university – www.israelhayom.com https://www.israelhayom.com israelhayom english website Wed, 02 Oct 2024 08:15:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 https://www.israelhayom.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/cropped-G_rTskDu_400x400-32x32.jpg university – www.israelhayom.com https://www.israelhayom.com 32 32 Legacy admissions: California joins 3 other states' ban https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/09/30/california-bans-legacy-college-admissions/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/09/30/california-bans-legacy-college-admissions/#respond Sun, 29 Sep 2024 22:30:58 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=1000965   California decided to prohibit legacy admissions in the college application process, a practice long criticized for favoring white or wealthy students based on their familial alumni connections, becoming the fourth US state to do so, ABC News reported.   "In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work," […]

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California decided to prohibit legacy admissions in the college application process, a practice long criticized for favoring white or wealthy students based on their familial alumni connections, becoming the fourth US state to do so, ABC News reported.

 

California Governor Gavin Newsom reacts as he speaks to the members of the press on the day of the first presidential debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta, Georgia, June 27, 2024 (Photo: Reuters/Marco Bello) REUTERS

"In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work," Newsom said in a statement. "The California Dream shouldn't be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we're opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly."

The decision comes after the Supreme Court's June 2023 ruling limiting race-based affirmative action programs for colleges and universities. California had previously banned affirmative action in 1996.

"In light of this shift, proponents of AB 1780 advocated for admissions criteria that additionally ensure that factors like wealth or personal relationships do not unduly influence admissions decisions," the governor's office stated. The new law aims to level the playing field for college applicants. "AB 1780 aims to ensure that admissions decisions are based on merit rather than personal connections, reducing biases in the admissions process at private colleges in California," explained the governor's office.

Public opinion appears to align with this move. According to an April 2022 Pew Research study, 75% of Americans surveyed believe a student's relationship to an alumni should not be a factor in admissions.

To ensure compliance, all private colleges and universities in California must now submit an annual report detailing their admissions practices.

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Weizmann Institute, Hebrew University, Technion rank among world's top 100 universities https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/08/15/weizmann-institute-hebrew-university-technion-rank-among-worlds-top-100-universities/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/08/15/weizmann-institute-hebrew-university-technion-rank-among-worlds-top-100-universities/#respond Thu, 15 Aug 2024 02:00:41 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=986885   Israeli universities have once again demonstrated their world-class caliber, with three institutions ranking among the top 100 academic institutions globally. The Weizmann Institute of Science, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa have all clinched positions in the 2024 Shanghai Ranking, widely regarded as one of the most […]

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Israeli universities have once again demonstrated their world-class caliber, with three institutions ranking among the top 100 academic institutions globally. The Weizmann Institute of Science, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa have all clinched positions in the 2024 Shanghai Ranking, widely regarded as one of the most authoritative global university rankings.

Leading the Israeli contingent, the Weizmann Institute secured the 69th spot worldwide, slipping just one place from last year's ranking. It's noteworthy that the Weizmann Institute exclusively offers graduate programs, setting it apart from its peers.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem made significant strides, climbing to 81st place in the ranking of the world's best universities. This advancement crowns it as the highest-ranked Israeli institution offering undergraduate degrees. Last year, the Hebrew University stood at 86th place, trailing behind the Technion in the rankings.

This year, the Technion holds the 85th position on the list of the world's best academic institutions, a slight drop from its 79th place last year. However, it maintains a strong 11th place among the world's leading technological universities. The Shanghai Ranking is widely acknowledged as the gold standard for assessing higher education institutions globally.

The top three spots were claimed by US powerhouses: Harvard University, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively. Published annually, the Shanghai Ranking is revered for its reliability in academic circles. The rankings evaluate the quality of research at academic institutions based on various indicators, including the number of faculty members and graduates who have clinched Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, as well as the scope and quality of publications in leading journals. The comprehensive ranking covers approximately 2,500 universities. Among the top 100 institutions, 38 hail from the US, 14 from China, 8 from the UK, 5 from Australia, 4 each from France and Germany, 3 from Canada, and, as highlighted, 3 from Israel.

