LOS ANGELES –StandWithUs initiated a national campaign on Tuesday, Aug. 10, encouraging university leaders to put a stop to the now-common practice of academic departments and student governments employing official university websites, social media accounts, and email listservs to promote extremist political causes such as BDS campaigns.
The exploitation of official university assets for political activism violates professional codes of conduct and pre-existing ethics policies at most universities—policies that are rarely enforced. StandWithUs called on university presidents and general counsels to issue guidance to all faculty and students reminding them of these policies and announcing penalties for their violation. Such violations were commonplace during the recent fighting between Israel and Hamas in May 2021, when countless academic departments and student governments took over official university social media accounts and email lists and used them to promote hatred of Israel and in many cases, antisemitism.
StandWithUs’ legal letter details the numerous university policies and professional codes of conduct that this behavior violates, and the way that official promotion of extremist anti-Israel and antisemitic content marginalizes students based on their Jewish identity and/or Israeli citizenship.
Based on months of legal research and assistance from lawyers in StandWithUs’ pro bono attorney network, the letter includes suggested language that universities can adopt immediately to curtail further abuse by faculty, academic departments, and student governments as the fall 2021 semester gets underway.
StandWithUs’ letter also clarifies that barring campus political activists—be they students, professors, or administrators—from using official university channels to disseminate inflammatory, partisan, or hateful messages in no way runs afoul of First Amendment rights or the principles of academic freedom.
“StandWithUs receives hundreds of requests from alumni, students, and parents asking if a particular university is a welcoming place for Jewish and Israeli students, where they can study and enjoy campus life without being subjected to constant attacks on their identity – ones that increasingly appear to carry the endorsement of schools themselves. University leaders should make clear to these alumni, students, and parents whether their campuses will implement the crucial guidelines we recommend,” said Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs.
Yael Lerman, Director of the StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department stated, “StandWithUs calls on universities to stop the exploitation of official communication vehicles for anti-Israel activism and enforce codes of conduct and ethics policies.”
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Preceding provided by StandWithUs
I am a Balfour/Weizmann/Einstein Zionist. Sadly I observe that there is no evidence that ‘legal’ action abridging the extraordinary rights of the First Amendment to unfettered speech, association and petition, will be any more effective than Justice Brandeis’ missives against the Nazi rise to power. If one’s believes that Muslims have rights in the Levant west of the Jordan River and that boundaries established by the UN and ‘Allied Powers” are the LAW, then opposition to Green Line division is unethical.
Personally, I do not believe that any true believers in Islam and Mohammed, descendants of Ishmael, would claim rights west of the Jordan. Mohammed did not proclaim any ties to Jerusalem; and a careful reading of the first Qibla points to Hebron and the Cave of Machpelah, where Isaac and Ishmael, in PEACE buried their Father Abraham – a peace between true believers which endures for eternity.
It was only after the death of Mohammed that the Caliph Umar crossed the Jordan, conquered the Levant and created the story of the Night Ride in order to subjugate the Jewish tribes. He would be assassinated by his Persian slave, Piruz Nahavandi. Those west of Jordan who claim to be Muslim ‘Palestinian’ – a Roman term – are the true occupiers, and should be repatriated to Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.
Teaching History Accurately should be the effort of StandWithUs.