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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://palestinelegal.org/news/2018/9/11/kenneth-marcus-adopts-controversial-antisemitism-definition-at-doe-with-no-public-notice-reopens-dismissed-rutgers-case-from-2014">https://palestinelegal.org/news/2018/9/11/kenneth-marcus-adopts-controversial-antisemitism-definition-at-doe-with-no-public-notice-reopens-dismissed-rutgers-case-from-2014</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Department of Education Redefines
Antisemitism With No Public Notice<br>
</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">September 11, 2018</div>
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<p>Israel-aligned groups have announced that the U.S.
Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights
(OCR) is using a <a
href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/548748b1e4b083fc03ebf70e/t/5ad7b16603ce646d1a0d59d9/1524085097669/FAQ+on+Definition+of+Antisemitism+4.18.18+.pdf">widely-criticized
re-definition of </a><a
href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/548748b1e4b083fc03ebf70e/t/5ad7b16603ce646d1a0d59d9/1524085097669/FAQ+on+Definition+of+Antisemitism+4.18.18+.pdf"
target="_blank">antisemitism</a> when investigating
allegations of antisemitic discrimination on college
campuses. The <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/s/2pca1aqgnezn7njehe4sdil36q8bgp"
target="_blank">re-definition</a> classifies
virtually all criticism of Israel as antisemitic. </p>
<p>OCR gave no public notice of the major policy
decision. </p>
<p>The news from OCR was buried in a letter written by
Trump’s new head of Civil Rights, Kenneth Marcus, to
the <a
href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/bannon-to-speak-at-zoa-gala/538197/">Steve
</a><a
href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/bannon-to-speak-at-zoa-gala/538197/"
target="_blank">Bannon</a><a
href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/bannon-to-speak-at-zoa-gala/538197/">-aligned</a>
Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). The letter <a
href="https://zoa.org/2018/09/10378469-zoas-title-vi-case-against-rutgers-reopened-by-us-civil-rights-office/"
target="_blank">informed the ZOA </a>that OCR would
reopen a 7-year old complaint against Rutgers
University, which OCR had previously dismissed in 2014
after a years-long investigation. </p>
<p>Marcus wrote that the controversial antisemitism
definition “is widely used by government agencies,
including the US Department of State, and is used by
OCR as well.” </p>
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<p>Prior to his appointment at OCR, Marcus drove a
campaign by Israel-aligned groups to codify the same
re-definition he has now put in place at OCR without
public notice. Marcus<a
href="https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/01/government-crack-down-anti-semitism-college-campuses-000272">
lobbied</a><a
href="https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/01/government-crack-down-anti-semitism-college-campuses-000272"
target="_blank"> </a><a
href="https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/01/government-crack-down-anti-semitism-college-campuses-000272">federal
and state governments to adopt</a> legislation to
impose this redefinition on the Department of
Education and state agencies. The legislation was <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/news/2016/12/14/media-spotlight-anti-semitism-awareness-act-draws-criticism"
target="_blank">strongly contested by civil
liberties groups</a> for its clear encroachment on
political speech. It failed to pass the US House of
Representatives in 2016 but was <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/news/pl-letter-congress-asaa-2018"
target="_blank">reintroduced this year</a> and is
currently pending in Congress. The redefinition has
also been <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/news/2015/7/22/uc-drops-consideration-of-state-department-anti-semitism-definition"
target="_blank">rejected</a> by the University of
California and by its <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/opinion/will-campus-criticism-of-israel-violate-federal-law.html"
target="_blank">original author</a> as inappropriate
in a university setting. </p>
<p>As head of the Brandeis Center, Marcus and the ZOA,
both together and separately, <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/the-palestine-exception-appendix#berkeley2"
target="_blank">filed</a> <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/the-palestine-exception-appendix#irvine1"
target="_blank">several</a> complaints similar to
the failed complaint against Rutgers, which Marcus is
now reopening. All were either dismissed, or not
investigated by the DOE. </p>
<p>Marcus’s efforts come <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/news/2018/6/7/kenneth-marcus-confirmed"
target="_blank">three months after the U.S. Senate
narrowly confirmed</a> him to head OCR on a
party-line vote, with all Democrats voting against his
confirmation. Marcus was <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/news/senate-help-approves-marcus">widely
</a><a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/news/senate-help-approves-marcus"
target="_blank">criticized</a> for his <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/11/29/kenneth-marcus"
target="_blank">anti-free speech</a> and <a
href="https://civilrights.org/oppose-confirmation-kenneth-marcus-assistant-secretary-civil-rights/">anti-civil
rights </a><a
href="https://civilrights.org/oppose-confirmation-kenneth-marcus-assistant-secretary-civil-rights/"
target="_blank">positions</a>, including opposition
to affirmative action policies, his criticism of
expanding civil rights protections to LGBTQ people,
and his hostile position towards <a
href="https://nwlc.org/resources/nwlc-letter-of-opposition-to-kenneth-marcus-nomination/"
target="_blank">survivors of sexual assault</a>. </p>
<p>In recent weeks, Marcus has proven his commitment to
these rightwing positions, <a
href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/Embargoed%20Until%204%20p.m.DCL%207.3.18.pdf">withdrawing
Obama-era guidelines for universities to consider
race as one of many factors in admissions</a> and
delaying implementation of protections for students of
color <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-do-you-enforce-civil-rights-under-betsy-devos-a-stark-shift-in-approach/2018/07/30/0ebf6e3e-8eb2-11e8-bcd5-9d911c784c38_story.html"
target="_blank">disproportionately channeled into
special education programs</a>. He recently <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-do-you-enforce-civil-rights-under-betsy-devos-a-stark-shift-in-approach/2018/07/30/0ebf6e3e-8eb2-11e8-bcd5-9d911c784c38_story.html"
target="_blank">stated</a>, “We are law enforcement
officials, not advocates or social-justice people.”</p>
<p>“Marcus is sending a clear signal that attacking free
speech for Palestinian rights is at the top of his
agenda at OCR,” said Dima Khalidi, Director of
Palestine Legal. “This is a perverse use of government
resources. Especially at a time when white supremacist
attacks are rampant on college campuses, we need to
use the <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-administration-plans-to-minimize-civil-rights-efforts-in-agencies/2017/05/29/922fc1b2-39a7-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html?utm_term=.d4c5dd231122"
target="_blank">meager resources</a> we have to
protect – not attack - civil rights.”</p>
<p>For Marcus to make such a controversial and corrosive
policy decision with no public notice raises serious
questions about open government and the influence of
lobbying groups.</p>
<p>The Rutgers case stems from a 2011 event, sponsored
by student groups that shared stories of Holocaust and
Nakba survivors. Dozens of pro-Israel protesters
showed up to the event, some physically assaulting
event volunteers and calling student organizers racist
slurs such as “towelheads” and “suicide bombers.” The
ZOA filed a Title VI complaint based on factually
inaccurate allegations that organizers levied a fee at
the last moment only on Jewish attendees, an
allegation that investigators could not substantiate
after a years-long investigation. See the detailed
case summary in our 2015 report, The Palestine
Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack in
the US, <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/the-palestine-exception-appendix#rutgers2"
target="_blank">here</a>. </p>
<p>For media coverage of this story, see this <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/11/us/politics/rutgers-jewish-education-civil-rights.html?emc=edit_na_20180911&nl=breaking-news&nlid=64618519ing-news&ref=cta"
target="_blank">New York Times article</a> and <a
href="https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-administration-adopts-new-definition-of-anti-semitism-in-schools-education-department/"
target="_blank">this Politico article</a>. </p>
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