Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
banner
concernedjfaculty.bsky.social
Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
@concernedjfaculty.bsky.social
We believe that the fight against antisemitism cannot be separated from the struggle against all forms of oppression.

Learn more and join us:
https://concernedjewishfaculty.org

Our statements:
https://www.concernedjewishfaculty.org/statements
Pinned
The MA Antisemitism Commission has approved its final report conflating Judaism with Zionism.

We respond: "The Commission has done more to fuel rising authoritarianism and antisemitism than to create the conditions that promote Jewish safety"

www.concernedjewishfaculty.org/commission-s...
CJFS Commission Shadow Report | Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
www.concernedjewishfaculty.org
In our own Shadow Report, we offer a way forward: to combat antisemitism in a way that safeguards bedrock democratic principles of equality, free speech, academic freedom, and due
process.

www.concernedjewishfaculty.org/commission-s...
CJFS Commission Shadow Report | Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
www.concernedjewishfaculty.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:05 PM
This commission, from its inception to its final report, has focused almost exclusively on silencing criticism of Israel, while ignoring the growing threat from right-wing antisemitic extremists. Its reckless approach will make us all less safe.

www.wgbh.org/news/politic...
State antisemitism commission finalizes findings, drawing praise and pushback
The Massachusetts political establishment has broadly endorsed the commission’s work, which is the first of its kind.
www.wgbh.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
Glad to see @concernedjfaculty.bsky.social on here now. Follow them for takes from Jewish faculty who don’t want antisemitism involved in ways that actually endanger Jews!
November 24, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
New York Times coverage of lawsuit requesting names of Jewish employees at Penn.

[Gift Link]

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/u...
Federal Suit Seeking Names of Some Jewish Employees at Penn Sparks Backlash
www.nytimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Reposted by Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
If the government asks for a list of Jews in your organization, you have an absolute ethical obligation to refuse that request, regardless of who is asking or what they say it's for. They have no right to ask and you have no right to comply.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/u...
Federal Suit Seeking Names of Some Jewish Employees at Penn Sparks Backlash
www.nytimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
I signed this petition, and you can do the same here:

actionnetwork.org/petitions/st...
November 23, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Excellent longform piece on weaponization of antisemitism, in MA and elsewhere, by @tomdispatch.bsky.social
November 23, 2025 at 4:02 AM
"Over the course of a year of hearings, the Special Commission has perhaps irreparably merged the concept of antisemitism with criticism of Israel, which seems to have been the point."

www.juancole.com/2025/11/spee...
Trump using Jews to Ban Free Speech: The Ultimate in Antisemitism
By Mattea Kramer ( Tomdispatch.com ) - Rooting out terrorism and antisemitism was the supposed reason that plainclothed ICE agents arrested doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk on a street in Somerville, M...
www.juancole.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Remember: Trump's antisemitism investigations of universities are being prosecuted by Hitler fans.

They are doing antisemitism under cover of fighting antisemitism

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/m...
DOJ lawyer in Harvard case once wrote a paper from Hitler’s perspective - The Boston Globe
Michael Velchik once also told a peer that "Mein Kampf" was among his favorite recent reads.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:45 PM
CJFS member Ben Allen: The Commission "has not been responsive to the community it purports to protect. We are Jewish orgs too: @workerscircle.bsky.social , CJFS, @ifnotnowmovement.org , @jvp.bsky.social , MA Synagogue Network on Israel-Palestine, @rabbis4ceasefire.bsky.social & many more.”
November 22, 2025 at 4:21 PM
“The totality of the report—in the context of the commission leadership’s behavior—mainstreams the same narratives & endorses the same policies that Trump admin & allies like ADL wield to spread hate, silence dissent, & erode democratic norms that keep us all safe.”

gazettenet.com/2025/11/21/m...
Massachusetts antisemitism commission backs wide-ranging reforms in final report - Daily Hampshire Gazette
NORTHAMPTON — A series of recommendations for K-12 and higher education, public safety and law enforcement and workplaces that aim to confront antisemitism are included in a 69-page report approved un...
gazettenet.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
This is the problem in equating criticism of a country with bias against its people. Not only is it logically and morally wrong, but it leads to some very disturbing implications. Is the message here that all countries should be free of criticism or consequences for their actions?
November 21, 2025 at 9:05 PM
One of the worst aspects of the Commission's final report is a call for universities to prohibit boycotts against countries.

