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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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United Nations ‘Condemns’ Israel for Responding to Houthi Attacks, Decries ‘Escalation’ of Violence
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks to members of the Security Council during a meeting to address the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US, April 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
In its latest salvo against the Jewish state, the United Nations (UN) condemned Israel for executing retaliatory strikes against the Houthi terror group in Yemen.
“The Secretary-General condemns escalation between Yemen and Israel,” Stéphanie Tremblay, a UN spokesperson, said in Thursday statements on behalf of UN Secretary General António Guterres.
“The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about intensified escalation in Yemen and Israel. Israeli airstrikes today on Sana’a International Airport, the Red Sea ports and power stations in Yemen are especially alarming. The airstrikes reportedly resulted in numerous casualties including at least three killed and dozens more injured” Tremblay added.
On Thursday, Israel launched a barrage of missile attacks on Houthi bases in Yemen, provoking international outrage. Israel targeted a major airport in Sanaa and ports in Hodeida, Al-Salif and Ras Qantib, and power stations, locations the Jewish state claims were used by the terror group to sneak in both Iranian weapons and high-ranking Iranian officials.
On Friday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for an airstrike aimed at Ben Gurion airport, claiming that the attacks were carried out in retaliation against Israel’s targeting of Sana’a International airport.
The Israeli strikes followed days of Houthi missile and drone launches towards the Jewish state’s airspace. The Houthis have repeatedly attacked the Jewish state in the year following the Oct. 7 slaughters in Israel. Officials associated with terrorist organization claims that it will continue to attack Israel until the so-called “genocide” in Gaza ceases.
In reference to the strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad’s regime and others learned.”
Israeli officials have long accused the UN of having a bias against the Jewish state. Last year, the UN General Assembly condemned Israel twice as often as it did all other countries. Meanwhile, of all the country-specific resolutions passed by the UNHRC, nearly half have condemned Israel, a seemingly disproportionate focus on the lone democracy in the Middle East.
Weeks following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, the UN adopted a resolution calling for a “ceasefire” between Israel and the terrorist group. The UN failed to pass a measure condemning the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7.
In June, the UN put Israel on its so-called “list of shame” of countries that kill children in armed conflict. Israel is considered to be the only democracy on the list.
The post United Nations ‘Condemns’ Israel for Responding to Houthi Attacks, Decries ‘Escalation’ of Violence first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Jets Attack Syria-Lebanon Border Crossings to Stop Arms Amuggling
Smoke billows after an Israeli Air Force air strike in southern Lebanon village, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, Oct. 3, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jim Urquhar
Israeli jets struck seven crossing points along the Syria-Lebanon border on Friday, aiming to cut the flow of weapons to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon.
Israeli troops also seized a truck mounted with a 40-barrel rocket launcher in southern Lebanon, part of a haul from various areas that included explosives, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and AK-47 automatic rifles, the military said.
The commander of the Israeli Air Force, Major General Tomer Bar, said Hezbollah was trying to smuggle weapons into Lebanon to test Israel’s ability to stop them.
“This must not be tolerated,” he said in a statement.
Under the terms of a Nov. 27 ceasefire agreement, Israel is supposed to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon in phases while unauthorised Hezbollah military facilities south of the Litani River are to be dismantled.
However, each side has accused the other of violating the agreement, intended to end more than a year of fighting that began with Hezbollah missile strikes on Israel in the aftermath of the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, from Gaza.
On Thursday, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon called for Israeli forces to withdraw, citing what it said were repeated violations of the deal.
Israel, which destroyed large parts of Hezbollah’s missile stocks during weeks of operations in southern Lebanon, has said it will not permit weapons to be smuggled to Hezbollah through Syria.
Israel has also conducted attacks against the Iranian-backed Houthi movement in Yemen in recent days and pledged to continue its campaign against Iranian-backed militant groups across the region.
The post Israeli Jets Attack Syria-Lebanon Border Crossings to Stop Arms Amuggling first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Mila Kunis Says Husband Ashton Kutcher And Their Children Helped Her Embrace Judaism: ‘I Fell in Love With My Religion’
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis at the 9th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California, on April 16, 2023. Photo: Cover Media via Reuters Connect
Actress Mila Kunis began embracing and feeling proud of her Jewish heritage when she met her husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, and even more so after having children, she told Israeli activist and author Noa Tishby this week.
“For me, it happened when I met my husband,” the “Goodrich” star, 41, said of her former “That ’70s Show” costar, 46, who she has been married to since 2015.
Although Kutcher is not Jewish, he was a follower of Kabbalah and was frequently photographed visiting the Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles when he was married to actress Demi Moore from 2005-2013. Their wedding was also reportedly officiated by a Kabbalah Centre teacher. It remains unclear if he continues to follow Kabbalah. Nevertheless, Kunis joked that Kutcher is Jewish “by choice,” not by lineage, and that his interest in Judaism sparked Kunis to reconnect with her Jewish roots.
“I fell in love with my religion because he explained it to me,” said Kunis, who voices Meg Griffin on the Fox animated series “Family Guy.”
Kunis made the comments while joining Tishby to light candles on Thursday for the second night of Hanukkah. The two joined forces as part of Tishby’s “#BringOnTheLight campaign,” which is an eight-part video series on YouTube dedicated to spreading the message of Jewish resilience, pride and unity throughout the Jewish holiday.
Kunis and Kutcher together have two children — daughter Wyatt, 10, and son Dimitri, 8. The actress was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, and moved to the United States at the age of eight. She told Tishby that she did not adhere to any Jewish traditions while growing up. “I always knew I was Jewish but I was told to never talk about,” she said. “I think because I was in a country that didn’t allow for religion.” The “Bad Moms” star added that her children also helped her tap into the religious side of Judaism.
“I was raised culturally Jewish. So for me, it’s a culture,” she said. “And as I had kids, and my kids very much identity with the religion aspect of it, I was like, ‘Oh, I guess we’re doing Shabbat and the candles. And there are so many beautiful traditions.”
“I never lit Hanukkah candles until I had kids,” she further noted.
When Kunis lit the menorah with Tishby for the second night of Hanukkah, they called Kutcher for some help. Both women were unsure if they needed to light the candles from left to right or from right to left, and asked Kutcher for guidance.
Kunis also talked about being raised with a lot of Jewish guilt and superstition. Listing another things that are culturally Jewish about her, she shared, “I have a fear of not having enough food and my fear of somebody being hungry. The worst thing my kids can say to me is, ‘I’m hungry.’”
“Food fixes everything. You’re tired, eat some food. You’re cranky, eat some food,” she joked. “A health person would say, ‘This is unhealthy and you’re doing something wrong.’ And I understand. I’m working on it. But it’s just something that is embedded in me.”
The post Mila Kunis Says Husband Ashton Kutcher And Their Children Helped Her Embrace Judaism: ‘I Fell in Love With My Religion’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.