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Brandeis student senate that declined to condemn Hamas doesn’t speak for us, say 2 student statements
(JTA) — The decision by Brandeis University’s student government senate to reject a resolution condemning Hamas is drawing significant dissent from within the university’s community.
Two statements published Tuesday aim to demonstrate that the vote Sunday night does not represent the majority view at the university, which was founded in 1948 by leaders of the U.S. Jewish community. One of the statements suggests that the vote did not even represent the majority view of the student government.
The first statement to appear was written and circulated by Eitan Marks, a senior and the president of Brandeis Hillel. Structured as an open letter, it had garnered more than 1,000 signatures by Thursday morning from current students and their families, university faculty and staff and alumni dating back to 1960. Brandeis Hillel has also signed it.
“We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the atrocious and barbaric Hamas terror attacks against the people of Israel this month, including many connected to the Brandeis community,” the letter begins. It adds, “Failure to denounce these atrocities without reservation is a moral stain.”
The letter goes on to commend Brandeis president Ron Liebowitz for his support for Israel, and calls on more campus leaders to speak out as well. Liebowitz put out statements on Oct. 7, the day of Hamas’ attack on Israel, and again this week, emphasizing that Brandeis supports Israel’s right to defend itself.
“I’m really proud of our students for mobilizing so quickly,” Rabbi Seth Winberg, the executive director of Brandeis Hillel, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Winberg also signed the letter.
The second statement, from by the Brandeis Undergraduate Student Union, similarly condemns Hamas. It was emailed to all undergraduate students Wednesday afternoon and posted on social media.
Brandeis’ government, called the Student Union, consists of five branches, including a senate that passes legislation and an executive board that oversees the entire government. The senate — which voted down the resolution condemning Hamas 6-10, with five abstentions — typically sets policy positions for the entire Student Union.
The Student Union letter suggests that the Marks’ letter was a better barometer of sentiment than the senate vote.
“We agree wholeheartedly with this statement and the need to support our community during this time,” reads the Student Union’s letter, referring to the letter written by Marks.
“We want to send a message to all of our students, including our Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students, we are here to support you,” it continues. “We are here for you as your student government.”
Marks told JTA that he viewed the Student Union’s letter as an important corrective at a challenging time.
“It is clear that on this issue, the vote of a few students on the student government does not actually represent the Brandeis community,” Marks told JTA via email, referring to the senate vote. “I am glad they corrected their mistake and unequivocally condemned Hamas terrorism. Brandeis is, and will always be the best university for Jewish students in the United States.”
But Stephan Gaughan, a Jewish sophomore who resigned from Brandeis’ student government over the senate’s decision, told JTA that the overwhelming response he has heard from students on campus is that the Student Union’s letter is “too little too late.”
Gaughan signed the student-led letter but said he finds it troubling that the student government letter is not signed by any individuals by name. (He did note that Student Union President Noah Risley shared the letter on Instagram.)
“I’m glad to see a statement, but I think what we need right now is transparency,” Gaughan said. “Specifically as to whom in the union this represents.”
The Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel student group, released a statement on Tuesday rejecting the senate’s decision. “BIPAC is disappointed and frightened by the decision of our Student Union against adopting the proposed resolution to condemn ‘all acts of terrorism, violence and hatred,’” the statement reads. The group called on Brandeis students to “be loud about your commitment to human rights.”
Many campuses have been roiled since Oct. 7 over their leaders’ handling of Hamas’ attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing war against the terror group in Gaza. Some have seen donors cut off funding to protest responses that they perceived as insufficiently supportive of Israel or Jewish students.
Aside from the senate vote, Gaughan said the campus response to Hamas’ attack has been largely in support of Israel and Brandeis’ Jewish community, which includes about a third of undergraduates. He said there have been isolated incidents of anti-Israel graffiti on campus.
A university spokesperson told JTA there have been no demonstrations on campus in support of Hamas and noted that in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks, multiple vigils have been organized by Jewish and Israeli students.
The campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, which drew national attention when it held a rally on campus in February, has not advertised on-campus activity on its Instagram page. It participated in a Boston-wide pro-Palestinian rally on Sunday and on Tuesday initiated an open letter of its own.
The letter, whose signatories have not been made public, denounces the “the Israeli genocide” and says Brandeis’ founding “by the American Jewish community that has experienced anti-semitism and genocide for decades by white supremacists” requires the university to stand with Palestinians now.
