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Alleging exclusion, Jewish faculty boycott James Madison University’s Holocaust commemoration event
(JTA) — An event that took place at a Virginia university Thursday night to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day was scheduled to feature lectures about the legacies of Auschwitz and the intersection between white supremacy and antisemitism. There was also a planned recitation of a poem and a musical performance.
Not on the docket at James Madison University: support for the event from the school’s Jewish faculty and staff.
Dozens of them announced in an open letter that they would boycott the event, titled “An Evening Conversation on the History and Legacy of the Holocaust,” citing concerns about its appropriateness. Of particular concern, according to multiple people familiar with the situation, was a planned performance by the university’s provost, a pianist, during a segment titled “Music as Refuge in the Holocaust.”
“There was no refuge for those targeted by the ‘Final Solution,’” said the open letter, which was unsigned but said it had the support of “24 of Jewish JMU Faculty, Faculty Emeriti, and Staff.”
The letter, which the school’s student newspaper The Breeze published Thursday morning, said the planning of the Holocaust event had “disrespected and disparaged Jewish individuals, dismissed Jewish participation and failed to reflect the inclusive values that JMU purports to foster.” The letter criticized the university’s decision to invite keynote speakers from other universities and the rabbi of a neighboring community to give a community address, rather than centering James Madison personnel or the local rabbi.
That rabbi, Jeffrey Kurtz-Lendner of Beth El Congregation of Harrisonburg, said the event had been planned with little to no input from Jews, and that three Jews who were added to the planning committee late in the process later resigned en masse.
In an interview, Kurtz-Lendner compared the event to “a Martin Luther King observance planned by an entire committee of white people.” He said he was joining the boycott and not encouraging his congregants, who include James Madison professors, to attend. He said the rabbi listed on the original program, from a Reform synagogue about 30 miles away in Staunton, would not attend, either.
“The program looks wholly insensitive,” he said. “Instead of being a commemoration of the Holocaust, it looks like it’s turning into an opportunity for celebration.”
That idea appeared to be rooted in the inclusion of music during the event. Maura Hametz, the Jewish chair of the university’s history department, said she had successfully argued against including instrumental music during last year’s commemoration, citing prohibitions in Jewish tradition against instrumental music in times of mourning.
“Biblically we don’t use instrumental music, as Jews,” to commemorate the Holocaust, she said. “If you use the instruments, it’s a celebration.” The proposal to include a musical interlude, she said, also had a history in “medieval church music, so that doesn’t track with what is good for us.”
The belief that Holocaust commemorations cannot include music is not universally held; some commemorations have featured music written by Jewish composers as acts of resistance or remembrance. International Holocaust Remembrance Day was created by the United Nations in 2005 as a way to mourn all victims of the Holocaust, distinct from Yom HaShoah, the Jewish holiday that takes place in April and was established by the Israeli government to commemorate specifically Jewish Holocaust victims.
Still, Hametz had made the case against music last year, so when she saw that this year’s event was again scheduled to include musical selections, she said, “It did surprise me.” She ultimately decided to boycott the event and sign the open letter.
The boycott was supported by one of the university centers sponsoring the event, the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence. Its director, Taimi Castle, issued a statement to the student newspaper saying the center would “spend time reflecting on how we can support the Jewish community at JMU in addressing the harm caused by these actions.”
A James Madison University spokesperson said Thursday that the event itself was still scheduled to proceed as intended that evening. The university said it had reached out to “a spokesperson for this group” of critics and planned to hold a meeting “to gain further understanding and collectively work on a path forward.”
The episode comes amid broad questions about the role of Jews in efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in universities and workplaces. Jewish critics of the emerging field of diversity, equity and inclusion have charged that antisemitism is not always treated as similarly offensive to racism or homophobia, despite also being rooted in hatred based on identity. The Jewish open letter signers also cited a recent statewide report on antisemitism in Virginia as reason to take their concerns about Jewish representation at the university seriously.
James Madison’s Holocaust Remembrance Day event was sponsored in part by the university’s equity and inclusion office, and the associate provost for inclusive strategies and equity initiatives was scheduled to deliver opening remarks and also moderate a question-and-answer session at the event’s end.
“This event is to create an opportunity for people to learn about the lived experiences of others and honor the Holocaust Remembrance Day through educational and solemn means,” Malika Carter-Hoyt, the school’s vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, said in a statement provided to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The statement did not mention Jews or antisemitism.
Carter-Hoyt said she hadn’t received “any notice about these concerns” prior to the letter.
“I acknowledge the letter and express compassion toward the concerns outlined by faculty,” Carter-Hoyt said. But she also defended the planning and suggested that having Jews on the planning committee had not been a specific university priority.
“Committee members were selected based on substantive expertise and commitment to the creation of an event that properly marks the occasion,” she wrote. “No one was included or excluded explicitly based on a particular protected characteristic.”
