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Columbia Task Force Finally Weighs In: Yes, Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism
Columbia University’s task force on antisemitism revealed its plans not in a communiqué to faculty and students, but in a planted Israeli newspaper article.
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moose eater
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Columbia Task Force Finally Weighs In: Yes, Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism
Columbia University’s task force on antisemitism revealed its plans not in a communiqué to faculty and students, but in a planted Israeli newspaper article.
New version of McCarthyism, and most of us know what a lunatic, drunkard and flake Joseph McCarthy was.
Another guy who got elected to national office who'd have fared much better in a padded room.
GenghisKush
Well-known member
Opinion |
'Killing a Dog Is Worse Than Murdering a Jew': The Antisemitic Injustice of France's Sarah Halimi Trial
France's court decision declaring Sarah Halimi's torturer-murderer unfit for trial has convulsed the Jewish community. It signals to antisemites that violence against Jews is a lesser crime than attacking non-Jewish victims. Or even animals.
A man holds a placard reading "Justice for Sarah" at the Paris rally for justice for Sarah Halimi, tortured and murdered by her neighbor amid torrents of antisemitic abuse Credit: GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT - AFP
Flora Cassen
Apr 26, 2021
During the night of April 4, 2017, Kobili Traoré, a French citizen in his 20s, was, according to psychiatrists who examined him later in jail, in a state of delirious rage brought on by cannabis.
At 4 A.M. Traoré broke into the apartment of Sarah Halimi, the 65-year old Jewish woman who was his upstairs neighbor. She took her phone to call the police, but he grabbed it out of her hands and started beating her savagely while screaming, "Allahu Akbar," "This is to avenge my brother," "Dirty whore," and "I killed the demon."
The noise of Traoré’s rage-fuelled attack and of Halimi’s screams of pain alerted other neighbors who called the police. The officers who first arrived at the scene feared that there was "a jihadist" inside and decided to wait outside until reinforcements arrived. They waited there for about an hour while listening to Halimi’s agonizing cries.
By the time reinforcements arrived, it was too late. Traoré had thrown his victim out the window. Sarah was lying dead on the ground below her apartment.
On Wednesday April 14th, after lengthy multi-year court proceedings, France’s supreme court declared that Kabili Traoré had been gripped by a drug-induced "delusional fit" and was therefore unfit to stand trial for the murder of Sarah Halimi.
As a result of this decision, the two following scenarios are now equally true in France. If while you are drunk and/or high, you break into your neighbor’s apartment and throw her dog out the window to his death, you will be considered a criminal. You will likely stand trial, be convicted, and go to jail.
But if, while you are high on cannabis, you break into the apartment of your neighbor, a 65 year-old Jewish woman, beat her up savagely, crush her skull and throw her out the window to her death, you will be considered insane. You will likely be found unfit to stand trial and sent to a psychiatric hospital.
The supreme court’s decision has repulsed France’s Jewish community. Yesterday, 26,000 people gathered on the Place du Trocadéro in Paris in protest. Simultaneous demonstrations were held in Bordeaux, Marseille, Lyon, Strasbourg and Nice, as well as in Rome, Tel Aviv, London, Los Angeles, Miami and New York.
Sarah Halimi’s murder is one of a string of antisemitic murders that have shaken French Jews in recent years. The litany of names, well-known to those who follow the news, includes Ilan Halimi in 2006; a teacher and three students in a Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012; four people in the Hyper Cacher, a Parisian grocery store, in 2015; and Mireille Knoll, another elderly Parisian woman, in 2018.
Sarah Halimi’s denial of justice adds to a growing sense of insecurity and a fear that without a clear message that the murders of Jews will not go unpunished, they will continue. Traoré may have been mentally incapacitated at the time of the murder, but doesn’t France, today, need a full accounting of the events and responsibilities that could only come out of a public trial?
One could argue, of course, that all murderers are insane. After all, who in their right mind would kill another human being? But a long time ago, our societies decided that although violent and despicable acts may be on the extreme end of human behaviors, they are human nonetheless.
Humans understand the difference between right and wrong and can be held accountable for their actions. In rare cases in which someone loses the ability to discern between right and wrong, we find that we cannot judge their actions and allow them to plead insanity.
But psychiatry, for all its wonderful benefits, is still more of an art than a science. Even the most sophisticated brain scans cannot tell us with absolute certainty what is happening in an individual’s mind. As a result, insanity pleas are often politicized decisions that may tell us more about the values of a society than the state of its medical knowledge.
'Harrassed. Slaughtered. Thrown out a window: Without justice there is no [French] republic'
I am not a legal expert, and cannot opine on the appropriateness or not of insanity pleas. In my work on the history of the Jewish people, however, I have tried to understand why and how societies turn to hate.
My studies have taught me that hate crimes almost always occur in an atmosphere of deep individual and collective consciousness of difference. Many people are outraged when they hear about violence against Jews, but they may not feel, in their bones, that it could happen to them.
If people felt that what happens to others could happen to them, too, would we see more rapid change? Probably. When accidents happen repeatedly on the same road, for example, people will swiftly demand better traffic control. They worry that their loved ones could be next, and that must be prevented. But when a specific group is targeted in a context in which feelings of "them" and "us" are so deep that they feel unbridgeable, passive indifference to the plight of others replaces empathy.
I’ve also observed that when hate is on the rise, the "one bad apple" theory doesn’t provide adequate explanations.
