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Fighting Back Against Threats to the Jewish Community
March 2017
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As spring approaches, the United States is reeling from a surge in anti-Semitic incidents, including threats to Jewish Community Centers and attacks on Jewish Cemeteries. We are fighting back -- on campus, in Washington, and in the state capitols. Lately we are making progress, advancing reforms in pending legislative efforts to combat BDS and oppose anti-Semitism. One good example is South Carolina, where pending anti-Semitism legislation "speaks directly to a critical public policy need ... and ... is a necessary compliment to state laws that regulate against commercial manifestations of anti-Jewish bigotry," as Joseph Sabag, U.S. National Director of the Israel Allies Foundation, has commented. The March Brandeis Brief discusses continuing efforts in Washington, D.C., and in several states.
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Morning Education: A Daily Overview of Education Policy News
Benjamin Wermund, Politico
A few years ago, Kenneth Marcus, the former head of the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, could tick off a few campuses that were "hot spots" for anti-Semitism. Now, he says: "It's really all over." Marcus, now president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, drafted the policy OCR uses to investigate allegations of anti-Semitism.
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Bill Would Define anti-Semitism on South Carolina Campuses
Seanna Adcox, Tri City Herald
A new bill in South Carolina, one designed to curb a national rise in anti-Jewish bigotry on campuses, fights against unsubstantiated concerns regarding first amendment freedoms.
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Last fall, five Loudoun County, Virginia teenagers vandalized the
historic African-American schoolhouse
in Ashburn with an array of graffiti that included white supremacist slogans and Nazi swastikas. The fact that they desecrated a monument to black history with the symbol most closely associated with Jewish oppression was not lost on those monitoring anti-Semitism.
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Campus Anti-Semitism Rising, Expert Says
David R. Cohen, Atlanta Jewish Time
Reports in August from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville of anti-Semitic behavior by students caught the eye of Kenneth Marcus, an anti-Semitism expert and the president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
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Despite a temporary setback, efforts to bring an end to the growing incidents of anti-Semitism on college campuses in Virginia have garnered some key support.
Virginia Delegates Dave LaRock and Mark Cole introduced HB 2261 to recognize anti-Semitism as a form of unlawful discriminatory practice.
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UC Berkeley Responds to Yiannopoulos Outrage by Stifling Free Speech
Conservative firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos had been invited to speak at the University of California's Berkeley campus. At the reported direction of campus police, university officials canceled the speech, citing public safety concerns, after a violent protest resulted in a reported six injuries and over $100,000 in property damage. Days earlier, a letter had been sent to the UC Board of Regents, expressing concern over "a sharp rise in hateful, intolerant acts directed at individuals holding divergent ideological and political viewpoints."
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UH Students Want Leaders to Respond to anti-Semitic Tweets
Houston Jewish, Herald Voice
Houston Hillel is reassuring students and the local Jewish community that Houston's largest university remains a safe place for Jewish students. The effort follows revelations that a small cadre of current and former University of Houston students has taken to Twitter to praise the mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust and to foment anti-Semitic and anti-Israel points of view.
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ISGAP Publishes New Volume Including LDB Campus Anti-Semitism Research
Caitlyn Carmichael, Brandeis Blog
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LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus at StandWithUs Anti-BDS Conference
Katherine Hung, Brandeis Blog
StandWithUs, an international non-profit organization dedicated to informing the public about Israel and combatting anti-Semitism, will be holding their third annual Anti-BDS conference in Los Angeles from March 4-6. For the past three years, StandWithUs has invited international experts to discuss strategies to combat the global boycott movement against Israel. LDB President & General Counsel Kenneth L. Marcus will be participating as an expert speaker for the third year in a row, discussing "BDS in Lawfare."
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LDB Welcomes Michael Grant
The Brandeis Center is pleased to announce the arrival of Michael Grant as a Civil Rights Legal Fellow. Michael brings great energy and skill to the advancement of justice for all. He will conduct research on issues of federal and state law and provide general legal and policy support to LDB.
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LDB Welcomes Caitlyn Carmichael and Edward Kunz
The Brandeis Center is proud to announce its new spring interns for 2017, Caitlyn Carmichael and Edward Kunz.
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Support LDB
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The Louis D. Brandeis Center is a nonprofit organization supported by individuals, groups and foundations that share our concern about Jewish college students. Contributions are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. To support our efforts to combat campus anti-Semitism, please contact us at [email protected].
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Kenneth L. Marcus
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Can We Help You? |
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The Louis D. Brandeis Center stands ready if we can help you to combat anti-Semitism in higher education.
Please contact us if you are a student or professor who needs our help. We are also available to provide technical assistance to university administrators who are interested in achieving legal compliance and best practices for eliminating campus anti-Semitism.
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