Published by Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 8/14/22; Story by Martha Dalton Three Jewish advocacy organizations have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleging routine bullying and harassment of Jewish and Israeli students in Fulton County Schools. The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education and the National Jewish Advocacy Center filed the complaint last week. It accuses the school district of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin. The organizations announced Tuesday that they filed the complaint. “Jewish and Israeli students have been routinely subjected to frequent incidents of bullying and harassment by their peers — in hallways, in classrooms, on buses, and in schoolyards —simply due to their Jewish identity or Israeli national origin, while their teachers and administration, well-aware of the incidents, have either tacitly condoned it, or refused to take any real action to protect them,” the complaint states. Fulton County Schools denied the allegations in a written statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The complaint alleges Jewish students have been targeted and harassed in Fulton since Hamas launched an attack against Israel on Oct. 7. The strike killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis and foreigners. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed during the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1.9 million people have been displaced from Gaza, according to some estimates. The complaint alleges several incidents of antisemitism occurred in Fulton, including an altercation at a middle school where a student allegedly told an Israeli student, “Somebody needs to bomb your country, and hey, somebody already did.” The filing also states a student asked a fifth grade girl if she was Israeli, then told her she hates Jews and Israelis and thinks they should all be killed. The complaint says a second grade teacher, who had two Israeli students in her class, told her students the war in Gaza was Israel’s fault. “It is not just that these acts of harassment and bullying were occurring in the district, but that the administrations and the district itself … failed to take action and did not appear to understand the seriousness of the issue,” Marci Miller, director of legal investigations at the Brandeis Center, said in an interview. “It really gave a green light to the kids — and the teachers in some cases — that were harassing the Jewish students … realizing that there really would be no consequences for their behavior, it just continues to increase.” The filing says that Jewish parents offered to arrange antisemitism training for teachers and administrators, but the district refused. The groups claim Fulton officials dismissed parents’ concerns, didn’t discipline students and teachers who engaged in antisemitism, and didn’t provide a safety plan for students. “Fulton County Schools recognizes the strong feelings that were generated by the tragedy of October 7 and the continuing war in the Middle East. School leadership has continually communicated with parents and students with the goal of respecting one another and maintaining a focus on learning.” The complaint doesn’t ask for monetary compensation. Instead, the organizations made some requests of Fulton, including: issuing a statement denouncing antisemitism, disciplining teachers and students who engage in antisemitic behaviors, creating a task force made up of Jewish students and faculty to advise the district on how to improve school culture for Jewish students. Feeling safe at school is the end goal, Miller said. “We’re hoping that some changes are made at the beginning of the school year, so that we don’t experience another year like we did last year, and that (Fulton is) prepared to handle what’s coming,” she said.
Published 6/6/24 by The Algemeiner; Story by Dion Pierre The teacher’s union of an Oregon school district is drawing scrutiny for promoting the teaching of anti-Zionist propaganda to children as young as five, according to numerous reports. Last month, as first reported by The Oregonian, the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) posted an anti-Zionist lesson plan on its website, titled “Know Your Rights! Teaching & Organizing for Palestine Within Portland Public Schools.” Among other things, the document describes Israel as “separatist” and “nationalist” and links opposition to its existence to the entirety of the progressive policy agenda, from the environment to LBGTQ rights and the Black Lives Matter movement. One section, “Organizing with Students,” also counsels teachers on how to meet up with their students outside of school. The document even contains a definition of antisemitism written by a far-left group which rules out the possibility that anti-Zionism can be a form of antisemitism and asserts that hatred of Jews is exclusively a Christian European form of racism. It also fails to mention forms of Islamic antisemitism that are anti-Zionist and influenced by German Nazism, which was a secular phenomenon. “Originating in European Christianity, antisemitism is the form of ideological oppression that targets Jews,” it says. “In Europe and the United States, it has functioned to protect the prevailing economic system and the almost