Thousands of demonstrators march through Paris after the murder of Ilan Halimi, February 2006. Credit: AP
Societies are surprisingly effective at establishing and enforcing norms of acceptable behavior. Courts are there to intervene in the most egregious cases, but it is collective social control that manages more mundane norms such as politeness and courtesy, and the boundaries of accepted behaviors.
I won't go into the street naked or tell my co-worker that she smells bad —not because I’m worried that I’ll be arrested (although in the former case I could) but because I know that society would disapprove. I don’t want to be shamed or shunned.
When hate crimes occur, however, it is almost always the case that in implicit or explicit ways society has communicated to its members that the boundaries of acceptable behavior have shifted. Cruelty and abuse continue to be frowned upon, but certain people now find themselves outside of those boundaries. These societies do not explicitly condone violence, but they will turn a blind eye or remain silent when it affects certain people.
Firemen standing by the wreckage of a car and motorcycle after a bomb attack at a Paris synagogue on the Rue Copernic that killed four people and injured 46. Credit: STF / AFP PHOTO
At the end of the trial of the Charlie Hebdo massacres in December 2020, Maître Klugman, lawyer for the victims of the massacre of four Jews at the Hyper Cacher (a kosher grocery store attacked the day after the Charlie Hebdo offices), reminded the court of the bombing of the synagogue at the Rue Copernic in Paris in 1980. The bomb shattered the windows of the synagogue, injuring dozens of people inside and killing three non-Jewish passersby on the outside.
On TV that night, then-Prime Minister Raymond Barre said: "This odious attack wanted to hit Jews who were going to synagogue; instead it targeted innocent French people."
This statement, unintentionally perhaps, reveals this deep sense of difference and the passive indifference it leads to. Implied in Barr’s statement was that French people are innocent; but (French) Jews are neither French, nor innocent.
Protesters march with a banner of murdered Jewish woman Sarah Halimi, during a demonstration in Marseille, southern France this week. Credit: Daniel Cole,AP
Sarah Halimi was French, of course, but she was not seen as such. The problem with the insanity plea in this case is not what it says, but what it does not say: that although Traoré’s actions may have been insane, they were not random. He described his choice of victim in grotesque, high-decibel antisemitic language as he was torturing her.
The poor defenestrated bulldog and his owner, on the other hand, were both French and innocent. In attacking them, the perpetrator targeted people who enjoy not only the full protection of the law, but also of society. That drugs-and-alcohol-induced dog murder was not only insane, it was also random. So random, in fact, that it could happen to anyone in France. Thus, justice had to be rendered. The bulldog murderer was found fit to stand trial and sentenced to prison.
If in Kabili Traoré's insanity, he targeted a Jewish woman, it was in part because in explicit and implicit ways French society has for many years now signaled to its citizens that violence against Jews will not encounter the same reprobation as violence against non-Jewish victims. Or even animals.
Flora Cassen is the Associate Professor of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern studies and Associate Professor of History at Washington University in St. Louis. She is the author of "Marking the Jews in Renaissance Italy: Politics, Religion, and the Power of Symbols" (Cambridge University Press, 2017)
GenghisKush
Well-known member
The original McCarthyism suppressed the authors of stories such as this.
These people faced real consequences, including arrest, loss of livelihood, blacklists, and many other informal-but-real cultural and practical sanctions.
Dalton Trumbo - Wikipedia
Compare that with this so-called new version of McCarthyism. These students and faculty will now be compelled to "go through an orientation."
Perhaps the new McCarthyism is this assertion of associate victim status by children who are among the most privileged in the history of history.
Calling whatever consequence these students might face for their speech a "new McCarthyism" is pearl-clutching at best, and an insult to those whose speech was actually suppressed by the federal government.
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moose eater
Well-known member
The original McCarthyism suppressed the authors of stories such as this.
These people faced real consequences, including arrest, loss of livelihood, blacklists, and many other informal-but-real cultural and practical sanctions.
View attachment 19020536
Dalton Trumbo - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Compare that with this so-called new version of McCarthyism. These students and faculty will now be compelled to "go through an orientation."
Perhaps the new McCarthyism is this assertion of associate victim status by children who are among the most privileged in the history of history.
Calling whatever consequence these students might face for their speech a "new McCarthyism" is pearl-clutching at best, and an insult to those whose speech was actually suppressed by the federal government.
Yep, orientations that insist they agree that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.
Your apologist nature is showing again.
Thought control and tests of allegiance are the same thing whether cold war nonsense, or Zionist protectionist nonsense, with various degrees of penalty for refusing to comply. All of it requiring a re-writing or redefining of the language... all in an effort to protect one of the most influential lobbying groups in the US.... and those in the crosshairs of this absurdity having to either forfeit or capitulate.
What was that difference again? I know who and what Joe McCarthy was.
Not to mention that the school's 'task force's' conclusions weren't published to the faculty or staff, or even alums. The 'findings' were published in Israel. Talk about naked appeasement!!
And I was certain the one article stated that due to lobbying by a Jewish group in Minnesota, using lies and statements lacking context, the fellow who was interviewed by DN lost a firm job offer. Which now also causes measurable concern to other professors in that school who watched it happen, even though they might not agree with the professor's stance politically.
But again, your minimizing of others' circumstances does a lot to reveal the inner you.
But thanks for the effort toward teaching me who Joe McCarthy was, and the affect his madness had on others who fell prey to it. Bwahahahahahha!!
moose eater
Well-known member
Schools experiencing impending lay-offs due to decreased enrollment, and the schools want to blame it on the protesting students, when in fact, at least in light of the alumni not gifting money the ways they have in the past, the circumstances indicate a displeasure with how the schools reacted to the students.