Professor Asher Cohen, President of the Hebrew University, celebrated this achievement while also voicing concerns about the current state of Israeli academia. His remarks come against a backdrop of strained relations with Education Minister and Chair of the Council for Higher Education, Yoav Kisch, and looming budget cuts. "The presence of three Israeli universities in the list of the world's top 100 universities is an extraordinary feat, especially in such a challenging and complex year. The Hebrew University's rise to 81st place in the most prestigious international ranking is a testament to our unwavering commitment to groundbreaking research and pursuit of excellence," Professor Cohen stated.

He added, "We're immensely proud of and grateful to our researchers and administrative staff. Their dedication to advancing excellent research persists daily, despite internal and external challenges, in an era where some segments of society view scientific truth and human progress as arbitrary occurrences. We remain steadfast in our role as the preeminent civilian institution for Jerusalem, a cornerstone for the State of Israel, and a source of international pride."

Professor Uri Sivan, President of the Technion, echoed these sentiments: "Our consistent standing in the Shanghai Ranking reaffirms the Technion's position among the world's finest technological universities. The Technion, like its Israeli counterparts, competes on the global stage with universities that are often older, larger, and better-funded. Our success, even in this latest index summarizing 2023 – one of our most challenging years – is remarkable. The inclusion of three Israeli academic institutions in the world's top 100 universities list is a resounding endorsement of Israeli science and academia and a source of national pride."

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The Nazis at George Washington University https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/05/09/the-nazis-at-george-washington-university/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/05/09/the-nazis-at-george-washington-university/#respond Thu, 09 May 2024 04:11:46 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=951713   The recent image of a pro-Hamas student at George Washington University brandishing a poster calling for a "final solution" was horrifying. But it was also deeply ironic. Because on the very same campus in Washington, DC, where that Nazi slogan was invoked last month, actual Nazis were repeatedly welcomed in the years before World […]

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The recent image of a pro-Hamas student at George Washington University brandishing a poster calling for a "final solution" was horrifying. But it was also deeply ironic. Because on the very same campus in Washington, DC, where that Nazi slogan was invoked last month, actual Nazis were repeatedly welcomed in the years before World War II.

In October 1933, Gustav Struve, an official of Nazi Germany's embassy in Washington, spoke on the GW campus under the auspices of the university's German Club. In February 1934, Gerrit Von Haeften, Third Secretary of the German Embassy, visited GW to address the German Club's Valentine party. And in May 1937, two Nazi representatives, the wife and daughter of the German embassy's Chancellor, Franz Schulz, participated in an event on campus sponsored by GW's International Studies Society.

Friendly attitudes toward Nazi Germany appear to have permeated the campus. The visits by Nazi officials proceeded without any sign of objections or protests – unlike, for example, at Columbia University, where hundreds of students held multiple protest rallies when the Nazi ambassador, Hans Luther, was invited to that campus in 1933.

Both the German Club and the International Studies Society at GW held screenings of films that were "procured through the German Consul," according to the student newspaper, The GW Hatchet. At least one of the events also included displays of foreign flags; The GW Hatchet's coverage included a large image of Nazi Germany's swastika flag.

That was in April 1937, four years after Hitler came to power, after the Nazi regime's boycott of Jewish businesses, the nationwide book burnings, the Nazi takeover of German universities, the mass firing of Jews from most professions, and the mob violence against Jews in Berlin and elsewhere. It also was after the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, which stripped German Jews of their citizenship.

Yet The GW Hatchet, which was published by the university, continued to run advertisements from the Nazi government's tourism department and touted upcoming summer tours by GW students to Europe that included visits to Nazi Germany. During those years, GW maintained a junior-year student exchange program with the Nazi-controlled University of Munich, despite the purging of Jewish faculty, implementation of a Nazi curriculum, and mass book-burning at the Munich school.

The Hitler regime viewed such exchanges with American universities as a way to soften the Nazis' image abroad. The Nazi official in charge of sending German students to American universities was quoted, in the New York Times, as describing the German students in such exchanges as "political soldiers of the Reich." But that did not deter GW from participating in the program.

