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Brandeis Brief: November 2020
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The Brandeis Center's legal complaint against the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign supports Jewish students who have faced an unrelenting campaign of anti-Semitic harassment. Meanwhile, in Washington, a historic State Department decision culminated a years-long campaign led by Brandeis Center President Alyza Lewin. Also this month, LDB participated in the first-ever government-sponsored conference on combatting virtual anti-Semitism and provided insightful legal analysis about how to address online anti-Semitism. Read about this here, as well important new articles from LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus and other exciting developments at the Center. As always, we thank you for your tax deductible donations and acknowledge that without you our work could not be done.
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The University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign has failed to address anti-Semitic incidents dating back to 2015. In light of this a complaint has been filed with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The complaint was initially filed by the LDB Center and Arnold &Porter Kaye Scholer LLP. The complaint highlights in detail egregious acts including vandalism at the Chabad house and destruction of Jewish property. See our press release and review this summary of the complaint.
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 LDB Center's president, Alyza Lewin, participated in the United States State Department's first-ever two-day conference on internet anti-Semitism. There, she spoke about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the legal obligations of big tech to address anti-Semitism and the importance of adopting the IHRA definition of Anti-Semitism. Lewin was joined by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr, and other leaders.
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State Department's Conference on Anti-Semitism
Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
In response to the explosion of anti-Semitic hate online, on October 21 and 22, 2020, the United States State Department hosted "Ancient Hatred, Modern Medium," a two-day symposium focused on combatting online anti-Semitism. The conference, the first on this topic organized by the U.S. Government, explored the threats posed by internet anti-Semitism and considered practical responses. World leaders from government, religious communities, civil society, social media, and academia shared ideas and creative strategies for addressing the "21st Century's permutation of the world's oldest hatred." During a session titled "Legal Framework," LDB's President, Alyza D. Lewin, stressed the need to adopt the IHRA Definition of anti-Semitism in its entirety, with all of its contemporary examples.
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Trump or Biden, keep up the pressure on campus anti-Semitism
Kenneth L. Marcus (NY Daily News)
Marcus offers insight into recent incidents of anti-Semitism at New York University and Florida State. He explains the key to addressing many of these issues and describes what both parties can do to keep pressure on colleges across the nation to support Jewish students.
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Brandeis Center Joins 30 Organizations Urging Universities to Combat Anti-Semitism
Samantha Crane (Brandeis Blog)
This month the Brandeis Center joined 30 other Jewish organizations urging leaders of 165 colleges and universities to address anti-Semitism on their campuses. The group was led by the Zionist Organization of America, which put together a well-crafted letter reminding universities of their legal obligations to cease these shameful acts.
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Brandeis Center Applauds U.S. Decision Permitting Jerusalem-Born Americans to Say They Were Born in Israel
U.S passport policy, until a few days ago, treated Jerusalem as a city without a country. Because the United States refused to recognize any country as having sovereignty over Jerusalem, American citizens born in Jerusalem were prohibited from listing "Israel" as the place of birth on their U.S. passports. After a long legal battle championed by LDB President, Alyza D. Lewin, the Trump Administration changed this policy. On October 30, Ambassador David Friedman presented Menachem Zivotofsky (Lewin's client) with the first U.S. passport to list "Israel" as the place of birth for an American citizen born in Jerusalem. Watch the passport ceremony here.
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LDB appoints Jesse A. Witten to LDB Legal advisory board
Jesse A. Witten is the newest member of The Louis D. Brandeis Center's Legal Advisory Board. LDB Center continues to grow as the demand for the Center's expertise surges with anti-Semitism increasing and becoming commonplace on college campuses across the country. Witten is a partner in the Washington office of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.
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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 info@brandeiscenter.com.
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Kenneth L. Marcus
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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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