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Washington D.C. –  Since the New Tolerance Campaign (NTC) launched its latest campaign on Jan 17., nearly 5,000 Americans have signed a petition calling on 120 members of Congress to walk back their unwarranted gushing letters of praise they sent to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Given the stakes of America’s legislators putting support behind such a troubling group, many notable influencers have promoted the petition, including Clinton accuser-turned activist Juanita Broaddrick, Parkland survivor Kyle Kashuv, and author and activist Andrew Pollack. In addition to providing a way for concerned Americans to tell Congress directly that they shouldn’t be endorsing CAIR, NTC is sending “CAIR Bears” (Care Bear toys) to the offices of eight key Members of Congress for each 1,000 petition signatures we receive. We already have 4 rounds of bears on their way to the Hill, and more are eagerly waiting to be shipped out.  This effort is critical as CAIR has spent 25 years giving a platform to people with unapologetic anti-Semitic views. The group was an unindicted co-conspirator in one of our country’s largest terrorism financing trials, and continues to voice support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. The 25th anniversary gala, where the letters were presented, was headlined by Linda Sarsour, who was recently removed from the Women’s March leadership team because of her blatant anti-Semitism, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has been praised by white supremacist leader David Duke for an on-going streak of anti-Semitic comments that have shaken Congress.  In light of the campaign’s momentum, New Tolerance Campaign issued the following statement: “It is hard to believe that these 120 Members of Congress are all ignorant of CAIR’s problematic history. While America is a free country and they can endorse whomever they like, they are making a grave mistake elevating a group like CAIR. Doing so demonstrates terrible judgment and leadership. It is imperative that they stand against racism in all forms and retract their support rather than enable it as they’ve done by sending these letters. Anything less is un-American. We are encouraged that so many have already taken a stand by signing the petition, and optimistic that our elected officials will choose to do the right thing.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington, D.C. – New Tolerance Campaign is mobilizing concerned citizens to call on Time Magazine to rewrite an article that badly mischaracterizes the situation with Soleimani and Iran. The article by Time for Kids’ executive editor, Jaime Joyce, called “How to Talk to Your Kids About the Situation with Iran” has received negative attention for its truly terrible job explaining the facts and the one-sided picture it paints. In the name of responsible journalism that presents the full picture truthfully, especially when it comes from a noteworthy magazine that aims to shape young American minds, Time for Kids must rewrite the article from the perspective of a genuine desire to educate. Should Qasem Soleimani have been killed by American action? Joyce seems to believe the answer is “no” and has written an article for parents on how they can explain this to their kids. President Trump’s decision is falsely portrayed as poorly received by anyone who matters, and a reasonably adequate explanation of why Soleimani is considered a terrorist is avoided altogether. Instead, Joyce has written a bogusly even-handed article that gives parents a one-sided playbook for casting doubt on an event that many around the world, including many in Iran, have reacted to as historically positive. Joyce points out that the death of Soleimani “is a difficult topic to explain to kids.” Problem is, it’s harder if one avoids details, as she does. Whether one believes that the assassination was justified, making that judgment requires knowing the objective and well-known facts which Joyce chose not to include: Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, and over 600 American military members. The problems begin right away with Joyce’s description of Soleimani, who was far more than “a top military leader in Iran,” as she oversimplifies it. He was the man who had been directing military action in Iraq, Syria, Gaza, and elsewhere for more than a decade, representing conflicts in which hundreds of thousands have been killed, including Americans, with no end in sight. Soleimani wrote to then US General David Petraeus in 2008, informing him that “you should know that I, Qasem Soleimani, control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan.” The Washington Post recently noted that “According to the Defense Department under both Trump and Barack Obama, Iran’s activity in Iraq included the provision of and training on several weapons systems deployed against Americans and Iraqis.” Regarding American deaths, the US government’s most recent estimate is 608. Further, Soleimani was more than just a crusader against the West. His role in fomenting the Syrian civil war has also been well reported, with many attributing Bashar al-Assad’s hard-earned and horrific success to Soleimani’s support and direct, routine intervention. The current death toll estimate of the conflict is 400,000. Yet the word “Syria” does not appear in Joyce’s article even once. It is easy to notice that Joyce likely disagrees with the decision to assassinate Soleimani. She presents the decision by President Trump in the light of how some people have reacted negatively to it but has left out any of the many examples of agreement that followed the event. Joyce also avoids pointing to the significant evidence of support among Iranians for Soleimani’s death that immediately followed it, and proactively perpetuated the myth that Iran is a country in collective morning. Maybe Joyce believes that America’s children can’t handle the truth. But at NTC, we believe our kids are resilient, and must not be coddled by being told the blandest version of a semi-truth, as Joyce has done. Time for Kids and Joyce must immediately revise their explainer to include some of the ample evidence of Soleimani’s character and a representative description of the reactions in Iran and around the world. They owe it to America as journalists to be responsible and present the full picture, especially when dealing with such an important issue.

