New Jersey Sues Township Over Attempts To Exclude Orthodox Jews

Yesterday, New Jersey's Attorney general filed a religious discrimination suit against Mahwah Township.  The complaint (full text) in Porrino v. Township of Mahwah, (NJ Super. Ct., filed 10/24/2017) is summarized in a press release from the Attorney General's Office:

Likening the conduct of Mahwah township officials to 1950s-era “white flight” suburbanites who sought to keep African-Americans from moving into their neighborhoods, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced today that the State has filed a Superior Court complaint against the Mahwah Township Council and the Township of Mahwah alleging that, in an effort to stave off a feared influx of Orthodox Jewish persons from outside New Jersey, it approved two unlawfully discriminatory ordinances.

One of those ordinances discriminated by banning non-New-Jersey-residents from using Mahwah’s public parks, the State alleges. The other – an ordinance amendment – discriminated by effectively banning the posting, on utility poles, of plastic strips called “lechis” that denote the boundaries of an eruv used by Sabbath-observant Orthodox Jews. The complaint also challenges actions the township has taken to have an existing eruv removed.

[Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.] 

President Holds High Holiday Teleconference With Jewish Leaders, Absent Many Who Boycotted the Annual Event

As reported by the Washington Post, today President Trump (along with Jared Kushner) participated in the traditional annual telephone call with Jewish leaders in advance of Rosh Hashanah. This year, however, leaders of the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist denominations boycotted the call in protest of Trump's remarks last month after Charlottesville.  In a statement, these leader charged that "The president’s words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia." (Background.)  The White House released a transcript of remarks by the President and by Kushner at today's teleconference.  There the President said in part:

I am grateful for the history, culture, and values the Jewish people have given to civilization. We forcefully condemn those who seek to incite anti-Semitism, or to spread any form of slander and hate -- and I will ensure we protect Jewish communities, and all communities, that face threats to their safety.

British Survey of Anti-Semitic Crime Finds Overall Increase For 2016, But Fewer Violent Crimes

As reported by JTA, Britain's non-profit organization Campaign Against Antisemitism yesterday released its National Antisemitic Crime Audit-- 2016 in Review.  The report found 1,078 Anti-Semitic crimes in 2015, an increase of 14.9% from the prior year.  105 of these were violent crimes. Violent anti-Semitic crime though fell by 44.7% from 2015.  According to the report:

Ever since crime targeting British Jews began to surge in 2014, each successive year has set a new record for antisemitic crime, and each year fewer crimes have been charged. 2016 was the worst year on record for antisemitic crime, yet instead of protecting British Jews, the authorities prosecuted merely fifteen cases of antisemitic hate crime, including one solitary violent crime.

Welfare Fraud Arrests Trigger Anti-Semitic Incidents

The Asbury Park Press reported yesterday that the welfare fraud arrests last week of 14 Orthodox Jewish residents (including a congregational rabbi) in Lakewood, New Jersey has triggered a rash of anti-Semitism.  Anti-Jewish comments appeared on Facebook and other social media, as well as in flyers distributed around Lakewood and in a white sheet hung over a Holocaust memorial. A majority of Lakewood's 100,000 residents are Orthodox Jews.  Lakewood Police are investigating the incidents.

Suit Challenges Anti-Semitism At San Francisco State University

In a press release yesterday, the Lawfare Project announced the filing of a lawsuit in a California federal district court on behalf of a group of San Francisco State University students and members of the local Jewish community seeking to end rising administration-sanctioned anti-Semitic activity on campus.  The complaint (full text) in Mandel v. Board of Trustees of the California State University, (ND CA, filed 6/19/2017), alleges that since the founding of the College of Ethnic Studies  in 1968 at SFSU, "a consistent pattern of anti-Jewish animus has emerged," culminating in threats, intimidation and disruption of the speech by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in 2016. The suit claims this conduct has violated plaintiffs' free speech and equal protection rights as well as their rights under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Case Charging HUD With Antisemitism In Investigation Moves Ahead

In Township of Lakewood, New Jersey v. Castro, (D NJ, April 3, 2017), a New Jersey federal district court refused to dismiss on the pleadings a lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging that its investigation of the housing assistance program in Lakewood, New Jersey reflected hostility toward Jews and the practice of Orthodox Judaism. Among other things, the court found that "Plaintiffs’ allegations plausibly suggest HUD’s conduct imposed a substantial burden on Plaintiffs’ exercise of their faith, in violation of the RFRA...." HUD's action ultimately resulted in administration of housing funds being transferred away from Lakewood.

