILL take action.” One post stated, “Zionist dog is sad she can’t harass the non-white students she presides over :(,” and another remarked, “Everyone, take a moment of your time to feel bad for this genocide-supporting racist piece of shit,” and “f**k your white comfort in stealing a multicultural center.” Other posts invoked age-old anti-Semitic tropes including the greedy Jew and claims Jews cannot be trusted to hold elected office.

Some of the harassing messages suggested Jews are not a minority group and do not belong at the Multicultural Center at all.

According to the complaint, the university has largely ignored the harassment, threats, and attacks, failing to stop the harassment or adequately address the hostile environment, and the few steps it has taken have been severely insufficient. It has failed to even put out a statement specifically condemning anti-Semitic efforts to bully and intimidate its own Jewish student president.

The Brandeis Center demands UCSB conduct an immediate and full investigation of the discriminatory and harassing behavior against Veksler and take appropriate disciplinary action against perpetrators. To prevent future incidents like this, they also urge the university to issue a statement clearly and specifically condemning anti-Semitic harassment and efforts to shun and marginalize Jewish students based on the Zionist component of their Jewish identity and commit to conducting anti-Semitism education and training of faculty, students and staff.

“What has been allowed to happen to Tessa over many months – shaming, harassing, and shunning a student until they disavow a part of their Judaism – is shameful and illegal,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. “Sadly, this is not the first time we are seeing this mob behavior against a Jewish student elected by their student body to serve. It is incumbent upon UC Santa Barbara and all universities to say enough is enough.”

Brandeis Center attorneys also represented Rose Ritch when anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination led to her resignation as University of Southern California’s (USC) student government vice president and Max Price, a Tufts student government official similarly threatened with impeachment and disciplinary hearings. Ritch and Price were both attacked for the Zionist component of their Jewish identity. After the Brandeis Center intervened, Students for Justice in Palestine withdrew their call to impeach Price. The Department of Education is currently investigating USC.

Title VI 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 unlawful. UNESCO has cautioned that “Jew” and “Zionist” are often used interchangeably today in an attempt by anti-Semites to cloak their hate. According to President Biden’s U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, released in May 2023, “Jewish students and educators are targeted for derision and exclusion on college campuses, often because of their real or perceived views about the State of Israel. When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or their identity, when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism. And that is unacceptable.”

Last week the Brandeis Center and ADL filed civil rights complaints against Pomona and Occidental Colleges for severe anti-Semitic bullying, intimidation and physical threats. And the Department of Education opened an investigation into a complaint filed by the Brandeis Center and ADL about “severe and pervasive” anti-Semitism in Berkeley K-12 public schools.

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. More at www.brandeiscenter.com

Brandeis Center/ADL file federal complaints with U.S. Dept of Education

Contact: Brandeis Center, Nicole Rosen 202-309-5724 l nicole@rosencomm.com

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

Washington, D.C., May 9, 2024: The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today announced they have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against two California colleges — Occidental and Pomona — for permitting severe discrimination and harassment of Jewish students in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Arnold & Porter joined the Brandeis Center and ADL in the filing against Pomona College.

Since 10/7, Jewish and Israeli students on both campuses have been verbally harassed and physically surrounded, followed, threatened, and intimidated by protestors. They have been shouted at, told to “go back to the gas chambers,” and called “kike,” “f**king Jew,” “f**king Zionist,” and “murderer.” Many have been obstructed from moving freely about campus and cannot carry out their jobs or partake in educational opportunities as a result of anti-Semitic bullying, and some have even been physically assaulted. Many Jewish students confine themselves to their dorm rooms or refrain from participating in certain educational and/or extracurricular activities, avoiding certain dining halls or cafés, common areas on campus, and campus events to avoid anti-Semitic harassment. Several have transferred to other schools due to persistent anti-Semitism.

“Jewish students on these campuses are hiding in their dorms and avoiding their own campus rather than risk verbal and physical attacks,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. “Pomona and Occidental know full well this is happening. But instead of enforcing the law and their own policies, they are caving to the anti-Semitic mob and letting them bully, harass, and intimidate Jewish students. Anti-Semitism left unaddressed will not go away. It will only snowball and escalate until the problem is faced head on as the law requires.”

