Tag: anti-semitism

Trump Admin Seeks to Block Harvard From Federal Funding Through HHS

The Trump administration said on Sept. 29 that it was referring Harvard University for proceedings that could end with the university losing federal funding over alleged civil rights violations.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act generally prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. According to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department, Harvard violated Title VI through “deliberate indifference” to anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment on campus after the Hamas-led terrorist attack of Oct. 7, 2023, on Israel.

HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Director Paula Stannard said in the press release that “OCR’s referral of Harvard for formal administrative proceedings reflects OCR’s commitment to safeguard both taxpayer investments and the broader public interest.”

“Congress has empowered Federal agencies to pursue Title VI compliance through formal enforcement mechanisms, including the termination of funding or denial of future Federal financial assistance, when voluntary compliance cannot be achieved,” she continued.

The university is expected to undergo a proceeding where an administrative law judge within HHS determines whether Harvard in fact violated Title VI. It’s also being referred for proceedings under a program that could result in suspension or debarment–both of which entail government-wide blocks on participation in federal procurement for periods of time.

HHS’s announcement comes alongside multiple actions that the Trump administration has taken against Harvard and other universities over alleged civil rights violations, including a separate HHS investigation into suspected race-based discrimination in the Harvard Law Review.

Harvard did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment before publishing time.

Harvard sued the Trump administration earlier this year after the administration announced it would freeze billions of dollars in funding for the university. After months of litigation, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that the administration was violating the First Amendment.

“The government-initiated onslaught against Harvard was much more about promoting a governmental orthodoxy in violation of the First Amendment than about anything else, including fighting antisemitism,” U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said.

The administration made several demands that Burroughs said included changes to activities protected by the First Amendment. These protected rights include a school’s ability to manage its academic community and evaluate teaching without government interference.

Burroughs also said that the university was taking steps to combat anti-Semitism. “Harvard is currently, even if belatedly, taking steps it needs to take to combat antisemitism and seems willing to do even more if need be,” she said.

Harvard President Alan Garber similarly said that the university has implemented a series of campus measures designed to fight anti-Semitism.

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Trump Admin Probes California State University System Over Anti-Semitism, Racial Bias Claims

The Trump administration has launched an investigation into all 22 campuses of the California State University (CSU) system over allegations of anti-Semitism and racial discrimination.

Chancellor Mildred Garcia said in a Sept. 26 letter to the Cal State community that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has launched “a systemwide antisemitism complaint” against Cal State. Garcia said investigators have already begun contacting faculty and staff to review allegations and speak with them about their experiences on campus.

Garcia also revealed that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has initiated a separate inquiry into Cal State. That probe centers on allegations of racial discrimination “due to interactions with the PhD Project,” a nonprofit organization created to diversify business education and the corporate workforce.

Garcia said that news of the investigations “may be unsettling” for faculty and staff, and she denied any misconduct and emphasized that Cal State intends to cooperate fully with the probes.

“The CSU does not discriminate against or give preference to any individual or group based on race, ethnicity, nationality, shared ancestry, religion or any other protected status,” Garcia wrote.

She added that the system is “firmly committed” to ensuring that admissions and hiring are based solely on merit.

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Syracuse students accused of hate crime after pork was thrown into Jewish frat house

Two Syracuse University students have been charged with burglary as a hate crime after one of them was alleged to have thrown a bag of pork into a Jewish fraternity house as people gathered to observe Rosh Hashanah, police said Wednesday.

The two 18-year-olds were also charged with one count each of criminal nuisance in the incident at the Zeta Beta Tau house about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, police in Syracuse, New York, said.

Allen Groves, the university’s chief student experience officer, called it a “deeply troubling incident” in a message to the campus community Tuesday night.

“Tonight’s incident as reported to us is abhorrent, shocking to the conscience and violates our core value of being a place that is truly welcoming to all,” he said. “It will not be tolerated at Syracuse University.”

One of the accused students entered the frat house and threw the bag of pork inside while the second drove the vehicle that they then used to flee, Groves said. Police arrested both soon afterward, he said.

Police said the two students were detained and charged after consultation with the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office.

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‘Largest NEH Grant in History’ Awarded to Jewish Org to Counter ‘Pathology of Antisemitism,’ Teach Talmud

The Trump administration, through the National Endowment for the Humanities, is giving the largest grant in the agency’s history — over $10 million — to the Jewish-American neoconservative Tikvah Fund to counter “the pathology of anti-Semitism” and teach the Talmud.

