StandWithUs comes to aid of Kingsborough’s Michael Goldstein
StandWithUs is alarmed to learn of a systematic, year-long anti-Semitic campaign against Michael Goldstein, an administrator and adjunct professor at Kingsborough Community College (“Kingsborough” or the “College”), part of the City University of New York (CUNY) school system. Goldstein has been the target of widespread harassment from faculty members who spearheaded a campaign to terminate his employment with Kingsborough.
The campaign against Goldstein has focused in part on controversial posts from his personal social media accounts. However, instead of simply criticizing and challenging his views, Goldstein’s opponents have descended into hate speech and intimidation. Nothing can justify the vicious harassment and anti-Semitism Goldstein has faced.
In February 2018, activists defaced a picture of Leon Goldstein, Michael Goldstein’s father and the former president of Kingsborough, writing “Kill the Zionist Entity” on the picture. In May 2018, they distributed over 1,000 flyers throughout campus calling for Goldstein’s firing and sharing pictures from his personal Facebook profile, including a picture of his 13-year-old daughter. The same day, protestors arrived outside Goldstein’s office and began banging on the door and windows. Between June and September of last year, a series of anonymous articles was published calling on students to “rise up against [Goldstein].”
Kingsborough administrators refused to classify the February 2018 vandalism as a hate crime and took only minimal measures to ensure his personal safety. Despite Goldstein’s repeated requests, Kingsborough failed to provide him with a public safety officer until October 2018, after another faculty member at the college was attacked. According to Goldstein, who is now represented by the Lawfare Project, at least five complaints have been filed with CUNY administration by other Jewish faculty members also targeted in this hateful campaign. To date, the administration still has not opened a full investigation into these incidents.
In addition to CUNY’s own Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination policy, the College’s failures to adequately protect Goldstein or address the harassment when it began last year might violate New York state and federal laws.
“The failure of Kingsborough’s administration to adequately protect Michael Goldstein and other Jewish faculty and pursue appropriate sanctions against those responsible for what are clearly anti-Semitic attacks is seriously alarming and should concern all people of conscience,” said Roz Rothstein, StandWithUs co-founder and CEO. “We call upon the College to immediately take all necessary action to protect the Jewish members of its community – including taking appropriate punitive action against the perpetrators of this campaign of hate – and to emphatically denounce anti-Semitism in all forms.” — – From StandWithUs
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AJC seeks condemnation of Tylko Polska newspaper
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) has called on the Polish government to condemn unequivocally the distribution of a blatantly anti-Semitic newspaper. Tylko Polska (Only Poland), a Polish language weekly newspaper, available across the country and at a kiosk in the Polish parliament, has a front-page story entitled “how to recognize a Jew.”
“The distribution of Tylko Polska nationally is astonishing. That it is readily available on Polish government property is outrageous,” said Agnieszka Markiewicz, Director of AJC Central Europe, based in Warsaw.
“Articles in Tyiko Polska resemble anti-Semitic writings from the 1930s. Condemnation of this paper by the Speaker of the Sejm (Parliament), by other members of parliament, is imperative to make clear that there is no room for anti-Semitism in Poland.” — From American Jewish Committee.
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Panel on Middle East planned March 31 in Oceanside
Three San Diego area professors will be featured on a panel sponsored by Democrats for Peace in the Middle East at 1 p.m., Sunday, March 31, in Oceanside.
Panelists will include UC San Diego professors Michael Provence and James Rausch, respectively of the history and economic departments, and San Diego State University professor Farid Abdel-Nour of the political science department.
Specific location of the event will be provided to those who RSVP either by phone at (760) 607-6487, or via email: admin@demsforpeaceinmiddleeast.com — From Democrats for Peace in the Middle East.
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Pitzer faculty votes to end Israel study abroad program
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, AMCHA Initiative’s co-founder and director, issued the following statement on Thursday.
“What happened today at Pitzer is an academic abomination. Prioritizing politics over students is reprehensible, but sadly, the Pitzer College Council did just that. Academic boycotts violate the rights of students and faculty on U.S. campuses, and this precedent-setting vote is frightening. Fortunately, the buck stops with Pitzer President Oliver who clearly understands this. As he stated back in November, ‘To deny Pitzer students who want to study at Haifa University the opportunity to study abroad and to enter into dialogue and promote intercultural understanding at the altar of political considerations is anathema to Pitzer’s core values’ and would ‘foolishly alienate Jewish and non-Jewish constituents.’ Oliver also questioned why Pitzer should cancel its study abroad programs in Israel when there are other countries with contentious issues in which Pitzer has study abroad programs. ‘China currently has 1 million Muslims imprisoned in re-education camps. Why would we not suspend our program with China?’ questioned Oliver. ‘Or take our longest standing program in Nepal where the Pitzer in Nepal program has been run for over 40 years. During that time they have had a bloody civil war that killed 19,000 people. Why Israel?’ The Pitzer professors who orchestrated this move should be ashamed of themselves for promoting a reprehensible and hypocritical boycott that tramples on the academic rights and educational opportunities of their own students and colleagues in the name of politics, and goes against everything a university and its faculty should stand for.”
Following attempts by faculty at the University of Michigan and Pitzer College to implement academic BDS, AMCHA launched an anti-academic boycott campaign. The organization has been leading a diverse group of 101 civil rights, religious, education, faculty and student groups spanning the political left, right and center and mobilizing a grassroots effort that calls on university presidents to recognize and condemn an academic boycott that violates the academic freedom and educational opportunities of U.S. students. Since AMCHA launched its campaign, the 10 chancellors of the University of California put out a strong statement to all UC faculty and the entire UC community condemning the academic boycott and recognizing the “direct and serious threat” it poses to UC students and faculty. — From AMCHA Initiative
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University of Haifa responds to Pitzer faculty vote
“We regret today’s vote by the Pitzer College Council to uphold the Pitzer faculty’s misguided plan to boycott the college’s relationship with University of Haifa.
“While such proponents of the BDS movement in the academic community utilize a free speech argument to justify boycotts of Israeli institutions, those who support these votes at Pitzer are actually undermining academic freedom and free speech by depriving students of their freedom to choose where to study abroad.
“The Pitzer boycott is particularly misguided given the fact that at University of Haifa, 35 percent of our students are Arabs, and that our Israeli and Arab students work together harmoniously on extracurricular activities and community service. This is diversity, coexistence, and tolerance at its finest.
“Further, such boycotts meet the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism by ‘applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.’ Sadly, the Pitzer College Council today gave its seal of approval to contemporary anti-Semitism.” – From University of Haifa