NEW YORK – Leaders of the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of
Anti-Semitism (YIISA) at Yale University were notified last week that the center
was to be closed at the end of July, sparking a fierce round of objections,
suspicions and conjectures in the US Jewish community,
The Jerusalem Post has
learned.
The Yale Initiative is intended to research international
origins and manifestations of anti-Semitism, as well as other forms of
prejudice. As part of Yale’s Institution for Social and Policy Studies, the
initiative also disseminates its findings and research to contribute to policy
discussions.
RELATED:Yale expands YIISA center
The program was the first US-based institute to research
global anti-Semitism, ranging from anti-Israel and anti-Zionism manifestations
thereof to other forms of hatred expressed against Jews.
“The short story
is this initiative, directed by a non-faculty instructor, was found in its
routine faculty review to not have met its academic expectations and has been
canceled,” Thomas Mattia of Yale’s Office of Public Affairs told the Post. “This
singular action should be viewed in the context of all the continuing work in
Hebrew studies at Yale and the provost’s pledge to fund other studies in the
area of anti-Semitism.”
Sources who preferred to remain anonymous,
however, said the closing of the center resulted from the center’s politically
incorrect activities – that is, taking Muslims to task for anti- Semitic and
anti-Jewish sentiments.
Yale, sources conjectured, had been angling to
mend fences with the Middle Eastern Muslim population, and the Yale Initiative
was a thorn in the university’s side.
Abraham Foxman, national director
of the Anti-Defamation League, said the center’s closure was particularly
disappointing in light of the recent upward trends in anti-Semitism around the
world.
“Whatever purported issues and problems arose regarding the Yale
Interdisciplinary Center, what was required was a concerted effort to work out
the problems rather than ending the program,” Foxman said in a statement.
“Especially at a time when anti-Semitism continues to be virulent and
anti-Israel parties treat any effort to address issues relating to anti-Zionism
and anti-Semitism as illegitimate, Yale’s decision is particularly unfortunate
and dismaying.
“The decision to end the Center was a bad one on its own
terms, but it is even worse because it leaves the impression that the
anti-Jewish forces in the world achieved a significant victory,” Foxman
said.
Lobbying efforts are apparently under way to get Yale to reconsider
its decision, sources said.
“We hope Yale will review this unfortunate
decision so that YIISA’s critical work can continue,” American Jewish Committee
Executive Director David Harris said.
“In our experience working with
YIISA, AJC has been impressed by the level of scholarly discourse, the
involvement of key faculty, and the initiative’s ability, through conferences
and other programs, to bring a wide range of voices to the Yale
campus.”
The Yale Initiative has been an important resource for
understanding anti-Semitism, especially in its contemporary manifestations,
Harris said.
“YIISA has made considerable contributions to the study of
this immense contemporary challenge and lent Yale’s considerable reputation to
an issue that remains quite serious,” he said. “If Yale now leaves the field, it
will create a very regrettable void.”
Other activists working against
anti-Semitism agreed.
“This is a big deal and a major travesty,” Ken
Marcus, director of the Initiative to Combat Anti- Semitism and Anti-Israelism
in America’s Educational Systems at the Institute for Jewish and Community
Research, told the Post. “YIISA was the most important university-based
anti-Semitism research institution in North America. The decision to close it
was clearly political, and it smells very bad. I hope it gets wide attention.”