NEW YORK (Press Release)– Some university presidents succumbed to pressure from anti-Israel students, others stood their ground. One president was suspended for capitulating to demands from the BDS crowd.
 Top Stories
Michigan. In a significant escalation, more than 30 anti-Israel protesters — from the groups behind the encampment still up at the Ann Arbor campus — early yesterday morning went to the homes of members of the University of Michigan Board of Regents. According to a statement put out by the University, “activities included placing tents and fake corpses wrapped in bloodied sheets on the lawn, marching and chanting, and posting demands on doors.” One Regent, Jordan Acker, tweeted that a masked intruder came to his house at 4:40 AM with a list of demands, including defunding the police: “My three daughters were asleep in their beds, and thankfully unaware of what transpired.” Anti-Israel protesters also showed up at the home of Board of Regents Chair Sarah Hubbard where they had put up tents and fake body bags. READ: The University’s statement: “The tactics used today represent a significant and dangerous escalation in the protests that have been occurring on campus. Going to an individual’s private residence is intimidating behavior and, in this instance, illegal trespassing. This kind of conduct is not protected speech; it’s dangerous and unacceptable.” MORE: UM Regents Chair’s response to calls for divestment from Israel: “In March, the Board of Regents spoke clearly regarding their request for divesting from our endowment. Again, the answer is NO.” Harvard. Despite statements that Harvard leadership would not negotiate with anti-Israel protesters, the university announced a list of commitments on Tuesday that look very similar to commitments negotiated by protesters at other universities. These commitments include reinstating more than 20 students from involuntary leaves of absence and offering protesters a meeting on divestment with the university’s governing boards. We are deeply disappointed by this decision to reward students who have violated Harvard’s codes of conduct and absolve behavior that has fueled a hostile and threatening campus for Jewish students. Sonoma State. In an email on Tuesday, Sonoma State University President Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee laid out that the University will effectively embrace a full BDS strategy: It will seek “divestment strategies” in Israeli companies and vendors; will not pursue formal collaborations that are “sponsored by, or represent, the Israeli state academic and research institutions;” will permanently terminate all study abroad programs to Israel and remove any sites and pamphlets that encourage study abroad to Israel; and will create a curriculum for Palestinian studies. The statement also called for a ceasefire in Gaza. In the ensuing 24 hours, many Jewish communal organizations throughout the Golden State — including ADL — and political and communal leaders mobilized and voiced their disgust. Then, late last night California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia issued a statement that Lee’s BDS announcement “was sent without the appropriate approvals … because of this insubordination and consequences it has brought upon the system, President Lee has been placed on administrative leave.” It is unclear how long Lee will be on leave. Thank you to all who spoke out, and to Chancellor Garcia for her swift action. UC Berkeley. Succumbing to three weeks of pressure, the University of California, Berkeley administration struck a deal with protesters, bringing an end to their demonstration. While we appreciate the Chancellor’s clear statement opposing academic boycotts and acknowledging the UC system’s rejection of divestment from companies on the basis of whether or not they do business with or in Israel, we are deeply troubled by the Chancellor’s concessions. Giving in to the demands of the UC Divest Coalition not only rewards and incentivizes future rules violations, but it also lends legitimacy to a group that has fueled antisemitism on campus and continues to demonize Zionism and negate Israel’s legitimacy. READ: ADL California’s statement. TAKE ACTION: Tell Chancellor Crist to protect Jewish students on campus. UC Irvine. After several hundred anti-Israel protesters took over an academic building at the University of California, Irvine, the administration asked for help from local law enforcement agencies yesterday evening to clear the violent protest. This escalation followed months of anti-Israel activity on campus, including overt antisemitic harassment and intimidation of Jewish students, with little attention from university leadership. Classes are to be held remotely today. READ: The statement from Chancellor Gilman explaining the need to clear the anti-Israel protest, noting, “One can only imagine the response if people on the other side of these issues established an encampment to force me to censor all anti-Zionist academic and student programming.” TAKE ACTION: Support the Jewish students at UC Irvine by signing their petition to tell the Chancellor to hold these protesters accountable, stop the harassment, and get the University back to teaching and welcoming all students. New Mexico. On Wednesday, police removed and arrested anti-Israel protesters at the University of New Mexico. Following a one-hour notice to vacate, seven protesters were arrested, though they have since been released. Northwestern. Earlier in the week, Northwestern University condemned the vandalizing of 1,200 American and Israeli flags on campus that were erected in honor of the 1,200 people murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. The flags were later found to be torn, stained with red paint, and in ruins. In response, University president Michael Schill stated, “Northwestern’s commitment to freedom of expression does not include vandalism…The university will investigate these incidents thoroughly, and if individuals from Northwestern can be identified, we will pursue disciplinary action.” FLASHBACK: Northwestern decides not to punish anti-Israel encampment protesters for violating campus policies. CUNY. Tuesday, anti-Israel protesters claimed to have “taken” the City University of New York system Graduate Center, renaming it “The Al Aqsa University Library” and stating they would not leave until their five demands are met: divestment, boycott, solidarity, demilitarization of campuses, and a free, fully-funded People’s CUNY. Protesters left the building around 10 PM stating that interim CUNY Graduate Center President Joshua Brumberg had agreed to present the protesters’ demands to more senior members of the CUNY university system. |
| Campus Champions