“Realistically, we realize that the school cannot and will not show any support for Palestine,” the SJP letter says. “However, the least we can expect as advocates for Palestinian students on campus is acknowledgment of the suffering that they and their families have been going through for the past 75 years.” The letter also asks for special resources for Palestinian and Muslim students, including an Arab social worker at the university counseling center.
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The post Brandeis student senate that declined to condemn Hamas doesn’t speak for us, say 2 student statements appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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University of Toronto is granted an injunction to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment that has been on campus for two months
The University of Toronto has received an injunction to dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment on its property. The 98-page decision from Justice Markus Koehnen of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice said that members of the encampment must take down the tents within 24 hours, by 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3. Toronto Police will have […]
The post University of Toronto is granted an injunction to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment that has been on campus for two months appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Jewish Cemeteries Vandalized in Cincinnati, Montreal
Vandals in Canada targeted a Jewish cemetery. Photo: Screenshot
Vandals have targeted notable Jewish cemeteries in Cincinnati, Ohio and Montreal, Canada, sparking outcry and concern over mounting threats of antisemitism.
Vandals at Montreal’s Kehal Yisrael Cemetery placed memorial stones in the shape of a Nazi swastika on top of tombstones. Ones with the last names Eichler and Herman were targeted in the antisemitic attack.
Placing memorial stones on graves is an ancient Jewish custom to memorialize the dead. Jewish cemeteries oftentimes have stones nearby tombstones for mourners.
Canadian leaders decried the vandalism.
“It is absolutely abhorrent and revolting to defile the dead with swastikas,” Jeremy Levi, the Jewish mayor of a Jewish-majority suburb of Montreal, commented on X/Twitter. “This desecration at the Kehal Israel cemetery in Montreal is beyond contempt. [Canadian Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau, step aside and get out of the way so we can reclaim our country. May this Kohen’s neshama have an Aliyah on high.” One of the tombstones vandalized belonged to a Kohen.
The leader of the Conservative Party in Canada’s parliament and candidate for prime minister, Pierre Poilievre, lambasted Trudeau and denounced antisemitism. “We cannot close our eyes to the disgusting acts of antisemitism that are happening in our country everyday,” he posted on X/Twitter. “The prime minister must finally act to stop these displays of antisemitism. If he won’t, a common sense Conservative government will.”
Canada, like many countries around the world, has experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Meanwhile in Cincinnati, vandals targeted two historic Jewish cemeteries this past week, toppling and shattering ancient tombstones — some dating back to the 1800s.
According to a statement from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, 176 gravesites in Cincinnati’s West Side were ruined “in an act of antisemitic vandalism.”
“Due to the extensive damage and the historical nature of many of the gravestones, we have not yet been able to identify all the families affected by this act,” the statement continued. “Our community [is] heartbroken.”
The Cincinnati Police Department and the FBI are investigating the incidents.
The destruction of monuments is the latest in a greater trend of antisemitic vandalism. In an incident over the weekend, vandals in Australia targeted war memorials dedicated to Australian veterans who sacrificed their lives in Korea and Vietnam with pro-Hamas graffiti.
A couple weeks earlier, vandals in Belgium defaced two memorials for Holocaust victims with swastikas and a phrase calling for violence against Israel. In Germany, meanwhile, at least seven stolpersteine, or stumbling blocks in the sidewalk meant to mark Jewish homes seized by the Nazis, were defaced with the message “Jews are perpetrators.”
The US, Canada, Europe, and Australia have all experienced an explosion of antisemitic incidents in the wake of the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, and amid the ensuing war in Gaza. In many countries, anti-Jewish hate crimes have spiked to record levels.
According to the B’nai Brith, antisemitic incidents in Canada more than doubled in 2023 compared to the prior year.
The post Jewish Cemeteries Vandalized in Cincinnati, Montreal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UN Launches Probe Into Anti-Israel Rapporteur for Allegedly Accepting Trip Funded by Pro-Hamas Organizations
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
The United Nations has opened an investigation into allegations that its special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories accepted an all-expense paid trip to Australia from various pro-Hamas groups.
In November 2023, Francesca Albanese allegedly traversed around the Australian continent on a trip whose high price tag was covered by anti-Israel organizations, according to documentation acquired by UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO that monitors the UN.
