H eadlines
Agenda Continued from Page 13
Makin say that this ban is
unconstitutional. The Orthodox Union has
filed an amicus brief on behalf
of the complainant parents, and
the Anti-Defamation League is
set to file an amicus brief on
behalf of the state of Maine.

Steve Freeman, the ADL’s
vice president of civil rights
and director of legal affairs,
said that court precedent
allows public money to be
spent on religious schools
as long as it did not involve
religious instruction — for
instance, in the use of funds
for a playground. He said the
ADL, in its amicus brief, will
join arguments that public
money should not fund indoc-
trination in a faith.

Nathan Diament, the
Orthodox Union’s Washington
director, said that the distinc-
tion that the ADL is hoping
the court will uphold may be
impossible to make: There is
little that a religious institution
instructs that is not founded
in religious belief, even if the
topic is ostensibly secular, he
said. The case of the
Christian flag
The ADL and the AJC are both
considering whether to weigh
in on Boston’s rejection of a
Christian group’s request to fly
a Christian flag outside city
hall, a case known as Shurtleff
v. Boston.

The Christian group sued on
free speech grounds because the
city makes the flagpole available
to local groups for a limited
period of time. Excluding a
religious group is discrimina-
tory, the group argues.

The ADL’s Freeman said
the case is “a slam dunk
kind of question that flying a
religious flag in front of City
Hall is not consistent with
what the framers had in mind
when they adopted the First
Amendment.” The AJC’s Stern said a case
could be made that flying
a religious flag on public
grounds amounts to an
endorsement of faith, but he
was also concerned that prece-
dent might not be on the side
of church-state separation-
ists: Courts have for decades
upheld the rights of Jewish
groups (most frequently, the
Chabad-Lubavitch movement)
to position menorahs on public
property during Chanukah.

Heeding the kids from
Parkland challenging a New York state
law that only grants permits
to carry concealed handguns
outside the home if someone
can show “proper cause” for a
need for self-defense.

The Reform movement’s
Pesner said his group has
joined an amicus brief, in part
because younger Reform Jews
have made gun control a focus
since the deadly 2018 shooting
at a high school in Parkland,
Florida. There were a number
of Jewish victims killed in
the attack, and local Jews in
response took up gun reform
advocacy through Reform-
affiliated groups.

The case of the
community college crank
In Houston Community
In New York State Rifle & Pistol College System v. Wilson, a
Association v. Bruen, a gun former member of a commu-
group is joining two individuals nity college’s board of trustees
Prepare for the future and
make informed health decisions
1 in 2 Jews is at risk for being a carrier for 101
preventable Jewish genetic diseases. Screenings
are affordable, accessible, and safe.

Dr. Randi Zeitzer, family physician, provides healthcare
that honors the traditions of the Jewish community, while
advocating for the screening of Jewish genetic diseases.

Preventing Jewish Genetic Diseases is a program
of the Jewish Health Resource Center at Einstein
Einstein.edu/JHRC | 1.800.Einstein
14 OCTOBER 14, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
sued the board for passing a
resolution censuring him for
his relentless opposition to the
board’s agenda. He allegedly
leaked confidential informa-
tion, filed lawsuits against the
system and trolled the other
members’ constituents with
robocalls. Wilson said the censure
violated his right to free
speech. A lower court said that
the censure amounted to little
more than a statement and
threw out the case. Then an
appeals court reinstated it.

So why is this the single
case, so far, that the AJC is
addressing in an amicus brief?
Stern said a ruling
upholding Wilson’s claim —
that the community college
board limited his free speech
— could have dire conse-
quences for Jewish groups that
call out instances of antisem-
itism. Government officials
should have the freedom to
call people out for bad behavior
without being sued, he argued.

Upholding the right of
the undocumented to a
hearing The court is hearing two cases,
Garland v. Gonzalez and
Jonson v. Arteaga-Martinez,
in which undocumented
migrants in detention who face
dangers if they are deported
to their homeland argue that
they are entitled to a hearing
after six months to determine
whether they are eligible to be
released on bond.

