NYU faculty plans labor withdrawal over free speech demands

Bron: www.jpost.com
Israël , 2024-08-28 17:13:24 , JPost.com – Homepage

New York University Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine will begin refusing various forms of labor starting Monday, Labor Day in the US, unless the university meets the group’s demands relating to campus protests and free speech and assembly.

The “We Refuse” campaign is not described as a strike but as a “withdrawal” of some work activities that serve the administration and not students, according to an FAQ page from the group.

NYUFJ4P, as the group is referred to, said it’s not asking faculty to withhold from teaching, grading or holding office hours or research consultations with students. The group said faculty can refuse to participate in departmental committee assignments, service on school or university wide committees, appointments to task forces, listening sessions or other representational work for the university.

Also included can be the refusal of “explicit or implicit participation in surveillance or policing of students or colleagues” and participation in DEI initatives that attempt to “advertise or bolster NYU’s supposed commitment to inclusion or social justice, while failing to acknowledge the university’s complicity in genocide and collaboration with the NYPD.”

NYUFJ4P listed three conditions for the administration to adhere to: permanently remove NYPD from campus and reopen campus spaces including for protest; grant full amnesty for students, staff and faculty who faced disciplinary action for engaging in protests over Palestine; and publicly and consistently commit to protecting campus speech and protest, including speech and actions critical of any state, including Israel.

New York University banner (credit: NYU PHOTO BUREAU)

“Through these stipulations, put a stop to the weaponization of OEO, Title VI, and IHRA against members of the NYU community,” according to the conditions.

NYUFJ4P said it has not received a response from the administration by the August 15 deadline it requested.

“Instead, administration officials continue to avoid disclosure, issue unwarranted punishments, and misrepresent the facts of what has transpired over the last ten months. We believe university leadership has forsaken the principles of academic freedom and institutional responsibility,” according to NYUFJ4P.

Last Thursday, NYU released new student community standards which said ,“using code words, like ‘Zionist,’ does not eliminate the possibility that your speech violates the NDAH [Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment] Policy.”

This week on Tuesday, NYU released a follow-up statement saying the community standards are not a change in policy, but a reminder of policies to “provide helpful examples to guide behavior, and to set a more productive tone for the coming year.”

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“Title VI of the Civil Rights Act is clear: it is incumbent on universities to provide a climate where teaching and learning can proceed free from discrimination. Upholding individuals’ civil rights is a legal requirement, underpinning our commitment to providing all students with the same educational opportunities, regardless of their race, ethnicity, national origin, or shared ancestry,” Tuesday’s statement said. “It is through our policies—informed by guidance from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”)—that we comply with the law.”

The statement said, consistent with recent guidance from OCR and agreements that it has entered with other schools, conduct that otherwise triggers our non-discrimination and anti-harassment policy cannot be shielded by using “Zionist” as a substitute or codeword for Jew or Israeli.

“Excluding Zionists from an open event, calling for the death of Zionists, applying a ‘no Zionist’ litmus test for participation in any NYU activity, is not allowed,” according to the statement.

The statement continued, “This is not the ‘weaponization’ of a word—it is providing further guidance to our community about how our policies apply in different circumstances. Our requirement to protect all students from discrimination, harassment, or threats—regardless of their background—is aided by greater clarity.”

NYU said it is not seeking to stifle speech and that it remains fully committed to academic freedom.

“OCR has made clear that criticism and debate about particular countries is permissible, a fact we included in our document. The Guidance and Expectations document focuses on exclusionary or harassing conduct against individuals, not scholarly or public debate and commentary on particular countries or their specific policies or actions,” the statement concluded.

NYUFJ4P statement

In both a statement and in a post on X, NYUFJ4P said it was “alarmed by NYU’s updated guidance on student conduct, which sets a dangerous precedent by extending Title VI protections to anyone who adheres to Zionism, a nationalist political ideology, and equates criticism of Zionism with discrimination against Jewish people.”

NYUFJ4P said the new guidance implies that any nationalist political ideology that is integrated into some of that group’s understanding of their own racial or ethnic identity should be entitled to civil rights protections.

“This will only legitimize far-right and ethnonationalist ideologies,” the post said.

Last week at a panel in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention, OCR Assistant Secretary Catherine Lhamon said her office saw a 20% increase in the number of Title VI complaints filed.

“We are seeing a quantum of harm that we couldn’t have conceived before. What we are confirming in the investigations in the office is that these actions happen and that all too often, our schools are not standing for our kids,” Lhamon said, adding she’s proud to “disabuse any school of the notion that it does not need to act against hate.”

Lhamon said a Title VI violation would include discrimination based on stereotypes or perceptions about people based on their shared ancestry, the region of the world that they come from, or beliefs about countries that are identified by religion, “which obviously includes Israel.”

Since the release of NYU’s updated code of conduct, at least two New York congressmen have called for other universities to include anti-Zionism as discrimination.

“I am calling upon colleges and universities to follow NYU’s example in adopting a Nondiscrimination & Nonharassment policy that recognizes the insidious interrelatedness of Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrote on X.

He said, “If you are harassing, intimidating, and discriminating against Jews for whom Israel is important or essential to their identity (82% of Jews according to Pew Research), then you should be held accountable for creating a hostile environment for Jewish students.”

Rep. Dan Goldman, who introduced legislation to provide the over-stretched OCR with double the amount of funding, said on X he applauds NYU for recognizing that the term “Zionist” has become a code word and bigoted way to target Jews since October 7.

He wrote, “I hope other universities will follow suit.”

The Post reached out to a spokesperson for NYU for comment on Monday’s planned labor withdrawal.

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NYUFJ4P statement