The Tikvah Fund is an Israel First group dedicated to advancing “Jewish excellence” that is run by CEO Eric Cohen and famed neoconservative Elliott Abrams.

The group made headlines last month for contributing “nearly 400,000 shekels (around $110,000)” to translate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s book into Hebrew and not reporting it as a political donation, Haaretz reported last month.

“Even though the memoir was used in the Likud campaign and some of the revenues presumably went to Netanyahu as the author, the 400,000 shekels was not reported as a political donation,” Haaretz noted.

From Haaretz, “U.S. Nonprofit Gave Over $100,000 to Publish Netanyahu’s Autobiography. It Wasn’t Reported as a Donation”:

The Tikvah Fund was founded in the 1990s. The roughly $15 million to $20 million it spends on annual operations are partly funded by donations and from returns on assets bequeathed by American Jewish businessman Zalman Bernstein.

The Tikvah Fund is among the funders of the Kohelet Policy Forum, a conservative Israeli think tank that provided the blueprint for the effort to weaken the judiciary, as declared by Justice Minister Yariv Levin on January 4, 2023.

Kohelet founder Moshe Koppel sits on Tikvah’s board. The fund has bankrolled conservative projects for years, some of them involving close associates of Netanyahu. These include the Mida website, founded by Netanyahu confidant Ran Baratz, and the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, which is chaired by the former head of the National Security Council, Meir Ben-Shabbat. [Emphasis added]

Haaretz noted that Tikvah also hosts an annual conference in Tel Aviv.

“In its 60-year history, NEH had rarely given more than a few hundred thousand dollars to any single project,” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports. “On Monday, the NEH announced an even larger, $10.4 million grant for a nationwide ‘Jewish Civilization Project’ aimed at combating antisemitism.”

“Among the prominent alumni of Tikvah’s programs is Jacob Reses, chief of staff to Vice President J.D. Vance,” JTA added.

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Amidst Horrors in Gaza Some Prefer To Focus on Antisemitism

Canadian officials and commentators continue to justify the unspeakable horrors inflicted on people who have endured 22 months of a live-streamed holocaust in Gaza. After Israel assassinated six Palestinian journalists last week, CBC commentator and former Stephen Harper communications director Dimitri Soudas openly applauded the “elimination” of what he claimed was a “member of a terrorist organization.” There was no mention that 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed simply for practicing journalism in a place where Israel has banned outside reporters.

Alongside a political culture awash in genocidal statements, Canadian officials continue to provide unique, often illegal, support for Israel’s crimes. Canada arms Israel, charities raise up to a half a billion dollars a year on its behalf and groups induce Canadians to join the Israeli military in contravention of Canadian law. In addition, Canada effectively bans most Palestinian political parties and has helped build a Palestinian security force to oversee the occupation of the West Bank.

Canadian taxpayers also fund a special envoy who promotes Israel’s genocide. Deborah Lyons, who recently stepped down as Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, previously led Canadian diplomacy in Israel. During that time, she organized a pizza party for Canadians serving in Israel’s occupation forces. Lyons was echoing the stance of Canada’s foreign minister: when Chrystia Freeland visited Israel in November 2018, she declared that if Canada won a seat on the United Nations Security Council, it would serve as an “asset for Israel” on the council.

These are only two examples of Canada’s unique support for Israel. I can state this with confidence, having published 11 books on Canadian foreign policy – including Canada in Africa: 300 Years of Aid and Exploitation, Canada in Haiti: Waging War on the Poor Majority, and Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy, among others.

In Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid and numerous articles, I have detailed the many forces driving support for Zionism. Over the past century, Canada’s ties to the US and British empires, its interest in geopolitical control of the region, Protestant Zionism, anti-Muslim sentiment, and settler-colonial solidarity have all shaped Canadian policy to varying degrees.

On top of this, there is a well-organized, wealthy and highly motivated Jewish Canadian Israel lobby, which has been increasingly powerful in recent decades. No other internationally focused Canadian ethnic/religious lobby is nearly as well-resourced or organized. And CIJA, B’nai Brith and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, etc. wield a uniquely powerful tool to silence critics: accusations of antisemitism.

I have likely written more about Canada’s assistance to Israel than any other Canadian over the past 15 years. Yet, as a sign of the lobby’s reach, even some leftists resort to vicious smears of antisemitism against me – rather than focusing on the suffering of Palestinians – even as the Jewish supremacist state commits the most horrendous crimes imaginable.