HIAS, the lead Jewish
immigration advocacy group,
is tracking the cases closely,
in part because the Supreme
Court has leaned in favor of
continued detention in recent
cases, said Andrew Geibel, the
group’s policy counsel.

Geibel said the detainees
are susceptible to COVID
infection, are suffering mental
health privations and are
unable to adequately prepare
for their defense while in
detention. l
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
Ben & Jerry’s
Founders Deny
Antisemitism NATIONAL
SHIRA HANAU | JTA.ORG
IN AN INTERVIEW that aired
on HBO, both of the founders
of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
brand reiterated that they stand
behind the company’s decision
to stop selling their products in
the West Bank.

But for Jerry Greenfield,
being accused of antisemitism
is “painful.” For Ben Cohen, it’s
“absurd.” “I think Ben & Jerry’s and
Unilever are being character-
ized as boycotting Israel, which
is not the case at all. It’s not
boycotting Israel in any way,”
Greenfield said in an interview
with Axios that aired on its
HBO show Sunday night.

The Jewish duo, who
founded the company in 1978,
are no longer its owners, but
they remain the most recog-
nizable public faces of the
company. They had previ-
ously defended the West Bank
decision in a New York Times
op-ed shortly after the move
took place in July, but the Axios
interview gave them a chance
to expound on the human side
of the aftermath.

“I understand people being
upset, it’s a very emotional
issue for a lot of people and I
totally understand it, and it’s
a very painful issue for a lot of
people,” Greenfield said.

They were also asked how
it felt to be “wrapped up in
accusations of antisemitism.”
“Totally fine,” Cohen said,
laughing. “It’s absurd. What,
I’m anti-Jewish? I’m a Jew! All
my family is Jewish, my friends
are Jewish.”
Ben & Jerry’s had long been
engaged in social issues when it
decided to pull its product from
the West Bank, after months of
pressure from pro-Palestinian
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM activists in the wake of Israel’s
latest armed conflict with
Gaza. The decision prompted
calls to boycott Ben & Jerry’s
and its parent company
Unilever, along with accusa-
tions of antisemitism from
some pro-Israel activists.

The state of Arizona divested
nearly $200 million from
Unilever in September, and
several other states have since
reviewed their investments in
the conglomerate.

Unilever has also said in
public statements that it does
not believe Ben & Jerry’s is
boycotting the state of Israel,
and that it plans to keep selling
within the borders Israel estab-
lished after the Six-Day War
in 1967. However, Israeli law
outlaws business that boycotts
the West Bank, so it remains to
be seen whether the company
will be allowed to follow
through with its plan.

When asked why Ben &
Jerry’s continues to sell its ice
cream in states with policies
that are not in line with Cohen
and Greenfield’s values —
such as Texas, where access to
abortion is now limited, and
Georgia, where voting rights
have been curtailed — Cohen
did not have an answer.

“I don’t know. I mean it’s
an interesting question, I don’t
know what that would accom-
plish, we’re working on those
issues of voting rights and ...

I don’t know. I think you ask
a really good question, and I
think I’d have to sit down and
think about it for a bit,” Cohen
said. Greenfield suggested that
the answer had to do with
international law.

“One thing that’s different
is that what Israel is doing is
considered illegal by interna-
tional law, so I think that’s a
consideration,” Greenfield said. l
“They Love her
like we Love Her”
Louis Edelstein Assisted Living
at Seashore Gardens Living Center
22 w. Jimmie Leeds Rd. • Galloway Township, NJ 08205
In times like no other, we are commited to keeping your
loved ones safe and connected. This unique level of care
allows seniors to remain independent while receiving
help and care when it is needed.

schedule a tour!
Assisted Living•Skilled Nursing•Rehabilitation•Hospice•Memory Care
SHARE your engagement, wedding,
birth, Bar/Bat Mitzvah announcement
and any other simcha on both
jewishexponent.com and the weekly
Jewish Exponent newspaper for ... FREE
FREE. J E W I S H E X P O N E N T . C O M / S U B M I T - M A Z E L - T O V
JEWISH EXPONENT
OCTOBER 14, 2021
15