Stalin
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2008
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A coalition of Jewish groups is criticizing the Trump administration for actions it has taken at U.S. universities, saying the stripping of student visas and cutting of grant funding creates a “false choice between confronting antisemitism and upholding democracy.”
A number of Jewish groups in recent weeks have argued that combating the real problem of antisemitism cannot come at the expense of civil rights.
“In recent weeks, escalating federal actions have used the guise of fighting antisemitism to justify stripping students of due process rights when they face arrest and/or deportation, as well as to threaten billions in academic research and education funding. Students have been arrested at home and on the street with no transparency as to why they are being held or deported, and in certain cases with the implication that they are being punished for their constitutionally-protected speech,” the groups wrote in a join statement spearheaded by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a nonpartisan civil rights group.
“Universities have an obligation to protect Jewish students, and the federal government has an important role to play in that effort; however, sweeping draconian funding cuts will weaken the free academic inquiry that strengthens democracy and society, rather than productively counter antisemitism on campus. These actions do not make Jews — or any community — safer. Rather, they only make us less safe.”
"The administration has justified the demands, and the funding cuts, by alleging Columbia has “failed to protect American students and faculty” from antisemitic harassment, in addition to other unspecified legal violations.
But the signatories to the “Open letter in response to federal funding cuts at Columbia” argued otherwise — that the cuts did nothing to protect Jews, and in fact, could be used to target them.
“History teaches us that the loss of individual rights and freedoms for any group often begins with silencing scientists and scholars, people who devote their lives to the pursuit of knowledge — a pursuit that is core to Jewish culture,” stated the letter, which has so far been signed by over 350 people. “Moreover, destroying universities in the name of Jews risks making Jews in particular less safe by setting them up to be scapegoats.”
comrade stalin
gaza
A number of Jewish groups in recent weeks have argued that combating the real problem of antisemitism cannot come at the expense of civil rights.
“In recent weeks, escalating federal actions have used the guise of fighting antisemitism to justify stripping students of due process rights when they face arrest and/or deportation, as well as to threaten billions in academic research and education funding. Students have been arrested at home and on the street with no transparency as to why they are being held or deported, and in certain cases with the implication that they are being punished for their constitutionally-protected speech,” the groups wrote in a join statement spearheaded by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a nonpartisan civil rights group.
“Universities have an obligation to protect Jewish students, and the federal government has an important role to play in that effort; however, sweeping draconian funding cuts will weaken the free academic inquiry that strengthens democracy and society, rather than productively counter antisemitism on campus. These actions do not make Jews — or any community — safer. Rather, they only make us less safe.”
"The administration has justified the demands, and the funding cuts, by alleging Columbia has “failed to protect American students and faculty” from antisemitic harassment, in addition to other unspecified legal violations.
But the signatories to the “Open letter in response to federal funding cuts at Columbia” argued otherwise — that the cuts did nothing to protect Jews, and in fact, could be used to target them.
“History teaches us that the loss of individual rights and freedoms for any group often begins with silencing scientists and scholars, people who devote their lives to the pursuit of knowledge — a pursuit that is core to Jewish culture,” stated the letter, which has so far been signed by over 350 people. “Moreover, destroying universities in the name of Jews risks making Jews in particular less safe by setting them up to be scapegoats.”
comrade stalin
gaza
