Open Letter to Erica Green

I intended to send this message by email, although I may still have posted it here for the world to see. However, a search for how to contact Erica Green produces only places like LinkedIn. The article to which I want to respond, “Wider Definition of Judaism Is Likely to Aid Crackdown on Colleges” lists no way to contact you and is behind paywall.

In this syndicated article you suggested that most Jewish organizations are in favor of defining Judaism as more than a religion. The administration’s most recently executive order would, as you pointed out, would define Judaism as a race or a group of national origin. You did not mention that the Nazis of the Third Reich used this same definition to describe Jews. Nor did you include any viewpoint of any Jewish organization not vested in maintaining the brutal status quo in Israel.

The goal of the executive order, the administration tells us, is to combat anti-semitism. Especially anti-semitism on college campuses; thank you for providing a brief overview there and pointing out that this would cause ‘enormous confusion’ on college campuses. Although you failed to question any Jewish organization other than the conservative Zionist Organization of America, which you pointed out that Kenneth L. Marcus (the head of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, who has been pushing for this kind of legislation or order for years), as an investigator reporter you also failed to say where the definition of anti-semitism originates from.

Your bio on the New York Times article – which again, contains no contact information – mentions that you’re an investigative journalist. You can easily find out that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) promoted the definition of anti-semitism that the administration has instructed the Department of Education to now implement, and also find out that the IHRA has used the same definition against human rights activists in Britain.

Essentially, you took no time to investigate what you’re writing about . As a person that concerns me. As an American that concerns me. As a Jew who reads your writing about anti-semitism, that concerns me.