The American Zionist Movement’s Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism and Holocaust Denial Project, earlier this month, hosted Louis D. Brandeis Center For Human Rights Under Law President, Alyza Lewin, alongside Co-founder and Director of AMCHA, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin in a panel discussion on the situation and strategies for students facing anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on campus. The conversation began with an explanation from Alyza about the situation on the ground: Jewish students being required to shed their Jewish identities to be accepted in spaces on college campuses, particularly progressive ones. Alyza opened her discussion by explaining that an inability to recognize manifestations of anti-Semitism dissimilar to Nazi-ism alongside an administrative lack of understanding of Zionism as an integral part of the Jewish identity leads to a consistent turning of a blind eye to anti-Zionist endeavors. She explained that Zion-a-phobia, the irrational fear or hatred of a Jewish homeland, spurs a campus culture where students “are being forced to give up their right to Jewish self-determination in exchange for acceptance on campus to participate fully in the campus experience.” Tammi’s presentation on the rise of anti-Zionism around the nation continued to center the narrative on the threats that Jewish students are facing on campus. AMCHA reports reveal a surge in attempts to uncouple Zionism from Judaism in 2019, and include statistics that demonstrate the extent to which the presence on campus of anti-Zionist student groups, faculty members who endorse academic boycott, and anti-Zionist administrative expression (such as the promotion of BDS) increase the likelihood of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist harassment. The coupling of anti-Zionist harassment with a lack of public response by university administrators has led to the current situation on the ground–Anti-Zionist harassment on campus has increased since 2015, not only in number of incidents, but also in intensity, becoming increasingly hostile in denigration and discrimination. Following their initial presentations, Tammi and Alyza discussed potential solutions: Alyza promoted the use of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and adoption by universities of the IHRA definition as a means of protecting Jewish students. She spoke of the recent successes at Tufts and the motivational power of the law in these cases. Tammi discussed the benefits to a framework not yet adopted: Acknowledge equal rights of all students to self-expression and full participation in campus life, as well as the equal rights of all students to protection from behavior that violates those rights. Through this framework, she believes, Jewish students will be able to more effectively foster a healthy campus climate without the need to define their Jewish identity, prove Israel-related harassment is motivated by anti-Semitism, or respond to criticisms about free speech. The speakers noted that their different approaches are not mutually exclusive. The law can be used to educate and motivate university administrators to take necessary steps to protect Jewish students from harassment. The policies the universities adopt, however, can and should protect all students from harassment and discrimination. In the question-and-answer section, Tammi and Alyza discussed how to respond to anti-Zionism on campus, the role of alumni in this fight, and the courage exhibited by many Jewish students leading these efforts on campus. Watch the panelist presentation here.
The Brant Clock Tower at Pitzer (Wikimedia Commons) In November, faculty members at Pitzer College in California voted to suspend their study abroad program at the University of Haifa, in line with Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) guidelines. While Pitzer President Melvin Oliver strongly condemned this vote, if implemented, it would stifle academic freedom on campus. Also in California, following a letter organized by the AMCHA Initiative and signed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center, all 10 University of California Chancellors condemned the anti-Israel boycott as a “direct, serous treat to academic freedom.” The condemnation is the first of its kind, wherein the chancellors condemned any attempts by faculty to “implement an academic boycott of Israel on campus.” The response by the Chancellors of the UC system is a direct recognition of the harmful impact of academic boycotts of Israel on both students and faculty. The response by the UC Chancellors invoked their “commitment to continued engagement and partnership with Israeli, as well as Palestinian colleagues, colleges, and universities.” The statement further elaborated on the harmful effects of boycotts, stating that they pose “a direct and serious threat to the academic freedom of our students and faculty…the unfettered exchange of ideas and perspectives on our campuses…and discourse regarding conflicts in the Middle East.” The joint letter organized by the AMCHA Initiative contained the signatures of over 100 civil rights, advocacy, education, and religious groups. The letter was sent to 250 university leaders, urging each of them to sign statements against academic boycotts of Israel. The pledge itself asks the universities to protect the rights of individual faculty and students to express pro-Israel speech, disavow boycotts, and stand against the use of faculty and students as “collateral damage to a political agenda.” A separate petition has been circulated among the general public, urging university leaders to sign the statement. To date, the petition has accrued over 2,000 signatures. “As UC has correctly recognized,” stated AMCHA director Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, “an academic boycott, if allowed to be implemented, will directly violate the rights of, and substantively harm, students and faculty on U.S. campuses.”
