Cover Blown: Targeting ‘Zionists’ is Targeting Jews | |
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BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – IN MEMORIAM – ACTIONS – STORIES
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This week’s edition dedicated in memory of American-Israeli hostage Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra, 21, murdered on Oct. 7, 2023. His body remains in Gaza.
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Amid a widespread climate of hatred toward Jews, particularly on university campuses, UCLA student and the Cultural Affairs Commissioner Alicia Verdugo has been accused of refusing to hire Jews by telling her staff not to hire “Zionists” and creating a blacklist – causing all Jewish applicants to be rejected. The rejected applicants made no mention of Israel or Zionism in their applications but merely mentioned their Jewish heritage or faith. In a classic case of ‘throw the rock, hide the hand,’ antisemites have cloaked their vehement antisemitism by simply substituting ‘Zionist’ for ‘Jew.’
"Lots of Zionists are applying – please do your research and I will also share a no hire list”
Verdugo sent the message to her staff to alert them to watch for Zionist (Jewish) applicants and adhere to her ‘no hire’ list. Jewish student newspaper leader Bella Brannon filed a complaint with the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) Judicial Board over the discrimination. Brannon called on the board to remove Verdugo. She alleged that Verdugo violated both USAC and UC policies as well as state and federal anti-discrimination laws by singling out Jewish applicants during the commission’s hiring cycle.
This was not Alicia Verdugo’s first accusation of antisemitic harassment. U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, previously claimed in a letter to UC leaders that Verdugo “had previously been involved in the targeted harassment of students” who disagreed with the Commission’s position on the Israel-Hamas war. The Committee investigated the university in the Spring of 2024 for its ‘inadequate response to antisemitism and failure to protect Jewish students.’ In July of this year, a federal judge ruled that UCLA discriminated against three Jewish students when they were excluded from certain parts of campus because they refused to disavow their “religious beliefs concerning the Jewish state of Israel.”
The increasing prevalence and normalization of Zionist terminology being used to whitewash antisemitism has followed an explosion of global anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate post Oct. 7. In the U.S., attacks targeting Jews are reaching historic levels since Oct. 7, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray. In Australia, antisemitic attacks are up 316% and have soared across Europe, Canada, the UK and other countries.
In the recent Amsterdam attack Israeli soccer fans were targeted, hunted down and brutally attacked because they were easily recognized as Jews. Zionism alone was clearly not a motive. The thin line between Zionist and Jew is disappearing.
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Double standards and definitions
Double standards are consistently applied to Israel and with demands and expectations that are not made of any other country. They are evident in the halls of the United Nations, on university campus quads and in political institutions under the guise of human rights. The UN routinely condemns Israel for supposed rights violations. Campus groups advocate for the boycotting, divestment and sanctioning of Israel. Some far-left-wing politicians use anti-Zionist rhetoric to advance policies targeting Israel. Israel’s right to defend itself from the enemies that seek its destruction is routinely challenged – something inconceivable to question of other countries.
Human rights activist, Natan Sharansky, who spent nine years in Soviet jails, created the 3D Test of Antisemitism to serve as a guide for differentiating between the legitimate criticism of Israeli policies and actual hatred for Jews. Sharansky’s first test was the Demonization of the Jewish state. He stated that “when Israel’s actions are blown out of all sensible proportion, when comparisons are made between Israelis and Nazis and between Palestinian refugee camps and Auschwitz – this is antisemitism, not legitimate criticism of Israel.” He defined Double standards as “criticism of Israel applied selectively; when Israel is singled out by the UN for human rights abuses while the behavior of known and major abusers, such as China, Iran, Cuba and Syria is ignored – this is antisemitism.” The final element of Sharansky’s 3D test is the Delegitimization of Israel, when “Israel’s fundamental right to exist is denied.”
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism (IHRA definition) helps explain when legitimate criticism of Israel’s policies crosses the line into antisemitism or anti-Zionism. The IHRA definition incorporates Sharansky’s 3D Test, by including examples illustrating double standards, delegitimization and demonization of Israel.