100 Senators Call For Action On Jewish Community Center Bomb Threats

All 100 members of the U.S. Senate yesterday signed a letter (full text) to the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the FBI calling for "swift action with regard to the deeply troubling series of anonymous bomb threats made against Jewish Community Centers (JCCs), Jewish Day Schools, Synagogues and other buildings affiliated with Jewish organizations or institutions across the country."  Sen. Gary Peters issued a press release announcing the letter. Politico called the letter "a rare moment of bipartisanship."

House Task Force On Anti-Semitism Sends Suggestions To Trump

Yesterday the eight co-chairs of the U.S. House of Representatives Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism sent a letter (full text) to President Trump suggesting three specific steps to improve the government's response to anti-Semitism:

Ensure that the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice has access to the necessary resources and information to fully investigate alleged anti-Semitic crimes and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.

Ensure that a mechanism exists to coordinate inter-agency detection of and response to new anti-Semitic crimes.

Evaluate growing anti-Semitism online, particularly incitement to violence, and devise a comprehensive policy response.

Times of Israel reports on the letter.

Trump Responds To Anti-Semitic Incidents In U.S.

President Trump today in remarks (full text) after touring the National Museum of African American History and Culture gave his most explicit denunciation of the increasing number of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. in recent weeks.  He said:

This tour was a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance and hatred in all of its very ugly forms.  The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible and are painful, and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil.

As reported by CNN, Trump's remarks come after 54 Jewish Community Centers in the U.S. and Canada have received 69 bomb threats. Also today, it was disclosed that more than 100 headstones at a Jewish cemetery near St. Louis were recently damaged or toppled. (CNN). The President has been criticized for his less than direct responses in two previous news conferences to questions about anti-Semitism. (e.g. Baltimore Sun editorial). Responding to the President's statement, American Jewish Committee tweeted: "Now we look forward to your plan of action."

Jewish Groups Criticize Trump's Response To Questions About Anti-Semitism

JTA reports that the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League have issued statements criticizing President Donald Trump's response at his news conference yesterday to a question from reporter Jake Turx of Ami Magazine regarding anti-Semitism.  Here is a transcript of much of the exchange taken from the White House's full transcript of the news conference:

Q    ... [W]hat we are concerned about, and what we haven’t really heard be addressed is an uptick in anti-Semitism and how the government is planning to take care of it.  There have been reports out that 48 bomb threats have been made against Jewish centers all across the country in the last couple of weeks.  There are people who are committing anti-Semitic acts or threatening to --

THE PRESIDENT:  You see, he said he was going to ask a very simple, easy question.  And it’s not.  It’s not.  Not a simple question, not a fair question.  Okay, sit down.  I understand the rest of your question.

So here’s the story, folks.  Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you’ve ever seen in your entire life.  Number two, racism -- the least racist person.  In fact, we did very well relative to other people running as a Republican....

... See, he lied about -- he was going to get up and ask a very straight, simple question.  So you know, welcome to the world of the media.  But let me just tell you something -- that I hate the charge.  I find it repulsive.  I hate even the question because people that know me -- and you heard the Prime Minister, you heard Netanyahu yesterday -- did you hear him, Bibi?  He said, I’ve known Donald Trump for a long time, and then he said, forget it.

So you should take that, instead of having to get up and ask a very insulting question like that.

The AJC's statement also criticized Trump's non-responsiveness to a similar question at his news conference (full transcript) on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

U.S. and Britain Explore Definition of Anti-Semitism

On Dec. 1 the U.S. Senate passed by unanimous consent S.10, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2016. (ADL press release with background information.) In the convoluted language of much federal legislation, the bill would have instructed the Department of Education to use the definition of Anti-Semitism developed by the State Department's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism-- including examples in an accompanying Fact Sheet-- in enforcing Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Title VI prohibits discrimination in programs receiving federal financial assistance.

The basic definition of Anti-Semitism incorporated by the bill is:

Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

Beyond this, though, the accompanying Fact Sheet includes in the definition of Anti-Semitism criticism of Israel which demonizes Israel, applies a double standard not demanded of any other democratic nation, or denies Israel's right to exist.  As reported last week by The Forward, S.10 has died in the House of Representatives as critics raised concerns that the bill could threaten federal funding at universities where speakers criticize Israel without a push back from college administrators.

Meanwhile yesterday Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May announced that Britain will formally adopt the definition of anti-Semitism developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance-- the same definition as the basic statement incorporated in S.10.  This comes after the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee in October published a report on Antisemitism in the UK, and the Government this month published a Response to Home Affairs Committee Report. The Government's Response discusses at some length the question of whether or when criticism of Israel should be classified as Anti-Semitism.