exclusively Christian class by diverting blame for hardship onto Jews.” The Oregonian also reported that the union posted lesson plans, some of which have since been removed from its website, claiming that Israel is a “settler colonial” state. The materials target children as young as five with themes such as “Woke Kindergarten” and “Lil Comrade Convos.” Others — such as “No Freedom Without Reproductive Freedom for Palestinian Women” and “Renewable Energy in Occupied Palestine” — aim to appeal to high school students. “After hearing concerns from members around the content of some of these lessons … we’re taking it all off our website,” Angela Bonilla, president of the Portland Association of Teachers, said in announcing the decision, according to the Oregonian. “The concerns of them being one-sided is enough for me to say we have to pause and review … I’m hearing things about these materials I would not have let through.” Bonilla has not, however, removed “Know Your Rights” from the website. She told the Oregonian that the document was “vetted.” The Portland Association of Teachers, the paper added, also courted controversy for meeting with a radical anti-Zionist group which distributed pamphlets praising Hamas and implored teachers to promote anti-Zionism in the classroom by displaying flags and wearing t-shirts imprinted with the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The popular slogan among anti-Israel activists has been widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Local Jewish organizations have criticized the union for promoting political advocacy in the classroom and fostering antisemitism. “PAT has their narrow agenda,” the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland said in a statement addressing the issue. “This is an effort by the teachers’ union to promote what many feel is a biased and historically revisionist curriculum.” Antisemitism in K-12 schools is an issue that is drawing increasing attention from Jewish civil rights groups. “The problem is coming to light as many people realize that K-12 indoctrination is oftentimes the basis for the antisemitism we see on college campuses,” Marci Lerner Miller, attorney for the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, told The Algemeiner earlier this week. “Many students arrive at their first day of college already having been taught to hate Israel and Jews. Addressing K-12 antisemitism helps us get to the root of the problem in many cases. The Office for Civil Rights has taken an interest in investigating it, and Congress recently called the superintendent of the Berkeley Unified School District to testify about what is happening there.” The Brandeis Center has taken the lead in fighting antisemitism at the K-12 level. This month, it prevailed in its latest civil rights case brought forth on behalf of a North Carolina Middle schooler who was bullied for being “perceived” as Jewish. In February, it filed a civil rights complaint alleging that the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) in California has caused severe psychological trauma to Jewish students as young as eight years old and fostered a hostile learning environment. At several schools throughout BUSD, students were recruited to assist anti-Zionist teachers in cheering Hamas’ atrocities as “liberation,” according to the complaint. They were called on to join “walk outs” and rewarded with excused absences in return for their participation, a violation of district policy forbidding excused absences for all but the most important reasons. The complaint described how these demonstrations became salvos of antisemitic rhetoric. During one organized at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, students shouted “KKK,” “Kill Israel,” “Kill the Jews,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” In another incident, a second-grade teacher who threatened a parent instructed her students to write “Stop bombing babies” on sticky notes. “The Jewish community was slower than we should have been to grasp the threat posed by antisemitism in higher education. Now we’re in danger of repeating the same problem in elementary and secondary education,” Brandeis Center chairman Kenneth Marcus told The Algemeiner. “It is horrifying to acknowledge, but the fact is that the situation in many high schools is starting to replicate some of our most worrisome campuses. Elementary schools are not safe either. One ramification is that college campuses may get even worse, as entering freshmen arrive after having already been indoctrinated while in elementary and secondary schools.”