James Madison University, located in Harrisonburg, is a public college with about 21,000 students. About 1,200 of them are Jewish, according to Hillel International, which offers some services on campus but does not have a building or rabbi there. Efforts to reach anyone affiliated with JMU Hillel were unsuccessful. The chapter’s vice president was listed as a participant on the evening’s program, scheduled to read a poem by Primo Levi, an Italian Holocaust survivor.
The school also does not have a Jewish studies department, despite what Hametz said had been extensive lobbying by faculty members to establish one. Alan Berger, who launched Jewish studies departments at Syracuse and Florida Atlantic universities, was billed as a keynote speaker at the event Thursday.
James Madison’s provost Heather Coltman, who was scheduled to play piano at the Holocaust memorial event and also previously worked at Florida Atlantic University, has an uneasy relationship with the school’s faculty. This week the faculty senate sought to condemn her for reportedly retaliating against the authors of a report on transparency at the school.
While there are courses taught on Jewish topics, the lack of a separate department means that Jewish representation on campus is limited, Hametz said.
“There is no spokesperson here for the Jewish community,” she said. “There’s no central voice to say, ‘Hey, why is this happening? How is it possible that you go ahead with a Holocaust event with no Jewish people on the committee?’”
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Heritage Foundation staff confront president over antisemitism, defense of Tucker Carlson
The president of the Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, apologized to his staff on Wednesday for his refusal to condemn Tucker Carlson after the right-wing broadcaster aired a friendly interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
During a tense, two-hour all-hands meetings, staff members challenged Roberts’ leadership, questioned Heritage’s credibility, and warned that his stance had gravely damaged the foundation’s relationships with Jewish partners and donors
“I made a mistake and I let you down and I let down this institution. Period. Full stop,” Roberts said.
He specifically apologized for a previous comment defending Carlson in which he decried a “venomous coalition” attacking the commentator. The phrase, he said, was “a terrible choice of words, especially for our Jewish colleagues and friends.”
The meeting, audio and video of which were leaked online, laid bare deep divisions inside America’s most influential conservative think tank, torn between Roberts’ attempt to mend fences and a staff revolt from within its senior ranks.
Several Heritage employees, including longtime fellows and legal scholars, told Roberts they no longer had confidence in his leadership. Others said his refusal to draw moral lines between Carlson and antisemites like Fuentes had caused lasting reputational harm.
“I made the mess, I want to clean it up,” Roberts told employees, adding that he had offered his resignation to the board but felt a “moral obligation” to stay and repair the damage.
Several staffers demanded that Roberts publicly repudiate Carlson. Two called for him to resign.
“You have shown a stunning lack of both courage and judgment,” said Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow who has worked at Heritage for eight years. “I stand here today with no ability to say I have confidence in your leadership.”
“It has become increasingly difficult to continue to defend the Heritage Foundation,” added Rachel Greszler, another senior fellow. “I do not believe that you are the right person to lead.”
The confrontation followed days of turmoil triggered by Roberts’ decision to post a video in which he said Heritage would not “distance” itself from Carlson despite his friendly interview with Fuentes, a Holocaust denier who has praised Adolf Hitler. Roberts framed his position as a defense of “grace” and “free speech,” saying the right should avoid “canceling” its own.
That message sparked outrage across the political spectrum. Prominent Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, denounced Fuentes as a “Nazi.” Jewish organizations that had partnered with Heritage on its antisemitism initiative, Project Esther, cut ties. Conservative commentators such as Ben Shapiro blasted Roberts for embracing a “no enemies to the right” ethos.
One of the most emotional moments at the meeting came during comments from Daniel Flesch, a Jewish staffer with Heritage’s Allison Center for National Security, who oversees Project Esther. He described being unable to defend Heritage to Jewish allies and friends.
“It has been six days… where as an organization we have been unable to utter the words…‘Tucker’s an antisemite, and we as Heritage do not want to associate with him,’” Daniel said. “We are bleeding trust, reputation, perhaps donors.”
Robert Rector, a Heritage veteran of 47 years, invoked conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr., who in the 1960s sought to expel antisemitic and racist elements from the conservative movement.
“Buckley’s view was that we have to expunge all antisemitism from the movement and expel the lunatics,” Rector said. “This is what built the conservative movement. We are now reversing that.”
Hans von Spakovsky, another senior Heritage figure, warned Roberts that the think tank’s credibility could not be salvaged without a clean break from Carlson.
“The damage done to the reputation of Heritage is the worst I have ever seen,” von Spakovsky said. “If the Heritage Foundation and you do not dump Tucker Carlson publicly, we are not going to repair that damage.”
The meeting also exposed generational and ideological divides on the right. One young staffer argued that Heritage should not prioritize defending Israel and accused the leadership of promoting “Christian Zionism” — a comment that drew audible gasps.
Roberts and his deputies reaffirmed the foundation’s pro-Israel stance, but the exchange underscored how some younger conservatives, animated by online populism and isolationism, are challenging traditional right-wing support for Israel.