While no one definition is perfect or all encompassing, IHRA has become the leading definition of antisemitism worldwide. It is widely adopted by numerous world governments, including the U.S. State Department and more than half of the U.S. states. It has also been adopted by international organizations and educational institutions. The Executive Order on Combatting Antisemitism, issued in 2019 and still in effect, makes IHRA a legally binding part of federal anti-discrimination law.
Antisemitism cannot be properly addressed if it is not properly understood, and the IHRA definition is a useful tool to recognize classic and contemporary forms of antisemitism. The definition helps governments and institutions classify and identify when antisemitism occurs so it can be properly addressed. Finally, the IHRA definition does not punish or prohibit speech; it merely helps to evaluate antisemitic conduct so that law enforcement and civil rights enforcement agencies can choose how to address it. Having a defined measure for what constitutes antisemitism prevents the normalization of hatred and protects Jewish individuals and communities.
Trying to do it right: repairing the campus climate
Occidental College is the latest institution of higher education that has agreed to take a series of steps to address and prevent anti-Zionist harassment and discrimination on campus. The college reached a sweeping settlement agreement in response to a federal Title VI complaint filed by ADL and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. Jewish students enrolled at Occidental experienced a “pervasive and hostile environment” that included severe antisemitic bullying, intimidation and physical threats in the weeks and months following the Hamas massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Among the steps being taken, the college will use IHRA when reviewing complaints of potential antisemitic harassment or discrimination, incorporate the definition into its educational materials, provide staff training about Jewish identity and antisemitic discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students with examples of anti-Zionism, and update the College’s Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Policy.
“This agreement demonstrates Occidental College’s commitment to counter all forms of contemporary antisemitism and underscores their recognition that effectively combatting antisemitism requires understanding the relationship between Jewish identity, Israel, and Zionism,” said Alyza D. Lewin, President of the Brandeis Center.
“We are pleased that Occidental College has committed to meaningful steps to ensure that the civil rights of Jewish students on campus are protected and affirm that antisemitism has no place on campus,” added Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director. “This outcome demonstrates how the Title VI OCR process can work to effectively protect Jewish students.”
New York University, George Mason University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and other universities have taken similar steps to address contemporary manifestations of antisemitism on campus by modifying their nondiscrimination policies and policy guidance to include examples of anti-Zionist harassment and discrimination, recognizing that “Zionist” is often used as a codeword for “Jew” to mask unlawful activity, and using the IHRA Definition to evaluate discriminatory intent.
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.
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1. Zionist is a code word for hatred against Jews
When anti-Jewish bigots need a way to hide their hate in more socially acceptable ways, they often choose words or names just far enough removed to provide a cover. Post Oct. 7 antisemitic propaganda peddles this strategy. ‘Zionist’ is frequently used as a thinly veiled substitute for ‘Jew.’ Most Jews define themselves as being part of a people with a shared ancestry and heritage rooted in the Land of Israel, therefore most Jews consider their connection to Israel, or “Zionism,” to be an important component of Jewish identity, not a political viewpoint. Anti-Israel activists wield the word Zionist as a weapon to demonize Jews and delegitimize Israel’s existence. This linguistic sleight-of-hand allows individuals to mask their hatred of Jews. Anti-Jewish bigots don’t want to be called out for targeting Jews but believe they can get away with directing hate toward Zionism and Zionists.
2. Hatred towards Jews should receive equal outrage to any other group
The American public expresses outrage if any other minority group is singled out, vilified, targeted or assaulted. But when it’s a Jew who is the target of a hate crime, when calls for death to Israel and Zionists are being chanted on the streets, and Jewish students feel terrified to walk across their own campus, all too many go quiet. Silence becomes complicity and Jews, a mere 2% of the population, must defend themselves, with the support of their allies. No religious or ethnic group should be villainized and left alone to fight that battle. Friends and supporters of Jews and Israel must stand in solidarity and end the silence.