This month, the Brandeis Center and ADL filed a federal antidiscrimination complaint with the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights against the Berkeley Unified School District, over its failure to address rampant anti-Semitic bullying and harassment of Jewish students after October 7 at schools throughout the District. In partnership with the ADL and law firms Covington & Burling LLP; Akin; Dechert LLP; and Davis Polk, LDB also launched a legal helpline for parents whose children are experiencing anti-Semitism in K-12 public schools in California. And we unveiled a new website! LDB + ADL File Federal Complaint Against Berkeley Unified School District for ‘Severe and Persistent’ Anti-Semitic Bullying The Brandeis Center and Anti-Defamation League filed a complaint with the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights against the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) for failing to take action to end pervasive bullying and harassment of Jewish students by peers and teachers since October 7 at numerous schools across the District. Berkeley administrators have ignored parent reports and knowingly allowed its K-12 schools to become hostile environments for Jewish and Israeli students. 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. “The eruption of anti-Semitism in Berkeley’s elementary and high schools is like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” said LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “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?” LDB, ADL and other Jewish organizations, recently filed a lawsuit to stop anti-Semitic content from being taught in Santa Ana, California public schools. Play KPIX-TV (CBS, Bay Area): Berkeley Unified targeted with federal complaint over antisemitic harassment of Jewish students videoTextBlockModalTitle × Your browser does not support the video tag. Brandeis Center, ADL, StandWithUs and Law Firms Launch Second Legal Protection Helpline – for K-12 Anti-Semitism in California In partnership with the ADL, StandWithUs, and law firms Covington & Burling LLP; Akin; Dechert LLP; and Davis Polk, LDB launched a legal helpline for parents whose children are experiencing anti-Semitism in K-12 public schools in California.The K-12 helpline, which will gather data about incidents of anti-Semitism in K-12 schools in California, is a separate initiative from the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), which primarily serves college students and was launched by LDB, ADL, Hillel International and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in response to the surge of anti-Semitism that erupted on campuses across the country in the aftermath of October 7 Hamas attacks. “Frankly, school principals and administrators should themselves be cracking down on the surge in anti-Jewish bullying we are witnessing. That is what the law requires,” stated Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “However, far too many are failing in their legal responsibilities and choosing to sweep escalating anti-Semitism under the rug. Our legal team stands ready to step into this gap and demand the protections Jewish students are guaranteed under the law.” Alyza Lewin Profiled on ‘Nice Jewish Girls’ Podcast Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin was the focus of an episode of the ‘Nice Jewish Girls’ podcast, where she discussed “The Case Against Antisemitism.” Lewin discussed her work leading the litigation team that represented the Israeli licensee of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, in the successful lawsuit filed against Unilever to prevent Ben & Jerry’s unlawful boycott of Israel. She also discussed her achievement arguing the “Jerusalem Passport” case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which paved the way for President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Play Alyza Lewin: The Case Against Antisemitism videoTextBlockModalTitle × Your browser does not support the video tag. Brandeis Center Launches New Website The Brandeis Center unveiled its new website in February. LDB’s new website puts its groundbreaking casework and resources at your fingertips. Visitors to the new website are invited to explore the Brandeis Center’s work, which rests on the “four pillars” represented in our recently redesigned courthouse logo: advocacy, education, leadership and research . Some highlights of our new website include: our Case Materials directory, which allows members of the public to search for legal filings and other documents related to our casework; an “Our Cases” page featuring key materials and information about prominent Brandeis Center cases; and a “Resource library” to help users find materials related to our work combating campus and workplace anti-Semitism – including our white papers, legal letters, webinars, surveys, and academic articles. Thank you for making us your destination to stay up-to-date about combating anti-Semitism on and off American campuses. LDB Joins Joint Statement by Coalition Working with Morningstar to Eliminate Anti-Israel Bias The Brandeis Center and a coalition of Jewish American organizations issued a statement responding to an independent experts’ report of recommended actions to remove anti-Israel bias from financial services company Morningstar’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) subsidiary.The coalition – which includes The Jewish Federations of North America, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, JLens, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and LDB – has been working for over two years to achieve this goal. The joint statement commends 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.Stated LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus: “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.” LDB General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman told JNS she is “cautiously optimistic” that Morningstar will adopt the recommendations: “If they do, and we can convince other companies