NY Municipalities Settle Discrimination Suit Against Them Alleging Anti-Hasidic Bias

JTA reports that the upstate Village of Bloomingburg and the Town of Mamakating, New York have reached a settlement with a developer who sued claiming that the municipalities engaged in an anti-Semitic conspiracy to prevent more Hasidic Jews from moving into the area. The lawsuit filed in 2014 (see prior posting) claimed, among other things, that the municipalities violated the fair housing and civil rights laws in blocking the completion of a 396-unit townhouse project out of fear that would be occupied mostly by Hasidic families. Under the settlement, the developer's company Sullivan Farms II will be be paid by the municipalities' insurer $1.595 million on behalf of  Mamakating and $1.305 million on behalf of Bloomingburg.

European Parliament Lifts Jean-Marie Le Pen's Immunity To Allow Race Hatred Prosecution

AFP and The Forward report that on Tuesday the European Parliament lifted the legal immunity of Jean-Marie Le Pen, former head of France's far-right National Front Party. The move allows French prosecutors to put Le Pen on trial for inciting racial hatred.  The charges stem from a 2014 interview video posted on the National Front website in which Le Pen countered criticism from singer Patrick Bruel, who is Jewish, by using a reference to the Nazi gas chambers. Le Pen said Bruel should "go in the oven."

British Court Rejects Challenge To Local Anti-Israel BDS Resolutions

In Britain today, a 2-judge panel of the England and Wales High Court rejected a challenge by a Jewish human rights group to anti-Israel resolutions passed by three local councils.  In Jewish Rights Watch (t/a Jewish Human Rights Watch), R (on the application of) v Leicester City Council, [2016] EWHC 1512 (Admin), June 28, 2016, petitioner challenged three resolutions: one by Leicester calling for a boycott of produce from Israeli West Bank settlements; one by Gwynedd calling for a trade embargo with Israel; and one by Swansea expressing concern that a company involved in building a light railway in Israel was also involved in contracts with Swansea. The court summarized Jewish Human Rights Watch's claims:

It is JHRW's case that the Councils singled out Israel for different treatment than that adopted in respect of other countries and, in particular, failed properly or sufficiently to consider the effect of the resolutions on the Jewish community. JHRW contends that the Councils failed to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and harassment of Jewish people, and the need to foster good relations between those who are Jewish and those who are not; and that in doing so they failed to have any regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty, set out in s.149 of the Equality Act 2010, and their legal duties as public authorities, as set out in s.17 of the Local Government Act 1988.

Section 149 of the Equality Act has been interpreted to require public bodies to give advance consideration to equality issues before making policy decisions.  Section 17 of the Local Government Act bars local governments from considering the country or territory of origin in making contract decisions. The court concluded, however, that qualifying language in, and/or the non-binding nature of, the Resolutions prevented them from being in violation of law:

First, the evidence from each of the Defendant Councils was that the resolutions did not bind the Councils to abide by or act upon them. Leicester, Gwynedd and Swansea each operated through an Executive (which developed and implemented policy); and procurement was a function of the Executive rather than the full Council.

The second point is that two of the resolutions contained qualifying words. In the case of Leicester, the boycott resolution was qualified by the words, 'insofar as legal considerations allow'. In the case of Swansea the exhortation to support the position of the UN in relation to the settlement of East Jerusalem was qualified by the words, 'so long as to do so would not be in breach of any relevant legislation.'

Jewish Chronicle reporting on the decision, quotes JHRW which says it will file an appeal. JHRW's statement reads in part:

The local councils, recognising that such boycotts would be unlawful, insisted that their motions were non-binding and not actually implemented, and that the resolutions were in fact never intended to influence policy. So this was never about investment at all. Instead, it was about councils being able to make offensive and misleading declarations that divide communities for cheap political gain and put Jews in the UK in jeopardy – and all at the ratepayer’s expense.

[Thanks to Paul de Mello, Jnr. for the lead.]

ADL Issues Annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents

This week the ADL issued its 2015 Audit of  Anti-Semitic Incidents. It showed 941 incidents in the United States last year, a 3% increase from 2014. Fifty-six of the incidents were assaults (compared to 36 in 2014).  Overall, the number of anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses grew to 90 (compared to 47 in 2014). According to the ADL, the number of anti-Semitic incidents peaked in 2006 (1,554 incidents that  year), and has generally been on the decline since then. The Audit adds:

ADL witnessed an explosion of hate online, especially on social media platforms in 2015. While the Audit includes incidents of online anti-Semitism reported to ADL in which an individual or institution is explicitly targeted, it does not count general anti-Semitic expressions online.