“There’s simply no excuse for the persistent and pervasive antisemitic harassment being faced by Jewish students at Occidental and Pomona colleges,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director. “No student should be forced to transfer due to continual harassment. We urge the U.S. Department of Education to investigate these schools for potential civil rights violations and to take effective measures to protect Jewish students on these campuses.”

Occidental College

Occidental is fully aware of the pervasive and hostile environment for Jewish students, and has ignored and enabled it.

The complaint details how Jewish students were forced out of school-sponsored employment opportunities due to severe and pervasive anti-Semitic environments. Many Jewish students chose to leave their jobs rather than continue to subject themselves to anti-Semitic attacks, Holocaust inversion, and harassment while others chose to take unsafe routes home rather than continue to be harassed.

At every turn, Occidental has put its Jewish students last, swiftly enforcing policies against its Jewish students while continuing to ignore the same or similar violations from the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic crowd. Jewish students are harassed and obstructed daily on campus, in their dorms, in the dining hall, and more. One particularly egregious incident occurred when anti-Semitic protests occupied and vandalized the central administrative building for nearly a week. Despite several warnings to the trespassing students and staff, Occidental forwent enforcing school policies and instead capitulated to the occupiers’ demands. Occidental sent a clear message – when the victims of violations are Jewish, the rules will not be enforced.

Faculty at Occidental have also played a role in encouraging the anti-Semitic environment. One professor told her students she felt “invigorated” by the Hamas terrorist attack and encouraged students to share her excitement. Others have participated in pro-Hamas chanting and made anti-Semitic statements. More than 60 faculty members sent an email denying that Hamas’ actions were terrorism. The school has said nothing to condemn these anti-Semitic declarations, sending a green light to students that this behavior is permitted.

Pomona College

The already hostile environment for Jewish students at Pomona took a turn for the worse immediately following the October 7 terrorist attack with various student groups and members of the faculty loudly supporting the murderous Hamas attacks, blaming the Israeli victims, and creating a shrine honoring the Hamas terrorists. Pomona students blocked access to buildings, interfered with classes and school events, and harassed current and prospective students. At first, the Pomona administration did very little to remedy the hostile environment. But as the situation deteriorated, President G. Gabrielle Starr eventually began to respond. But despite her laudable, albeit belated efforts to address growing antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on campus, Pomona failed to eliminate the hostile environment, in part, because the opposition from pro-Hamas students and faculty had already grown too strong.

Multiple incidents of physical violence and intimidation occurred during the numerous explicitly pro-Hamas protests that took place at Pomona. For example, during one demonstration, protestors surrounded Jewish students who were putting up posters of hostages, physically preventing them from hanging the posters. The protestors then followed the Jewish students and a Jewish adult staff member, obstructed their paths, verbally harassed them, and tore up at least 300 of the Jewish students’ pre-approved flyers. Later that day a protestor saw one of the Jewish students and aggressively pushed him into a wall. The Jewish student was then tailed by other protestors who threatened and intimidated him. The school has taken no action and school security has even refused to watch security footage of the protest incident. Most Jewish students sheltered in in their dorms or left campus entirely for their safety, missing classes to avoid the physically hostile demonstrators.

Another protest was so disruptive, including loud antisemitic chants and the blocking of entrances, forcing President Starr to cancel her Family Weekend Address. During another protest, when a student tried to move past the demonstrators to attend the Harry Potter Dinner, an annual Pomona tradition, the demonstrators blocked and grabbed him. Protestors have also disrupted and harassed prospective student tours to such a degree that one prospective student started sobbing. The message was clear: Jewish families and Jewish students are not welcome at Pomona. During a recent protest, President Starr had to call the police to protect herself and the Pomona community at large, resulting in nineteen arrests for criminal trespass and obstruction of justice. This conduct has ensued despite President Starr’s warnings to the Pomona community, her attempts to impose order on campus, and her efforts to offer support to the victimized Jewish and Israeli students.

“I have seen anti-Semitism here grow tremendously in the last 3 years,” stated Pomona student, Ayelet Kleinerman. “I have raised it with the administration many times, but even when they had the opportunity to take it seriously, they didn’t. They’ve called the police for their own safety, but they are not doing enough to protect Jewish students. From hate speech to retaliation in class and outside it to the mob that is occupying our campus and has taken over much of campus life, Jewish students are scared.”