The Student Panel sits at Harvard Law School during the conference on December 4, 2016. (From Left to right) Rezwan Haq (University of Central Florida), Kelsey Kimmes (CSU Long Beach), Misha Vilenchuck (Brandeis University), Kailee Jordan (San Francisco State University), and Jason Storch (Vassar College). On Sunday, December 4, I had the pleasure of speaking at the CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) conference, “War by Other Means: Israel, BDS, and the Campus,” at Harvard Law School. In recent years, anti-Semitism has been on the rise throughout the country, and particularly on college campuses. Much of this anti- Semitism has taken on a new form, anti-Semitism “coded” as anti-Israelism. This conference addressed these very issues. Featured speakers included Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz, Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson, executive director of CAMERA, Andrea Levin, and co-founder and director of the AMCHA Initiative, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin. The aim of the conference was to further understand what drives the growing and aggressive anti-Israel Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement that has engulfed our campuses in the United States. The BDS movement is a call to boycott all cultural, academic, and economic ties to Israel in an effort to strangle the country, until they are held accountable for alleged human rights violations against Palestinians. This movement portrays itself as a global human rights movement, however, as explained by Alan Dershowitz in a video message addressing the conference, “there is no BDS movement.” Movements, explains Dershowitz, are a global effort to hold accountable all countries that violate their terms of human rights abuses. BDS is an effort that solely focuses on Israel. Jordan, which is also a previous territory of the British Mandate of Palestine, doesn’t find it’s discriminatory citizenship laws toward Palestinians on the BDS’s movement’s agenda. He explains that If they were a movement for human rights accountability, Israel would be at the very bottom of their list. As a plethora of severe human rights violations are littered across the Middle East, the BDS movement against Israel has gained more visibility than others among college students. Authors, lawyers, professors, academic professionals, activists, and students from Harvard – including students from the Harvard LDB Law Student Chapter — engaged in the discussion of campus climate for Jewish students today. Presentations included “Countering BDS on Campus” by Alan Dershowitz, “BDS Has A History” by Professor William Jacobson from Cornell University, “BDS and Campus Anti-Semitism” by AMCHA initiave’s Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, “Academic Freedom, Free Speech, and BDS: Advancing Viewpoint Diversity on Campus” by Professor Miriam Elman from Syracruse University, and “Answering SJP Propoganda” by Dr. Alex Safian. On a panel along with other current and recent graduates, I shared my personal experiences as an Israel advocate while studying at San Francisco State University (SFSU), a campus with a great presence of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity. I spoke about Professors like Hatem Bazian and Rabab Abdulhadi, both of whom are active leaders of the BDS movement. Abdulhadi, a professor of ethnic studies at SFSU, used University tax-payer funds to finance a field trip for students to Palestinian territory to meet with Palestinian resistance fighters, whom of some were linked with US designated terrorist lists. She met with Leila Khaled, whom Professor Abdulhadi describes as “an icon in women’s liberation and an icon in liberations movements.” Leila Khaled was arrested in 1969 for hijacking an airplane in an act of terror, and she became a famous Palestinian icon for being the first woman to do so. I talked about how leaders of student groups and professors at my school have both gone under FBI investigation, including the former SFSU student Mohammad Hammad, who infamously posted a picture of himself holding a blade on social media, saying: “I seriously can not get over how much I love this blade. It is the sharpest thing I own and cuts through everything like butter and just holding it makes me want to stab an Israeli soldier.” Students from Vassar College, Brandeis University, Cal State Long Beach, and University of Central Florida joined me to discuss their unique experiences on their given campus which brought them to advocate for Israel. Students, including a Muslim speaker who previously was a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) activist and transitioned into a strong Israel activist. The reality of campus anti-semitism captivated the audience and motivated younger students and academic professionals to take initiative to validate Israel’s existence in the classroom and through advocacy. We were left reminded that although the climate can be challenging, the knowledge and motivation of future generations is in our in our hands, especially in a vital environment like a University campus. The conference was closed with a statement by Andrea Levin, executive director of CAMERA, commenting on the very concept of War By Other Means: “We Will Win”. For more updates and footage on the conference, visit CAMERA’s Facebook page here.
