Brandeis Center | First One Through

The famous legal scholar Alan Dershowitz came to speak to a group of roughly 40 people in New York City on April 16, 2024, to address the horrifying rise in antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Dershowitz led his remarks with dark humor, that he’s an optimist- when people tell him that the situation cannot get worse, he responds “I think they can!”

*Alan Dershowitz speaking to group about rise in antisemitism and anti-Zionism*

Dershowitz spoke about many underlying reasons for Jews being persecuted which included the push for DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) promoted on college campuses and large corporations, which specifically excludes Jews and Asians in an effort to promote Blacks and Latinos. He noted that any system that opposes meritocracy is bad for Jews. Being a small minority, a set of rules that demanded proportionality of positions according to overall population would leave few spots for Jews.

Dershowitz spoke of a letter that Albert Einstein wrote about the people of Germany who elected the Nazis, and parallels that can be drawn for Palestinian Arabs and the United States today. Einstein wrote “The Germans as an entire people are responsible for the mass murders and must be punished as a people if there is justice in the world and if the consciousness of collective responsibility in the nations is not to perish from the earth entirely. Behind the Nazi party stands the German people, who elected Hitler after he had in his book [Mein Kampf] and in his speeches made his shameful [genocidal] intentions clear beyond the possibility of misunderstanding.” Similarly, Palestinians elected Hamas to 58% of its parliament with its antisemitic genocidal charter and continue to support the group and its heinous brutal slaughter committed on October 7. While children are inherently innocent, are the women who support Hamas and the 16-year old with a rifle truly innocent?

And what about for us as Americans today? How do we allow terrorist supporters and antisemites to get elected and issue threats on the streets and college campuses?

The liberal Democrat shared that he had always voted for Democrats but no more. He said that “it’s time for the Democratic Party to stop taking the Jewish vote for granted.” He suggested that every Jew consider new priorities regarding elections, as two things have changed: the current Democratic party is not your grandparents Democratic Party, and the current reality for the Jewish community is dire and poised to get worse.

Dershowitz was very clear that the economy, abortion rights and other matters remain dear to him but that he sees the writing on the walls which is compelling a complete pivot to stem the tide of Jew hatred. While he loves the opera and museums, he will shift his donations from the arts and medical institutions to Jewish and pro-Israel causes. He quoted the phrase in Ecclesiastes that “to everything there is a season,” and dark clouds have now come for the Jews. As such, every Jew must vote and donate with a priority on Jewish safety and security.

To highlight the point, the day before the Dershowitz talk, the House voted on H.R. 6408 to withhold tax-exempt status for organizations that support terror. Eleven people – including the entire alt-left “squad” – voted against the measure.

Vote on H.R. 6408 on April 15, 2024 to terminate tax-exempt status for terrorist supporting organizations passed with almost complete support – except for the far-left extremists of the “Squad” including Jamaal Bowman

Americans must prioritize ousting the eleven terrorist-supporters in congress with votes and donations to their opponents:

In NY-16, extremist Rep. Jamaal Bowman is being challenged by Westchester County Executive George Latimer. Donate to Latimer here.
In MO-1, extremist Rep. Cori Bush is being challenged by public defender Wesley Bell. Donate to Bell here.
In MN-05, extremist Rep. Ilhan Omar is being challenged by Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels. Donate to Samuels here.
In PA-12, extremist Summer Lee is being challenged by local legislator Bhavini Patel. Donate to Patel here.
In IL-04, extremist Rep. Jesus Garcia won 69.5% of the vote in his Democratic primary
In KY-4, extremist Rep. Thomas Massie is facing Eric Deters and Michael McGinnis in the Republican primary
In IL-03, extremist Rep. Delia Ramirez will face John Booras in the general election.
In MI-12, extremist Rep. Rashida Tlaib remains unopposed
IN NY-14 extremist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is facing Martin Dolan. Donate to Dolan here.
In MA-07, extremist Rep. Ayanna Pressley has no challenger
In IL-9, extremist Rep. Janice Schakowsky has no challenger

In regards to pro-Jewish and Israel organizations to donate to, consider:

StandWithUs helps students with training and materials
AMCHA Initiative tracks antisemitism on campus
Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law helps students fight their institutions to protect their human rights
MEMRI tracks and translate media made in Arabic
Palestinian Media Watch tracks and translate media made in Arabic
Friend of Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) helps soldiers
Magen David Adom for emergency help in Israel
United Hatzalah for emergency help in Israel
Leket helps people get food in Israel

‘Tis the season to own whatever power and privilege you might have, and donate and vote to stem the tidal wave of antisemitism washing over America.