Recently, Ben Merenlensky, Sarah Buehler, Jordy Cummings, Judy Rebick, Cormac McCann and others have joined these efforts, labeling me – explicitly or implicitly – as an antisemite and suggesting I should be disqualified from participating in the NDP leadership race.

I stand firm in my belief that institutions financing, cheering on, or otherwise promoting a live-streamed genocide must be “weakened”. Ditto with my response to an absurd claim there’s no ethnic/religious contribution to anti-Palestinian media bias in Canada. These realities must be named. This is not about attacking any faith or ethnicity – it is about holding accountable the institutions and individuals, of any background, that promote apartheid and genocide. We must be able to identify and call out all forces that contribute to, or provide cover for, Canada’s support of genocide.

I reassert my belief that it is racist to invoke the word “antisemitism” more often than the phrase “Jewish supremacy” during a two year genocide – one carried out to advance apartheid and enforce the supremacy of Jewish people over non-Jews in Palestine.

Because of this, some self-described “supporters of Palestine” have labeled me an “antisemite.”

I reject the notion that such criticism is antisemitic.

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US gov’t ditches Musk’s AI over ‘anti-Semitism’ – media

The US government has dropped Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok from a planned federal technology program following controversy over anti-Semitic content and conspiracy theories produced by the bot, Wired reported on Thursday.

Grok, developed by Musk’s AI startup xAI, is built into his social media platform X. It offers fact checks, quick context on trending topics, and replies to user arguments. Musk has promoted xAI as a rival to OpenAI and Google’s DeepMind, but the chatbot has faced criticism over offensive and inflammatory outputs.

According to the report, xAI was in advanced talks with the General Services Administration (GSA), the agency in charge of US government tech procurement, to give federal workers access to its AI tools. Grok had already been added to the GSA’s long-term procurement list, enabling agencies to buy it.

Earlier this month, the GSA announced partnerships with other AI providers – Anthropic, Google’s Gemini, and Box’s AI-powered content platform – while reportedly also telling staff to remove xAI’s Grok from the offering. Two GSA employees told Wired they believe the chatbot was dropped over its anti-Semitic tirade last month, when it praised Adolf Hitler and called itself “MechaHitler.” The posts were deleted, and xAI apologized for the “horrific behavior,” pledging to block hate speech before Grok goes live.

The bot also pushed the “white genocide” conspiracy theory and echoed Holocaust denial rhetoric, which xAI blamed on unauthorized prompt changes.

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New hate crime charges filed in killing of Israeli Embassy staffers, raising death penalty potential

D.C. federal prosecutors have filed federal hate crime and murder charges against the man accused of gunning down two Israeli Embassy staffers this spring, giving the Justice Department the option to pursue the death penalty in the case.

The newly unsealed indictment lays out the alleged digital footprint of Elias Rodriguez’s antisemitic views that prosecutors say fueled the deadly shooting of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah MilgrIm, a young couple who were days away from being engaged in Jerusalem.

The court documents include a “notice of special findings” that includes the potential for Mr. Rodriguez, 31, to receive the death penalty. 

Surveillance video showed Rodriguez advancing closer to Lischinsky and Milgrim as they fell to the ground, leaning over them and firing additional shots. He appeared to reload before jogging off, officials have said.

The defendant is accused of flying from Chicago to the District with his legally owned pistol to carry out the May 21 attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum. 

The new indictment says Mr. Rodriguez shouted “Free Palestine” when he shot the couple dead as they left the venue, according to court documents. 

Surveillance video allegedly captured Mr. Rodriguez standing over the victims and firing more shots into the couple after he initially downed them.

The filing said he then went inside the museum and claimed he killed the pair “for Gaza” and “for Palestine” while brandishing a red keffiyeh, a traditional Arabic scarf often associated with anti-Israel activists.

Mr. Rodriguez continued to shout “Free Palestine” during his arrest, the indictment said, and made statements about “intifada” and “revolution” as well. He also yelled  “shame on you” at event attendees inside the museum and “shame on Zio-nazi terror.”  

Old social media posts cited in court documents include a 2024 post that said “Happy New Year, Death To Israel.”

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NJ lawmakers advance bill defining antisemitism after hours of testimony

An Assembly panel advanced a controversial bill that would create a state definition of antisemitism Thursday after more than seven hours of impassioned testimony from hundreds of supporters and critics alike.

Supporters cited rising rates of antisemitic hate crimes as a reason why lawmakers must pass the bill, which has more than 50 cosponsors.

