Trump Appoints Zionist Zealot to Top Civil Rights Post

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)

Kenneth Marcus will head the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights.

Formerly, he was staff director at the US Commission on Civil Rights under GW Bush.

He founded and heads the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a Washington-based NGO, seeking “to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and to promote justice for all,” it claims.

It shamefully calls anti-Semitism and “anti-Israelism” on university campuses the “leading civil and human rights challenge facing North American Jewry.”

It’s silent about longstanding Israeli high crimes of war and against humanity, its ruthless persecution of illegally occupied Palestinians, and its own Arab citizens.

It supports Israeli policies at the expense of equity and justice. Marcus is well-known for “excessive litigation against Palestine solidarity activists,” Mondoweiss explained.

He once boasted about instilling “fear” into activists critical of Israeli practices. He’s militantly against BDS activism, the most effective initiative in holding Israel accountable for its high crimes.

Markus “crusad(es) against campus Palestine solidarity activism – weaponizing Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act…prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in federal fund-assisted organizations, ie universities, ie, federal fund-assisted organizations, i.e. universities,”  Mondoweiss explained.

Arab American Institute executive director Maya Berry said for years, he used the Brandeis Center as a “vehicle by which the Civil Rights Division of the DOE has heard these Title VI complaints.” 

He litigated against activist students for Palestine justice, notably ones featuring BDS-supporting speakers on campus.

He shamefully calls honorable activism for Palestinian rights and justifiable criticism of Israel anti-Semitism, a disgraceful perversion of truth.

His Brandeis Center mission is “immuniz(ing) pro-Israeli students from criticism and punishing Palestine advocates,” said Mondoweiss, adding:

He’s “more concerned with promoting anti-Palestinian politics” than dealing with legitimate examples of anti-Semitism and hate crimes.

He opposes speech, media and academic freedom relating to honest criticism of Israeli practices.

He’s a Zionist zealot like other deplorable Trump administration officials. Criticizing Israel is the third rail of US politics.

Markus will fit in splendidly with other administration extremists – a deplorable choice for any civil rights position.

A Final Comment

A September Stanford University study titled “Safe and on the Sidelines” showed claims about campuses as hot spots of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment are baseless, saying:

“Students feel safe on campus. None of our interviewees characterized their campus as  anti-semitic.”

“They acknowledge the presence of anti-semitism, but they neither feel threatened nor targeted by it.”   

When students do feel threatened, the feeling of threat derives generally from campus activism related to the tone of debate about the Israel-Palestine conflict.”

“Most students we interviewed clearly differentiated between  what they understood to be the relatively rare expressions of true anti-semitism from what they understood as legitimate  expressions of political perspective.”

“Students reject the conflation of Jewish and Israel. They chafe…that as Jews, (they’re obligated) to support Israeli policies.”

They object to the notion that all Jews should be Zionists. They admit Israeli policies often conflict with their political values.

Zionist zealots like Markus disgracefully consider legitimate criticism of Israel anti-Semitism.

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