The following piece was written in collaboration with Emma Dillon and Juan Pablo Rivera Garza: Indiana University BloomingtonPhoto via http://www.iu.edu/ In April, the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism (ISCA) organized an important International Scholars Conference at Indiana University, on the topic of “Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism, and the Dynamics of Delegitimization.” The conference sought to explore what informs contemporary anti-Zionism as well as to clarify the ties such thinking may have with anti-Semitism and broader ideological, political, and cultural currents of thought. The conference brought together some 70 scholars from 15 countries over the course of several days for intense deliberation and discussion about some of the most pressing issues today. LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus chaired a session of the conference, and LDB is proud to have close ties with many of the distinguished speakers and participants at this great event. Videos from the conference have recently become available for viewing online. (more…)
Starting this weekend, The Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism at Indiana University (ISCA) will host its third international scholars conference, from Saturday evening, April 3 through Wednesday, April 7, on “Anti-Zionism, Anti-Semitism, and the Dynamics of Delegitimization.” LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus will chair a panel on Tuesday, April 5, with Shimon Samuels, Director for International Relations for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, speaking on The New Supersessionism: ID Theft of the Jewish Narrative, and Richard Landes, a professor and historian at Boston University, speaking on The Global Progressive Left, Anti-Zionism, and Secular Supersessionism. The conference will bring together about 70 scholars from 15 countries, and aims to explore the thinking that informs contemporary anti-Zionism and to clarify the ties such thinking may have with anti-Semitism and broader ideological, political, and cultural currents of thought. Dr. Alvin Rosenfield , a member of the Brandeis Center’s legal advisory board and director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism is leading the conference., In addition to Dr. Rosenfield, LDB is pleased to have connections to many of the other speakers and participants. Irwin Cotler, the LDB Legal Advisory Board Honorary Chair, will give a keynote address at a dinner event on April 3, on Global Anti-Semitism, Demonization, and the Laundering of Delegitimization Under Universal Public Values. Additionally, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, a member of LDB’s academic advisory board ,will speak about campus anti-Semitism on the morning of April 4th. LDB academic advisory board members Dina Porat and Catherine Chatterley will speak on Vatican-Jewish Relations Following the Holocaust and The Effects of Anti-Semitism, Anti-Zionism, and Anti-Israel Politics on Contemporary Holocaust Education and Memorialization later on that same day. More information can be found here: http://www.indiana.edu/~iscaweb/docs/isc_agenda_2016-03-07.pdf
LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus will be speaking at the StandWithUs International Anti-BDS Conference for the second year in a row. StandWithUs, an international non-profit organization dedicated to informing the public about Israel and combating anti-Semitism, will host this conference from April 9-11 in Los Angeles, California. At the conference, internationally renowned experts will discuss the global boycott movement against Israel and how it targets college campuses, businesses, and more. The conference’s keynote speaker is Alan Dershowitz, a former Harvard Law Professor, Author, and Political Commentator. Other speakers, in addition to Marcus, include New York Times Best Selling Author Edwin Black, Public Relations Expert Philippe Assouline, StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein, Brandeis Center Board of Directors member Richard Cravatts, Brandeis Center Academic Advisory Board member Tammi Rossman-Benjamin and many more. Brandeis Center President Marcus commented, “I am excited to be a part of an incredible and diverse lineup of speakers. I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge and learning more about new strategies and tactics to help understand the BDS movement.” StandWithUs uses their knowledge to help correct common prejudices about the Arab-Israeli conflict, and promotes discussions and policies that help promote peace in the Middle East. Their website says, “Through print materials, speakers, programs, conferences, missions to Israel, campaigns, social media and internet resources, we ensure that the story of Israel’s achievements and ongoing challenges is told on campuses and in communities around the world.” The exact location of the event will be sent to conference participants upon completion of their reservation. To learn more about the conference please follow this link.
