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Troubling Social Changes: NYU, CAIR And Excluding Mainstream Jewish Society

The “anti-Zionist not anti-Semitic” crowd is increasingly viewing their enemy not as a perceived evil state in the Middle East, but as a distinct group here at home in America.

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During a speech delivered at the 2021 American Muslims for Palestine c conference in Chicago last month, CAIR San Francisco executive Zahra Billoo attacked Zionism as bigotry against “Palestine”. (Photo – cairnational.medium.com)

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(JNS) A law journal at New York University recently committed to boycotting “Israel, complicit Israeli institutions, or their support and lobby groups.” The statement itself is quite telling. The authors had to caveat themselves out of actually applying BDS to the most important functions of a law journal (see footnote 7 of their statement) presumably knowing that to do otherwise would blatantly violate anti-discrimination law.

The journal is called the NYU Review of Law & Social Change (RLSC). On this note, let’s talk about “social change.” Let’s talk about the increasing normalization of calling for the exclusion, and even obliteration, of Jewish institutions and communities not just in Israel but wherever they might exist.

Consider comments made on Nov. 27 at the 2021 American Muslims for Palestine convention (intended for students) by Zahra Billoo from the Council on American-Islamic Relations:

“So oppose the vehement fascists. But oppose the polite Zionists too. They are not your friends. They will not be there for you when you need them. They will take your friendship and throw your Palestinian brothers and sisters under the bus. [Adopts a mocking tone] ‘Oh, you get along because you’re all in Girl Scouts together?’ Talk to them about what is happening in Palestine and see how that conversation goes. And so when we think about Islamophobia and Zionism, let’s be clear about the connections, because the next thing I’m going to tell you is to know your enemies. And I’m not going to sugarcoat that. They are your enemies. There are organizations and infrastructures out there who are working to harm you.”

Billoo is calling on students to consider their Jewish peers as enemies, and students at NYU have obviously internalized this message already.

The RLSC isn’t just boycotting “Israel” or “Israeli institutions.” It’s boycotting “their support and lobby groups.” Nowhere are the terms “support and lobby groups” defined, though it’s obviously referring to mainstream Jewish groups outside of Israel (or the sentence would be redundant).

What this really means is any university Hillel that supports the right of Israel to exist and defend itself is now banned by RLSC from cosponsoring any academic events, as it could accurately be construed as a “support group.” The same goes for any Jewish American charity or other Jewish social, cultural or political organization. Considering that the vast majority of American Jews hold pro-Israel beliefs, the decision is effectively a ban on mainstream Jewish participation in RLSC activities.

This is the exact kind of “social change” that seems to be picking up steam in the United States today.

Disturbingly, this isn’t even the first time that NYU students have targeted Jews for exclusion. In 2018, a shocking total of 51 student groups pledged to refuse to co-sponsor events with pro-Israel groups at NYU, as well as outside mainstream Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League.

Nor is this limited to NYU. Consider a few other recent events organized by or for student groups.

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At a Nov. 19 event, San Francisco State University professor Rabab Abdulhadi claimed that Jewish organizations are all connected to the Mossad, while notable anti-Semite and former Bristol University professor David Miller suggested a solution:

“[W]hat needs to happen is Palestine needs to be free. … And we do that, not just by the resistance in Palestine. … It’s not just the, we, we do Palestine solidarity work, but that we have, in order for Palestine to be free, the Zionist movement in general needs to be dismantled. Not just in Palestine, but in Britain and in the U.S., every single Zionist organization needs to be dismantled. … [W]e have to be thinking about how each one of these organizations is ended or is de-Zionized. … I think, you know, the enemy haven’t heard that enough from us and perhaps they need to hear it a bit more. … [T]hey will be punished …”

At yet another recent event on Oct. 29, participants discussed how to revoke tax-exempt status for certain Jewish organizations, such as the Jewish National Fund, while one—Suzanne Adely of the National Lawyers Guild—labeled American Jews who support such groups as “conspirators to genocide.” She was turning the anti-Semitic “Zionism is racism” into “Zionists are genocidal maniacs.” Knowing that mainstream Jewish society is Zionist, the implication is obvious.

The “anti-Zionist not anti-Semitic” crowd is increasingly viewing their enemy not as a perceived evil state in the Middle East, but as a distinct group here at home in America. The “social change” is that no longer is American society, except the increasingly lonely Jewish community, reacting with the appropriate shock and outrage to incitement to hatred and violence against Jews. As of this writing, not a single news outlet outside of the Jewish world has reported on Billoo’s hate screed.

As Jewish blogger David Lange wrote on Twitter when he exposed Billoo’s recent anti-Semitic tirade, “things are about to get uglier” for American Jews.

David M. Litman is a media and education research analyst at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA).

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Thank you for choosing TheJ.Ca as your source for Canadian Jewish News.

We do news differently!

Our positioning as a Zionist News Media platform sets us apart from the rest. While other Canadian Jewish media are advocating increasingly biased progressive political and social agendas, TheJ.Ca is providing more and more readers with a welcome alternative and an ideological home.

We revealed the incursion of anti-Israel progressive elements such as IfNotNow into our communities. We have exposed the distorted hateful agenda of the “progressive” left political radicals who brought Linda Sarsour to our cities, and we were first to report on many disturbing incidents of Nazi-based hate towards Jews across Canada.

But we can’t do it alone. We need your HELP!

Our ability to thrive and grow in 2020 and beyond depends on the generosity of committed readers and supporters like you.

Monthly support is a great way to help us sustain our operations. We greatly appreciate any contributions you can make to support Jewish Journalism.

We thank you for your ongoing support.

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