College Presidents Under Fire For Jewish Genocide Comments
Calls for top university presidents to resign over remarks
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Good morning,
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Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” is… Taylor Swift. It’s the first time in 96 years that the magazine awarded an entertainer with the title. Time looks for the person who “most shaped the headlines over the previous 12 months, for better or for worse.”
Over the years, the magazine has chosen from Popes to Presidents, activists to dictators.
Have a good one!
Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren
🗞 BACKLASH AFTER UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS TESTIFY ON ANTISEMITISM
The backlash from donors, students, domestic and foreign leaders, and the White House escalated Wednesday for the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT after they testified before Congress about the rise in antisemitism on their campuses.
🚨 Their (non) answers on whether a call for the genocide of Jewish people would be considered harassment on their campuses has ignited debate and led to calls for their resignation. They all said, more or less, that it depends on the context.
Even the White House weighed in, saying “it’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: Calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country.”
“YES OR NO”
The three presidents would not simply answer ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ but said some version of: if the call for Jewish genocide turns into conduct, it can be harassment. VIDEO OF EXCHANGE
The NY Times sums it up: “They tried to give lawyerly responses to a tricky question involving free speech, which supporters of academic freedom said were legally correct. But to many Jewish students, alumni and donors, who had watched campus pro-Palestinian protests with trepidation and fear, the statements by the university presidents failed to meet the political moment by not speaking clearly and forcefully against antisemitism.”
Hate speech IS different from free speech: It’s “public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence toward a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation” — calling for genocide against Jews is hate speech. The Supreme Court has historically drawn a line to say that free speech is no longer protected by the first amendment if it can inspire violence. The University presidents appeared to disagree in their initial answers.
CAN WE GET A DO OVER?: On Wednesday, the presidents of Harvard and UPenn put out separate statements, trying to clarify their positions.
Harvard’s Claudine Gay said: “Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”
Penn’s Elizabeth Magill didn’t apologize, but in a video published 24 hours later, she said: “I was focused on our University’s long standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable.” She says Penn should look into clarifying its harassment policies.
New polling of Jewish college students. Via: ADL
JEWISH STUDENTS SAY THEY DON’T FEEL SAFE:
According to a new poll from the ADL, before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, a majority of Jewish students felt safe on campus. After the attacks, only 33% felt emotionally safe and 46% felt physically safe.
73% of Jewish college students and 44% of non-Jewish students have experienced or witnessed antisemitism this school year.
Harvard and UPenn are among the nearly 60 schools that the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is investigating over complaints of antisemitic and Islamophobic harassment since the start of the war.
The balance of free speech and keeping students safe was at the heart of the hearing.
THIS IS NOT NEW
Pamela Nadell, a professor of history and Jewish studies at American University, joined the hearing to provided historical context on antisemitism in the U.S. She says:
American Jews were excluded from colleges and given limited access to professions for decades.
”Voicing antisemitism is not illegal. We cannot censor antisemitic speech, nor can we command everyone in our university community to support human rights. What we must do is make certain that everyone on the campus … feels safe and does not encounter discrimination in any form.”
CALLS TO RESIGN
UPenn students, donors and alumni are demanding the president, Elizabeth Magill, resign over her remarks at the hearing. Meanwhile, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) said he found her statements “unacceptable” and that UPenn’s board of trustees has “a serious decision they need to make” — implying her possible removal.
“There should be no nuance to that — she needed to give a one-word answer,” Shapiro said.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a post on X he was “ashamed” to hear the testimony.
Private equity billionaire Marc Rowan wrote a message to UPenn board trustees saying he heard from hundreds of alumni, parents and leaders who were shocked by the hearing.
Billionaire hedge fund manager and Harvard alum Bill Ackman called on the presidents of Harvard, and the other two presidents, to resign.
Columbia University’s president was not at the hearing. However, the campus has been one of the most divided. And many New York colleges have increased police their police presence.
As 60 Minutes profiles, a Jewish professor said, “It's clear that we are both in extreme pain. The truth of the matter is there are two people that are not going anywhere, Palestinians and the Israeli Jews.”
IT’S ISLAMOPHOBIA TOO
Hisham Awartani, one of the three Palestinian college students who were shot while walking in Vermont over Thanksgiving break, will not walk after being targeted along with two Palestinian friends. The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime. ,
The Council on American-Islamic Relations announced it has received 1,283 requests for help amid concerns about violence in the month after Oct. 7. In 2022, over the same time period, the group only got 406 such requests.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Haley In the Center: Biggest Takeaways from Final GOP Presidential Debate (TIME)
📌 Senate GOP blocks Israel, Ukraine aid package over border security dispute in key vote (CNN)
📌 Las Vegas shooting: 3 killed at UNLV, suspect dead, police say(CBS NEWS)
📌 Wisconsin pro-Trump ‘fake electors’ settle lawsuit over false 2020 filings (THE HILL)
📌 US files war crime charges against Russians accused of torturing an American in the Ukraine invasion (AP)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Gaza doctor describes hellish working conditions as Israeli troops draw near (NBC NEWS)
📌 Guyana’s president says country is preparing to defend itself from Venezuela over disputed area (AP)
📌 Russia's Putin meets Saudi crown prince in whirlwind Gulf visit (REUTERS)
📌 US warship shoots down drone launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen (CNN)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 British American Tobacco wipes $31.5 billion off value of US cigarette brands (CNN)
📌 Wall Street bank bosses warn lawmakers of economic toll from tough new rules (REUTERS)
📌 Meta is child abuse 'breeding ground', lawsuit claims (BBC)
📌 Air quality had gotten better in parts of the U.S. — but wildfire smoke is reversing those improvements, researchers say (CBS NEWS)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 Norman Lear, prolific TV writer and producer who created All in the Family, dead at 101 (PEOPLE)
📌 Sean Diddy Combs accused of ‘gang rape’ of 17-year-old in new lawsuit (DAILY MAIL)
📌 Actors vote to approve deal that ended strike, bringing relief to union leaders and Hollywood (AP)
📌 Latin superstar Daddy Yankee tells fans he is leaving music to evangelize the world for Jesus (FOX NEWS)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: DECEMBER 7
1941: Japanese bombers launched a surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing 2,403 Americans, and leading to the US entry into World War II.
1967: Otis Redding recorded vocal tracks for “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay.” It would turn out to be his final session, taking place just three days before a plane crash claimed his life.
1972: American astronaut Eugene Andrew Cernan commanded the last crewed flight to the Moon, effectively ending the Apollo program.
2001: Steven Soderbergh’s “Ocean’s Eleven” remake premiered in theaters.