to do the same, I think there’s hope.” The Brandeis Center Welcomes New Staff As the demand for LDB’s services and legal expertise increases, we are pleased to welcome several new staff members to our rapidly expanding legal team, including Education Counsel Marci Lerner Miller, New York Senior Counsel David M. Dince, and Senior Counsel Robin N. Pick. “The alarming and hateful environment affecting Jewish students, faculty and staff on campuses across the country – plus recognition of the Brandeis Center’s legal successes – has led to 10 times the volume of legal inquiries we experienced before October 7,” said Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Adding Robin, David, Marci, and other new lawyers to our staff helps the Brandeis Center further deliver on its mission – to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all.” The Brandeis Center will continue to hire legal staff throughout 2024. Attorneys with an interest in using their legal skills and experience to combat anti-Semitism on campus and the workplace are encouraged to visit the job opportunities section of LDB’s new website – and subscribe to the organization’s mailing list. LDB continues to accept applications for civil rights legal fellows and law student clerkships. New LDB Fact Sheet on Holocaust Denial The Brandeis Center published an important new resource to combat rising anti-Semitism: a fact sheet on Holocaust denial. LDB’s latest fact sheet defines Holocaust denial; provides a brief overview of its history; explains why it is anti-Semitic; explains who Holocaust deniers are and the common arguments they use; and discusses Holocaust education. “Holocaust denial requires that the denier believe and perpetuate the notion that Jews are capable of a hoax so massive that Jews are capable of misleading the entire world … It is built on many of the age-old defamations of the Jewish people,” said Brandeis Center Founder and Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. To learn more about Holocaust denial, access our new fact sheet here. Julie Strauss Levin Joins Brandeis Center Legal Advisory Board The Brandeis Center added additional legal might to its already-impressive Legal Advisory Board: Julie Strauss Levin, a legal and business expert in the for-profit and nonprofit spaces. Ms. Levin was appointed by President Trump to sit on two Presidential Commissions and by VA Gov. Glenn Youngkin to sit on his Commission to Combat Antisemitism. She also serves on the Virginia Israel Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the Gross Family Center for the Study of Antisemitism and the Holocaust, the Board of Directors for Our Community Salutes, and the lay Advisory Council of the Coalition for Jewish Values. Levin’s experience includes tenure as Senior Counsel at America First Legal Foundation, Principal of IGMP, LLC, General Counsel at Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, and Deputy General Counsel at Feld Entertainment. “We are extremely pleased about Julie joining our legal advisory board, given her legal savvy and sound judgment,” said Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “As our work becomes increasingly complex, her expertise is an invaluable asset to us.” LDB Law School Chapter Launches at Georgetown University Law Center On February 12, The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law at Georgetown University Law Center was formally recognized as a student organization. LDB’s newest law student chapter was formed by a group of students dedicated to combatting anti-Semitism on campus at Georgetown Law and in the larger DC community. The Georgetown chapter has already hosted vigils, educational sessions, and community building events, including events with notable speakers such as Matthew Levitt, Robert Garson, Alyza D. Lewin, and Cliff Rieders. The Brandeis Center is excited to expand their partnership with students at Georgetown Law Center and to provide the students with access to a wide network of experts, legal guidance, educational materials, and advocacy opportunities. LDB Events at NYU Law School + Brooklyn Law School Brandeis Center New York Senior Counsel David M. Dince and Staff Attorney Deena Margolies attended back-to-back events on February 28 at schools with LDB law school chapters. The NYU Law School LDB chapter Law Students Against Antisemitism hosted a “Coffee Chat” on campus. Margolies spoke to students at this event and answered questions about Title VI of the Civil Rights Act on campuses, post-October 7. At Brooklyn Law School, Dince and Margolies joined a panel titled “A Night of Education and Remembrance: A Conversation with Holocaust Survivor Sammi Steigman.” The event was co-hosted by the Jewish Law Student Association and Students Against Antisemitism. Members from Brooklyn Law School LDB chapter Brooklyn Law Students Against Antisemitism were in attendance. LDB Book Review: ‘Judging Jewish Identity in the United States’ Check out Brandeis Center Law Clerk Hannah Fischman’s review of the newly released book, Judging Jewish Identity in the United States, by Annalise E. Glauz-Todrank. The book devotes ample space to the landmark 1987 case of Shaare Tefila v. Cobb, which established that members of ethno-religious groups , 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. As Fischman writes, “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.”
