 NEW YORK (Press Release) — Universities across the country have made concessions to the anti-Israel demonstrators.
Top Stories Swarthmore. Due to the ongoing anti-Israel protests at Swarthmore College, the Pennsylvania liberal arts college will be moving its May 26th commencement off-campus for the first time in the school’s 150-year history because of an anti-Israel encampment on Parrish Lawn. In an update to the community, acting co-presidents Tomoko Sakomura and Rob Goldberg shared that in their more recent discussions with anti-Israel protesters, “the group became confrontational before walking out of the room,” and that students surrounded the exits, “creating a threatening, intimidating environment.” The update stated that these actions “went beyond a reasonable definition of peaceful protest,” and noted that with the academic year ending, it is also time for the encampments to end. UW-Milwaukee. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone apologized in an email on Tuesday for his letter from the previous week where he condemned “genocide” in Gaza and called for a cease-fire, writing that he shouldn’t have “weighed in on deeply complex geopolitical and historical issues.” Despite acknowledging the challenging times for many Jewish students at UWM and across the country and expressing distress that some students have not felt comfortable raising their concerns on campus, he didn’t reverse the agreement he had reached with the anti-Israel encampment leaders. Northwestern. A (second) lawsuit has been filed against Northwestern University for its failure to protect Jewish students from severe antisemitic harassment. The lawsuit alleges that Jewish students faced harassment and hateful rhetoric, saying the administration’s inaction created an “unbearable” atmosphere on campus. This news comes after Northwestern made a “deal” with student protestors that protests can continue no later than June 1st in exchange for the University restarting an Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility that will give students and faculty a say on the University’s investments. Denver. Despite a deadline set for Tuesday evening by the University of Denver administration, anti-Israel protesters had not dismantled their encampments. The administration had previously shared an email with the DU community saying the administration had “become increasingly concerned about the safety of our campus community,” noting they have seen a “sharp increase in reports of discriminatory and harassing behavior from individuals both inside and outside the encampment.” Princeton. In a vote on Monday afternoon, the Princeton faculty passed a non-binding resolution by a slim margin that condemns the University’s handling of disciplinary action against protesters. The resolution also called for legal and disciplinary amnesty for arrested protesters. While the University has said it is still considering next steps, the Daily Princetonian reported that two members of the student group Princeton Israeli Apartheid Divest, who were arrested on May 18, have already been allowed back on Princeton’s campus. A New Litmus Test. In a recent New York Times article, reporter Joseph Bernstein writes about the new “litmus test” on campus: “If you support Palestine, you’re in. If you support the existence of or aren’t ready to denounce Israel, you’re out. And they say this is not limited to pro-Palestine protests. It is, instead, merely the most pointed form of a new social pressure that has started to drip down from the public square onto the fabric of everyday campus life, seeping into spaces that would seem to have little to do with Middle East politics: club sports, casual friendships, dance troupes.” The examples of this antisemitism are heart-breaking to read, and sadly all too pervasive. New York Poll. Demonstrating the common sense of the vast majority, a new poll of 1,191 registered voters in New York found that 72 percent “support the students’ right to peacefully protest the ongoing war in Gaza,” and 70 percent say “the demonstrations have gone too far and necessitated police intervention to shut them down.” In addition, 61 percent said they think the “demonstrators seemed to have forgotten that Hamas started the war on Oct. 7.” The poll was conducted between May 13 and 15. |
| Campus Champions
Why You Fetterman? New York’s Yeshiva University will be awarding its Presidential Medallion, YU’s “highest honor for global leadership” to Senator John Fetterman at its commencement ceremony next week. YU President Ari Berman noted that the Senator is “a true US patriot and hero of Israel.” No word if Fetterman will be wearing a YU hoodie for the ceremony. The Academic Squirm. The Arleigh Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Eliot A. Cohen writes in the Atlantic that we are watching the “Great Academic Squirm of 2024” as universities cave into anti-Israel protesters, thinking it will solve their problems. But this prevents them from recognizing the real challenges they face: antisemitism in and out of the classroom and understanding academia’s proper role in society: “The leaders of universities do not exist to pass judgment on politics, or twist their endowments into moralistic knots, or attempt to shape the course of American foreign policy. As individuals, they (and students, faculty, and administrators) may have something useful to say about politics and every right to do so. In their official roles, they should have none.” Alone in Harvard Yard. In an op-ed for Newsweek published on Tuesday, Charlie Covit, a freshman at Harvard University, detailed his lonely experience as a Jewish student amid growing antisemitism: “Standing in the [Harvard] Yard, wearing my Star of David necklace — I’d never felt so alone.” Covit describes hearing “hundreds of students calling for an intifada, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, just a couple feet away from where I live and sleep.” He describes reckless mischaracterizations of Israel supporters by Harvard’s student newspaper, Jewish anti-Israel protesters co-opting the “Oseh Shalom” prayer for peace while conspicuously leaving out “Israel,” and a campus rabbi who had to cancel weekly dinners because student organizations complained they were “uncomfortable” with the presence of “Zionists.” Speaking out is how we make change; thanks for writing this, Charlie! |
| Am Yisrael Chai 💪✡️
The Jewish God of Walks. Kevin Youkilis, the former Red Sox star and hitting coach for Team Israel during last year’s World Baseball Classic, is also a Hall-of-Fame advocate for the Jewish people. He was honored this week by the Red Sox Foundation and the Ruderman Family Foundation for his leadership against antisemitism. Said Youkilis: “Antisemitism is on display for the world to see. Some turn a blind eye, but we cannot. We must confront it head-on. As athletes, we have a unique platform. My voice, unexpectedly, became bigger within the Jewish baseball community. Let’s be a fraternity that stands up for one another. Let’s use our voices to combat hate. Together, we can make a difference.” WATCH: Youkilis and 18 other major leaguers (including Houston’s Alex Bregman, former Dodger Shawn Green, and the greatest Jewish catcher in baseball Philly’s Garrett Stubbs) “stand up against antisemitism.” Unity. ADL led over 60 Jewish organizations spanning the political and religious spectrums to join forces and sign a letter to Congressional leaders in support of the Countering Antisemitism Act, a bill that will create lasting structures to prioritize the fight against antisemitism, including a domestic National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism and a dedicated Task Force that meets regularly to coordinate efforts to fight antisemitism across agencies. ADL is spearheading efforts to pass this important bill, along with the Co-Chairs of the House and Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism. The bill has bipartisan backing and, as the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports, “Such wall-to-wall Jewish comity has not been expressed since at least the George W. Bush administration.” |