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Feds Seek Diversity in Middle East Studies Programs
Anne Crowell, Brandeis Blog
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Knox Hall Houses Columbia University's Controversial MEALAC Program
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The Department of Education has started requiring universities with federally funded Middle East Studies centers to report on how their programs are including diverse perspectives and a wide range of views. This is a very important first step to ensure that Middle East Studies programs do not succumb to political one-sidedness. Critics have long charged that many of these programs have become highly politicized, monolithically anti-Israel sources of miseducation and bias. The new requirement sends a welcome signal to universities that the Department is now looking more closely at this issue, although there is still more to be done in order to ensure accountability for these programs.
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This month, San Jose State University's (SJSU) Tower Foundation voted not to divest from companies that do business with Israel. Significantly, LDB lawyers had warned the Tower Foundation that the proposed divestment motion was unlawful and could subject Tower directors to personal liability.
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Q&A with Kenneth L. Marcus : Defining Anti Zionism as Anti Semitism
Jonathan Dick, Canadian Jewish News
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LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus
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The Canadian Jewish News published an interview with LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus on December 18, discussing his latest book, "The Definition of Anti-Semitism," and contemporary anti-Semitism which elaborates on the connection between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, and how anti-Semitism is sparking critiques of Israel across North American college campuses.
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Alissa Smith, Central Florida Future
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Anti-Semitic Posting Found on UCF Campus
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In November, a series of anti-Semitic stickers and flyers were found at the University of Central Florida (UCF) campus. While still searching for those behind recent cases of anti-Semitic vandalism, the UCF Police Department released reports in early December revealing even more instances of swastikas found on campus.
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Michelle Yabes, The Brandeis Blog
On December 2, Students Supporting Israel at Indiana University passed a resolution in its student government that adopts the United States State Department's Definition of Anti-Semitism. The resolution passed by a vote of 22-6 and distinguishes between the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement and those individuals who support it, making explicit that "political criticism of Israel" is allowed.
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