Ithaca Gorges. Unlike other universities that have yielded to protester demands, Cornell University stood firm, and the anti-Israel encampment there voluntarily disbanded without arrests or concessions to protesters. The news comes days after University President Martha Pollack announced her retirement. Cornell’s encampment said it would still be negotiating with the administration, regardless of Pollack’s retirement. Adjunct law professor Menachem Rosensaft: “I am quite certain that the students in the encampment felt that they had made whatever point they were going to make, and that they were unlikely to have any further impact.” Rochester Removal. The University of Rochester cleared an encampment ahead of commencement without conceding to anti-Israel protesters. President Sarah Mangelsdorf put out a statement after the encampment was removed saying, “As a community devoted to advancing knowledge and moving the world forward, we should be able to engage one another in honest and productive dialogue about the conflict and what it means for our community.” Careful What You Wish For. In a pointed op-ed, the New York Times’ Bret Stephens explores what would happen if campus protesters got their wish and there was a “free Palestine.” He then explores the history of Palestinian governance in Gaza and the West Bank: “Perhaps the absence of Palestinian democracy shouldn’t come as a shock. The regime established by Hamas isn’t merely autocratic. It’s more like the old East Germany, complete with its own version of the Stasi, which spied on, blackmailed and abused its own citizens.” |
| Am Yisrael Chai 💪✡️
Party at MIT, Really. Tonight, Jewish students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will hold a music festival called “We Will Dance Again” to promote positivity amid rising antisemitism on campuses. The event will feature artists who support Israel and the Jewish community, including Idan Raichel, Matisyahu, LAIVY, John Ondrasik, Kosha Dillz, and a DJ who was at the Nova music festival. The festival is being supported by several major organizations including Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Hillel International, ADL and JNF. The organizers have raised over $34,000 and anticipate a big turnout at a site just blocks from where there was once an anti-Israel encampment. Wisconsin Writings. Sophie Friedberg, a student at University of Wisconsin, Madison, wrote a powerful letter to her Rabbi Steve Leder on her thoughts on the illegal encampment on her campus. The Rabbi shared the letter, in which Friedberg wrote, “This is not a protest against a faceless, nameless monolith. We’re standing right here and you’re calling for our destruction… I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I just wish I didn’t always have to prove it.” * Preceding provided by the Anti-Defamation League |
The following e-mailed comments were received by San Diego Jewish World which I as editor pass along in the interest of presenting a range of Jewish opinion:
REACTION:
StandWithUs deeply appreciates leaders across California who acted quickly after Sonoma State President Mike Lee’s shameful agreement to an academic boycott of Israel and other BDS measures became public. One day later, he apologized and was placed on leave. This case sets an example for all universities that face pressure from anti-Israel extremists. Instead of caving in to the demands of hate groups and their supporters, campus leaders must enforce their policies and stand up to antisemitism.
The following e-mailed comments were received by San Diego Jewish World which I as editor pass along in the interest of presenting a range of Jewish opinion:
REACTION:
AMCHA Initiative Director Tammi Rossman-Benjamin issued the following statement following CSU Chancellor Mildred García putting Sonoma State University President Mike Lee on leave after his capitulation to encampment demands, including committing the state school to a full academic boycott of Israel:
“We applaud CSU Chancellor Mildred García for putting President Lee on leave, and hope that he is not allowed to return. Any university leader who agrees to implement an antisemitic boycott that undermines the academic mission of the university, tramples on the educational opportunities and academic freedom of the university’s students and faculty, and incites animus and harm towards the school’s Jewish members, must be removed. However, getting rid of President Lee is not enough. CSU must repudiate President Lee’s ‘agreement’ and state unequivocally that no CSU school will ever agree to an academic boycott of Israel.
“A dedicated CSU statement that specifically addresses the harms of an academic boycott to the CSU community and guarantees that CSU will not permit any of its 23 campuses to agree to an academic boycott of Israel, nor will one be implemented system-wide, is urgently needed. California legislators, too, need to enact legislation to ensure that an academic boycott of any country will never be implemented at any state school.
“Make no mistake, an academic boycott hurts US students and faculty at least as much, if not more, than it hurts Israeli academics. There’s no way to implement an academic boycott of Israel without trampling on the academic freedom of U.S. students and faculty wanting to study in or about Israel, and inciting hatred and harm towards Israel’s on-campus supporters, particularly Jews. This extends far beyond study abroad programs. It is an attempt to drive all Zionists – which according to a Pew study includes 80% of Jews worldwide – out of the university. In addition, our research shows schools with BDS activity are about 3 times more likely to have incidents targeting Jewish students for harm than schools with little or no BDS activity. And the vast majority of anti-Zionist motivated harassment incidents of Jewish students were consistent with actions prescribed by the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the movement behind Sonoma State’s decision. PACBI and its faculty foot soldiers are ground zero for academic boycotts and the antisemitism we are seeing explode on campuses nationwide, and their spreading of hate must be stopped.”
The guidelines of the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel campaign, which coordinates academic BDS activity internationally, including calling for shutting down study abroad programs, also calls for boycotting educational programs in or about Israel and canceling or shutting down pro-Israel events and activities, as well as encourages the denigration, protest and exclusion of pro-Israel individuals — all activities that can have a devastating impact on students and faculty who want to study in or about Israel, or who identify with the Jewish state.
AMCHA Initiative’s studies have consistently found a strong correlation between BDS activity and acts of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism on campuses nationwide.