Talk about stuffed shirt bureaucrats losing their grip and avoiding looking at reality in their ill-fated attempts to save face. Sheesh!!
Talk about stuffed shirt bureaucrats losing their grip and avoiding looking at reality in their ill-fated attempts to save face. Sheesh!!
moose eater
Well-known member
GenghisKush
Well-known member
Columbia Task Force Reveals Full Extent of Antisemitism on Campus Since Oct. 7, by Students and by Faculty
Antisemitic comments by professors, harassment of Jewish students – Columbia University's antisemitism task force has heard hundreds of testimonies since its formation in November. Its members tell Haaretz about the mandatory orientation they plan and say they have agreed on an 'educational' definition of antisemitism
Credit: Photos: STUDIO MELANGE/ Shutterstock. Artwork: Anastasia Shub
Lee Yaron
New York
Jun 16, 2024
NEW YORK – One professor encountering a Jewish-sounding surname while reading names before an exam asked the student to explain their views on the Israeli government's actions in Gaza. Another told their class to avoid reading mainstream media, declaring that "it is owned by Jews." A third revealed a student's complaint about an offensive comment regarding Jews by publicly displaying their email to fellow students.
Several times, professors encouraged students to participate in pro-Palestinian protests or the Gaza Solidarity Encampment for extra credit, or conducted classes at protest sites. Other incidents included students wearing Jewish symbols having them torn from their person. Some were pushed out of student clubs they had been part of because they did not want to participate in group actions and statements against Israel's right to exist.
These are just a few of the hundreds of testimonies the Columbia Task Force on Antisemitism has documented that detail harassment, intimidation, discrimination and exclusion against Jewish students by professors and fellow students at the New York university since the October 7 Hamas massacre and subsequent war in Gaza.
The task force conducted over 20 listening sessions across the university, which found itself at the epicenter of the campus protests that have engulfed America this year, hearing from about 500 students and receiving dozens of written appeals.
Some of these testimonies are set to be published in the coming weeks in a new report focusing on Jewish students' experiences at Columbia.
A demonstrator at Columbia University holding a placard calling to "globalize the intifada," at the New York City university last month.Credit: Brendan McDermid/Reuters
The task force was formed last November by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, Barnard College President Laura Ann Rosenbury and Teachers College President Thomas R. Bailey. The aim was to address the "harmful impact of rising antisemitism on Columbia's Jewish community and to ensure that protection, respect, and belonging extends to everyone."
From its inception, the task force faced accusations of being illegitimate from some pro-Palestinian faculty and students. Critics claimed its existence was politically motivated, designed to spread fear by exaggerating antisemitism and perceived dangers to Jews, suppress criticism, and distract from the plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the violent arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters.
Jewish students active in the pro-Palestinian protests and Gaza Solidarity Encampment also criticized the move, saying the task force misrepresented Jewish students who did not feel endangered on campus.
Haaretz has interviewed several members of the task force, who say they have documented hundreds of cases of Jewish students feeling discriminated against. This month, the task force has commissioned a large survey of the entire Columbia student population in order to collect data about different aspects of antisemitism on campus.
The members also discussed Columbia's planned response, including a new antisemitism orientation – mandatory for all new students and faculty – to educate on what Jewish students might find offensive. It will also provide for the first time an educational, not legal, definition of antisemitism.
The new definition is expected to determine that statements calling for the destruction and death of Israel and Zionism can be considered antisemitic, while criticism of the Israeli government cannot.
A real problem
"I'm a social scientist, and I believe exploratory research is important. Therefore, in order to make recommendations for changes on campus, we needed to truly understand student experiences first," says task force co-chair Prof. Ester R. Fuchs, who teaches at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs."We heard from students who feel their identity, values and very existence on campus have been under attack," adds Fuchs, who has been a public affairs and political science professor at Columbia for 40 years. "My heart was broken listening to these students and what they were being forced to deal with."
Another co-chair, Prof. David M. Schizer, from Columbia Law School, notes: "Only when we talked to the students did we realize how serious the problem is. Unfortunately, there are still many faculty members who do not believe that there is antisemitism on campus, and some claim that antisemitism is being weaponized to protect pro-Israel views. We can put it this way: have there been antisemitic incidents? Yes, absolutely. Are there antisemitic faculty and students? Yes, there are some. Are all of them antisemitic? Absolutely not."
Rival groups of Israeli and Palestinian supporters protesting outside of Columbia University in April.Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images via AFP
The third co-chair, Prof. Nicholas Lemann, from Columbia Journalism School, highlights the fact that the task force didn't have the authority to investigate specific cases. Instead, it was intended to identify wide patterns and solutions.
"In terms of what we've heard, Jewish and Israeli students are feeling very targeted and ostracized," he says. "The concept of Zionism has become unacceptable in some circles at Columbia. People are asked to promise that they're not Zionist. In the classroom, some feel uncomfortable because of intense criticism of Zionism."
Prof. Gil Zussman, an Israeli electrical engineering professor and member of the task force, is especially concerned by faculty members "who have been creating a discriminatory environment – by, for example, moving their classes and office hours into the encampment where 'Zionists were not welcome.'
"Based on conversations with students, we now know that some faculty members are unfortunately also creating a hostile environment toward Israelis in classrooms and are encouraging rule-breaking by student protesters," Zussman says. "For example, over 10 faculty and staff were standing outside Hamilton Hall when students broke in [on April 29 as part of the pro-Palestinian protest]. If I were a parent of one of these students, I would have major concerns about these faculty."