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As Mamdani’s victory reverberates beyond NYC, Jews must choose solidarity over shock
The ascendance of Zohran Mamdani stunned many Jewish New Yorkers, and now that he has been elected, many Jews in New York and across the country feel fear and foreboding. The city that long stood as the beating heart of American Jewish life, creative, intellectual, and spiritual, has elected a man who denies the Jewish right to national self-determination, traffics in rhetoric that isolates our community, and aligns with movements hostile to Jewish safety and dignity.
This moment strikes a community already reeling from the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the wave of antisemitism that followed. Mamdani was the encampment candidate, lifted by the same forces that turned American campuses into arenas of cruelty and open hatred of Jews. For many, the outcome feels like the city we built, enriched and defended turning its back on us.
But panic provides no preparation, and despair offers no strategy. The Jewish people endured darker nights than this one. We never surrendered. We stood together, protected one another, and built stronger than before.
Clarity must guide us now. We reject the divisive and bigoted politics that carried Mamdani to Gracie Mansion. In his brief career he has championed efforts to delegitimize and demonize Israel, entertained defunding New York institutions that support Israelis, leveled baseless accusations of grave abuses, rejected the IHRA definition of antisemitism, opposed ceremonial resolutions honoring the State of Israel, failed to join resolutions commemorating the Holocaust, and — perhaps most galling to many — refused to condemn the call to “globalize the intifada,” a slogan that glorifies violence against Jews.
These actions reveal conviction, and we harbor no illusions about engagement. A few softened remarks before victory cannot erase years of radical rhetoric and targeted hostility. Tactical moderation rarely if ever equals moral transformation.
Events in New York echo beyond the city. When the largest Jewish community in the Diaspora faces rhetorical and political assault, extremists everywhere take notice. The effects reach synagogues, schools, students, and families across the United States. This moment concerns more than one election; it defines the boundaries of decency in public life.
Criticism of Israeli policy belongs in democratic discourse. Demonization of Israel and excuses for violence against Jews do not. That inversion, condemning Israel while minimizing Hamas atrocities, reflects not a pursuit of justice but an obsession with Jews. The Jewish people know this story from centuries of repetition, and we recognize it instantly because we survived it before.
But we also know what needs to come next.
We will fortify our institutions. We will organize for communal safety. We will advocate relentlessly at the municipal, state and federal levels. We will strengthen alliances with leaders who refuse to equivocate about Jewish life. And we will secure resources, philanthropic and governmental, to protect our people and our future in this still-great city.
We proceed without illusions. Leadership demands moral seriousness. When the mayor’s office abandons that duty, others will step forward. Jewish safety, dignity and continuity depend on our resolve, not on the goodwill of any administration.
New York stands as a city of Jewish strength, energy and resilience. That truth will not change. In this difficult hour, we choose solidarity over shock, courage over resignation, and resolve over naïveté. We lift one another up, safeguard our community, and affirm that our story never belonged to those who stand against us.
Let us not mourn, but organize.
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China and Qatar Move to Broaden Strategic, Economic Ties in Region
The Chinese national flag is seen in Beijing, China April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
China and Qatar are broadening ties and joint initiatives as both countries work to deepen their partnership amid shifting Middle East dynamics and China’s efforts to expand its regional influence, according to recent statements from politicians of both countries.
On Monday, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng held talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Doha on the sidelines of the Second World Summit for Social Development, focusing on regional developments and expanding bilateral cooperation.
The expanding Beijing-Doha relationship comes as Qatar seeks to position itself as a key player in the Middle East — pursuing a role in post-war Gaza and broadening its regional influence — while China aims to counter Western influence, navigate US sanctions, and expand its presence across the region.
During their meeting, the Chinese top diplomat pledged to deepen ties with Qatar across multiple sectors and elevate their strategic relationship to new levels.
He also stressed Qatar’s unique and influential role in the Middle East amid rising regional tensions and shifting power dynamics, reaffirming Beijing’s support and calling Doha a key ally.
“Deep political mutual trust forms the foundation of China-Qatar relations,” Zheng said during a joint press conference.
“We are committed to working with Qatar to implement the key agreements reached by our two heads of state and to maintain high-level exchanges,” he continued, referring to the recently signed agreements between the two countries, set to broaden the scope of their joint projects.
“We will continue to support each other on issues concerning our core interests and deepen cooperation in energy, artificial intelligence, and the digital economy, aiming to elevate our bilateral relationship to new heights,” he said.
The Chinese top diplomat vowed to deepen ties with Qatar, emphasizing China’s enduring commitment to their growing partnership and its aim to foster initiatives that benefit both nations.
For its part, the Qatari diplomat praised China’s long-standing role as Qatar’s largest trading partner, noting that the relationship holds vital importance for the country.
Al-Thani also expressed appreciation to China for its support in safeguarding Qatar’s territorial sovereignty and national security.