December 13, 2024 | 12 Kislev 5785
Candlelighting 4:36 p.m. | Havdalah 5:39 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 50 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
WZO vice chairman visits Pittsburgh
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University of Pittsburgh creates Working Group on Antisemitism
What the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria means for Israel
University of Pittsburgh students encamped outside the Cathedral of Learning.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and other Israeli officials at the Syrian border on Dec. 8, 2024.
WZO vice chairman visits Pittsburgh Page 6
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Award Winner
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F Dor Hadash wins award for helping immigrants Page 8
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or many, the Dec. 4 announcement by University of Pittsburgh Faculty Assembly President Robin Kear came as a surprise. During the assembly’s final meeting of the fall 2024 semester, Kear announced the creation of a university level Working Group on Antisemitism. The new body, which has a two-year mandate, replaces the ad hoc committee on antisemitism that had been proposed by Kear and Vice President Kristin Kanthak during their Nov. 16 faculty assembly meeting. A resolution for the ad hoc committee had been introduced at last month’s faculty assembly meeting but was tabled after a motion by Bridget Keown, co-chair of the assembly’s Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Advocacy Committee. Keown asked for more time to allow EIADAC and other committees to review the proposal and make recommendations they deemed necessary, including requiring the ad hoc committee to create a definition of antisemitism before it began its work. “We have decided to withdraw that resolution
in favor of a different, broader direction that I believe is beneficial,” Kear said, introducing the working group. “It is authorized by the chancellor, the provost, and it is in collaboration with the university senate president.” The new working group, she said, will engage proactively with the university and broader Pittsburgh community to “analyze and help address antisemitism, demonstrating our steadfast commitment to combating antisemitism and fostering an inclusive environment where all community members feel valued and respected.” Kear said that the group is charged with assessing and analyzing the state of antisemitism at the university within a national context, with particular attention to Western Pennsylvania and the city of Pittsburgh and will assess the school’s role in addressing this challenge. It will examine university procedures, programs and support systems and explore options for improving their development, implementation and enforcement. The working group will consider the role of off-campus actors and events on the Please see Antisemitism, page 22
Koby Gideon/Israeli Government Press Office
Ben Sales | JTA
S
yrian dictator Bashar Assad has fled the country and his government has fallen to rebels, a swift and stunning collapse after more than a decade of civil war. The country is now enveloped in joy and turmoil as hundreds of thousands of refugees stream home, political prisoners go free and Syrians — along with the rest of the world — wonder what’s next. Also wrapped up in uncertainty: Syria’s neighbor and longtime adversary, Israel. Assad’s fall came after several of his regional partners have been weakened in Israel’s multi-front war, which began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, invasion. Israeli troops entered a buffer zone with Syria over the weekend and its planes have reportedly begun bombing Syrian chemical weapons facilities and other targets. Beyond that, Israeli leaders are broadcasting optimism about the fall of Assad, a key Iranian ally, while girding themselves for the ascension of the jihadist-linked Please see Syria, page 22
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