Earlier this week the Department of Education opened an investigation into a complaint filed by the Brandeis Center and ADL about “severe and pervasive” anti-Semitism in Berkeley K-12 public schools.

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.

Shared-Ancesty-Dear-Colleague-Letter-Final Download

Published by WFXT-TV (Boston 25) on 5/2/24; Story by Maria Papadopoulos

AMHERST, Mass. — The University of Massachusetts-Amherst has failed to address a “hostile antisemitic environment” against Jewish students on its campus, according to a federal complaint filed this week by the Anti-Defamation League.

The complaint, filed by the ADL and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law on Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, comes amid ongoing protests over the Israel-Hamas war seen at colleges and universities nationwide and concerning reports of antisemitic activity on college campuses across America.

The complaint alleges that UMass-Amherst has failed to address “severe discrimination and harassment of Jewish and Israeli students,” including a violent assault against a Jewish student. The complaint seeks remedies under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“Even after a violent antisemitic assault on campus, UMass has done nothing to make Jewish students feel safe and, infuriatingly, this assault is the tip of the iceberg – part of a persistent pattern of enabling hate against Jews,” Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and national director, said in a statement. “This is a textbook example of an administration that is deliberately indifferent and negligent – the U.S. Department of Education must intervene immediately.”

UMass is among several schools where concerns have been raised about antisemitism on campus.

In February, the co-chairperson of Harvard University’s talk force on antisemitism resigned amid concerns that the prestigious Ivy League school would not act on the group’s recommendations. That same month, Harvard condemned what it called a “flagrantly antisemitic cartoon” that an undergraduate group posted on social media.

House Republicans this week launched an investigation into federal funding for universities amid the campus protests and reports of growing antisemitism on college and university campuses, The Associated Press reported.

“We will not allow antisemitism to thrive on campus, and we will hold these universities accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on campus,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Dylan Jacobs, a senior at UMass-Amherst, was called an antisemitic slur and then punched and kicked repeatedly by another student in an attack corroborated by multiple eyewitnesses, according to the complaint.

“A small Israeli flag was ripped from his hand, stabbed and thrown in a trash can. While UMass-Amherst was quick to condemn the attack, it did little beyond that,” the ADL said in a statement. “Instead, it spent nearly six months ignoring the incident, despite requests from the victim to address the matter.”

Jacobs was subsequently given a no-contact order and “told he must stay away from members of Students for Justice in Palestine,” who could still approach Jacobs, the ADL said.

“This could effectively create a situation in which Mr. Jacobs is in violation of the directive through no fault of his own. But, without explanation, the SJP members were not subjected to a no-contact order,” the ADL said. “UMass-Amherst failed to provide Mr. Jacobs with any information regarding the basis of said no-contact directive and effectively established a potentially dangerous dynamic.”

University officials have yet to hold Jacobs’ attacker accountable, Kenneth Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights for George W. Bush and Donald Trump, said in a statement.

“A Jewish student was charged at and repeatedly and violently punched and kicked for holding an Israeli flag at a Hillel Bring Them Home event, and what did the university do? They issued a statement urging ‘peaceful advocacy’ and simultaneously condemned Islamophobia,” Marcus said. “Adding insult to injury, it took them five months to hold a hearing on the violent assault and they have yet to hold the attacker accountable.”

“What kind of message does this send to the UMass community? It is no wonder anti-Semitic protestors continue to block entrances and exits to buildings, call for violence against Jews, harass and intimidate Jewish students, disrupt events and spew anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” Marcus said. “Following the law, holding perpetrators accountable and issuing consequences is not rocket science. It’s beyond shameful that we have to call in the Department of Education to get a school to address a violent anti-Semitic assault and ensure other students aren’t similarly attacked.”

The complaint cites additional examples of antisemitic incidents including “genocidal chants, antisemitic slurs, and physical threats.”

“There were statements from UMass-Amherst student groups praising Hamas’s terrorism as justified ‘resistance,’ and disruptive pro-Hamas protests that prevented people from physically entering or exiting buildings, working, or studying,” the ADL said.