University of California Seal Many of the world’s leading scholars of anti-Semitism, including LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus, have just issued the following joint letter urging University of California President Janet Napolitano and the University of California regents to adopt the U.S. State Department definition of anti-Semitism: Dear President Napolitano and Regents of the University of California: We write you as scholars of contemporary antisemitism who are deeply concerned about the alarming rise of anti-Jewish hostility throughout the world, including on college and university campuses. We are aware that in the wake of a dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents at the University of California, you are considering the adoption of the U.S. State Department definition of antisemitism. We fully endorse the State Department definition and believe that its adoption at the University of California would be an important first step in properly identifying and educating about antisemitism on UC campuses. Professor Robert Wistrich, the world’s foremost scholar of antisemitism until his recent passing, has said that anti-Zionism has become “the most dangerous and effective form of antisemitism in our time.” We wholeheartedly concur with Professor Wistrich’s assessment. Anti-Zionism becomes antisemitism when the rhetorical and physical manifestations of hatred towards Jews as a people are directed towards Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. Like classic antisemitism, anti-Zionism uses false and baseless claims and mendacious argumentation to propagate hatred of, and bring harm to, the Jewish state. In its acknowledgement that antisemitism may manifest itself through the demonization and delegitimization of Israel in order to deny its right to exist, the State Department definition accurately reflects the current scholarly understanding of the close relationship between historic antisemitism and anti-Zionism. As such, the definition offers an essential tool for identifying and educating about all forms of contemporary antisemitism, and we wholeheartedly endorse its adoption at the University of California. Sincerely, Steven Baum – Founding Editor of Journal for the Study of Antisemitism (Author of: Antisemitism Explained (2012) and The Psychology of Genocide (2008); Co-editor of: Antisemitism in North America (forthcoming)) Doron Ben-Atar – Professor of History, Fordham University Michael Berenbaum – Professor of Jewish Studies, American Jewish University (Author of: Not Your Father’s Antisemitism, (2008)) Gabriel Brahm – Associate Professor of English, Northern Michigan University; Visiting Professor in The School of Philosophy and Religions Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Co-editor of: The Case Against Academic Boycotts of Israel (2014)) Jean Cahan – Director of Judaic Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bruno Chouat – Professor of French, Chair, Department of French and Italian, University of Minnesota Ben Cohen – Senior Editor, The Tower Magazine (Author of Some of My Best Friends: A Journey Through Twenty-First Century Antisemitism (2014)) Donna Robinson Divine – Morningstar Family Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Government, Emerita, Smith College Amy Elman – Professor of Political Science, Kalamazoo College (Author of The European Union, Antisemitism, and the Politics of Denial (2015)) Karen Eltis – Professor Civil Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa Stephen M. Feldman – Jerry W. Housel/Carl F. Arnold Distinguished Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science, University of Wyoming (Editor of: Law and Religion: A Critical Anthology (2000)) Robert Fine – Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick János Gadó – Editor of Szombat, an independent Jewish periodical in Budapest/Hungary Aleksandra Gliszczynska-Grabias, Assistant Professor Poznan Human Rights Centre, Institute of Legal Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences (Author of Counteracting Antisemitism with International Human Rights Law (2013)) Jeffrey Herf – Distinguished University Professor, Department of History, University of Maryland (Editor of: Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism in Historical Perspective (2007)) Gunther Jikeli – Visiting Assistant Professor and Justin M. Druck Family Scholar in the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism in the Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University (Author of: European Muslim Antisemitism: Why Young Urgan Males Say They Don’t Like Jews (2015)) Bodo Kahmann – Department of Political Science, University of Goettingen Leslie Klaff – Senior Lecturer in Law, Department of Law and Criminology, Sheffield Hallam University Barry A. Kosmin – Research Professor of Public Policy & Law and Director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture, Trinity College (Co-author of The National Demographic Survey of American Jewish College Students (2015); Co-editor of: A New Antisemitism? Debating Judeophobia in 21st-century Britain (2003)) Neil J. Kressel – Professor of Psychology and Director of the Honors Program in the Social Sciences, William Paterson University (Author of: “The Sons of Pigs and Apes”: Muslim Antisemitism and the Conspiracy of Silence (2012); Mass Hate: The Global Rise of Genocide and Terror (2008)) Kenneth Marcus – President & General