GW was not the only American university to sponsor student exchanges with Nazified German universities, as Stephen Norwood documented in his book, "The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower." But not every American school with ties to Germany turned a blind eye when the Nazis rose to power and took over the country's universities. Williams College, for example, terminated its student exchanges with Germany as a protest against Nazi policies. GW did not.

Some GW students who spent a year at the University of Munich returned with upbeat reports about the new Germany. GW student Mary-Anne Greenough, for example, stated in a 1937 university newsletter that during her year in Germany, she attended the Nazis' celebration of the anniversary of Hitler's failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsch; she said she found the event "worthy of admiration."

Some GW faculty who visited Germany during the 1930s likewise came back with positive descriptions of the Nazi regime. Assistant Professor of Philosophy Christopher Garnett, returning from a visit to Germany in 1934, reported to the campus historical society that  the "optimism which permeated the Germans, even those who at first opposed the present regime, is almost unbelievable." Such apologetics whitewashed Nazi outrages and made Hitler more palatable to the American public.

The time has come for the GW administration to acknowledge that it was wrong for GW to invite Nazi representatives to campus and to maintain student exchanges with Nazi-controlled institutions. But that is not all.

In 1985, GW presented an honorary doctorate to Mircea Eliade, a noted scholar of comparative religion. Before Eliade was a scholar, he was a Nazi collaborator. During the 1930s, Eliade authored viciously antisemitic articles in the extremist Romanian periodical Cuvantul, raving about the alleged "Jewish onslaught" threatening Romania. He actively supported the fascist paramilitary group known as the Iron Guard, and when the Romanian government cracked down on Iron Guard activists in 1938, Eliade was among those whom it imprisoned.

After the Iron Guard came to power in 1940, Eliade was appointed as one of its diplomats in London. British officials privately called him "the most Nazi member of the legation." The Iron Guard regime actively collaborated in the mass murder of Romania's Jews. "Particularly gruesome," the US Holocaust Memorial Museum notes, "was the [Iron Guard's] murder of dozens of Jewish civilians in the Bucharest slaughterhouse. After the victims were killed, the perpetrators hung the bodies from meat hooks and mutilated them in a vicious parody of kosher slaughtering practices."

Eliade continued to defend the Iron Guard after the war, praising it in his 1963 autobiography. For some reason, that didn't deter GW from giving him an honorary doctorate in 1985. The time has come to revoke that honor.

Two years ago, public concern over racism in the United States prodded the George Washington University administration to remove the name of its longest-serving president, the late Cloyd Heck Marvin, from the student center because he advocated racial segregation. Last year, the administration changed the school's moniker from "colonials" to "revolutionaries" because of the many injustices associated with colonialism. GW should now show similar sensitivity to the concerns of its Jewish students and faculty.

Ninety years after actual Nazis were warmly welcomed at GW, extremist students on its campus today are invoking the infamous Nazi phrase "final solution" – meaning mass murder of Jews. That's a blatant violation of the GW Student Code of Conduct. Section V (F) prohibits "acting in a way that threatens, endangers, or harasses others, including verbal, written, or any other form of communication." Violators are subject to a range of possible punishments, from a warning to permanent expulsion. It's time for George Washington University to implement its own rules.

Acknowledging the error of GW's friendly attitude toward Nazi Germany in the 1930s, revoking Mircea Eliade's doctorate, and taking meaningful action against today's violators of the Student Code of Conduct is the path to restoring order, and decency, at George Washington University.

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University of Melbourne student union passes BDS measure by large margin https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/08/16/university-of-melbourne-student-union-passes-bds-measure-by-large-margin/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/08/16/university-of-melbourne-student-union-passes-bds-measure-by-large-margin/#respond Tue, 16 Aug 2022 09:49:25 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=837167 Several Jewish and pro-Israel groups signed a joint letter blasting the development, saying students will no longer feel safe on campus. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Jewish groups in Australia are speaking out after the University of Melbourne student union approved an anti-Israel, pro-BDS measure on Monday, just weeks after the group […]

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Several Jewish and pro-Israel groups signed a joint letter blasting the development, saying students will no longer feel safe on campus.