“There was also online harassment of Jewish students in a group chat, which included derogatory, vile, and antisemitic language. This rhetoric was so egregious that a perpetrator’s account was banned from a UMass public school page,” the ADL said.

The complaint urges the Office for Civil Rights “to compel the university’s administration to implement a series of measures necessary to secure the safety of Jewish students at UMass, including issuing a public statement condemning antisemitic hostility and the BDS movement, urging the university to incorporate the IHRA working definition of antisemitism into its campus policies to better recognize the types of antisemitic discrimination confronting Jewish students, and providing mandatory antisemitism training to university administrators, faculty, students and staff.”

Brandeis Center Director of Corporate Initiatives and Senior Counsel, Hon. Rory Lancman, will present in this CLE Zoom event sponsored by the Queens County Bar Association and the Brandeis Bar Association.

Presented by Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin

This virtual presentation is intended for higher education leaders and administrators in departments related to student and academic affairs, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and legal affairs, communications, development, and positions such as president, provost, and deans’ offices, etc.

More information is available about the Brandeis University Presidential Initiative to Counter Antisemitism in Higher Education and this event featuring President Lewin.

Watch the video recording of President Lewin’s speech here and download her source sheet here.

Published in New York Post on 4/28/24. Story by Carl Campanile.

Red hands painted on a tree at Pratt Institute’s Brooklyn campus are being used to “terrorize” Jewish students in a bloody reminder of a lynching of two Israelis, critics claim.

“What better way to terrorize your Jewish students and faculty into submission than maintaining a display in the middle of your campus representing Jews getting lynched?” said Rory Lancman, senior counsel to the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, who forwarded The Post a snap of the tree with the symbol removed.

Israeli Jews said the red hands were painful reminder of of the Ramallah Lynching of 2000, during the Second Intifada, when Israeli military reservists Yossi Avrahami and Vadim Nurzhitz were lynched by a massive Palestinian mob in Ramallah, West Bank, after they made a wrong turn in the Palestinian-run-region.

One particular gruesome image from the murder became infamous when one of the killers, Aziz Salha, waved his bloodied hands from the lynching and dismemberment of the two Jews to the crowd.

Historians said the infamous use of the red hands to kill Jews goes back much further.

During the Jewish holiday of Shavuot in 1941, a pogrom was carried out against the Jewish community of Baghdad, Iraq. This pogrom is known as Farhud or “forced dispossession.”

Red hands were painted on Jewish houses for identification for the pogrom, where homes were later burned and Jews slaughtered.

Anti-Israel protesters have been seen at rallies painting red hands on buildings or painting their hands red.

Lancman criticized Pratt professor Uzma Rizvi, who noted the “Red Hands” tree on the campus in an Instagram post.

“Back to campus and I’m reminded of our students’ protest,” Rizvi said in the post.

“NYT says they’re pulling some of the tanks out of the North. Why were tanks set up against civilians in the first place? #Cease Fire Now,” she said, while posting an image of the Palestinian flag.

Pratt, in a statement to The Post, said the paint was removed from the tree on campus.

“Any defacement to our campus property is addressed as quickly as possible, and we have removed the paint on the tree,” a Pratt spokesperson said.

“Pratt Institute is an educational environment in which all students and faculty feel safe to learn, thrive, and know that their academic freedom and freedom of expression are protected,” the spokesperson sadded. “We do not tolerate speech or actions that are harassing, discriminatory, biased, or hateful against anyone. Our Community Standards foster a spirit of concern and respect for others, as do our safety and support resources for our students and faculty.”

Professor Rizvi also heads the venerable college’s Academic Senate, which scheduled and then postponed a vote during Passover on a controversial resolution calling for an “academic and cultural boycott of Israel” — after The Brandeis Center sent a letter to Pratt officials claiming the exclusion of Jews from participating in the discussion smacked of discrimination.

But a vote on the BDS resolution at the school known for its art, design and architecture programs — which the Brandeis Center said itself is antisemitic — could take place as early as Wednesday.

The Post reached out to Rizvi for comment but did not receive a response.