The aim is obviously to prohibit boycotts of Israel. But the same language would also prohibit boycotts of Russia over Ukraine invasion, or of South Africa over apartheid.
The MA Antisemitism Commission has approved its final report conflating Judaism with Zionism.

We respond: "The Commission has done more to fuel rising authoritarianism and antisemitism than to create the conditions that promote Jewish safety"

www.concernedjewishfaculty.org/commission-s...
CJFS Commission Shadow Report | Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
www.concernedjewishfaculty.org
November 21, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Our Shadow Report outlines best practices for combating antisemitism without undermining the rights of other groups, and highlights the misinformation, biases, and false assumptions that drove the Commission's approach

drive.google.com/file/d/1GqhR...
CJFS Commission Shadow Report.pdf
drive.google.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:54 PM
The MA Antisemitism Commission has approved its final report conflating Judaism with Zionism.

We respond: "The Commission has done more to fuel rising authoritarianism and antisemitism than to create the conditions that promote Jewish safety"

www.concernedjewishfaculty.org/commission-s...
CJFS Commission Shadow Report | Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
www.concernedjewishfaculty.org
November 21, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
BREAKING: Shadow Report from @concernedjfaculty.bsky.social detailing how the #MA Antisemitism Commission is inviting an ADL/MAGA crackdown on civil rights and civil liberties. @marisakabas.bsky.social

www.concernedjewishfaculty.org/commission-s...
November 20, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Despite a more inclusive introductory framing, the MA Antisemitism Commission's draft report insists on the IHRA definition, declares "Zionist" to be a slur, and directs universities to prohibit academic boycotts and curtail protests

Our response here: www.concernedjewishfaculty.org/mscca-draft-...
MSCCA Draft Higher Ed | Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
www.concernedjewishfaculty.org
November 17, 2025 at 9:26 PM
"As long as Jewish Zionist groups intervene every time that curricula veers even slightly toward acknowledging Palestinian human rights, the possibility for a robust cross-analysis of antisemitism within ethnic studies recedes farther from sight."

jewishcurrents.org/in-californi...
In California, Jewish Groups’ Win Is Students’ Loss
A new “antisemitism prevention” law erodes possibilities for robust public education on both Palestine and Jewish identity.
jewishcurrents.org
November 17, 2025 at 3:29 PM
"Pluralism asks us to share space. Restorative justice asks us to share responsibility. The first sustains dialogue; the second ensures that conversation leads to true change."

Coauthored by CJFS member Aaron Shakow

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/17/o...
Harvard idealizes pluralism. It needs restorative justice instead. - The Boston Globe
This is a crisis as serious as any in Harvard’s 400-year history. The university is failing in its duty to make academic freedom real for all.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:36 PM
In a number of cases, anonymous single-paragraph complaints, with no supporting evidence provided, spurred full-scale Title VI investigations.

“Government civil rights enforcement is now being driven by the equivalent of a YouTube comment section.”

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Surge in antisemitism investigations at US universities after October 7 attacks, data shows
A report shared exclusively with the Guardian documents how a civil rights law has become a tool to impose ideological priorities on US schools
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:19 PM
New report from @mesa1966.bsky.social and @aaup.org : Antisemitism lawsuits and investigations have skyrocketed over the past two years, largely driven by outside groups, and almost all focusing on criticism of Israel.
November 6, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff
The Heritage Foundation created an entire program, Project Esther, to use antisemitism as a pretext to shut down US higher education. They are now defending a guy who has friendly chats with Holocaust deniers.

Never take these people seriously when they say they care about fighting antisemitism.
Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts stands by Tucker Carlson after the former Fox News host release his controversial interview with Nick Fuentes.

"The Heritage Foundation didn't become the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement by canceling our own people" x.com/KevinRoberts...
October 31, 2025 at 2:28 AM
The ADL confirms it is no longer a civil rights organization.

We need to build up alternative Jewish orgs that recognize that none of us are free until we all are.

www.jta.org/2025/10/29/u...
ADL removes ‘Protect Civil Rights’ from website as it narrows its mission amid right-wing attacks - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The removal took place after FBI Director Kash Patel said he would cut ties with the ADL, though it is unclear if that has happened.
www.jta.org
October 30, 2025 at 1:15 PM