President Speaks at White House Hanukkah Reception

On Monday, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted a Hanukkah Holiday Reception at the White House. The White House released a transcript of remarks at the reception by the Bidens and by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker who last January was held as a hostage by a gunman in his Temple in Colleyville, Texas. President Biden said in part:

Tonight, we’re honored to mark another new tradition we’re establishing tonight. And that is the lighting of what will be the first-ever permanent White House menorah. (Applause.) It will also be the first Jewish artifact in the entire White House collection. (Applause.)...

This year’s Hanukkah ... arrives in the midst of rising emboldenment of antisemitism at home and, quite frankly, around the world.

I recognize your fear, your hurt, your worry that this vile and venom is becoming too normal.

As your President, I want to make this clear — as my dad would say, and many of you have said: Silence is complicity. We must not remain silent. (Applause.)

And I made no bones about it from the very beginning: I will not be silent. America will not be silent. (Applause.) I mean it....

Like this White House menorah, our commitment to the safety of the Jewish people and to the vibrancy of Jewish life that’s tightly woven into every fabric of America, it’s permanent. Permanent.

The menorah was made from historic wood beams rescued during a White House renovation by President Truman.

White House Creates Inter-Agency Group to Counter Anitsemitism

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre yesterday announced the formation of an inter-agency anti-bias task force whose first priority is developing a national strategy to combat antisemitism.  Her Statement (full text) said in part:

The President is establishing an inter-agency group led by Domestic Policy Council staff and National Security Council staff to increase and better coordinate U.S. Government efforts to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of bias and discrimination within the United States. The President has tasked the inter-agency group, as its first order of business, to develop a national strategy to counter antisemitism. This strategy will raise understanding about antisemitism and the threat it poses to the Jewish community and all Americans, address antisemitic harassment and abuse both online and offline, seek to prevent antisemitic attacks and incidents, and encourage whole-of-society efforts to counter antisemitism and build a more inclusive nation.

The Hill reports on this development.

Jewish School Lacks Standing In Suit Claiming Religious Discrimination

In Ateres Bais Yaakov Academy of Rockland v. Town of Clarkston, (SD NY, July 12, 2022), a New York federal district court dismissed for lack of standing a suit under RLUIPA and federal civil rights laws brought by an Orthodox Jewish school ("ABY") against a New York town and a citizens group.  The suit alleged that the defendants, motivated by discrimination against Orthodox Jews, prevented the school from closing the purchase of a building owned by Grace Baptist Church. The court said in part:

... ABY fails to sufficiently establish that its claims based on the denial of the building permit application are ripe such that it suffered an “actual, concrete injury” because the ZBA never issued a final decision on ABY’s appeal and variance application. In other words, the ZBA’s nonfinal decision here does not “give rise to an injury that is sufficiently concrete and particularized to satisfy Article III.”...

... ABY fails to sufficiently allege how the Town Defendants’ conduct “constrained or influenced” GBC’s decision to stop agreeing to amend the contract and to terminate it on May 16, 2019.... Accordingly, the Court concludes that ABY has failed to sufficiently establish standing for its second alleged injury in fact with respect to the Town Defendants’ conduct. Consequently, the Court dismisses all of ABY’s claims against the Town Defendants and its § 1985 conspiracy claim against all Defendants....

10th Circuit: School Cannot Expel Student For Antisemitic Snapchat Post

In Cl.G. v. Siegfried, (10th Cir., July 6, 2022), the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's dismissal of a high school student's claim that his 1st Amendment rights were violated when he was expelled for an antisemitic Snapchat post. His captioned a picture of his friends in wigs and hats to read "Me and the boys bout [sic] to exterminate the Jews." He removed the post after two hours and posted an apology, saying it was meant to be a joke.  Relying in large part on the U.S. Supreme Court's 2021 decision in Mahanoy Area Sch. Dist. v. B.L., the court said in part:

Because CCHS cannot stand in loco parentis and the Complaint alleges no reasonable forecast of substantial disruption or actual disruption, Plaintiff has properly alleged that Defendants’ discipline of C.G. for his off-campus speech is a First Amendment violation that cannot be dismissed at this stage.