3. Israel is used as an excuse to target Jews
The Jewish state is consistently used to justify targeting Jews and Jewish communities worldwide. Under the guise of opposing Israeli policies, hate speech often leads to anti-Israel activists engaging in antisemitic acts, increasing from vandalism to violent assaults against Jews. Recent attacks in Amsterdam highlight this disturbing trend, where hostility toward Israel was used as an excuse to harm Jews. Hatred against Jews has existed for centuries – before Israel was even a state – proving that Israel is just an excuse. Masked as political expression, hateful rhetoric fuels prejudice, inciting hostility and isolating Jewish communities as targets. Antisemitism in all forms must be loudly condemned.
4. Zionism is integral to Jewish identity for most American Jews – not a political viewpoint
More than 80% of American Jews believe that Israel is an essential or important part of what being Jewish means to them. Passover and Yom Kippur both conclude with the phrase: “Next year in Jerusalem.” Israel encompasses a deep connection to Jewish history, religion, culture and the aspiration for a homeland. Recognizing Israel's significance as a safe haven in the aftermath of persecutions, pogroms, expulsions and the Holocaust, Zionism serves as a unifying force that binds Jewish communities across the diaspora. It goes beyond policy debates, embodying the resilience of a people who have endured centuries of adversity. Dismissing Zionism as mere politics overlooks its profound cultural and spiritual relevance. No one would conceive of telling any other group “you can’t define yourself,” and the same stands for the Jewish people.
5. Jewish identity must be both protected and celebrated
There is a concerted effort to erase and deny shared Jewish ethnicity – particularly on university campuses. Ideas and policies can be debated, and criticism of government policies is legitimate, but no one should be dehumanized, excluded or attacked based on their ethnic, religious or national identity. Jewish identity is highly personal and means different things to different Jews. Jewish identity spans a wide landscape covering religion, culture, ethnicity, tradition, connection to Israel and a shared almost 4,000-year history as a people. American Jews should not fear wearing a kippah (yarmulke) or a Star of David or be forced to decide whether they should hide their Jewish identity in public for their own safety. Every expression of Jewish identity and culture should be freely celebrated and fiercely protected.
6. To combat antisemitism, it must first be defined
“When Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism. And that is unacceptable.” – The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism has been adopted by more than 40 countries, high-profile universities and institutions, and is used by all U.S. executive departments and agencies that enforce Title VI civil rights protections. The definition explains what constitutes antisemitism and why. It makes clear that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic." It is common for opponents of Zionism to say that they are merely criticizing Israeli policies when they are, in fact, expressing hatred of Jews, let alone opposed to the existence of Israel in any form. Anti-Jewish hatred has often been cloaked in anti-Zionist rhetoric, using it as a smokescreen to perpetuate harmful stereotypes, deny historical facts and delegitimize Israel's existence.
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In Memoriam: Omer Maxim Neutra | |
American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra (photo: courtesy) | |
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Until now, American-Israeli hostage Capt. Omer Neutra, a New York native, was believed to be a living hostage still held in Gaza. Omer, 21, was a NY Knicks fan, an athlete and a passionate Zionist who delayed beginning college at Binghamton to spend a year in Israel. He was a ‘lone soldier,’ a title for a soldier whose parents are not in Israel, and was a tank platoon commander defending Israel on the morning of Oct. 7. Footage from that horrific day shows his tank in smoke as Hamas fighters pulled soldiers from the tank. It was believed they were all kidnaped and taken to Gaza. With recently received intelligence, it’s now known that Omer was murdered on Oct. 7, 2023, and his dead body has been held in Gaza, where 100 hostages remain in captivity.
For 14 months, Omer’s parents have advocated for the hostages and campaigned for their release – speaking to world leaders and even addressing the Republican National Convention in July with desperate pleas to bring their son home. Only now have they received the heart-wrenching news that their son has been dead for the past 14 months. Heavy grief now grips the Neutra family as they wait for Omer’s body to be retrieved from Gaza for a proper Jewish burial in Israel.