Published in Politico on 4/17/2024; Story by Bianca Quilantan

“By any measure, these universities have a major problem,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.

A scheduling conflict spared Columbia University President Minouche Shafik from the viral moment that contributed to toppling two other college presidents, only to land her center stage for congressional scrutiny in Wednesday morning’s House education committee hearing.

Months of turmoil over the Israel-Gaza war have made Columbia University an easy mark for Republicans long upset about college diversity programs and conservative free speech. In the four months since Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) greased the exits for the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, acts of protests and civil disobedience on campuses are still raging on campuses across the country. And the House GOP fight against antisemitism on college campuses isn’t done.

“This is not political or partisan, but a moral fight,” Stefanik told POLITICO, adding that House Republicans promise that they will “not stop until we have eradicated the stain of antisemitism from all college campuses.” And Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), who chairs the committee, said “some of the worst cases of antisemitic assaults, harassment and vandalism on campus have occurred at Columbia University.”

Shafik’s testimony, alongside the school’s co-chairs of the board of trustees and a law professor, is also the first test of whether colleges have changed their approach to Capitol Hill. But Shafik, in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal ahead of the hearing, has already said what the other presidents struggled to state with clarity: “Calling for the genocide of a people … has no place in a university community.”

The war between Israel and Hamas has created divisions between generations, led to major bridge closures on both coasts and provided steady fuel for protests. That’s led some Democrats to fear that Wednesday’s hearing will be a missed opportunity to wield congressional oversight to exact something more concrete than pain and embarrassment.

“I think it’s going to be very aggressive,” Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), who is Jewish, said in a brief interview about the Wednesday hearing. “I do think it’s important to root out antisemitism everywhere. That’s incredibly important. But I also would like to see our committee working together with schools to formulate policies and ways of addressing antisemitism and not just attacking college presidents.”

And it’s also clear universities haven’t figured out what to do: Columbia students supporting Israel and Palestinians have reported being physically assaulted for their beliefs. At the University of California, Berkeley, a physical altercation between pro-Palestinian law students and school faculty made front-page news. And earlier this month, several Pomona College students were arrested and temporarily banned from campus after taking over the president’s office.

Some higher education groups and faculty who hoped to get help in dealing with thorny issues of free speech are resigning themselves to a show trial.

“If it’s going to mostly be a continuation of pretty heated attacks on institutions for things that they did in the past, I don’t know that that changes the situation for a single student anywhere in the country,” said Jon Fansmith, the top policy advocate at the American Council on Education, which represents roughly 1,700 colleges and universities.

Nearly two dozen Columbia and Barnard College faculty members have already warned Shafik against becoming entrapped by “false narratives” at the hearing.

“Rather than being concerned with the safety and well-being of Jewish students on campuses, the committee is leveraging antisemitism in a wider effort to caricature and demonize universities as hotbeds of ‘woke indoctrination,’” the group wrote to Shafik ahead of the hearing.

The House education committee’s roughly five-hour-long hearing in December spurred the resignations of two college presidents, widespread scrutiny from alumni, led donors reconsidering their gifts, and about half a dozen congressional investigations into colleges. The committee launched its first probe into Harvard, which has seen the highest scrutiny so far, including subpoenas sent to its leaders, and followed up with investigations into Penn, MIT, Columbia and other schools.

“By any measure, these universities have a major problem. They are failing to address antisemitism adequately,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said, pushing back on criticism about political motives behind the hearings. “Irrespective of who is asking the questions, and whether or not they have ulterior motives, the issue at hand is indisputable.”

There are also dozens of complaints of antisemitism and Islamophobia filed with the Education Department, none of which have been resolved. And Jewish advocacy organizations have pending lawsuits against several universities over their responses to antisemitism.

Jewish students had faced antisemitism long before the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel triggered nationwide demonstrations on campuses, but the congressional scrutiny brings heightened awareness, said Ken Marcus, a former assistant education secretary for civil rights under Donald Trump.

“This has made it harder for administrators to gaslight students and pretend that the problem doesn’t exist,” said Marcus, who founded the Brandeis Center, a Jewish civil rights group. “It’s also created pressures that have led some administrators to take useful actions, but they’re still too few and far between.”

Mackenzie Wilkes contributed to this report.