Reuters reports on the decision.

German Federal Court Refuses To Order Removal Of Medieval Antisemitic Sculpture

As reported by AP, Germany's Federal Court of Justice yesterday refused to order a Wittenberg church where Martin Luther once preached to remove a 730-year old antisemitic sandstone relief carved on the outside of the church. The sculpture is known as the "Judensau" or "Jew pig".  A display explaining the history of antisemitism in Germany was added in 1988. While the full opinion is not yet online, the Court issued a press release summarizing the Court's decision. The press release describes the sculpture:

It shows a sow whose teats are being suckled by two people who are identified as Jews by their pointy hats. A person, who can also be identified as a Jew by his hat, lifts the sow's tail and looks into her anus. In 1570, the inscription "Rabini Shem Ha Mphoras" was placed over the sow, based on two anti-Judaist writings published by Martin Luther in 1543.

The press release also summarizes the Court's holding that while the sculpture was originally "massively defamatory," a bronze base and and a nearby display added in 1988 remedied the situation:

From the authoritative point of view of an unbiased and reasonable observer, it has ... converted [the sculpture] into a memorial for the purpose of commemoration and remembrance of the centuries-long discrimination and persecution of Jews up to the Shoah and distanced itself from the defamatory and anti-Jewish statement - as expressed in the relief when viewed in isolation.

Suit Challenges California Group's Ethnic Studies Curriculum As Antisemitic

Last month, suit was filed in a California federal district court seeking to enjoin the Los Angeles public schools from using an ethnic studies curriculum which plaintiffs contend is antisemitic. The complaint (full text) in Concerned Jewish Parents and Teachers of Los Angeles v. Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium, (WD CA, filed 5/12/2022), alleges that defendants oppose the broad Ethnic Studies Curriculum approved by the state of California, and instead are attempting to convince schools to teach a curriculum that focuses only on Black Americans, Chicano/Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian American/Pacific Islanders. The complaint alleges in part:

This case is brought to compel public disclosure of, and to enjoin, Defendants’ efforts to insert into the Los Angeles public school curriculum, overtly racist as well as antisemitic teaching material which, as its authors intend, discriminates against a segment of California residents on the basis of their religious beliefs and their national origin—namely American and Middle Eastern-Americans Jews who embrace their religion’s foundational belief in Zionism....

The 55-page complaint alleges that use of the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum violates plaintiffs' rights under the 1st and 14th Amendments, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the California Education Code. Among other relief, it seeks an injunction barring the Los Angeles Unified School district from:

including any language, in any teaching materials, asserting that Zionism is not a Jewish belief; denouncing the Jewish belief in the land of Israel as the land promised by God to the Jewish people, or the Jewish belief in Zionism, or asserting that the State of Israel, as the Nation-State of the Jewish people, is illegitimate, or asserting as a fact that the Jewish State is guilty of committing such horrific crimes against others as ethnic cleansing, land theft, apartheid or genocide, or that the Jewish people are not indigenous to the land of Israel or to the Middle East, or denying the State of Israel the right to self-defense; and/or denying the historical or religious connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel....

The Deborah Project's website has more on the lawsuit.

House Overwhelmingly Passes Resolution Condemning Antisemitism

On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 420-1 passed House Resolution 1125 (full text) condemning rising antisemitism. Among the various actions called for by the Resolution, it:

(1) calls on elected officials, faith leaders, and civil society leaders to use their bully pulpit to condemn and combat any and all manifestations of antisemitism;

(2) calls on elected officials to condemn and combat any and all denials and distortions of the Holocaust and to promote Holocaust and antisemitism education;...

(5) calls on social media platforms to institute stronger and more significant efforts to measure and address online antisemitism while protecting free speech concerns;

The only Representative voting against the Resolution was Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Seven Representatives were listed as "not voting." JNS reports on the Resolution.