Schizer, who has worked at Columbia for over 25 years, says he is concerned about the inability of opposing groups on campus to have discussions with each other. "There used to be healthy discussion, including debates about Israeli government policy and the occupation," he says. "However, since October 7 the conversation has changed, with many asserting that Israel itself is illegitimate, and with students who disagree refusing to speak and study with one another.
"Part of what a great university does is introduce us to people with different opinions," he continues. "For a democratic society to flourish, we need shifting coalitions, not warring camps. People can agree about X and disagree on Y. The situation now on campus is not healthy. We're really missing something because we see the world as divided into two opposing camps that have nothing to do with each other."
One of the key points emphasized by task force members is that, unlike past protests at Columbia, which were directed at the establishment and the university itself, this protest has in many ways been aimed at students who lack the tools to cope with the intensity of the anger directed against them.
Student protesters targeting other students "are causing pain and isolation in a way I have never seen before on campus," Schizer says.
Fuchs adds that one of the task force's observations is that "the burden of dealing with these situations of harassment, intimidation, discrimination and exclusion has primarily been on the students. We can't allow it."
Columbia University students and pro-Palestinian protesters marching in front of Hamilton Hall on campus last month.Credit: Roselle Chen/Reuters
Several task force members highlight what they see as the university's double standards in ignoring discrimination against and exclusion of Jewish students.
Zussman elaborates. "If, for example, a student group were to use an abhorrent chant such as 'We don't want BLM supporters here,' there would be immediate consequences. However, chants such as 'We don't want Zionists here' have been normalized and currently have no consequences. These double standards are unacceptable and will eventually fracture the university."
Fuchs concurs, noting that the "standard at the university has always been to listen to those experiencing discrimination or hate. During the Black Lives Matter movement, we recognized the need to understand how certain words and behaviors affected individuals. Now, we need to be consistent and apply the same standard to Jewish students."
Burning questions
Both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups have demanded that the task force provide a legal definition of antisemitism to address the burning questions: Is anti-Zionism a form of antisemitism? Is challenging the right of the State of Israel to exist antisemitic? Is criticizing the Israeli government antisemitic, as some Israelis believe?However, the task force members told Haaretz that providing a specific definition in the university's rules would contradict federal law – specifically Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires that policy definitions of discriminatory harassment be general and not treat separate groups differently. Title VI stipulates that no person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color or national origin, be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
"In theory, we could specify what terms like 'discriminatory harassment' and 'hostile learning environment' mean when applied to Jews. But doing so would violate the law," says Schizer, who adds: "We don't need a dedicated definition for Jews."
A second reason the task force did not define antisemitism straight away was their belief that the university's definition should emerge from the experiences of the people themselves.
"If we were to define antisemitism for the students in advance, then we are narrowing the possibilities and precluding their experiences," says Fuchs. "In fact, other task forces at Columbia – such as those focused on gender and race following the George Floyd [murder in 2020] – did not start with a definition."
But after hearing from hundreds of students, the task force has decided to establish and publish a definition of antisemitism based on the students' experiences – an educational one, that is, not a legal one. This definition is designed to inform faculty and students about what can offend Jewish people and which types of statements can cause pain and discomfort.
An educational definition will not infringe upon freedom of speech on campus or prohibit potentially antisemitic phrases. It will simply inform community members of the harm their words might cause. This approach is not the decisive action some Jewish groups on campus were seeking.
"We are not trying to draw a very thick boundary around what is antisemitic and say everything outside that boundary is fine," Lemann explains. "However, certain kinds of statements can make a lot of Jewish and Israeli students at Columbia feel intensely uncomfortable. This does not necessarily mean that you will be forbidden to say those things – but you should understand how they are received."
A police officer standing outside a door with broken glass after law enforcement officers cleared Columbia University's Hamilton Hall in April.Credit: Ben Chang/Columbia University/Reuters
The task force members confirmed to Haaretz that their definition of antisemitism will likely include chants calling for the annihilation of the Jewish state as being offensive to many Jews on campus. Chants criticizing the Israeli government will not be considered antisemitism in any way.
Antisemitism knowledge gap
One of the key innovations the team is working on is a new antisemitism orientation and training program, which will be mandatory for all new students and faculty."Columbia is a highly international community, and we recognized a significant gap in people's understanding of what can constitute an offensive statement for Jewish and Israeli students," Fuchs relays. "The training and orientation are designed to provide everyone beginning their time at the university with initial knowledge of what is acceptable and unacceptable in our community – similar to programs on sexual harassment and other issues. We aim for consistency: a consistent set of rules that are consistently enforced, ensuring everyone feels they are being treated fairly within the system."
Since the protests began, the university has initiated disciplinary proceedings against numerous students who allegedly broke Columbia's rules. This included suspending students and initiating other disciplinary actions, including putting them on disciplinary probation, restricting attendance at future events, and being required to attend educational meetings about their behavior and conduct.
Until this April, the initiated actions were published transparently on the Columbia website, but these have been deleted in recent weeks. The university also brought outside law enforcement onto campus to empty the pro-Palestinian encampment. More than 100 students were arrested, which resulted in harsh criticism of the university and widespread pro-Palestinian protests on campuses across the United States and Europe.
The first release to emerge from the task force was a report on protests, demonstrations and free speech, published in March. The next report will include a series of recommendations expected to go into effect before the next semester begins in September.