Opponents said the bill, which would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, would violate free speech rights by criminalizing criticism of Israel. Several cited crackdowns on campus protests and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who the Trump administration detained and aims to deport after declaring his anti-Israel activism antisemitic.

The disagreement ran so deep that tensions exploded even hours before the Assembly state and local government committee’s hearing on the measure started. Pro-Palestinian advocates held a morning rally outside the Statehouse to condemn the bill, and several pro-Israel activists tried to disrupt it, prompting state troopers to scramble to defuse the resulting shoving match between both sides.

Things didn’t go much more smoothly inside.

Troopers had to open four overflow rooms to accommodate the crowds who showed up to testify, and testimony grew so heated that Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak (D-Middlesex), the committee’s chair, repeatedly pounded his gavel to restore order and threatened to have troopers remove disruptive spectators.

Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), the bill’s chief sponsor, kicked off the testimony just after noon. Four other Assembly members from both parties beside him also testified in support of the bill.

Schaer denied that the bill would infringe upon the First Amendment, saying its goal is simple — to combat rising antisemitism.

“A statutory definition of antisemitism gives law enforcement a clear lens to determine the motivation and/or intent behind a criminal act or bias incident that may have been motivated by antisemitism,” he said. “It may also be incorporated into policy development and anti-bias training. However, the legislation does not create new criminal penalties or criminalize protected speech. Instead, it ensures that when an individual paints a swastika on a synagogue, shouts slurs at a Jewish student, or otherwise targets someone based on their Jewish identity, we have a consistent, recognized standard by which to evaluate.”

Dozens of Jewish groups, mayors, and others echoed that support.

“The Jewish community must stand up to the bullies who see this bill as a threat to their ability to harass and intimidate us,” said Jason Shames, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.

But DaWuan Norwood, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition conflates protected political speech with unprotected discrimination.

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Criticizing Netanyahu Isn’t Anti-Semitism—It’s a Moral Obligation

In the months since October 7, when Hamas carried out a brutal and inexcusable attack on Israeli civilians, the world has watched in growing horror as the Israeli government—led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—has unleashed a campaign of destruction across the Gaza Strip that has few modern parallels. Entire families wiped out. Schools and hospitals reduced to rubble. Aid convoys bombed. Journalists silenced. Over 65,000 Palestinians killed, the vast majority of them women and children, according to the United Nations and humanitarian groups.

And yet, as calls for accountability and restraint rise, Netanyahu’s response has been consistent and cynical: any criticism of Israel is labeled “anti-Semitism.”

This is not only intellectually dishonest—it’s dangerous. It cheapens the real, rising threat of anti-Semitism globally by weaponizing it as a political shield for a government engaging in what many experts now consider war crimes.

Let me be clear: Anti-Semitism is real. It is a hatred that has haunted Jewish communities for centuries and led to unimaginable atrocities, including the Holocaust. But the demand for human rights and dignity for Palestinians is not born from that hatred—it is born from the very lessons that the Holocaust taught the world.

What Netanyahu’s government is doing in Gaza—dehumanizing a civilian population, forcing displacement, destroying infrastructure, and killing indiscriminately—is not a defense of the Jewish people. It is a betrayal of Jewish values, international law, and basic human decency.

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Musk says AI chatbot Grok’s antisemitic messages are being addressed

Grok, the artificial-intelligence chatbot produced by Elon Musk-owned xAI, this week began posting antisemitic messages in response to user queries, drawing condemnation from Jewish advocacy groups and raising concern about the AI tool.

The antisemitic posts — some of which have been deleted — are being addressed, Musk said on Wednesday.

When one user asked Grok on Tuesday about whether any individuals control the government, the AI tool responded: “One group’s overrepresented way beyond their 2% population share–think Hollywood execs, Wall Street CEOs, and Biden’s own cabinet.”

Jews make up roughly 2% of the U.S. population, according to a 2020 survey from the Pew Research Center.

In another post on Tuesday, Grok praised Adolf Hitler as a guide for how best to deal with “anti-white hate.”

ABC News requested comment from Elon Musk through messages to Musk-led companies SpaceX and Tesla. Musk did not immediately respond. ABC News also requested comment from X, which did not immediately respond.

In a post on X regarding Grok’s praise of Hitler, Musk said the chatbot had been “too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed.”

On Tuesday night, the Grok account posted on X: “We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.”

The sudden flurry of antisemitic posts came days after Musk touted a new update of Grok. The company, Musk said on July 4, had “improved @Grok significantly.”

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