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Jewish groups in Australia are speaking out after the University of Melbourne student union approved an anti-Israel, pro-BDS measure on Monday, just weeks after the group removed a similar measure from consideration.
According to the Herald Sun, the anti-Israel resolution stated the students opposed the "use of Zionism to justify the illegal occupation of Palestine as racist and colonial" and called for the support for Palestinians to "engage in self-defense against their occupiers."

The measure passed by a vote of 13-3, with one abstention.

The Australasian Union of Jewish Students, which represents Jewish groups at universities in Australia and New Zealand, issued a statement saying they are "disappointed" by the passing of a BDS measure.

"Campus must be a place where respectful dialogue flourishes," the group tweeted. "It is impossible to fit all the complexities and narratives of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a student council motion. Instead of promoting dialogue and understanding, this motion misrepresents Zionism and oversimplifies the conflict, which will lead to the targeting and harassment of Jewish students who want to embrace their identity at the University of Melbourne."

The group continued, writing: "We should feel safe to be proud Jews and Zionists on campus, however, without nuanced conversations, respect, and a desire to understand and learn, Jewish students feel unwelcome and isolated. We call on the University of Melbourne Student Union and the students at the University of Melbourne to engage in dialogue and advocate for peace, not tokenize, isolate and target your Jewish peers."

Several Jewish and pro-Israel groups, including the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Zionist Federation of Australia, Jewish Community Council of Victoria, and Zionism Victoria, signed a joint letter blasting the passage of the BDS measure.

"It is disingenuous to suggest that this motion is simply about criticism of the Israeli government or support for the Palestinians," the agencies said in a release. "It effectively advocates the eradication of Israel as a state and thus denies the basic right of national self-determination of the Jewish people. The motion is imbued with racism, and its language drips with venomous hatred."

The release went on to say that "when student representatives falsely deny the Jewish connection to Israel, they deny to Jewish students the right to their own identity. When they promote hatred of Israel so unrelentingly, they are telling Jewish students and faculty that they don't belong on campus unless they willingly forego their own identity. Only one country is singled out. Only one ethnicity is vilified."

The agencies concluded: "This has real-world implications. Jewish students are facing increasing intimidation, including death threats, and a planned stabbing."

In late May, the University of Melbourne Student Union removed a BDS measure after a non-Jewish law-school student threatened to file a lawsuit, claiming the measure violated the country's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Jewish groups urge US school to reject graduates' BDS resolution https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/11/11/jewish-groups-urge-us-school-to-reject-bds-resolution-passed-by-graduate-students/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/11/11/jewish-groups-urge-us-school-to-reject-bds-resolution-passed-by-graduate-students/#respond Thu, 11 Nov 2021 14:00:24 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=716467   A total of 79 civil rights, religious and education organizations called on Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) president Tim Sands to reject a resolution recently passed by graduate students that supports an academic boycott of Israel. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter Virginia Tech's Graduate and Professional Student Senate approved […]

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A total of 79 civil rights, religious and education organizations called on Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) president Tim Sands to reject a resolution recently passed by graduate students that supports an academic boycott of Israel.

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Virginia Tech's Graduate and Professional Student Senate approved a resolution on Oct. 21 that supports a boycott of "all Israeli academic institutions complicit in maintaining the Israeli occupation and the denial of basic Palestinian rights" and divestment from "all institutional investments from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation and apartheid."

In an email to Sands on Tuesday organized by AMCHA Initiative, the organizations cited a statement he issued last week in which he defended "free speech rights" in response to the resolution.

"What your statement failed to address is that you and the Virginia Tech administration have the same free speech rights, which include the right to reject and condemn the resolution," said the groups, which include B'nai B'rith International, StandWithUs, and the Zionist Organization of America.

"More importantly, your statement failed to recognize the possibility that GPSS members, many of whom serve as Graduate Teaching Assistants, may implement elements of the academic boycott on campus and in their own classrooms in ways that would directly and substantively harm undergraduates on your campus, particularly those who are Jewish and pro-Israel. We urge you to take immediate steps to ensure that this does not happen at Virginia Tech."

