On Friday, a number of prominent Jewish organizations canceled scheduled meetings with two senior Biden administration officials, citing the “last-minute” participation of far-left groups.
At least six mainstream groups approved or absented a 10 a.m. Zoom call with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and White House Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden. The meeting was scheduled to discuss the issue of anti-Israel protests on university campuses, the Post reported. Have learned.
Those groups are the Jewish Federations of North America, the Anti-Defamation League, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Orthodox Union, the Center for Human Rights under the Brandeis Act, and Hillel International.
At issue was the 11th-hour participation of groups opposed to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. The IHRA considers in part anti-Semitism to criticize Jews for Israel’s actions and to claim that Israel’s existence is anti-Semitism. Racist initiatives.
“At the last minute, they said they would add other participants to the meeting,” one participant who dropped off the call told the Post.
“When we found out who they were, we said, ‘We’ve been requesting this meeting, but this is really last minute, and some of these groups and some “We disagree on important issues,” the official added.
The invitations to Trua, Nexus Leadership Project, Bend the Ark, and Diaspora Alliance, all left-wing groups, surprised mainstream Jewish organizations.
A representative from one boycott group described the Diaspora Alliance as “very anti-Israel.”
The White House and Department of Education did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Biden administration officials have agreed to meet separately with the boycotting groups starting at 1 p.m., representatives of the two organizations told the Post.
The ADL, the Orthodox Union, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Federations of North America, Hillel International, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, and the National Council of Jewish Women said Friday that they would not go into further details. They issued a joint statement that had never been made before. Get involved in controversy.
“It was a positive and productive meeting. We thank the Secretary for his quick response to us at this critical moment,” the groups said.
“As an organization that has been dedicated to advocating for and supporting Jewish students experiencing harassment and violence on college campuses across the country, we appreciate the opportunity this afternoon to share our pressing concerns. We thank the Secretary,” the statement continued.
“We have directly raised urgent concerns about the current climate of anti-Semitism on campus and the lack of an effective response so far. In this moment of crisis, we We called on the Department to specifically follow up on and implement the clear statement issued by President Biden this week, and to provide universities with a clear path to effectively implement that statement.
“By sharing concrete recommendations, we called on the government to do more to protect Jewish students and the broader student community from intimidation, harassment and violence.”
The director of Bend the Ark said: Jewish Telegraphic Agency She said she was “surprised” that so many groups chose to protest the earlier meeting.
“I was really surprised we didn’t see them,” Jamie Beran said of the boycott group, noting that there were conservative groups who continued to join the call.
“I am grateful to be part of an organization that takes student safety seriously and puts politics aside,” she added.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director of the progressive group Tul’ah, said it was “a good thing” that the Biden administration was willing to meet with “a broad swath of the Jewish community.” “We will assess the situation in the community to the best extent possible.” what’s happening. “
“If there is a centrist group that refuses to join on Zoom with an organization representing more than 2,300 rabbis, including campus rabbis and rabbis who are in regular contact with college students in the community, they You might want to reconsider,” Jacobs said. told Jewish Insider.
The White House faced criticism from Jewish groups last year for saying it “welcomes and values” a definition of anti-Semitism that most mainstream Jewish groups do not like.