Albanese initially landed in Sydney and subsequently enjoyed flights into Melbourne, Adelaide, and Canberra, as well as Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand. The glamorous excursion is estimated to have cost a staggering $22,500.
The UN Investigations Division of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) told UN Watch last week that it had alerted the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the allegations of financial impropriety levied at Albanese.
In a letter sent to UN leadership last month, UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer outlined evidence based on multiple sources indicating that Hamas-supporting organizations funded Albanese’s trip to Australia, which has been experiencing an alarming spike in antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October.
Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA), an organization that lobbies Australian politicians on behalf of the pro-Palestinian cause, claimed on its website that it “sponsored Ms. Albanese’s visit to Australia” to speak at its annual Edward Said Memorial Lecture in Adelaide. During the lecture, Albanese thanked AFOPA for “organizing such a busy visit,” in which she met with numerous Australian politicians and foreign ministry officials.
Free Palestine Melbourne (FPM) and Palestinian Christians in Australia (PCIA) both claimed to have “supported her visit to Victoria, ACT [Australian Capital Territory] and NSW [New South Wales].” Both groups also publicly declare that they participate in explicit lobbying of Australian politicians in an attempt to “change their minds” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While on her visit, Albanese served as a keynote speaker at a PCIA fundraiser. FPM encourages politicians to endorse the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel on the international stage economically and politically as the first step toward the Jewish state’s eventual elimination.
Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network (APAN) said it was “honored to support” Albanese’s visit. The organization’s president, Nasser Mashni, openly endorses the terrorist group Hamas and has stated that the eradication of Israel is necessary to secure “the liberation of earth.” APAN states that it “facilitated a range of meetings” for Albanese with Australian parliamentarians.
Palestinians in Aotearoa Co-ordinating Committee (PACC) and Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) both organized and likely bankrolled Albanese’s trip to New Zealand, according to UN Watch. At the behest of these groups, Albanese helped lobby a New Zealand sovereign wealth fund to divest from Israel-linked companies.
Albanese outright denied that her trip was funded by Palestinian lobbying organizations, insisting that the UN footed the bill.
“Yet another trail of egregiously false claims agst me,” she tweeted. “My trip to Australia was paid by the UN as part of my mandate’s activities. Continuous defamation agst my mandate may be well remunerated,but won’t work. It just wastes time that should be used to help stop violence in [the Palestinian territories].”
Albanese did not present any documentation confirming that the UN paid for her travel and accommodations. Rather, she pointed at a statement from AFOPA reading, “Ms. Albanese was authorized by the UN to accept AFOPA’s invitation to deliver the Edward Said Memorial Lecture. The UN funded Ms. Albanese’s travel & accommodation costs. No Palestinian Solidarity group paid for this trip.”
Albanese has an extensive history of using her role at the UN to denigrate Israel and seemingly rationalize Hamas’ attacks on the Jewish state.
In April, Albanese issued public support for the pro-Hamas protests and encampments on American university campuses, saying that they gave her “hope.” She has also repeatedly falsely accused the Jewish state of committing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza and enacting “apartheid” in the West Bank without condemning Hamas’ terrorism against Israelis.
In February, Albanese claimed Israelis were “colonialists” who had “fake identities.” Previously, she defended Palestinians’ “right to resist” Israeli “occupation” at a time when over 1,100 rockets were fired by Gaza terrorists at Israel. Last year, US lawmakers called for the firing of Albanese for what they described as her “outrageous” antisemitic statements, including a 2014 letter in which she claimed America was “subjugated by the Jewish lobby.”
Albanese’s anti-Israel comments have earned her the praise of Hamas officials in the past.
Additionally, in response to French President Emmanuel Macron calling Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel the “largest antisemitic massacre of the 21st century,” Albanese said, “No, Mr. Macron. The victims of Oct. 7 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression.”
Video footage of the Oct. 7 onslaught showed Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas celebrating the fact that they were murdering Jews.
Nevertheless, Albanese has argued that Israel should make peace with Hamas, saying that it “needs to make peace with Hamas in order to not be threatened by Hamas.”
The UN did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
The post UN Launches Probe Into Anti-Israel Rapporteur for Allegedly Accepting Trip Funded by Pro-Hamas Organizations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.