Counsel, The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (Author of: The Definition of Anti-Semitism (2015) and Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America (2010)) Stephen Norwood – Professor of History, University of Oklahoma (Author of: Antisemitism and the American Far Left (2013) and The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower: Complicity and Conflict on American Campuses (2011)) David Patterson — Hillel Feinberg Chair in Holocaust Studies, Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies, University of Texas at Dallas (Author of: A Genealogy of Evil: Antisemitism from Nazism to Islamic Jihad (2010)) Eunice Pollack – Professor of History, University of North Texas (Editor of: Antisemitism on the Campus (2010) and The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day (2007)) Walter Reich – Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Professor of International Affairs, Ethics and Human Behavior, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs Steven Resnicoff – Professor & Director, Center for Jewish Law & Judaic Studies, DePaul University College of Law Alvin Rosenfeld – Director, Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, Irving M. Glazer Chair in Jewish Studies, Professor of English and Jewish Studies, Indiana University (Editor of: Resurgent Antisemitism: Global Perspectives (2013)) Tammi Rossman-Benjamin – Lecture in Languages and Applied Linguistics and Jewish Studies, University of California Santa Cruz Charles Asher Small – Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (Editor of: The Yale Papers: Antisemitism in Comparative Perspective (2015) and Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity: Volumes 1 – V (2014)) Karin Stoegner – Lecturer and Senior Researcher Department of Sociology, University of Vienna (Author of: Antisemitismus und Sexismus [Antisemitism and Sexism] 2014; Co-editor of: Handbook of Prejudice (2009)) Alexander Tsesis – Professor of Law, Loyola University Chicago Dr. Esther Webman – Head of the Zeev Vered Desk for the Study of Tolerance and Intolerance in the Middle East and Senior Research Fellow at the Dayan Center & Stephen Roth Institute, Tel Aviv University (Author of: The Global Impact of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion: A Century-Old Myth (2011) and Anti-semitic motifs in the ideology of Hizbollah and Hamas (1994); Co-author of: From Empathy to Denial: Arab Responses to the Holocaust (2009)) Mark Weitzman – Director of Government Affairs, Simon Wiesenthal Center (Co-author of: Dismantling the Big Lie: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (2003); Co-editor of: Antisemitism – The Generic Hatred: Essays in Memory of Simon Wiesenthal (2007)) Elkhanan Yakira – The Shulman Professor (emeritus) of Philosophy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Author of: Post-Zionism, Post-Holocaust: Three Essays on Denial, Forgetting, and the Delegitimization of Israel (2009)) (more…)
ISGAP Seminar Series McGill Harvard Columbia Our friends at the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy have an impressive roster of speakers coming up at McGill, Harvard, and Columbia: October 20th, 6PM, McGill University Dr. Dahn Hiuni, Independent Artist and Adjunct Professor of Art and Art Education, School of Visual Arts, New York “The New RDS Movement (Retractions and Disavowals in Scholarship): One Academic’s Symbolic Pushback Against the BDS Movement” Location: McGill University, Leacock Building, Room 738 October 21st, 7PM, Harvard University Assistant Professor Adam Katz, Assistant Professor of English at Quinnipiac University Title TBA Location: Harvard University, Harvard Faculty Club, Room 7 October 27th, Noon, ISGAP Center Dr. Shimon Samuels, Director for International Relations, Simon Wiesenthal Center “Antisemitic-Terrorism and ID Theft: A Two-Pronged Zero-Sum Assault” Location: ISGAP Center, 3rd Floor All RSVPs must be received in advance for this event. Please RSVP to marion@isgap.org. November 3rd, 6PM, McGill University Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, The University of California Santa Cruz “Combating Anti-Israel Bias and Antisemitic Rhetoric in Federally-Funded Middle East Studies Programs: A Case Study” Location: McGill University, Leacock Building, Room 738 November 4th, 7PM, Harvard University Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, The University of California Santa Cruz “Combating Anti-Israel Bias and Antisemitic Rhetoric in Federally-Funded Middle East Studies Programs: A Case Study” Location: Harvard University, Harvard Faculty Club, Library November 5th, 6PM, Columbia University Dr. Alon Segev, The University of Illinois at Springfield, Fordham, and ISGAP “Theodor Lessing – Jewish Self-hatred” Location: Columbia University, JG 105 (Jerome Greene Hall, 435 West 116th Street) November 17th, 6PM, McGill University Professor Martin Kramer, President of the Shalem College in Jerusalem Title TBA Location: McGill University, Leacock Building, Room 14 November 18th, 7PM, Harvard University Professor Martin Kramer, President of the Shalem College in Jerusalem Title TBA Location: Harvard University, Harvard Faculty Club, Room 4 November 19th, 6PM, Columbia University Professor Robert Wistrich, Director of the Vidal Sassoon Center, Hebrew University Title TBA Location: Columbia University, GA (Jerome Greene Lounge, 410 West 117th Street)