The Alt-Left And Radical Muslims On The New ‘Rothschilds’: AIPAC and Jared Kushner (April 2024)

Biden SOTU Mum On Tsunami Of Jew Hatred (March 2024)

Jamaal Bowman’s “Good Trouble” Is All Out War With Zionists In Israel and America (January 2024)

The DSA Is Systematically Coming For Zionist Jews (August 2023)

The Collective Punishment Of Terrorism (June 2023)

As Democrats Become More Liberal And Anti-Israel, DMFI Sticks Fingers In The Dike (July 2022)

Yeshiva University Blocks Promoter Of Terrorism (March 2022)

Courageous Jews On Hostile Campuses (December 2021)

Collective Guilt / Collective Punishment (October 2014)

The Los Angeles City Council was rocked when a secret recording was released of various Hispanic members of the Council making highly offensive comments about various groups. They ranged from calling the Black child of one of the other council members a monkey, to lambasting ‘Jewish power.’ President Biden and various community members called for their resignations which were tendered in short order.

It is unclear whether the push to expel the bigots was due to the desire to not have racists represent the city, whether there were concerns that such bigots would actively harm groups because of their prejudice or a combination of both.

The motivation for terminating a racist was more clear in 2019, when an Ohio doctor, Lara Kollab, was fired from her position at the Cleveland Clinic after it was revealed that she posted many anti-Semitic tweets for the whole world to see. Beyond the various insults about Jews, she posted that she would “purposely give all the yahood the wrong meds” using the Arabic word for Jews. This was a woman who broadcast that she was in the Jew-killing business.

*Anti-Semitic doctor, Lara Kollob and one of her tweets*

In 2021, a teaching assistant at Johns Hopkins said that she would lower the grades of pro-Israel students. After the tweet, she polled her followers as to whether marking down Zionists’ grades was a good idea. While the Office of Institutional Equity investigated the TA, Rasha Anaya, it is unclear if there was any action taken against her.

A similar situation occurred at the University of Vermont where a TA publicly taunted Jewish students by asking on social media whether “Is it unethical for me, a TA, to not give zionists credit for participation??? I feel like its good and funny“. The students protested for her censure and removal, but to no avail. The president of the university, Suresh V. Garimella, sent a letter to the school community that there didn’t appear to be evidence of harm, so decided to take no action. The Brandeis Center For Human Rights Under Law and Jewish On Campus, two non-profits issued a strong rebuke to Garimella’s inaction and complacency in the face of blatant anti-Semitism. The Department of Education is now looking into the matter.

Society has clearly taken a range of actions in dealing with bigots in power. While there are laws in place to protect people from unfair bias, they are typically enforced after an incident happens.

Yet in the case of the Los Angeles City Council, the president of the United States got involved even though no action happened or was even threatened. For the Ohio doctor, no one wanted to wait for her to kill a Jew, and it was easier to fire her immediately as the threat of violence is a crime as well.

But what of the Jews on university campuses today? They are publicly threatened by teachers and student groups, and administrations are loathe to take any action under the guise of free speech – even though threatening to lower the grades of Jews is a threat of the powerful over the weak, with serious personal long term consequences, which has nothing to do with free speech.

President Biden has allowed this anti-Semitism on college campuses to flourish, waiting until after midterm elections to decide on applying the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism to Title VI. Such move could protect the Jewish students from both the bigots and complacent university leadership.

There will always be bigots and racists but society has moved to protect the persecuted with a variety of laws. It is time to finally check the anti-Semites as well.