Florida university presidents have been instructed to scan their syllabi for material deemed antisemitic or exhibiting anti-Israeli bias following concerns raised by Rep. Randy Fine.
Republican Fine, who is Jewish and has sponsored several laws advocating for Jewish Floridians, raised concern on X in late June about a Florida International University course reportedly using a textbook that asked students, “When Israelis practice terrorism, they often refer to it as _____,” and, “In which country did the Zionists purchase land to create their new homeland?”
The book, “Terrorism and Homeland Security” by Jonathan R. White and Steven M. Chermak, was the subject of a post from the X account “Documenting Israel,” with a declared mission of “[d]ocumenting daily events in Israel relating to security, terrorism and general Jewish life.” Fine replied to the post by calling out FIU.
“I will be speaking to @FIU as soon as possible. There is no room for #MuslimTerror at Florida’s state universities,” Fine posted.
FIU replied to the original post by Documenting Israel.
I was just sent these by someone who is writing a test at @FIU (Florida International University) and see the anti-Semitic questions being asked! pic.twitter.com/hAMBxorv77
— Documenting Israel (@DocumentIsrael) June 26, 2024
Two days later, Fine posted that he was unsatisfied with the outcome of a conversation he had with FIU officials and called for more accountability.
Just over a month later, State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues sent a letter to university presidents asking them to investigate course materials and syllabi that include a list of suspect words. The letter referenced a previous meeting he had with presidents discussing the matter.
The letter, sent in advance of the fall semester, asked that course materials and syllabi that include the words Israel, Israeli, Palestine, Palestinian, Middle East, Zionism, Zionist, Judaism, Jewish, or Jews be reviewed.
Rodrigues said in his letter that some universities indicated it would not be feasible to search materials before the school year starts and that faculty review of the courses should be complete by the end of the fall semester.
“The most important thing is that we get this right,” Rodrigues wrote.
Once a course has been reviewed and all instances of antisemitism and anti-Israel bias have been flagged, universities must report their findings to the chancellor’s office, Rodrigues instructed.
The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Rodrigues for the order and urged Floridians “to stand up for our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and for academic freedom in our public university system.”
“It is logical to assume that any courses that are ‘flagged for review’ will be scrubbed of any criticism of the genocidal Israeli government and especially its military,” said Imam Abdullah Jaber, the Florida chapter’s executive director, in a news release.
CAIR’s stated mission is “to defend the civil rights of Florida’s Muslim community and to promote a more just and equitable society for all.”
Fine indicated his displeasure with Cengage, the book’s publisher, on X.
Heading home. Looking forward to lighting a big bonfire for @CengageLearning products in Florida. #BurnAway
— Rep. Randy Fine (@VoteRandyFine) June 30, 2024
The book is no longer listed on Cengage’s website. The link for the book leads to a page stating, “We’re sorry, no results found.” Cengage did not respond to questions about when and why the book is no longer posted on its website.
FIU’s Barnes & Noble course material website states the book is not available for purchase.
According to the website, the book “provides a theoretical and conceptual framework that enables you to understand how terrorism arises and functions.”
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, legislators at the state and local level have led antisemitism-addressing legislation, including two Fine bills signed days before he raised this book-based concern. The measures authorize enhanced security outside Jewish day schools and adopt a definition of antisemitism that includes “[m]aking mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jewish individuals as such or the power of Jewish people as a collective, such as the myth of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy or of Jewish individuals controlling the media, economy, government, or other societal institutions.”
The declared intention is “to assist in the monitoring and reporting of anti-Semitic hate crimes and discrimination and to make residents aware of and to combat such incidents in this state.”
Rick G says
Hello 1984
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
Man, the republicans and democrats sure seem to be ok with a foreign power dictating the actions of the american people.
Deborah Coffey says
So, Fine is anti-Muslim (#no room for Muslim terror) but pro-Israel no matter how that country is behaving. And, he believes everything he reads on X! I’m all for anti-semitism, but Mr. Fine despises Muslims at the same time. Is there a word for that hatred?
Kennan says
Conflation.
Conflation.
Conflation.
Mr. fine seems to be using”mis-direction” as a tactic to gain support for Israel support that opens the door to more”warcrimes” and genocidal behavior while cleverly, putting Muslim and terrorism together to elicit a reaction.
A very dishonest platform. History and facts may not always align with your beliefs, but to deny these things as well as robust debate are one of the most un-American things you could do.
There is no denying that antisemitism exists in the world. The current climate, especially in terms of”Gaza” and the deep unpopularity of the way, the genocide is being handled, make officials on the Israeli side of the fence cry antisemitism to stifle any debate, conversation or questions.
Jews,Israelis,and Zionists are very very different entities. A Jew, Israeli, and especially as Zionist can be extremely anti-Semitic based on their behavior.
This is a very disturbing Orwellian trend that has been manifested and cultivated by a broken Middle East policy, as well as a very biased support for Israel. Support for Israel at all cost no matter what.
Nobody condones October 7, but to deny the most most documented genocide in history since that time forward is dishonest and racist.
One more time. Palestinians are not Hamas. Arabs are not terrorists.
I’m pretty sure our friend Mr. Fine is well aware of this, but because of the growing unpopularity with the treatment of Gosens by an unbridled IDF and Netanyahu, makes it increasingly hard to justify what has been done for almost a year now. Coming in the side door and using tropes of antisemitism to try to miss direct, people into not thinking about what they see in front of their eyes is a very disingenuous and laughable attempt to sensor people.
Kennan says
Anti-semitism is a very real thing, but when it is used to subjugate real voices,real facts,and ultimately real people….Then we are lost.
Representative Fine says he is advocating for the Jewish population. Timing is important. What he is really doing is running cover for Israel.
The last 10 months have given the world a wake-up call of sorts. Everyone should know that October 7, 2023 was a horrible day and was condemned by everyone.
Israel doubled, tripled, and quadrupled down on its response to a terrorist act and used Hamas as an excuse to kill everyone in Gaza.
Representative Fine exactly how unpopular this genocide is, and he uses a very dishonest platform to gain support by using #’s like Muslim terror to misdirect people into equating terror with Muslims, which ultimately equates terrorism with Arabs, which ultimately tries to sell genocide as a necessary evil in Gaza. It conflates Hamas with Palestinians.
This can be a very affective tactic to push “INDUSTRIAL TERRORISM” to a public that is by and large ignorant to the history of Gaza and the Middle East in general.
Fine is using the accusation of Anti- Semitism to stop any conversation. To profit from the hoped fears of people and institutions that would rather play along than be labeled Anti-Semites.
SHAMEFUL.