Today a coalition of national organizations, including the Louis D. Brandeis Center, issued the following statement concerning the issue of biased and highly politicized Middle East Studies programs funded under HEA Title VI. The statement addresses the history, current problems, and proposed solutions ameliorate the bias programs of Title VI recipients. We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the misuse of federal funds under Title VI of the Higher Education Act (“HEA”). Despite congressional reforms adopted during the 2008 reauthorization of the HEA, many recipients of federal aid under Title VI continue to use taxpayer funds to support biased, politicized, and imbalanced programs of Middle East Studies. These programs fail to satisfy Title VI’s intended purpose, flout congressional intent, and thwart American national security and foreign policy interests. We support efforts to effectuate the intention underlying the 2008 congressional reforms. In particular, we support accountability and transparency measures to implement the 2008 congressional action. Background Enacted by Congress to strengthen the nation’s security by training future national security professionals and educating the public on international affairs, Title VI provides federal funds to 129 international studies and foreign language centers at universities nationwide. Such centers are obligated by statute to conduct “public outreach” programs for K-12 teachers, educators, and the general public in return for Title VI funds. Today these outreach programs, which have no congressional oversight, often disseminate anti-American and anti-Israel falsehoods. In 2006, Congress mandated a review of Title VI-funded programs by the National Research Council. Their report, issued in 2007, found that Title VI programs had become ineffective in achieving their original goals, and greater oversight by the Department of Education was needed. The programs used taxpayer funding to disseminate biased one-sided views that criticized American foreign policy and national security. During the 2008 reauthorization of the HEA, Congress sought to address these concerns. The statute was amended, adding that “grants should be made . . . on the condition that” descriptions, assurances, or explanations are provided on how the program “will reflect diverse perspective and a wide range of views and generate debate on world regions and international affairs.” Current Problems The evidence shows that many centers funded under Title VI still do not serve the basic objectives of the program, namely, to advance American national security and international relations interests. They too often exclude scholars with diverse perspectives while stifling discourse on critical issues. The biased learning environment that results suppresses the academic freedom of students and faculty with different views. At some institutions, students are afraid to disagree with their professors. Particularly troubling is that these government-funded centers also disseminate one-sided views to an audience far wider than on our college campuses. The centers conduct “public outreach” programs as a condition of receiving Title VI funds and present their biased and often inaccurate views to K-12 teachers, educators, and the general public. Teachers, educators, and members of the public are thus being misled by programs that promote a particular political agenda, rather than a balanced and accurate perspective. Rather than serve American national security and foreign policy interests, these programs do the opposite. These problems have persisted despite the 2008 congressional reforms that were intended to curb them. There are more than just a few isolated examples of the problem. In 2014, the AMCHA Initiative issued a report chronicling the public outreach activities of UCLA’s Center for Near East Studies (CNES), funded in part by Title VI, from 2010 to 2013. Among its findings: Of 149 public events sponsored in full or in part by CNES related to fourteen Middle Eastern countries, more than one-quarter of the events (40, or 27 percent) focused on Israel. Of 49 public events relating to significant Middle East political conflicts, 30, or 61 percent of the events focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Of 28 Israel-related public events, 93 percent exhibited bias against Israel. There are many examples of similar bias at other Title VI recipients: Speaking at a 2011 event on “The Arabs and the Holocaust” at UC-Berkeley, Gilbert Achcar of the University of London began his lecture by stating, “Don’t expect me to take a pro-Israel view. I’m an Arab.” He characterized terrorist acts as “counter-violence” that “pales in scale” to actions by Israel, and asserted that “Holocaust denial is a form of protest.” At the University of Texas, Austin, Professor Samer Ali called Israel a “racist” state, implied parallels to Nazi behavior by stating that no group should claim superiority over another “like Zionists do,” and claimed to be the subject of a “pro-Zionist fatwa.” The UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University Consortium for Middle East studies has held events seeking to delegitimize Israel by characterizing it as an “oppressive state” that violates countless human rights, claiming that Israel practices South African-style apartheid, and comparing the Palestinians to the Native Americans in the United States. The University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Tufts, Brown, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Columbia