By Miharu Sugie, News Staff
Jewish advocacy group the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) last month urged Northeastern to investigate allegations that Jewish students at the university are being discriminated against.
In a letter sent to President Joseph E. Aoun on Aug. 23, the ADL said several students came to the organization with concerns about incidents discussed in an earlier letter to the university from another Pro-Israel organization: the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). The ZOA letter, sent in July, said the university has not taken proper action to stop faculty members and student organizations who have allegedly exhibited anti-semitic behaviors.
“Last spring, students expressed concern about harassment in the classroom and they expressed concern about some of the teaching practices,” said Robert Trestan, the New England regional director of ADL. “They expressed concern about the overall atmosphere for Jewish students on campus and at the law school.”
While university officials such as Provost Stephen Director, General Counsel Ralph Martin and Aoun have treated the ADL’s concerns with “good faith and seriousness,” the ADL letter said, the allegations made in the ZOA letter “cannot, and should not, be dismissed.”
In the July letter, ZOA National President Morton Klein and Center for Law and Justice Director Susan Tuchman said international affairs professors Denis Sullivan and Berna Turam allegedly encouraged “students to hate the Jewish State of Israel and the Jewish people, based on propaganda lies.” According to the letter, a Jewish student said that Sullivan, who is also the director of Middle East Center for Peace, Culture and Development, personally attacked her for questioning his view of creating one state to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Turam allegedly ridiculed a Jewish student for questioning her views on topics such as “honor killings,” according to ZOA’s letter. The student eventually withdrew from Turam’s course and stopped wearing a Star of David necklace to class. Neither professor responded to email or phone requests for interviews.
Another economics professor also allegedly “made false and demonizing accusations against Jews and Israel, but has also bragged about how students are now too intimidated to speak up and challenge his views,” the ZOA wrote. The professor could not be reached late Wednesday night.
In a statement, Northeastern said it has taken steps for “balanced and academically rigorous” studies on religion and the Middle East and that “unsubstantiated allegations made by third parties are not sufficient for Northeastern — or any university — to launch internal investigations.”
The university recommended that any individual who “feels marginalized for any reason,” should take advantage of resources like the university ombudsman, opportunities for confidential discussions and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
The letter also noted specific incidents that contributed to making a “hostile environment for Jewish students.” It specifically mentioned the student group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) as being “responsible for vandalizing Northeastern, by posting anti-Israel stickers all over the campus.”
Max Geller, a junior Northeastern law student and current SJP president, said that the stickers and the bulletin board messages were not meant to threaten Jewish students. Geller, who is Jewish, sent The News examples of the messages, which read: “Judaism is a Semitic religion. Zionism is an exclusionary, ultranationalist political ideology. Criticizing Israel for Zionist policies is not antisemitic.”
“It is very painful for someone who is Jewish and who has lost family members in the Holocaust to be called anti-Semitic,” Geller said.
If Northeastern does not address such issues, the ZOA wrote, the university will break its legal obligations specified in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in which discrimination against certain races and nationalities are prohibited in institutions that receive federal financial assistance.
“[Discrimination is] something I didn’t expect from this school since I’ve been here for six years,” said Thanh Ly, a senior majoring in accounting. “Unless students actually do something, [Northeastern is] not going to do anything.”
Adam Sapers, a middler majoring in marketing and finance and a Huskies for Israel member, said an unbiased education on the current issues in the Middle East is crucial. The education students receive in college is the “backbone of future learning” and “changes your career.”
Although he has not been a direct victim of anti-Semitism in his classes, Sapers said that it is a “real big issue,” something Northeastern may not have complete control of because there is such a large, diverse student population.
“Northeastern has a strong but quiet Jewish population,” Sapers said. “It’s got this much attention. Northeastern has to do something.”
The ADL’s letter was first reported Sept. 18 by WBZ.
Sapers suggested that Northeastern should hire new professors with different expertise on the Middle East.
“Northeastern has a responsibility to its students to vigorously defend their right to freedom of speech,” Geller said.
So far, Trestan said the ADL plans to meet with Northeastern officials in the future to discuss potential investigations.
“The issue is not about outside people complaining about Northeastern. The issue is that the people within the Northeastern community are raising these concerns and that should warrant the attention of the university officials,” Trestan said. “It’s necessary for measures and programs in place to correct them.”
