Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, slammed the nation’s second-largest teachers union on Friday for failing to address antisemitism and marginalizing its Jewish members.
In a letter to Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the senator alleged that the union is “fostering a culture of antisemitism that alienates Jewish members of your community.”
The senator wrote that Todd Wolfson, one of nearly 45 AFT vice presidents, has overseen repeated instances of “organizational antisemitism.” (JNS sought comment from the union.)
“On Aug. 19, Inside Higher Ed published an interview in which Dr. Wolfson described the ‘weaponization of antisemitism,’” Cassidy wrote. “The former president of the University of California said this characterization ‘gaslights Jews, minimizing the alarms that Jewish communities have raised about discrimination on campus.’”
Wolfson is also president of the American Association of University Professors and an associate professor at Rutgers University.
The AAUP leader has made “explicitly political statements,” including that the association believes “strongly that no weapons should be sent to Israel” and referring to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance “a fascist,” Cassidy wrote. “Advocating a political position as the president of an academic association stifles the voices of members who may think differently.”
The letter also contends that in the past six months, the AAUP has failed to address concerns about a webinar it held in March titled “Scholasticide in Palestine.” The Anti-Defamation League and Academic Engagement Network stated that Jewish and Zionist members of the union thought the organization was becoming “virulently anti-Israel” and created a hostile environment.
“Jewish faculty members deserve to carry out their work free from discrimination,” Cassidy wrote. “As an association with a national presence, it is concerning that AFT has not only failed to help solve this problem but has made it worse by allowing Dr. Wolfson to continue to serve in a leadership role.”
The letter asks Weingarten to respond to four questions about how the union is combating Jew-hatred and if she will condemn Wolfson’s description of the U.S. vice president as a fascist.