The protest camp on the Columbia University campus in April. Some professors held classes at the camps, despite them declaring themselves not open to "Zionists."Credit: Mary Altaffer/AP
The task force has also highlighted the urgent need for better management of antisemitism complaints. The task force uncovered deficiencies in the complaint-processing systems across the university's various schools, with some complaints lost in bureaucratic procedures without any response. Many students are unaware of the appropriate channels for reporting issues, while many staff members are unsure how to handle such complaints. Additionally, there is a lack of transparency in the complaint-handling process and its outcomes.
"Different complaints go to different offices and you almost need a law degree just to understand the process," according to Schizer. "It's not enough to have good rules on paper: they must be enforced. Jewish and Israeli students currently experience unequal treatment, and I don't want them to get different treatment – and the law entitles them to the same protection as other groups. The key issue for the coming year is whether Columbia will enforce its rules equally."
In response to this story, a Columbia University spokesperson said: "We are committed to combating antisemitism and taking sustained, concrete action to ensure Columbia is a campus where Jewish students and everyone in our community feels safe, valued and able to thrive."
shiva82
Well-known member
Opinion |
'Killing a Dog Is Worse Than Murdering a Jew': The Antisemitic Injustice of France's Sarah Halimi Trial
France's court decision declaring Sarah Halimi's torturer-murderer unfit for trial has convulsed the Jewish community. It signals to antisemites that violence against Jews is a lesser crime than attacking non-Jewish victims. Or even animals.
A man holds a placard reading "Justice for Sarah" at the Paris rally for justice for Sarah Halimi, tortured and murdered by her neighbor amid torrents of antisemitic abuse Credit: GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT - AFP
Flora Cassen
Apr 26, 2021
During the night of April 4, 2017, Kobili Traoré, a French citizen in his 20s, was, according to psychiatrists who examined him later in jail, in a state of delirious rage brought on by cannabis.
At 4 A.M. Traoré broke into the apartment of Sarah Halimi, the 65-year old Jewish woman who was his upstairs neighbor. She took her phone to call the police, but he grabbed it out of her hands and started beating her savagely while screaming, "Allahu Akbar," "This is to avenge my brother," "Dirty whore," and "I killed the demon."
The noise of Traoré’s rage-fuelled attack and of Halimi’s screams of pain alerted other neighbors who called the police. The officers who first arrived at the scene feared that there was "a jihadist" inside and decided to wait outside until reinforcements arrived. They waited there for about an hour while listening to Halimi’s agonizing cries.
By the time reinforcements arrived, it was too late. Traoré had thrown his victim out the window. Sarah was lying dead on the ground below her apartment.
On Wednesday April 14th, after lengthy multi-year court proceedings, France’s supreme court declared that Kabili Traoré had been gripped by a drug-induced "delusional fit" and was therefore unfit to stand trial for the murder of Sarah Halimi.
As a result of this decision, the two following scenarios are now equally true in France. If while you are drunk and/or high, you break into your neighbor’s apartment and throw her dog out the window to his death, you will be considered a criminal. You will likely stand trial, be convicted, and go to jail.
But if, while you are high on cannabis, you break into the apartment of your neighbor, a 65 year-old Jewish woman, beat her up savagely, crush her skull and throw her out the window to her death, you will be considered insane. You will likely be found unfit to stand trial and sent to a psychiatric hospital.
The supreme court’s decision has repulsed France’s Jewish community. Yesterday, 26,000 people gathered on the Place du Trocadéro in Paris in protest. Simultaneous demonstrations were held in Bordeaux, Marseille, Lyon, Strasbourg and Nice, as well as in Rome, Tel Aviv, London, Los Angeles, Miami and New York.
Sarah Halimi’s murder is one of a string of antisemitic murders that have shaken French Jews in recent years. The litany of names, well-known to those who follow the news, includes Ilan Halimi in 2006; a teacher and three students in a Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012; four people in the Hyper Cacher, a Parisian grocery store, in 2015; and Mireille Knoll, another elderly Parisian woman, in 2018.
Sarah Halimi’s denial of justice adds to a growing sense of insecurity and a fear that without a clear message that the murders of Jews will not go unpunished, they will continue. Traoré may have been mentally incapacitated at the time of the murder, but doesn’t France, today, need a full accounting of the events and responsibilities that could only come out of a public trial?
One could argue, of course, that all murderers are insane. After all, who in their right mind would kill another human being? But a long time ago, our societies decided that although violent and despicable acts may be on the extreme end of human behaviors, they are human nonetheless.
Humans understand the difference between right and wrong and can be held accountable for their actions. In rare cases in which someone loses the ability to discern between right and wrong, we find that we cannot judge their actions and allow them to plead insanity.
But psychiatry, for all its wonderful benefits, is still more of an art than a science. Even the most sophisticated brain scans cannot tell us with absolute certainty what is happening in an individual’s mind. As a result, insanity pleas are often politicized decisions that may tell us more about the values of a society than the state of its medical knowledge.
'Harrassed. Slaughtered. Thrown out a window: Without justice there is no [French] republic'
I am not a legal expert, and cannot opine on the appropriateness or not of insanity pleas. In my work on the history of the Jewish people, however, I have tried to understand why and how societies turn to hate.
My studies have taught me that hate crimes almost always occur in an atmosphere of deep individual and collective consciousness of difference. Many people are outraged when they hear about violence against Jews, but they may not feel, in their bones, that it could happen to them.
