Well-known Jewish organizations abruptly dropped out of a meeting with the Biden Department of Education after learning that several progressive groups would be attending.
At least five Jewish organizations boycotted a high-profile meeting with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Friday because they refused to be involved with left-wing groups, including the Jewish activist group IfNotNow.
IfNotNow is an anti-Israel Jewish organization that has accused the country of having an “apartheid system,” and claims that Israelis are guilty of massacring “Palestinians in Gaza.”
They have also praised the “brave” students who are calling for the genocide of Israelis during the pro-Hamas protests at universities this week.
The meeting was intended to bring solutions to the rise of antisemitism that has exploded across the United States amid the pro-terrorism protests occurring at college campuses.
“Representatives of the groups that pulled out were frustrated to see the inclusion of some progressive organizations that oppose the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, including T’ruah, the Nexus Leadership Project and Bend the Arc,” Jewish Insider noted.
The Jewish groups— Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Federations of North America, Hillel International, the Orthodox Union, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations— decided to withdraw from the presentation just minutes before its scheduled 10 a.m. meeting was supposed to begin.
The groups claimed that the Biden Administration informed them that several “left-wing groups not usually included in White House convenings” would be joining the meeting just 20 minutes before it began.
As a result, Cardona was forced to give the presentation two separate times.
According to an email obtained by Jewish Insider, the groups wanted to “discuss concrete actions the Department can take to support the restoration of order, compliance with civil rights laws, and the protection of Jewish students.”
Some of the groups reportedly raised the need for giving more rights to Jewish students and protecting them from harassing pro-terrorism agitators.
“We directly raised our urgent concerns surrounding the current climate of antisemitism on campus and the lack thus far of effective response. In this moment of crisis, we asked the Department to be specific in their follow-up and implementation of this week’s clear statement made by President Biden and to provide universities with a clear path to effective enforcement of that statement. By sharing specific recommendations, we urged the Administration to do more to protect Jewish students and the broader student community from intimidation, harassment, and violence,” Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Federations of North America, Hillel International, the Orthodox Union, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and the National Council of Jewish Women wrote in a joint statement.
