(Photo: Commons Wikimedia)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland), the Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Committee, has sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan urging him to immediately adopt standards to prevent imbalanced higher education programs with anti-Israel attitudes from receiving federal funding.
Lowey’s letter to Duncan comes in response to a statement from several education and Jewish advocates proclaiming that institutions are misusing Higher Education Act Title VI funding, which seeks to help colleges and universities enhance instruction in foreign language and international studies. A comprehensive report is available here, including complaints that certain Middle East studies programs have become unfairly anti-Israel.
“Anti-Semitism is a scourge on society that has far-reaching and dangerous effects. The Department of Education must address concerns that a number of imbalanced programs of Middle East Studies are disproportionately focused on and are biased against Israel,” said Lowey. “Incidents of anti-Semitism have spiked worldwide in recent months, including many that were borne out of protests against Israel’s acts of self-defense against the terrorist group Hamas. It is vital to ensure that academic programs do not become tilted against Israel in a way that engenders anti-Semitism or criticism of Israel that devolves into the defamation of the Jewish people.”
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Preceding provided by the AMCHA Initiative
Who will determine what the offending speech is? There should be NO speech zones in any institution that promotes a free exchange of ideas and discussion.
If you don’t want free speech than please stop asking taxpayers to pay for your restrictive programs!
Ms. Lowey, you need to get elected out of office as soon as possible.
Hooray for the Amcha Initiative, they are doing excellent work for Jewish students on all campuses. I think people don’t realize how biased against Israel many college campuses have become, including our very own UCSD.