Reports On 2021 Antisemitic Incidents Released

 The ADL yesterday released its annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2021 (full text). According to the report's Executive Summary:

In 2021, ADL tabulated 2,717 antisemitic incidents throughout the United States. This is a 34% increase from the 2,026 incidents tabulated in 2020 and the highest number on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979.

Of the 2,717 incidents recorded in 2021, 1,776 were cases of harassment, a 43% increase from 1,242 in 2020, and 853 incidents were cases of vandalism, a 14% increase from 751 in 2020. The 88 incidents of antisemitic assault (a 167% increase from 33 in 2020), involved 131 victims; none of the assaults were deadly.

Meanwhile, last week B'nai B'rith Canada released its 2021 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in Canada (full text). According to the report:

The 2021 numbers show an increase in antisemitic incidents, with an overall jump of 7.2% in comparison to 2020.

There were some changes in patterns. Covid quarantine restrictions including lockdowns appear to have caused the number of cases of in-person harassment to decline significantly. These cases dropped from 620 in 2020 to 367 in 2021 or a 40.8% decline. However, that lack of direct contact may have been a factor in the jump in cases of online hate.

In fact, online hate has become the preferred method of targeting Jews. B’nai Brith logged 2,093 incidents of online hate, or an increase of 12.3% over the 2020 figures of 1,863 cases....

According to the report, there were 75 incidents of antisemitic violence in 2021, compared to only 9 in 2020. Jewish News Syndicate reports on the Canadian audit. 

Waiver In Plea Agreement Precludes Appeal Of Ban On Possessing Antisemitic Material

In United States v. Holzer, (10th Cir., April 25, 2022), the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the appellate waiver provision in defendant's plea agreement precludes him from appealing Special Condition Nine of his supervised release which he contends infringes his freedom of religion, thought and expression. The court explains:

Defendant Richard Holzer was arrested and criminally charged after federal undercover agents determined that Holzer had taken substantial steps towards bombing a synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado. Holzer subsequently pleaded guilty, pursuant to a written plea agreement, to one count of intentionally attempting to obstruct persons in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs through force, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 247(a)(2) and (d)(3), and one count of maliciously attempting to damage and destroy, by means of fire and explosives, a synagogue, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(i). The district court sentenced Holzer to a term of imprisonment of 235 months, to be followed by a fifteen-year term of supervised release. The district court also ordered Holzer to comply with eleven special conditions of supervised release, including Special Condition Nine, that prohibits him from acquiring, possessing, or using any material depicting support for or association with antisemitism or white supremacy.

Lipstadt Finally Confirmed As Special Envoy To Combat Antisemitism

Late yesterday, The U.S. Senate by voice vote confirmed Prof. Deborah Lipstadt to be Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, with the rank of Ambassador. The Forward reports on the Senate's action. Confirmation has been held up for months, largely because of concerns by Foreign Relations Committee member Ron Johnson about tweets from Lipstadt last March critical of him. (See prior posting.)

Iowa Adopts IHRA Definition Of Antisemitism

On March 23, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed HF 2220 (full text) which provides that in the enforcement of state anti-discrimination laws, in determining whether an act was undertaken with antisemitic intent, the state shall take into consideration the definition of antisemitism adopted in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Governor Reynolds also signed HF2373 (full text) which expanded the definition of "company" in the state's Israel Anti-boycott law.

KCRG News reported on the governor's actions.

Lipstadt Finally Gets Hearing On Her Nomination As Anti-Semitism Monitor

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Emory Prof. Deborah Lipstadt to be Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, with the rank of Ambassador.  (Video of full hearing.) (Transcript of Prof. Lipstadt's prepared statement.) Lipstadt is a widely-known scholar of the Holocaust. A hearing on Lipstadt's nomination has been delayed for months by Republicans, particularly Foreign Relations Committee member Sen. Ron Johnson, because of a Tweet last March by Lipstadt characterizing a statement by Johnson as white supremacy.  Politico reports on this aspect of the Lipstadt hearing. Washington Post reports more generally on the hearing.