If people felt that what happens to others could happen to them, too, would we see more rapid change? Probably. When accidents happen repeatedly on the same road, for example, people will swiftly demand better traffic control. They worry that their loved ones could be next, and that must be prevented. But when a specific group is targeted in a context in which feelings of "them" and "us" are so deep that they feel unbridgeable, passive indifference to the plight of others replaces empathy.
I’ve also observed that when hate is on the rise, the "one bad apple" theory doesn’t provide adequate explanations.
Thousands of demonstrators march through Paris after the murder of Ilan Halimi, February 2006. Credit: AP
Societies are surprisingly effective at establishing and enforcing norms of acceptable behavior. Courts are there to intervene in the most egregious cases, but it is collective social control that manages more mundane norms such as politeness and courtesy, and the boundaries of accepted behaviors.
I won't go into the street naked or tell my co-worker that she smells bad —not because I’m worried that I’ll be arrested (although in the former case I could) but because I know that society would disapprove. I don’t want to be shamed or shunned.
When hate crimes occur, however, it is almost always the case that in implicit or explicit ways society has communicated to its members that the boundaries of acceptable behavior have shifted. Cruelty and abuse continue to be frowned upon, but certain people now find themselves outside of those boundaries. These societies do not explicitly condone violence, but they will turn a blind eye or remain silent when it affects certain people.
Firemen standing by the wreckage of a car and motorcycle after a bomb attack at a Paris synagogue on the Rue Copernic that killed four people and injured 46. Credit: STF / AFP PHOTO
At the end of the trial of the Charlie Hebdo massacres in December 2020, Maître Klugman, lawyer for the victims of the massacre of four Jews at the Hyper Cacher (a kosher grocery store attacked the day after the Charlie Hebdo offices), reminded the court of the bombing of the synagogue at the Rue Copernic in Paris in 1980. The bomb shattered the windows of the synagogue, injuring dozens of people inside and killing three non-Jewish passersby on the outside.
On TV that night, then-Prime Minister Raymond Barre said: "This odious attack wanted to hit Jews who were going to synagogue; instead it targeted innocent French people."
This statement, unintentionally perhaps, reveals this deep sense of difference and the passive indifference it leads to. Implied in Barr’s statement was that French people are innocent; but (French) Jews are neither French, nor innocent.
Protesters march with a banner of murdered Jewish woman Sarah Halimi, during a demonstration in Marseille, southern France this week. Credit: Daniel Cole,AP
Sarah Halimi was French, of course, but she was not seen as such. The problem with the insanity plea in this case is not what it says, but what it does not say: that although Traoré’s actions may have been insane, they were not random. He described his choice of victim in grotesque, high-decibel antisemitic language as he was torturing her.
The poor defenestrated bulldog and his owner, on the other hand, were both French and innocent. In attacking them, the perpetrator targeted people who enjoy not only the full protection of the law, but also of society. That drugs-and-alcohol-induced dog murder was not only insane, it was also random. So random, in fact, that it could happen to anyone in France. Thus, justice had to be rendered. The bulldog murderer was found fit to stand trial and sentenced to prison.
If in Kabili Traoré's insanity, he targeted a Jewish woman, it was in part because in explicit and implicit ways French society has for many years now signaled to its citizens that violence against Jews will not encounter the same reprobation as violence against non-Jewish victims. Or even animals.
Flora Cassen is the Associate Professor of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern studies and Associate Professor of History at Washington University in St. Louis. She is the author of "Marking the Jews in Renaissance Italy: Politics, Religion, and the Power of Symbols" (Cambridge University Press, 2017)
blinken is a cockroach that should be stepped on . it has nothing to do with him being a fake judean or a jew
and blinken breaks every commandment anyway . he is a cunt
demonstrate to me how blinken is a good guy
shiva82
Well-known member
stop being so ignorant and biased . not every jew is a decent person that deserves constant defence using age old smears . blinken is a bad egg .Columbia Task Force Reveals Full Extent of Antisemitism on Campus Since Oct. 7, by Students and by Faculty
Antisemitic comments by professors, harassment of Jewish students – Columbia University's antisemitism task force has heard hundreds of testimonies since its formation in November. Its members tell Haaretz about the mandatory orientation they plan and say they have agreed on an 'educational' definition of antisemitism
Credit: Photos: STUDIO MELANGE/ Shutterstock. Artwork: Anastasia Shub
Lee Yaron
New York
Jun 16, 2024
NEW YORK – One professor encountering a Jewish-sounding surname while reading names before an exam asked the student to explain their views on the Israeli government's actions in Gaza. Another told their class to avoid reading mainstream media, declaring that "it is owned by Jews." A third revealed a student's complaint about an offensive comment regarding Jews by publicly displaying their email to fellow students.
Several times, professors encouraged students to participate in pro-Palestinian protests or the Gaza Solidarity Encampment for extra credit, or conducted classes at protest sites. Other incidents included students wearing Jewish symbols having them torn from their person. Some were pushed out of student clubs they had been part of because they did not want to participate in group actions and statements against Israel's right to exist.
These are just a few of the hundreds of testimonies the Columbia Task Force on Antisemitism has documented that detail harassment, intimidation, discrimination and exclusion against Jewish students by professors and fellow students at the New York university since the October 7 Hamas massacre and subsequent war in Gaza.
The task force conducted over 20 listening sessions across the university, which found itself at the epicenter of the campus protests that have engulfed America this year, hearing from about 500 students and receiving dozens of written appeals.
