The Jerusalem Post
JULY 16, 2021
Photo: Alejandro Guzmani / Shutterstock.com
More than six months after a Johns Hopkins University teaching assistant posted on social media what Jewish organizations have called overtly antisemitic posts, the university has not yet made a public action to affirm that antisemitism will not be tolerated according to StandWithUs (SWU) and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (LDB).
The organizations sent a letter to the university this week demanding that it publicly affirm that antisemitism will not be tolerated.
In January, a graduate researcher and teaching assistant in the university’s chemistry department suggested penalizing Zionist students for being pro-Israel, according to a series of letters sent from SWU and LBD to the university.
Rasha Anayah defended what she called her fair treatment of students in response to the poll she posted on Twitter on Nov. 15, the Forward reported Thursday.
“Ethical dilemma: if you have to grade a Zionist student’s exam, do you still give them all their points even though they support your ethnic cleansing?” she wrote. Like idk.”
According to StandWithUs and the Brandeis Center, this poll was not the only comment made by Anayah that could be interpreted as antisemitic. In November 2020, Anyah tweeted about her relief at not being paired with an Israeli, according to SWU and LBD.
“Y’all allah looking out for me. The majority of undergrads in chem here are white, and i was blessed enough to be paired w[ith] a black woman to mentor who has good race analysis. Didn’t get pinned with an Israeli or some b**ch white boy to have to share my knowledge with. alhamdulilah,” read the tweet.
The university informed StandWithUs that it had completed its investigation but has not made its institutional response public, citing privacy laws, according to SWU and LBD. In the letter, the organizations mentioned that privacy laws “do not shield the university from its obligation to protect Jewish students, prevent a hostile campus climate for Jewish students, and deter similar acts of antisemitic discrimination and harassment.”
Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
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