Campus Watch November 6, 2024

Chicago School Board President Resigns Over Antisemitic Social Media Posts

Rev. Mitchell Johnson resigned from his position as president of the Chicago Board of Education on Oct. 31 after antisemitic social media posts of his came to light.

According to Jewish Insider, the posts included Johnson stating after the Oct. 7 massacre: “How can a group of people who have suffered from the Holocaust; today join with the Alt Right Community?”; “The Nazi Germans’ ideology has been adopted by the Zionist Jews”; “The Israeli government offers a renewal of Nazi language once directed toward European Jews, ‘savages, dogs, vermin”; “I have been saying this since October 2023. People have an absolute right to attack their oppressors by any means necessary!!!” and that his “Jewish colleagues appear drunk with the Israeli power and will live to see their payment.” Johnson apologized for his posts, saying that they were “insensitive” and that he has “asked for and received feedback from my Jewish friends and colleagues who helped me be more thoughtful as I addressed these sensitive matters,” per Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson, who initially defended Rev. Johnson (no relation) for “seeking atonement” for his posts, said the posts “were not only hurtful but deeply disturbing. I want to be clear: Antisemitic, misogynistic, and conspiratorial statements are unacceptable.” Anti-Defamation League Midwest Regional David Goldenberg said that while it was “the right thing” for Rev. Johnson to resign, “we remain deeply distressed how Mayor Johnson appointed someone with a public record of conspiracies, misogyny and antisemitism to this essential role in the first place, and why the mayor protected him until the very end.”

UCSF Prof Suspended After Targeting Israeli Student in Social Media Post

UC San Francisco (UCSF) Professor of Internal Medicine Dr. Rupa Marya has been suspended after she reportedly authored a social media post targeting an Israeli student.

As previously reported in Campus Watch, Marya had written: “Med students at UCSF are concerned that a first year student from Israel is in their class. They’re asking if he participated in the genocide of Palestinians in the IDF before matriculating into medical school in CA. How do we address this in our professional ranks?” The Jewish News of Northern California (The J) reported that Marya wrote in an Oct. 15 Substack post that she “was suspended from my faculty position as a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) because of my support for the liberation of Palestinians who are suffering genocide” and that there was a “coordinated” effort to silence her. The J also noted that Marya generated controversy when she posted to social media in January how “the presence of Zionism in U.S. medicine should be examined as a structural impediment to health equity. Zionism is a supremacist, racist ideology and we see Zionist doctors justifying the genocide of Palestinians.” She has denied being antisemitic.

A university spokesperson told The J they couldn’t comment on personnel matters.

Lawsuit: Jewish Family Alleges Bay Area School Failed to Address Antisemitism Against Daughter

A Jewish family has filed a lawsuit on Oct. 23 alleging that the University Preparatory Academy charter school failed to adequately address antisemitic incidents that the family’s daughter experienced at the school.

According to The Jewish News of Northern California, a press release from the Bay Area Jewish Coalition, which filed the complaint on behalf of the family, alleged that the student was bullied by other students as being “the Jew” and that a teacher “singled out and publicly humiliated” the student over Jewish faith shortly after the Oct. 7 massacre. The school’s principal, Jacob Porter, told The J, “We did a full investigation, and we went through the normal disciplinary response for any of the incidents that could have been uncovered in that investigation. If a student is found harassing or bullying a student, there is a series of potential actions that we go through depending on the severity of the incident.”

CCNY SJP Launches Boycott Campaign Against Pro-Israel Cafes

The Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at the City College of New York (CCNY), which is part of the City University of New York (CUNY), launched a boycott campaign against pro-Israel cafes on Oct. 23.

The Columbia Daily Spectator reported that CCNY SJP is encouraging people to boycott the cafes in the North Academic Center and Marshak Science Building serving Starbucks and Nestlé coffee. The Spectator quoted CCNY SJP President Hadeeqa Arzoo Malik as saying: “Nestlé is even worse than Starbucks. Starbucks has really horrible indirect investments. Their CEO is a huge Zionist, and that was enough means for a boycott … But when Nestlé came in and when we found out that it was actually Nestlé, it became even worse. Nestlé is directly, straight off the BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] list.”