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The groups also noted that the resolution calls on supporters to end academic exchange programs in Israel; refuse to write recommendation letters for students wanting to study in Israel; and cancel Israel-related educational activities and events. They noted that "all of these actions directly subvert the educational opportunities and academic freedom of undergraduate students who want to study about or in Israel."

The groups additionally asked Sands to affirm his commitment to ensuring that "no student will be impeded from studying about or in Israel, or be subject to unfair discrimination or harassment, because of the implementation of such a boycott on your campus."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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3 Israeli universities rank among world's top 100 https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/08/15/3-israeli-universities-rank-among-worlds-top-100/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/08/15/3-israeli-universities-rank-among-worlds-top-100/#respond Sun, 15 Aug 2021 09:15:21 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=673881   Three Israeli schools have ranked among the world's 100 best universities, according to the renowned Academic Ranking of World Universities that every year names the globe's top 1000 academic institutions. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which did not make it into the top 100 last year, ranked […]

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Three Israeli schools have ranked among the world's 100 best universities, according to the renowned Academic Ranking of World Universities that every year names the globe's top 1000 academic institutions.

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The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which did not make it into the top 100 last year, ranked 90th on this year's list, also known as the Shanghai Ranking. The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot ranked 92nd, and Haifa's Technion - Israel Institute of Technology ranked 94th. The last time three Israeli universities made it into the top 100 happened in 2013. 

"The upward trend in the Shanghai Ranking is evidence of hard work and an uncompromising pursuit of academic excellence," President of the Hebrew University Professor Asher Cohen said. 

"I am delighted that three academic institutions have made it to the top 100," he said. 

Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton congratulated the schools on their achievement and called it "a reflection of Israeli excellence and a source of pride and success."

Several other Israeli institutions made it into the list. Tel Aviv University ranked in the top 200, and Bar-Ilan University and Ben Gurion University of the Negev made it into the top 500.

The winners of this year's list are Harvard University, Stanford University, and the University of Cambridge, which ranked first, second and third, respectively. 

The Academic Ranking of World Universities methodology is based on the quality of education (number of alumni as Nobel laureates and Fields Medalists), quality of faculty (number of staff members as Nobel laureates and Fields Medalists and highly cited researchers) and research performance (papers published in the leading scientific journal Nature and Science). 

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Anti-Semitism order raises tough issue of defining prejudice https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/12/13/anti-semitism-order-raises-tough-issue-of-defining-prejudice/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/12/13/anti-semitism-order-raises-tough-issue-of-defining-prejudice/#respond Fri, 13 Dec 2019 05:42:52 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=444501 US President Donald Trump's order to expand the scope of potential anti-Semitism complaints on college campuses is raising the stakes of an already tense battle over how to define discrimination against Jews. The executive order Trump signed on Wednesday tells the Education Department, when vetting alleged Civil Rights Act violations that can lead to a […]

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US President Donald Trump's order to expand the scope of potential anti-Semitism complaints on college campuses is raising the stakes of an already tense battle over how to define discrimination against Jews.

The executive order Trump signed on Wednesday tells the Education Department, when vetting alleged Civil Rights Act violations that can lead to a loss of schools' federal funding, to consider a definition of anti-Semitism that could include some criticism of Israel. Several major Jewish American organizations hailed the order, but more liberal-leaning groups warned it could be used to muffle campus organizing against the Israeli government and in support of Palestinian rights.

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Behind that divide are politically volatile questions: When does speech about Israel cross the line into anti-Semitism, and who is qualified to draw that line?

For supporters of Trump's order – which is aligned with bipartisan legislation that had stalled – the distinction is a clear matter of reining in those who would question Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.

"There is no question that people have the right to criticize Israel. Jews, and non-Jews, do it very well," said World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, who has financially backed the GOP but recently launched a $25 million project aimed at fighting anti-Semitism on both sides of the aisle.

"But the fact is that when criticism goes into attacks on the state, the Jewish state, that goes over the line."

The order does not mention Israel but cites the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's suggested examples of anti-Semitism, which include "claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor."

Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, wrote in a New York Times op-ed that the order's broadened definition would convey the administration's position that "anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism."