hosted public screenings of the film “The Great Book Robbery,” which claims that the modern state of Israel at its founding in 1948 victimized Palestinians by stealing both their homes and, through their books, Palestinian culture. No alternative views were offered. As these examples illustrate, Middle East centers funded under Title VI have failed to comply with federal law, by using taxpayer dollars to present biased, anti-American, anti-Israel views in their outreach programs. A proposed solution Systems are needed to ensure accountability and transparency to effectuate the 2008 congressional reforms. We recommend the following two steps as a means of dealing with the problem that Title VI programs have no measure of accountability after receiving taxpayer funding: Require recipients of Title VI funds to establish grievance procedures to address complaints that programs are not reflecting diverse perspectives and a wide range of views. Require the U.S. Department of Education to establish a formal complaint-resolution process similar to that in use to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (This would not have a material effect on the Department’s budget given the existence of an investigative and enforcement arm already available to address noncompliance with other statutes.) Arguably, Title VI programs no longer serve a legitimate purpose because they have been disserved by the centers. In 2011, Congress reduced Title VI funding nationwide by 40 percent, from $34 million to $18 million. Unless effective and necessary reforms can be enacted, Congress may have to consider reducing or eliminating Title VI funding from Middle East studies centers. Respectfully submitted, ACCURACY IN ACADEMIA AMCHA INITIATIVE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LAWYERS AND JURISTS ENDOWMENT FOR MIDDLE EAST TRUTH THE LOUIS D. BRANDEIS CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER LAW MIDDLE EAST FORUM SCHOLARS FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA
On June 30th, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin will deliver a talk at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, California. Entitled “Campus and the New Anti-Semitism”, the talk will focus on “the hostile, anti-Israel climate which university students across the country are facing and the challenges of addressing campus anti-Semitism.” Rossman-Benjamin, a Brandeis Center Academic Advisory Board Member, is also the founder of the AMCHA Initiative, a nonprofit group that aims “to investigate, document, educate about, and combat anti-Semitic behavior on college and university campuses in America and the institutional structures that legitimize it and allow it to flourish.” In the summer of 2010, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin and Brandeis Center president Kenneth L. Marcus moderated and organized a two-week long workshop series entitled “Contemporary Anti-Semitism in Higher Education”. The scholarly workshops were held at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies in Washington, DC and brought together leading experts on combatting anti-Semitism, united by the belief in the importance of preserving college campuses as pillars of free expression. More recently, Rossman-Benjamin has been the victim of a character assassination campaign at UC Santa Cruz, where she is a lecturer. In 2009, Rossman-Benjamin filed a Title VI complaint with the Office of Civil Rights alleging anti-Semitic harassment on the UCSC campus. In her complaint, she implicated two student groups as playing a part in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. Last year, Rossman-Benjamin gave a speech in which she described anti-Semitic incidents that were occurring on UC Santa Cruz’ campus and attributed some of them to those two organizations, Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Students Association. As a result, in March 2013, Associated Students at the University of California (ASUC) at Berkeley adopted a resolution that called on outgoing UC President Mark Yudof to condemn Rossman-Benjamin’s remarks. This is tangible proof of one of the Top Ten Surprises about Campus Anti-Semitism, that advocates for the Jewish people and those who speak out against anti-Semitism are sometimes unfairly abused for their beliefs and opinions. In response to this condemnation campaign, The Brandeis Center and Scholars for Peace in the Middle East released a Joint Statement defending Rossman-Benjamin, saying: “We find the accusations against Rossman-Benjamin to be false, scurrilous, and unjustifiable. Over the years, Rossman-Benjamin has tirelessly campaigned against anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli harassment. Perversely, Rossman-Benjamin is now being branded a purveyor of hate speech and Islamophobia precisely because she attempted to expose hate speech which her accusers would prefer to shield from scrutiny.” Furthermore, in a new development, the UC Berkeley student who authored the resolution condemning Tammi Rossman-Benjamin was named as the student regent designate for 2014 – 2015. Considering this student’s actions, it is surprising that a committee of 5 Regents selected her for a position on a board that makes decisions for the entire UC system. The Simon Wiesenthal Center deserves to be commended for standing by Tammi Rossman-Benjamin during this time and showing their courage in refusing to cave to unfair pressures or bow in the face of anti-Semitism.