Some of these testimonies are set to be published in the coming weeks in a new report focusing on Jewish students' experiences at Columbia.
A demonstrator at Columbia University holding a placard calling to "globalize the intifada," at the New York City university last month.Credit: Brendan McDermid/Reuters
The task force was formed last November by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, Barnard College President Laura Ann Rosenbury and Teachers College President Thomas R. Bailey. The aim was to address the "harmful impact of rising antisemitism on Columbia's Jewish community and to ensure that protection, respect, and belonging extends to everyone."
From its inception, the task force faced accusations of being illegitimate from some pro-Palestinian faculty and students. Critics claimed its existence was politically motivated, designed to spread fear by exaggerating antisemitism and perceived dangers to Jews, suppress criticism, and distract from the plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the violent arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters.
Jewish students active in the pro-Palestinian protests and Gaza Solidarity Encampment also criticized the move, saying the task force misrepresented Jewish students who did not feel endangered on campus.
Haaretz has interviewed several members of the task force, who say they have documented hundreds of cases of Jewish students feeling discriminated against. This month, the task force has commissioned a large survey of the entire Columbia student population in order to collect data about different aspects of antisemitism on campus.
The members also discussed Columbia's planned response, including a new antisemitism orientation – mandatory for all new students and faculty – to educate on what Jewish students might find offensive. It will also provide for the first time an educational, not legal, definition of antisemitism.
The new definition is expected to determine that statements calling for the destruction and death of Israel and Zionism can be considered antisemitic, while criticism of the Israeli government cannot.
A real problem
"I'm a social scientist, and I believe exploratory research is important. Therefore, in order to make recommendations for changes on campus, we needed to truly understand student experiences first," says task force co-chair Prof. Ester R. Fuchs, who teaches at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.
"We heard from students who feel their identity, values and very existence on campus have been under attack," adds Fuchs, who has been a public affairs and political science professor at Columbia for 40 years. "My heart was broken listening to these students and what they were being forced to deal with."
Another co-chair, Prof. David M. Schizer, from Columbia Law School, notes: "Only when we talked to the students did we realize how serious the problem is. Unfortunately, there are still many faculty members who do not believe that there is antisemitism on campus, and some claim that antisemitism is being weaponized to protect pro-Israel views. We can put it this way: have there been antisemitic incidents? Yes, absolutely. Are there antisemitic faculty and students? Yes, there are some. Are all of them antisemitic? Absolutely not."
Rival groups of Israeli and Palestinian supporters protesting outside of Columbia University in April.Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images via AFP
The third co-chair, Prof. Nicholas Lemann, from Columbia Journalism School, highlights the fact that the task force didn't have the authority to investigate specific cases. Instead, it was intended to identify wide patterns and solutions.
"In terms of what we've heard, Jewish and Israeli students are feeling very targeted and ostracized," he says. "The concept of Zionism has become unacceptable in some circles at Columbia. People are asked to promise that they're not Zionist. In the classroom, some feel uncomfortable because of intense criticism of Zionism."
Prof. Gil Zussman, an Israeli electrical engineering professor and member of the task force, is especially concerned by faculty members "who have been creating a discriminatory environment – by, for example, moving their classes and office hours into the encampment where 'Zionists were not welcome.'
"Based on conversations with students, we now know that some faculty members are unfortunately also creating a hostile environment toward Israelis in classrooms and are encouraging rule-breaking by student protesters," Zussman says. "For example, over 10 faculty and staff were standing outside Hamilton Hall when students broke in [on April 29 as part of the pro-Palestinian protest]. If I were a parent of one of these students, I would have major concerns about these faculty."
Schizer, who has worked at Columbia for over 25 years, says he is concerned about the inability of opposing groups on campus to have discussions with each other. "There used to be healthy discussion, including debates about Israeli government policy and the occupation," he says. "However, since October 7 the conversation has changed, with many asserting that Israel itself is illegitimate, and with students who disagree refusing to speak and study with one another.
"Part of what a great university does is introduce us to people with different opinions," he continues. "For a democratic society to flourish, we need shifting coalitions, not warring camps. People can agree about X and disagree on Y. The situation now on campus is not healthy. We're really missing something because we see the world as divided into two opposing camps that have nothing to do with each other."
One of the key points emphasized by task force members is that, unlike past protests at Columbia, which were directed at the establishment and the university itself, this protest has in many ways been aimed at students who lack the tools to cope with the intensity of the anger directed against them.
Student protesters targeting other students "are causing pain and isolation in a way I have never seen before on campus," Schizer says.
Fuchs adds that one of the task force's observations is that "the burden of dealing with these situations of harassment, intimidation, discrimination and exclusion has primarily been on the students. We can't allow it."
Columbia University students and pro-Palestinian protesters marching in front of Hamilton Hall on campus last month.Credit: Roselle Chen/Reuters
Several task force members highlight what they see as the university's double standards in ignoring discrimination against and exclusion of Jewish students.
Zussman elaborates. "If, for example, a student group were to use an abhorrent chant such as 'We don't want BLM supporters here,' there would be immediate consequences. However, chants such as 'We don't want Zionists here' have been normalized and currently have no consequences. These double standards are unacceptable and will eventually fracture the university."
Fuchs concurs, noting that the "standard at the university has always been to listen to those experiencing discrimination or hate. During the Black Lives Matter movement, we recognized the need to understand how certain words and behaviors affected individuals. Now, we need to be consistent and apply the same standard to Jewish students."
