Latest news with #JonathanGreenblatt
Wall Street Journal
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
The Teachers Union Could Use a Visit From 16 Rabbis
Extrapolating from the concerns that Jonathan Greenblatt rightly raises in his op-ed, 'Antisemitism and the Teachers Union' (July 17), America's tax dollars are going to teaching anti-Zionist beliefs in K-12 schools. When Mr. Greenblatt replaced Abraham Foxman as head of the Anti-Defamation League, many of the more conservative Jews were concerned that the ADL was being pulled too far to the left. Thankfully, Mr. Greenblatt seems to have recognized that much antisemitism these days comes from the left and has adjusted his viewpoint accordingly.
Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed' Newsletter: DNC boss says Mamdani's hateful phrase welcome in 'big tent'
Fox News' "Antisemitism Exposed" newsletter brings you stories on the rising anti-Jewish prejudice across the U.S. and the world. IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER: - Democrats' 'big tent' just fine with Mamdani's 'globalize the intifada' mantra- Stanford scientist says antisemites drove him out of lab after Oct. 7- Ivy League prof leaves school over unwillingness to deal with anti-Israel hate TOP STORY: 'Globalize the Intifada' is just one opinion in the big tent that is the Democratic Party, according to DNC Chairman Ken Martin. He dismissed concerns over New York Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's unwillingness to explicitly condemn the slogan, adding in an interview with PBS that the key to developing a winning coalition is through welcoming people with whom you disagree. Mamdani has garnered backlash for refusing to condemn the phrase, which has become a rallying cry for anti-Israel protesters. VIDEO: Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt argues the National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the U.S., has been 'overtaken' by activists. WATCH HERE: HATRED IN THE LAB: An Israeli scientist claims his work at Stanford was sabotaged, he was falsely accused of sexual harassment and ultimately fired, all because he is Jewish. Shay Laps joined Stanford University months after the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, with the hope of furthering his award-winning research into peptides and proteins under the mentorship of more experienced scientific minds, according to his federal lawsuit against the school. DROPPING OUT: An Israeli professor has left Columbia University, fed up with the Ivy League school's unwillingness to deal with anti-Israel protests on campus. Shai Davidai said he doesn't trust the school's leadership, including Acting President Claire Shipman, to make the school safe for Jewish students and faculty. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK: Jewish leaders and advocates predict a mass exodus from New York if 33-year-old socialist Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor. The winner of the Democratic primary has participated in anti-Israel protests and refused to condemn the phrase "Globalize the intifada" or recognize Israel as a Jewish state. GUEST EDITORIAL: Anat Alon-Beck , Mark Goldfeder , Erielle Davidson explain how Ireland's proposed boycott of Israeli businesses could create a dangerous legal trap for American investors. Under U.S. law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in or support foreign-government-backed boycotts of Israel, and many states have laws against even indirect support of the BDS movement. If Ireland were seeking to chase American capital out of the country, it could not have devised a better way to do so, they write. QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "If Zohran Mamdani is elected, expect a Jewish exodus out of New York City." - Yuval David, an actor, filmmaker and Jewish activist. - Looking for more on this topic? Find more antisemitism coverage from Fox News here. - Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe to additional newsletters from Fox News here. - Want live updates? Get the Fox News app here
Axios
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Hundreds of Jewish groups urge NEA to reject ADL ban
Nearly 400 Jewish organizations are urging the nation's largest teachers' union to reject a member-approved proposal that would sever ties with the civil rights group Anti-Defamation League (ADL) over the war in Gaza. Why it matters: The proposal calls for the National Education Association (NEA) to no longer use ADL material on antisemitism and Holocaust education nor promote other ADL statistics or programs. The big picture: An NEA executive committee still must approve the member-backed measure, but a diverse array of Jewish groups told the NEA in a letter Monday that the panel should reject that proposal. The groups want the NEA to issue a strong statement against antisemitism, which the organizations say is behind the proposal. Catch up quick: NEA members voted last week to cut ties with the ADL at the 2025 Representative Assembly this week in Portland, Oregon. "NEA will not use, endorse, or publicize any materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), such as its curricular materials or its statistics," according to the proposal text. "NEA will not participate in ADL programs or publicize ADL professional development offerings." The latest: In a letter signed by 378 Jewish organizations, the groups said the NEA measure would effectively boycott "ADL's widely respected anti-bias and Holocaust education curricula." That includes programs used in thousands of schools nationwide, the organizations said. "Calling for a National Education Association boycott of the (ADL) is an egregious example of the rising antisemitism in schools and society throughout North America," said Eric Fingerhut, Jewish Federations of North America President and CEO, said in a statement. An NEA spokesperson did not immediately respond to Axios for comment on Monday evening. Zoom in: Because it was determined to be a "sanction item," the NEA proposal is an automatic referral to the NEA Executive Committee, an NEA spokesperson previously told Axios. "Therefore, the official action on (proposal) is adopted and referred to committee," a spokesperson said. Context: The ADL has provided public schools with materials about the Holocaust, anti-hate training and antisemitism for four decades. It also provides an annual report on antisemitism in the U.S., which can also be shared in schools. Caveat: If the NEA Executive Committee adopts the ADL ban, schools can still use ADL material. Yes, but: It sets up potential future showdowns with local NEA unions and school districts if the war in Gaza continues. What they're saying: "Excluding ADL's gold-standard educational resources is not just an attack on our organization – it's a dangerous attack on the entire Jewish community," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement.