Paper Calls Out Anti-Semitic Harassment of Journalists

The Forward today is calling attention to the continuing anti-Semitic harassment on social media (mainly Twitter) of Jewish journalists (or those perceived to be Jewish).  The anti-Semitic messages have often come in response to journalists' coverage of Donald Trump's campaign. A June 7 Washington Post piece has examples. The Forward says:

Online bullying is a non-partisan activity — both the far left and the far right are quite good at it — but the virulent anti-Semitism many journalists experience today comes from what is known as the “alt-right,” shadowy white supremacists who mainly hide behind the anonymity of Twitter to traffic in horrible Holocaust imagery and directly threaten Jews.

Many of these threats draw on connections with Trump’s presidential campaign, using Trump’s image and targeting his critics, including several of our regular writers. Even if you don’t believe that the presumed Republican standard bearer has stoked this cyber-hate (which is a generous assumption), you have to admit that he appears to have done nothing to minimize or condemn it.

As a symbolic protest, The Forward says it will refuse for 24 hours (starting tomorrow) to publish anything mentioning Trump's name or his campaign.

Suit In France Says Social Media Failed To Remove Anti-Semitic, Racist, Homophobic and Terrorist Posts

According to the Economic Times, on Sunday in Paris three French groups filed a lawsuit against Twitter, YouTube and Facebook charging that they failed to adequately comply with a 2004 French law that requires deletion within a reasonable time of posts that are racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic or which defend terrorism.  Plaintiffs Jewish Students of France (UEJF), SOS-Racisme,  and SOC Homophobie say that between March 31 and May 10 they discovered 586 such posts, but that the number removed within a reasonable time was 4% by Twitter, 7% by YouTube and 34% by Facebook.

Yom Hashoah Marked By Obama, Canadian Prime Minister

Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) on the Jewish calendar began last night at sundown.  President Obama issued a Statement (full text) marking the day.  In addition to paying tribute to those who perished in the Holocaust, and those who survived it, the President also focused on contemporary anti-Semitism, saying:

Today, and every day, we stand in solidarity with the Jewish community both at home and abroad.  We stand with those who are leaving the European cities where they have lived for generations because they no longer feel safe, with the members of institutions that have been attacked because of their Jewish affiliations, and with the college students forced to confront swastikas appearing on their campuses.  And we call upon all people of good will to be vigilant and vocal against every form of bigotry.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also issued a statement (full text) marking Yom Hashoah.

California Board of Regents Adopts Proposal Aimed At Campus Anti-Semitism

Last Thursday, the University of California Board of Regents unanimously adopted "Principles Against Intolerance" (full text) as a response to an increase in anti-Semitic incidents on UC campuses. The Introduction to the new document explains:

During the 2014-15 academic year, the Regents received correspondence and public comment from a variety of sources expressing concern that there has been an increase in incidents reflecting anti-Semitism on UC campuses. These reported incidents included vandalism targeting property associated with Jewish people or Judaism; challenges to the candidacies of Jewish students seeking to assume representative positions within student government; political, intellectual and social dialogue that is anti-Semitic; and social exclusion and stereotyping. Fundamentally, commenters noted that historic manifestations of anti-Semitism have changed and that expressions of anti-Semitism are more coded and difficult to identify. In particular, opposition to Zionism often is expressed in ways that are not simply statements of disagreement over politics and policy, but also assertions of prejudice and intolerance toward Jewish people and culture.

Anti-Semitism, anti-semitic forms of anti-Zionism and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California.

As reported by the New York Times,  the version of the document that was adopted eliminated previously proposed language that would have condemned all forms of anti-Zionism.

Suit Charges NY Community College With Anti-Semitic Hiring Practices

A lawsuit filed last month in federal district court in New York charges the Brooklyn-based Kingsborough Community College and Stuart Suss (who served variously as its Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Interim President) with discrimination against faculty and faculty candidates whose dress or appearance was obviously Jewish (labeled in the complaint as "Outward Jews").  The complaint (full text) in Lax v. City University of New York, (ED NY, filed 2/16/2016) alleges that in 2000 Jews comprised a large percentage of department chairs and of the college-wide Personnel & Budget Committee, but that since then Suss has engaged in hiring and personnel practices designed to reduce or eliminate the number of outward Jews on the faculty and on the P&B Committee in violation of Title VII and New York state and city anti-discrimination laws. Yesterday's Algemeiner has more on the lawsuit.