For Immediate Release Jan. 7, 2020 In response to a Jersey City School Board Member’s anti-Semitic comments, last week New Tolerance Campaign began mobilizing concerned citizens to send messages to Jersey City’s Mayor and Board of Education calling on Board Member Joan Terrell Paige to resign. Terrell-Paige posted a now-deleted diatribe against the Jewish community after the December 10th shooting that took place at a local kosher market, calling some Jews “brutes” and sympathizing with the shooters. She has not apologized and refuses to resign. So far, over 550 principled people (and rapidly counting!) have joined the NTC effort to force Terrell-Paige’s resignation. Already, we have seen progress. Following weeks of silence and inaction, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop responded to an NTC activist, affirming that “We will continue to put pressure and look for avenues as I feel it is unacceptable what [Terrell-Paige] said.” Later, he published a tweet on Jan 3rd reiterating that he viewed her words as anti-Semitic.  We applaud Mayor Fulop for continuing to take a stand and have removed him from our list of people that we ask our supporters to contact. Nevertheless, NTC will not let this issue fall off the radar! After this small early victory for the campaign, NTC has decided to enlist our members’ help in asking U.S. Senator Cory Booker to show principled leadership and support her resignation. This past Thursday, a candlelight vigil was held in Terrell Paige’s honor. Since then, supporters have swarmed a Board of Education meeting to back her. This is an astonishing display of support for blatant anti-Semitism from a community leader. What a terrible example for the school system that Terrell Paige is supposed to lead! With that in mind, NTC is calling on U.S. Senator Cory Booker to weigh in. As both a national figure and a representative of the state of New Jersey, we must provide the leadership needed to clarify that bigotry is fundamentally unacceptable and that our community leaders must be held to the highest standards of tolerance. The campaign can be found here. NTC is encouraged by the support we have received so far and will continue to put pressure on Terrell-Paige to resign. ###

Anti-Semitism is alive and well on the Jersey City Board of Education. One board member was given a free pass after posting an anti-Semitic rant following an anti-Semitic shooting. Jersey City Jewish students should not have to be concerned that the officials running their schools view them as “brutes” or deserving of violent attacks. That’s why New Tolerance Campaign is calling on all decent Americans to stand with Jersey City’s Jewish students and faculty by calling for the resignation of  Board of Education member Joan Terrell-Paige.    Terrell-Paige made her anti-Semitic comments in response to the December 10th shooting at a kosher market in Greenville, NJ. Two shooters killed a police officer and three others in the attack which authorities said was ”fueled by both anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement beliefs.” In discussing the attack on Facebook, Terrell-Paige used classic anti-Semitic tropes to accuse the local Jewish community of marginalizing the local black community, finishing her post by asking “Are we brave enough explore the answer to [the shooters’] message?” The Facebook post is now deleted, but @ReaganBattalion posted a screenshot on Twitter:    Initially, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and NJ Gov. Phil Murphy joined many voices in calling for Terrell-Paige’s resignation. According to CNN, outgoing Board President Sudhan Thomas said he was going to request Terrell-Paige’s resignation at the next school board meeting, but the meeting was then canceled for vague “potential security risks” and Sudhan’s time in office ended at the close of 2019.   Since then, Jersey City officials have been strangely silent, but we have not forgotten that an anti-Semite sits on the school’s education board. NTC is calling on all concerned citizens to make sure Terrell-Paige resigns by sending messages to the full School Board (including Terrell-Paige) and Mayor Fulop demanding that they continue to push for her resignation.    Anti-Semitism has no place in our nation, and especially not in our public schools. Terrell-Paige must go!   View the campaign here: https://bit.ly/366R82k 

Photo of Naomi Mathew, courtesy of Rivera Eye Photography for FIRE The New Tolerance Campaign is launching a campaign in support of the free speech rights of Naomi Mathew, a student at Truman State University who had her application to start a student group associated with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) denied by the school because of the “’emotional risk’ of ‘hostile’ confrontations and the ‘reputational risk’ of associating with PETA.” In denying the application, Truman State appears to be denying Mathew’s First Amendment rights. This decision must be reversed.  On Tuesday, December 10th, Mathew and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) pushed back. In a detailed letter to Truman State President Dr. Susan Thomas, FIRE outlines the problematic history of Truman State’s administration in denying almost half of prospective clubs, including “ones advocating for first-generation college students, transgender students, children with cancer, and more.”   In the press release announcing the effort, FIRE’s Lindsie Rank said that “Truman State can’t reject student groups just because it doesn’t like what they might say, or what others may say in response. The law is clear: Naomi Mathew and her fellow students are free to exercise their First Amendment freedoms without a university committee making subjective decisions behind closed doors about what students can and can’t handle.”   The FIRE letter to Truman President Dr. Thomas concludes by requesting that she confirm by December 20th that Truman State will recognize Mathew’s group, Animal Alliance, and “suspend use of subjective criteria for evaluating recognition of student organizations.”  NTC couldn’t agree more. Universities and colleges are instrumental in the intellectual maturation of future generations, and efforts they make to stifle legitimate and legal speech sends the absolute wrong message to their students. Join NTC in supporting Mathew’s right to free speech. Tell Truman State President Dr. Thomas to approve Animal Alliance and revise the criteria for recognizing student organizations to eliminate risks of violating students’ First Amendment rights.  ###