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A. Become an influencer: use Talking Points to counter misinformation
In an age of increasing misinformation and disinformation about Jews and Israel, use the facts in the background and talking points to help combat the pervasive anti-Israel narrative. Whether you are talking with family, friends or coworkers, or posting on social media, help reach and teach someone who does not have a full understanding of the issues vital to the American Jewish community.
B. Free legal assistance against antisemitism: from kindergarten to college
Contact:
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Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL) to address anti-Jewish incidents on university campuses. Launched by the ADL, Brandeis Center, Hillel International and Gibson Dunn law firm.
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The StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department provides pro bono lawyers focused on defending Israel and fighting antisemitism from kindergarten to college.
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The Campus Civil Rights Project by The Lawfare Project provides guidance and legal assistance to students, professors and campus groups.
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K-12 Antisemitism Legal Line for California residents. This program was launched by the ADL, Brandeis Center and StandWithUs because “far too many school principals and administrators are failing in their legal responsibilities and choosing to sweep escalating antisemitism under the rug.”
Examples of situations that may be legal violations, include:
- Being treated differently or discriminated against because you or your organization is Jewish
- In-person or online harassment
- Intentional damage to your property or a physical attack because you’re Jewish
C. Demand universities update and enforce their codes of conduct
The ADL created a template – Harassment that Creates a Hostile Environment – that can be integrated by universities into their existing codes of conduct. It addresses targeted attacks against individuals based on identifiable characteristics, including religion, ethnicity and national origin. The ADL also is calling on all campus leaders to ensure that their existing codes of conduct are enforced.
D. Non-Jews must speak up in support of American Jews and Israel
Non-Jews play a crucial role in combating anti-Jewish hate speech and violence by actively speaking out against these evils. The fight against hatred and discrimination is a shared responsibility that transcends backgrounds, ideologies and belief systems. Regardless of one’s personal views about the conflict, and even if someone totally disagrees with Israeli policies, we should all be able to agree that none of that justifies the attacks on Jews in the U.S. Learn more about the issues that affect Jews, raise awareness and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jewish community. Getting connected with organizations and initiatives that are dedicated to countering hatred and violence will lead to more equality for everyone.
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Israel’s other border faces potential risk as civil war in Syria reignites
Largely in stalemate since 2020, Syria is now in tumult again as militant insurgents have launched a civil war, seizing Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city. Rebel fighters began preparations to attack Aleppo a year ago but were delayed by the Oct. 7 massacre and Israel’s subsequent defensive war with Hamas and Hezbollah. The fighting revives a long-simmering conflict and raises concerns for the potential risk to Israel’s security.
The ceasefire that went into effect last week between Israel and Lebanon provided a window of opportunity for the rebel forces to take hold of the city and seek to overthrow the Syrian government. The IDF is reported to be preparing for a scenario where Israel would be required to act and only would become involved if Israel’s security is directly threatened.
Stories Impacting American Jews
Stories Impacting the U.S. and Israel
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The Focus Project develops and distributes news, background, history and weekly talking points on timely issues to inform individuals and organizations about issues affecting the American Jewish community and Israel, and help readers speak with more consistency and clarity. The editions also provide potential responses for addressing incidents of antisemitism and anti-Zionism. With input from a spectrum of major American Jewish organizations, we focus on that which unites us, rising above political and individual agendas.
Recognizing that hatred of Jews comes in many forms and directions, we strive to address all sources as they arise, and educate our growing audience on topics ranging from inter-religious relations to relevant international developments. From week to week, we may focus on issues arising from the political left, university campuses, from the political right and from institutions, government, and corporations. We don’t try to address all issues in each edition. We hope you will find this information useful in your writing and/or speaking. We are always open to your feedback: info@focus-project.org.
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