Part Of Texas Anti-BDS Law Held Unconstitutional

In A & R Engineering and Testing, Inc. v. City of Houston, (SD TX, Jan. 28, 2022), a Texas federal district court held unconstitutional a portion of the Texas statute requiring companies entering contracts with governmental entities to certify that they do not, and will not during the term of the contract, boycott Israel. The court said in part:

[Plaintiff] denies any anti-Jewish motivation and testified that his desire to boycott has nothing to do with Jewish people (American or Israeli) but is focused on the acts of the Israeli government.... Nevertheless, the legislation at issue did not originate in an historical vacuum.... [A]nyone with a basic knowledge of modern history knows that one of the first anti-Jewish acts taken by the Nazis after they took power in Germany was the boycott of Jewish businesses in 1933.

The court found a portion of the law unobjectionable:

[T]he court agrees that the mere refusal to engage in a commercial/ economic relationship with Israel or entities doing business in Israel is not "inherently expressive" and therefore does not find shelter under the protections of the First Amendment.

However the court went on to find a First Amendment problem with the provision in the statute that requires businesses also to refrain from "otherwise taking any action that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations" with Israel or Israeli entities.  The court said in part:

[A]ctions intended to penalize or inflict economic harm on Israel could include conduct protected by the First Amendment, such as giving speeches, nonviolent picketing outside Israeli businesses, posting flyers, encouraging others to refuse to deal with Israel or Israeli entities, or sponsoring a protest which encourages local businesses to terminate business activities with Israel.

The court issued a preliminary injunction limited to this plaintiff, refusing a state-wide injunction or one covering other businesses.  Arab News reports on the decision.

Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council Condemns Synagogue Picketers

The Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council on January 18 adopted a Resolution Condemning Antisemitism (full text) which explicitly condemns a group of individuals who have picketed the local Conservative synagogue every Saturday for the last 18 years.  The Resolution reads in part:

Whereas, A small group has picketed the Beth Israel Congregation, an Ann Arbor synagogue, every Saturday for 18 years, erecting antisemitic signs along the Washtenaw Avenue right-of-way including those that allege conspiracy and tarnish the Star of David, creating an atmosphere of hate;

RESOLVED, That the Ann Arbor City Council condemns all forms of antisemitism, and in particular the weekly antisemitic rally on Washtenaw Avenue; calls upon the persons who rally to express antisemitism on Washtenaw Avenue to renounce extremism, disband, and cease their weekly show of aggressive bigotry; and declares its support for the Beth Israel Congregation, their guests, and all members of the Jewish Community in Ann Arbor, each of whom has the right to worship, gather, and celebrate free from intimidation, harassment, and fear of violence.

Last year, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a suit against the picketers finding that their actions are protected by the 1st Amendment. (See prior posting.) MLive has a detailed report on the Council meeting at which the resolution was adopted.

Faculty Seek To Sever Ties With Their Union Because Of Its Anti-Semitic Positions

Suit was filed last week in a New York federal district court by six faculty members at City University of New York who are seeking to sever all ties with the faculty union known as the Professional Staff Congress. They contend that they are required to use PSC as their exclusive bargaining agent. The complaint (full text) in Goldstein v. Professional Staff Congress/CUNY, (SD NY, files 1/12/2022), alleges in part:

3. All but one of the plaintiffs are Jewish, and several of them resigned from PSC following its adoption in June 2021 of a “Resolution in Support of the Palestinian People” ... that Plaintiffs view as anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, and anti-Israel. Since the Resolution, PSC has continued to advocate positions and take actions that Plaintiffs believe to be anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, and anti-Israel, in a manner that harms the Jewish plaintiffs and singles them out for opprobrium, hatred, and harassment based on their religious, ethnic, and/or moral beliefs and identity....

JNS reports on the lawsuit.

Virginia Governor Creates Commission To Combat Antisemitism

Virginia's newly-inaugurated Governor Glenn Youngkin has issued an Executive Order (full text) creating a Commission to Combat Antisemitism. According to the Executive Order:

The purpose of this Commission is to study antisemitism in the Commonwealth, propose actions to combat antisemitism and reduce the number of antisemitic incidents, as well as compile materials and provide assistance to Virginia’s public school system and state institutions of higher education in relation to antisemitism and its connection to the Holocaust.