Critics of Trump's order take a more nuanced view, warning that the new definition promises to blur the boundary between legitimate opposition to what they see as unfair Israeli government policies and anti-Semitism.

Emily Mayer, political director of the liberal Jewish American group IfNotNow, described the order as a victory for efforts "to discredit any critique of Israel, Israeli policies or how Jewish supremacy has been codified within the Israeli state – to try to describe that as anti-Semitism."

Those concerned about blunt-force application of the order often point to the president who approved it. Trump has been chided for echoing anti-Semitic stereotypes, and liberal Jewish Americans say his administration is ill-equipped to enforce a new standard for on-campus anti-Semitism.

The order "can't be viewed solely in the vacuum of the words on the page," said Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

Soifer called for a greater focus by the administration on the rise of violent white nationalism, noting that "while anti-Semitism is a problem on college campuses, it's not solely a problem on college campuses."

On campuses, where pro-Palestinian criticism of Israel can run high, the order's impact may be felt sooner than later.

Aaron Heideman, 22, a junior at Yeshiva University, praised the president's decision to issue the order and said it will help his friends at secular universities who have run into problems. "I'm happy that they'll have more inner peace," Heideman said.

Anti-Semitic incidents on campuses rose by 89% between 2016 and 2017, according to an Anti-Defamation League audit released last year.

In addition, Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.) wrote to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday seeking a review of federal funding for Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, alleging anti-Semitic activity by faculty.

Riggleman's letter points to faculty supportive of an international anti-Israel boycott movement that has grown in popularity on campuses. The Trump White House has repeatedly decried the movement as discriminatory, and the House of Representatives has passed bipartisan legislation opposing it.

Organizers of the boycott campaign say their opposition lies with Israeli policies, not with Jews. But the parallels they draw between Israel and the oppressive apartheid-era South African government have fueled charges of anti-Semitism.

Among the prominent Jewish American groups who view the boycott movement as anti-Semitic is the Anti-Defamation League, which praised Trump's order. The league's website states that anti-Zionism "may be motivated by or result in anti-Semitism, or it may create a climate in which anti-Semitism becomes more acceptable."

The league's CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, said that debating the existence of the Jewish state could be a suitable topic for an academic seminar.

"But in the world in which we live, America 2019, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism," Greenblatt continued. "When you would deny Jewish people the right of self-determination ... when you'd hold them to a different standard than you would other people."

Greenblatt noted that the order is designed as guidance rather than a binding standard, indicating that implementation would provide the strongest evidence of its effective application. Its text includes an edict about not infringing on First Amendment rights.

On at least one campus, some students see the order as positive, addressing issues that are exclusive of one another.

Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, described the key to the order as a "balancing act between protecting free speech and protecting those who are on the wrong end of anti-Semitic attacks in guise of critique of Israel." Pesner's group has not taken a position on the order.

The Trump administration already has cited the newly codified International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism to probe potential campus discrimination against Jews. The Education Department last year reopened an inquiry closed during the Obama administration into alleged anti-Semitism at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

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Summer conference gives pro-Israel students tools to fight back against campus hostility https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/08/31/summer-conference-gives-pro-israel-students-tools-to-fight-back-against-campus-hostility/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/08/31/summer-conference-gives-pro-israel-students-tools-to-fight-back-against-campus-hostility/#respond Sat, 31 Aug 2019 07:45:40 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=411561 Universities have long been one of the toughest environments for pro-Israel students. They have battled stilted curriculums when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and more recently, grappled with on-campus pressure in the face of growing BDS activity. Combined with a general uptick in anti-Semitism, including the deadly shootings in Pittsburgh and Poway, many Jewish […]

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Universities have long been one of the toughest environments for pro-Israel students. They have battled stilted curriculums when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and more recently, grappled with on-campus pressure in the face of growing BDS activity. Combined with a general uptick in anti-Semitism, including the deadly shootings in Pittsburgh and Poway, many Jewish and pro-Israel students have increasingly felt under siege.

To that end, students from more than 80 campuses gathered in Boston in mid-August for a high-level training conference to gain support and learn the tools necessary to respond to the upsurge in campus anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activism.

