{"id":64867,"date":"2021-12-10T11:34:13","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T16:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=64867"},"modified":"2021-12-10T11:34:13","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T16:34:13","slug":"op-ed-troubling-social-changes-nyu-cair-and-excluding-mainstream-jewish-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/op-ed-troubling-social-changes-nyu-cair-and-excluding-mainstream-jewish-society\/","title":{"rendered":"OP-ED: Troubling social changes: NYU, CAIR and excluding mainstream Jewish society"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By DAVID M. LITMAN<\/p>\n<p>(<span class=\"dateline\">JNS)<\/span> \u2013 A law journal at New York University recently committed to boycotting \u201cIsrael, complicit Israeli institutions, or their support and lobby groups.\u201d The statement itself is quite telling. The authors had to caveat themselves out of actually applying BDS to the most important functions of a law journal (see <a href=\"https:\/\/socialchangenyu.com\/harbinger\/n-y-u-review-of-law-social-change-statement-of-commitment-to-the-boycott-divest-sanctions-movement\/#:~:text=In%20particular%2C%20RLSC,7\">footnote 7<\/a>&nbsp;of their statement) presumably knowing that to do otherwise would blatantly violate anti-discrimination law.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_64868\" style=\"width: 248px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/NYUReviewLawSocialChange.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-64868\" class=\"wp-image-64868 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/NYUReviewLawSocialChange.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"238\" height=\"212\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 238px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 238\/212;\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-64868\" class=\"wp-image-64868 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/NYUReviewLawSocialChange.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"238\" height=\"212\"><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-64868\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New York University Review of Law &amp; Social Change (via Facebook)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The journal is called the&nbsp;<em>NYU Review of Law &amp; Social Change<\/em>&nbsp;<em>(RLSC)<\/em>. On this note, let\u2019s talk about \u201csocial change.\u201d Let\u2019s talk about the increasing normalization of calling for the exclusion, and even obliteration, of Jewish institutions and communities not just in Israel but wherever they might exist.<\/p>\n<p>Consider&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/652479494\">comments<\/a>&nbsp;made on Nov. 27 at the 2021 American Muslims for Palestine convention (intended for students) by Zahra Billoo from the Council on American-Islamic Relations:<\/p>\n<p>So oppose the vehement fascists. But oppose the polite Zionists too. They are not your friends. They will not be there for you when you need them. They will take your friendship and throw your Palestinian brothers and sisters under the bus. [<em>Adopts a mocking tone<\/em>] \u2018Oh, you get along because you\u2019re all in Girl Scouts together?\u2019 Talk to them about what is happening in Palestine and see how that conversation goes. And so when we think about Islamophobia and Zionism, let\u2019s be clear about the connections, because the next thing I\u2019m going to tell you is to know your enemies. And I\u2019m not going to sugarcoat that. They are your enemies. There are organizations and infrastructures out there who are working to harm you.<\/p>\n<p>Billoo is calling on students to consider their Jewish peers as enemies, and students at NYU have obviously internalized this message already.<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;<em>RLSC<\/em>&nbsp;isn\u2019t just boycotting \u201cIsrael\u201d or \u201cIsraeli institutions.\u201d It\u2019s boycotting \u201ctheir support and lobby groups.\u201d Nowhere are the terms \u201csupport and lobby groups\u201d defined, though it\u2019s obviously referring to mainstream Jewish groups outside of Israel (or the sentence would be redundant).<\/p>\n<p>What this really means is any university Hillel that supports the right of Israel to exist and defend itself is now banned by&nbsp;<em>RLSC<\/em>&nbsp;from cosponsoring any academic events, as it could accurately be construed as a \u201csupport group.\u201d The same goes for any Jewish American charity or other Jewish social, cultural or political organization. Considering that the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/rudermanfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/2020.01.30-ENGLISH-US-Jewry-Survey.pdf\">vast majority<\/a>&nbsp;of American Jews hold pro-Israel beliefs, the decision is effectively a ban on mainstream Jewish participation in&nbsp;<em>RLSC<\/em>&nbsp;activities.<\/p>\n<p>This is the exact kind of \u201csocial change\u201d that seems to be picking up steam in the United States today.<\/p>\n<p>Disturbingly, this isn\u2019t even the first time that NYU students have targeted Jews for exclusion. In 2018, a shocking total of 51 student groups&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/51-nyu-student-groups-pledge-to-boycott-israel-and-its-backers\/\">pledged<\/a>&nbsp;to refuse to co-sponsor events with pro-Israel groups at NYU, as well as outside mainstream Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League.<\/p>\n<p>Nor is this limited to NYU. Consider a few other recent events organized by or for student groups.<\/p>\n<p>At a Nov. 19&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.camera.org\/article\/academia-and-the-dehumanization-of-jews\/\">event<\/a>, San Francisco State University professor Rabab Abdulhadi claimed that Jewish organizations are all connected to the Mossad, while notable anti-Semite and former Bristol University professor David Miller suggested a solution:<\/p>\n<p>[W]hat needs to happen is Palestine needs to be free. \u2026 And we do that, not just by the resistance in Palestine. \u2026 It\u2019s not just the, we, we do Palestine solidarity work, but that we have, in order for Palestine to be free, the Zionist movement in general needs to be dismantled. Not just in Palestine, but in Britain and in the U.S., every single Zionist organization needs to be dismantled. \u2026 [W]e have to be thinking about how each one of these organizations is ended or is de-Zionized. \u2026 I think, you know, the enemy haven\u2019t heard that enough from us and perhaps they need to hear it a bit more. \u2026 [T]hey will be punished \u2026<\/p>\n<p>At yet another recent&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.camera.org\/article\/camera-op-ed-the-campaign-to-ostracize-american-jewry\/\">event<\/a>&nbsp;on Oct. 29, participants discussed how to revoke tax-exempt status for certain Jewish organizations, such as the Jewish National Fund, while one\u2014Suzanne Adely of the National Lawyers Guild\u2014labeled American Jews who support such groups as \u201cconspirators to genocide.\u201d She was turning the anti-Semitic \u201cZionism is racism\u201d into \u201cZionists are genocidal maniacs.\u201d Knowing that mainstream Jewish society is Zionist, the implication is obvious.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201canti-Zionist not anti-Semitic\u201d crowd is increasingly viewing their enemy not as a perceived evil state in the Middle East, but as a distinct group here at home in America. The \u201csocial change\u201d is that no longer is American society, except the increasingly lonely Jewish community, reacting with the appropriate shock and outrage to incitement to hatred and violence against Jews. As of this writing, not a single news outlet outside of the Jewish world has reported on Billoo\u2019s hate screed.<\/p>\n<p>As Jewish blogger David Lange&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Israellycool\/status\/1466683675848941570\">wrote<\/a>&nbsp;on Twitter when he exposed Billoo\u2019s recent anti-Semitic tirade, \u201cthings are about to get uglier\u201d for American Jews.<\/p>\n<p><em>David M. Litman is a media and education research analyst at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA)<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"OP-ED%3A%20Troubling%20social%20changes%3A%20NYU%2C%20CAIR%20and%20excluding%20mainstream%20Jewish%20society\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":64868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[8790,8795,8788,9982,11909],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64867"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64869,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64867\/revisions\/64869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}