Washington, D.C. (March 1, 2024) – The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (LDB) is pleased to welcome three new staff members to its rapidly expanding team: Senior Education Counsel Marci Lerner Miller, New York Senior Counsel David M. Dince, and Senior Counsel Robin N. Pick. The addition of three more attorneys to the Brandeis Center’s legal team brings the total of full time LDB attorneys to 13. Including paralegals and law students on staff, and among its law clerk and fellowship programs, the Brandeis Center’s full legal team now numbers 28 members. Mr. Dince is a former Assistant District Attorney for the Kings County, NY, District Attorney’s Office, an accomplished trial lawyer, and a veteran of several prominent New York City law firms. He has been recognized as one of NY-Metro’s “Super Lawyers.” He is an adjunct clinical professor at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches one semester each year. He was active for many years in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation where he served as President of the New York Chapter and was a member of the International Board of Directors. Mr. Dince is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He is a graduate of New York Law School. Ms. Miller, a graduate of the New York University School of Law, will work on the growing problem of anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination in K-12 public education, including LDB’s coalition lawsuit to stop anti-Semitic content from being taught in Santa Ana public schools. She is a partner in the Litigation and Government Investigations and Education Practice Groups at Potomac Law Group, PLLC and the founder of Miller Advocacy Group PC, a public interest law firm specializing in high impact litigation and education law. Ms. Pick, a University of Pennsylvania Law School graduate and civil rights attorney with extensive experience fighting anti-Semitism through litigation, will work on LDB’s swelling docket of higher education investigations – a product of surging campus anti-Semitism following the October 7 Massacre and onset of the Hamas-Israel war. The Brandeis Center recently filed a Title VI civil rights complaint against American University, with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and LDB expects to file OCR complaints against additional schools soon. The Brandeis Center also announced a lawsuit against the University of California’s regents, president, chancellor, and other officials for the “longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism” on UC Berkeley’s campus. “The alarming and hateful environment affecting Jewish students, faculty and staff on campuses across the country – plus recognition of the Brandeis Center’s legal successes – has led to 10 times the volume of legal inquiries we experienced before October 7,” said Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Adding Robin, David, Marci, and other new lawyers to our staff helps the Brandeis Center further deliver on its mission – to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all.” “David, Marci and Robin are joining our Brandeis Center staff when the demand for our services is at an all-time high,” stated Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin. “Their professional experience, legal intelligence, and passion for defending civil rights in education and beyond are a boon to our capacity to fight this rising tide of anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination. We are blessed to have them on our team.”“I am honored to be part of the Brandeis Center, doing the vital work of combating antisemitism, particularly on college campuses where Jewish students are being ostracized, bullied, marginalized and excluded – just because they are Jewish,” said Ms. Pick. “The Brandeis Center’s legal advocacy is critical in fighting hate against the Jewish people in all its forms and promoting justice for all. I am grateful to be a part of this highly talented and dedicated legal team whose cutting-edge work is having a significant impact on the legal landscape and climate for Jewish students at a time when it is desperately needed.”“I’m grateful for the opportunity to become part of the Brandeis Center’s rapidly expanding team – offering my legal experience and skills for such an important mission,” said Mr. Dince. “On college campuses and in places of employment, Jewish students and workers deserve to live their lives free of harassment and discrimination – the same as every other American minority group.” “It is truly an honor to work with and learn from the Brandeis Center’s experienced and groundbreaking legal team on the urgent issues impacting Jewish and Israeli students on campus and in the classroom,” stated Ms. Miller. “The determination I feel to spread the Center’s mission advancing civil and human rights for the Jewish people and promoting justice for all is more powerful than ever before.” The Brandeis Center is continuing to hire legal staff throughout 2024. Attorneys passionate about these issues are encouraged to watch the opportunities section of LDB’s website – and subscribe to the organization’s mailing list. LDB continues to accept applications for civil rights legal fellows and law student clerkships.