The Commission shall make recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly with the goal of identifying ways to reverse increasing antisemitic incidents in the Commonwealth.

According to a press release from the Governor's office, the Order was one of nine Executive Orders and two Executive Actions taken by Youngkin on Saturday, the day on which he was inaugurated.

Biden Resubmits Lipstadt's Nomination As Special Envoy to Monitor Antisemitism

With Congress beginning a new session, the nominations which the President sent to the Senate last year need to be resubmitted if the Senate has failed to act on them. On Tuesday, President Biden resubmitted a large number of nominations. Among them was the nomination of Deborah Lipstadt to be Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, with the rank of Ambassador. Lipstadt's nomination was originally sent to the Senate last July. (See prior posting.) According to a CNN report, Senate Democrats accuse Republicans of stalling the nomination.  Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have refused so far to agree to hold hearings on her nomination. This is variously attributed to a broad effort to stall President Biden's nominees, or more narrowly to concerns by Foreign Relations Committee member Ron Johnson about tweets from Lipstadt last March critical of him. Lipstadt is a professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University.

NY Governor Vetoes Bill Aimed At Preventing Hasidic Jews Moving Into Neighboring Town

Last week (Dec. 22), New York Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed Senate Bill 1811 which would have authorized the Town of Blooming Grove to create community preservation funds that could acquire property needed to preserve the character of the community. (Full text of bill.)  According to JNS, the Governor's Veto Memorandum read in part:

There have been well-documented tensions in Orange County between local elected officials and members of the Hasidic community. Similar tensions in the nearby Town of Chester resulted in litigation. It would be inappropriate to sign this legislation at this juncture, while facts are still being gathered about the situation. Therefore, I am constrained to veto this bill.

JNS reports further:

Blooming Grove is less than 10 miles north of the Chassidic enclave of Kiryas Joel, which has a population of some 30,000 people, nearly all of them chassidim. In recent years, members of the Orthodox community have been moving to nearby towns, including Chester and Blooming Grove. Restrictions on home building and land development are seen by some as an attempt to limit the growth of the Orthodox community in the region.

According to the Agudath Israel of America, which had been lobbying against the legislation for several months, “the real purpose of the bill is to buy up open lands in order to keep Chassidic Jews from purchasing this land and building homes in Blooming Grove … .”

Antisemitism Of Sellers Impacts Court's Decision On Breach Of Contract

In Extended CHHA Acquisition, LLC v. Mahoney, (NY County Sup. Ct., Dec. 3, 2021) a New York trial court granted buyers specific performance of a multi-million dollar contract to purchase a business which sellers attempted to repudiate in order to obtain a better price elsewhere later. The decision is unusual in that anti-Semitism of the sellers was condemned explicitly by, and figured prominently in, the court's opinion. The court said in part:

To be clear, not only did the Seller breach the Purchase Agreement ..., but also the Seller's principals and their agent-representative ... actively took glee ... in being gratuitously abusive and disrespectful of the Buyer's principals and their religious observance. The degree to which [sellers] ... taunted the Buyer's principals to their face and mocked them behind their back because they are Jewish is horrifying and cannot be overstated. Their bigotry is disgusting and shameful, representing the worst and most depraved behavior that has no place in civilized society....

The record also establishes that the Seller worked in bad faith to prevent the closing..... On March 26, 2021, three days prior to the closing, ... Mr. Shemia called to ask to close on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, rather than March 29, 2021, due to Passover.... Mr. Achilarre refused....

Additionally, the Seller is not entitled to dismissal of the Buyer's cause of action for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.... [T]he evidence of the insidious antisemitism fueling the breach by the Sellers also makes out a claim for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

JD Supra has more on the decision.

New Survey of Antisemitism In U.S. Released

The American Jewish Committee yesterday released it latest annual State of Antisemitism in America report. It includes a Survey of American Jews, a Survey of the U.S. General Public, and a Comparison of the two surveys. Among other things, it indicates that 40% of American Jews and 21% of the general public think that anti-Semitism is a "very serious problem."