Fox News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Nation's largest teachers union votes to sever ties with Anti-Defamation League over Israel support
America's largest teachers union has severed ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) over its decades-long ties to Israel, prompting the civil rights group's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to fire back at the union he says has been "overtaken" by activists. "These individuals are there to teach our children in the classroom the basics of reading and writing and arithmetic, not radicalism, but that's exactly what's happened," Greenblatt said of the National Education Association (NEA) on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday. The organization, whose leadership holds a history of supporting left-wing causes, voted to suspend its ties to the ADL over the war in Gaza, according to reporting from Axios. The union will no longer use ADL-provided material regarding the Holocaust or antisemitism and will forego using or promoting any other ADL-affiliated material or programs. "Allowing the ADL to determine what constitutes antisemitism would be like allowing the fossil fuel industry to determine what constitutes climate change," NEA delegate Stephen Siegel said from the assembly floor. The decision earned support from CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), who applauded the decision for sparing students from "biased materials" rife with "anti-Palestinian rhetoric." "We've seen an explosion of antisemitism in this country… Anti-Jewish acts of harassment, vandalism and violence have skyrocketed," Greenblatt told "Fox & Friends" guest host Charlie Hurt. "Last year was the worst year we've ever tracked at ADL and yet, somehow, these teachers think the answer is to isolate Jewish students, to intimidate other Jewish educators and to target the oldest organization in the country fighting antisemitism. It's bewildering, but it's bigotry." He suspected that the "real motivation" behind the move is "insidious" anti-Israel activists working to "capture the culture" by indoctrinating children. "Could you imagine telling the NAACP they're not credible on racism, or the National Constitution Center, they can't teach the Constitution? ADL's materials are the gold standard. They're peer-reviewed. We've been doing it for decades, and we're teaching about the Holocaust."
The Hindu
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Social media rollbacks have caused ‘explosion of hate,' says antisemitism watchdog
U.S. social media giants have rolled back content moderation in recent months, leading to an "explosion of hate" online, according to the head of a leading New York-based antisemitism watchdog. Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, says antisemitism has surged since the start of the Gaza war, after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. In the United States in particular, universities have become the setting of vocal protests against Israel's military onslaught in Gaza, as well as sometimes tense counter-demonstrations. "Social media companies and big tech more broadly has a critical role to play" in fighting hate speech, Greenblatt told AFP in a recent interview. Yet "the big companies, the most profitable businesses in the world, the most innovative companies in the history of business, have decided to outsource moderation to their users." In the United States, tech leaders broadly fell in line around U.S. President Donald Trump after he won re-election last year. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg in January ended Facebook's U.S. fact-checking programme, of which AFP was a part, after it faced criticism from conservatives. He also rolled back content moderation on Facebook and Instagram, saying users would however be able to add context to posts. The move followed Elon Musk, until recently a Trump ally, repealing content moderation on X, formerly Twitter, in the name of "free speech" after acquiring the company in 2022. "From Amazon to X, from Alphabet to Meta, all these businesses need to be far more proactive because, as they have retreated from moderating the services; as flawed as it was, things are now far worse," Greenblatt said. "We've seen an explosion of hate on these services since they've pulled back," he added. Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Out of 251 hostages seized during the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 57,523 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures to be reliable. "Antisemitism can certainly be exacerbated by events in the Middle East," Greenblatt said. A string of incidents has targeted Jews in the United States in recent months. Two Israeli embassy workers were murdered in Washington. A firebombing attack at a protest in Colorado supporting Israeli hostages in Gaza killed an 82-year-old woman. And tensions persist on university campuses. Universities have "become breeding grounds for antisemitism", Greenblatt said. "We've seen a massive rise in harassment and vandalism and violence on university campuses," Greenblatt said. The ADL recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the United States in 2024. It said that a little over half of 5,000 anti-Israel rallies it tracked that year involved antisemitic messaging in the form of signs, chants or speeches. But many pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who include a number of Jewish students, have disavowed antisemitism and criticised officials equating it with opposition to Israel. Since taking office in January, Trump has targeted elite US universities, including Harvard and Columbia, which he and his allies accuse of being hotbeds of liberal, anti-conservative bias and antisemitism. He has sought to control college curriculums and staffing as well as slash funding, while deporting foreign student activists associated with the pro-Palestinian movement. Greenblatt said the ADL was "grateful when Trump came into office saying he was going to tackle" antisemitism, then "released an executive order shortly after his inauguration" to help fight the issue. But, Greenblatt said, "we are concerned about the possibility of overreach." "Whereas we think real work needs to happen to help Harvard and Columbia correct the issues they were unwilling to address themselves, we don't want the cure to be worse than the disease," Greenblatt said, without elaborating.