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Hosted by the campus department of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), a media watchdog organization, students from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Israel took part in a four-day conference at Boston University's Hillel to learn more about Israel and how to stand up to anti-Israel campus groups – and also to know they are not alone.

"When people get involved in Israel advocacy, they don't know much and don't know where to start," McKenna Bates, a senior at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., told JNS.

"The first couple of days of the conference were very intensive and information-based. There was a lot of focus on helping us know what we are talking about – facts about the conflict and Israel, as well as organizations and tools for research and writing."

Bates, who characterized her university as "very anti-Israel," noting that she has been verbally attacked, has been threatened and even sent online death threats by anti-Israel figures, said that CAMERA has proven to be a strong resource for her.

"CAMERA has been trying to show us that they are the support system. They have the resources to prove or disprove things. They know how to connect you and defend you," she said.

Similarly, Josh Eibelman, a senior at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., who is studying psychology and biology, told JNS that developing a pro-Israel network was important to him.

"The biggest takeaway for me is I get to connect to pro-Israel students across the country. Keep in touch, collaborate and share ideas," he said.

Practical programs for students included "how to talk about Israel in social situations;" "recruit, recruit, recruit;" and "Twitter is my only friend: utilizing social media to maximize outreach."

'They are being manipulated'

The conference also featured several pro-Israel speakers, such as Alyza Lewin, president and general counsel of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law; Kasim Hafeez, a former radical anti-Israel extremist; Shai Deluca Tamasi, a North American TV personality; Itzik Yarkoni, a top public relations and marketing consultant; Joe Truzman, a Twitter sensation for his reporting on Gaza; and CAMERA research staff.

But one of the main goals was educating students on the anti-Israel groups that students may encounter on campus, specifically Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), but also other emerging ones. A new challenge is that ties between SJP and other vocal anti-Israel groups, such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and IfNotNow.

Aviva Rosenschein, international campus director for CAMERA, said "we are giving them very detailed information on the organizations that students may encounter on campus. From JVP to SJP and IfNotNow, what these organizations represent and their supposed missions are, and how they can react, respond or engage with them in general," she said.

"You have to remember that a lot of students who join these organizations are not inherently anti-Semitic; they are coming from a place that sounds like a peaceful organization, but they are being manipulated," she clarified.

Haber said that these Jewish anti-Israel groups work in tandem with SJP and can elevate not only anti-Israel actions but also anti-Semitism through the legitimacy provided by Jewish groups providing cover for SJP's attacks.

"I think we are going to see more issues on campus within our Jewish community. IfNotNow, J Street and JVP are going to be our main issues this year, and this only helps to elevate SJP. But I think our students are better prepared after this conference in learning about these groups and the history and mission."

Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism

At the end of 2018, Inside Higher Ed reported that prior to and after the fatal shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in October of that year, "prejudicial displays have plagued college campuses, following a trend of anti-Semitism on the rise at colleges and universities – and around the country – since 2016."

Couple with the uptick in anti-Semitism has been a growing awareness of the connection between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Several Trump administration officials, including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and anti-Semitism envoy Elan Carr have come out forcefully against both issues.

The connection between the two was also a major theme at the CAMERA conference.

Ben Newhouse, a junior at New York University, told JNS that one of the biggest takeaways from the conference was the realization that most of the anti-Israel actions he has seen on campus are actually anti-Semitic as well.

"One takeaway from the conference is that they are very clear in saying anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination, just like any other group of people does," he said.

Last year, the SJP affiliate at NYU was instrumental in pushing the student government to pass a resolution during the Hanukkah holiday to divest from Israel. In the spring, NYU's Social and Cultural Analysis Department further voted to boycott the school's own satellite campus in Tel Aviv.

Rosenschein said that this year, CAMERA is more prepared than ever. They now have fellows at some of the most challenging campuses, such as NYU, Columbia University, the University of California at Davis, Berkeley and San Diego, as well as Duke University.

"Our Israel activists are more emboldened and outspoken than ever. People understand they are on the right side of history and the truth. They will not be intimidated," she said.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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