Burning questions
Both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups have demanded that the task force provide a legal definition of antisemitism to address the burning questions: Is anti-Zionism a form of antisemitism? Is challenging the right of the State of Israel to exist antisemitic? Is criticizing the Israeli government antisemitic, as some Israelis believe?
However, the task force members told Haaretz that providing a specific definition in the university's rules would contradict federal law – specifically Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires that policy definitions of discriminatory harassment be general and not treat separate groups differently. Title VI stipulates that no person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color or national origin, be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
"In theory, we could specify what terms like 'discriminatory harassment' and 'hostile learning environment' mean when applied to Jews. But doing so would violate the law," says Schizer, who adds: "We don't need a dedicated definition for Jews."
A second reason the task force did not define antisemitism straight away was their belief that the university's definition should emerge from the experiences of the people themselves.
"If we were to define antisemitism for the students in advance, then we are narrowing the possibilities and precluding their experiences," says Fuchs. "In fact, other task forces at Columbia – such as those focused on gender and race following the George Floyd [murder in 2020] – did not start with a definition."
But after hearing from hundreds of students, the task force has decided to establish and publish a definition of antisemitism based on the students' experiences – an educational one, that is, not a legal one. This definition is designed to inform faculty and students about what can offend Jewish people and which types of statements can cause pain and discomfort.
An educational definition will not infringe upon freedom of speech on campus or prohibit potentially antisemitic phrases. It will simply inform community members of the harm their words might cause. This approach is not the decisive action some Jewish groups on campus were seeking.
"We are not trying to draw a very thick boundary around what is antisemitic and say everything outside that boundary is fine," Lemann explains. "However, certain kinds of statements can make a lot of Jewish and Israeli students at Columbia feel intensely uncomfortable. This does not necessarily mean that you will be forbidden to say those things – but you should understand how they are received."
A police officer standing outside a door with broken glass after law enforcement officers cleared Columbia University's Hamilton Hall in April.Credit: Ben Chang/Columbia University/Reuters
The task force members confirmed to Haaretz that their definition of antisemitism will likely include chants calling for the annihilation of the Jewish state as being offensive to many Jews on campus. Chants criticizing the Israeli government will not be considered antisemitism in any way.
Antisemitism knowledge gap
One of the key innovations the team is working on is a new antisemitism orientation and training program, which will be mandatory for all new students and faculty.
"Columbia is a highly international community, and we recognized a significant gap in people's understanding of what can constitute an offensive statement for Jewish and Israeli students," Fuchs relays. "The training and orientation are designed to provide everyone beginning their time at the university with initial knowledge of what is acceptable and unacceptable in our community – similar to programs on sexual harassment and other issues. We aim for consistency: a consistent set of rules that are consistently enforced, ensuring everyone feels they are being treated fairly within the system."
Since the protests began, the university has initiated disciplinary proceedings against numerous students who allegedly broke Columbia's rules. This included suspending students and initiating other disciplinary actions, including putting them on disciplinary probation, restricting attendance at future events, and being required to attend educational meetings about their behavior and conduct.
Until this April, the initiated actions were published transparently on the Columbia website, but these have been deleted in recent weeks. The university also brought outside law enforcement onto campus to empty the pro-Palestinian encampment. More than 100 students were arrested, which resulted in harsh criticism of the university and widespread pro-Palestinian protests on campuses across the United States and Europe.
The first release to emerge from the task force was a report on protests, demonstrations and free speech, published in March. The next report will include a series of recommendations expected to go into effect before the next semester begins in September.
The protest camp on the Columbia University campus in April. Some professors held classes at the camps, despite them declaring themselves not open to "Zionists."Credit: Mary Altaffer/AP
The task force has also highlighted the urgent need for better management of antisemitism complaints. The task force uncovered deficiencies in the complaint-processing systems across the university's various schools, with some complaints lost in bureaucratic procedures without any response. Many students are unaware of the appropriate channels for reporting issues, while many staff members are unsure how to handle such complaints. Additionally, there is a lack of transparency in the complaint-handling process and its outcomes.
"Different complaints go to different offices and you almost need a law degree just to understand the process," according to Schizer. "It's not enough to have good rules on paper: they must be enforced. Jewish and Israeli students currently experience unequal treatment, and I don't want them to get different treatment – and the law entitles them to the same protection as other groups. The key issue for the coming year is whether Columbia will enforce its rules equally."
In response to this story, a Columbia University spokesperson said: "We are committed to combating antisemitism and taking sustained, concrete action to ensure Columbia is a campus where Jewish students and everyone in our community feels safe, valued and able to thrive."
moose eater
Well-known member
And now, with a little less spin, and a bit more insight....
theintercept.com
Columbia Task Force Finally Weighs In: Yes, Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism
Columbia University’s task force on antisemitism revealed its plans not in a communiqué to faculty and students, but in a planted Israeli newspaper article.
theintercept.com
moose eater
Well-known member
“Utterly Dismayed”: Air Force Engineer Resigns as Dissent Against Gaza War Slowly Spreads Within Military
Riley Livermore joins a burgeoning wave of dissent within the Biden administration and the military over U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
theintercept.com
So Hai
Well-known member
Americans are a population that consistently vote for war. This is not to say that you elect competent leaders. In fact the opposite is true and is reflected well in the personality of Joe Biden. Speaking of the american condition then there is a measure of incompetence and hubris that make you a nuclear biased country: America can’t win in war against a near peer opponent by conventional means, and so you are left with your outdated nuclear weapon systems. Meanwhile..
