By Morton Klein
As a two-degree alumnus of Temple University in Philadelphia, and as president of the Zionist Organization of America, I cannot remain silent regarding the recent appointment of Jason Wingard — the chair of the anti-Israel, antisemitic Tides Foundation — to be Temple University’s next president.
The Tides Foundation has been funding and elevating organizations and individuals who demonize Israel, support terrorists, lead anti-Israel boycott campaigns, lead lawfare attacks on Israel and Jews and oppose the Jewish state’s very existence. Temple must rescind this appointment so that Wingard can’t bring Tides’ hateful ideology to Temple’s 37,000 students, potentially via appointing anti-Israel, Jew-hating deans and faculty and programming. Wingard is still listed as a Tides Center board member.
Under Wingard’s chairmanship, Tides has been funding the following hateful groups:
The Arab Resource & Organizing Center: AROC is a vicious anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions organization. AROC’s ongoing BDS campaigns include violently and unlawfully blocking numerous U.S. ports, and harassing and attacking American dockworkers to prevent cargo ships operated by an Israel-based company (ZIM) from unloading medical supplies and other items.
Adalah Justice Project USA: AJP is another leading anti-Israel demonization and BDS organization that defends terrorists. Adalah USA also lobbies for sanctions against Israel; falsely claims that Israel is mistreating Palestinian “children” when Israel arrests 17-year-old Arabs who murder innocent Israelis; falsely likens Israelis to police who murder Black Americans; and falsely accuses Israel of “indiscriminate war crimes” and similar demonization. Adalah and Tides collaborator, Dream Defenders, co-authored the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL, the parent of Black Lives Matter BLM) platform, which falsely states Israel is a genocidal, apartheid state and promotes anti-Israel BDS. BLM leaders publicly state that their goal is Israel’s destruction.
Palestine Legal: Palestine Legal promotes “mock eviction” campaigns to terrorize Jewish students on college campuses; mounts numerous anti-Israel “lawfare” campaigns; defends hate groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine; advocates against anti-BDS laws; and participates in anti-Israel “days of rage” in U.S. cities.
Dream Defenders: Tides also boasts that it has a “radical collaboration” with and works closely with DD, which is intertwined with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. DD promotes the PFLP in educational materials, and sponsors anti-Israel trips to “Palestine” to demonstrate and work with PFLP operatives.
Tides’ website moreover prominently features articles entitled, “Meet These Extraordinary Palestinian Leaders.” Here, Tides promotes anti-Israel leaders such as AROC Executive Director Lisa Kiswani and AJP Executive Director Sandra Tamari.
Kiswani’s documented long list of ugly activities include demonizing Israel and America; promoting BDS; co-founding hate group SJP, and stating at a BDS conference, displayed on YouTube, that “bringing down Israel really will benefit everyone in the world, everyone in society.”
Tamari likewise has a long, documented record of antisemitic activity, including glorifying PFLP terrorist Rasmea Odeh (convicted for murdering two Jewish students); agitating against Israel; leading BDS activities, including co-chairing the steering committee of the leading U.S. BDS group, and more.
It is virtually impossible that Wingard was unaware of, and did not approve of Tides’ support for these antisemitic, anti-Israel hate groups and leaders.
I understand that the Temple board never questioned Wingard about his leadership of Tides before offering him Temple’s presidency — a shocking lack of due diligence for a major university. The ongoing controversy over Temple’s continuing refusal to fire Professor Marc Lamont Hill — who calls for ending Israel’s existence and has attempted to justify murdering Jews — should have made the university especially sensitive and careful to avoid giving Temple’s presidency to someone likely to magnify the harm Hill has done to the university’s students and reputation.
This situation can only be rectified by the leadership of Temple University immediately rescinding the offer to Jason Wingard. l
Morton Klein is president of the Zionist Organization of America, the oldest pro-Israel group in the U.S. Klein is a resident in the Philadelphia area.
Hard to believe that the once great Temple university would stoop so low that it would hire an anti-Semite like Jason Wingard to be it’s next president. This is the best you could find to lead your university? Hard to believe.
ZOA should circulate a petition requesting reconsideration by Temple University leadership of this flagrant insult to the Jewish community
I find it hard to believe that with the number of Jewish Temple alumni in the Philadelphia article that I, a nun-alum is the 3rd person to comment. Looks like the Temple Jewish alumni need to be woke.
Shocking appointment. So many wonderful, gifted Jewish graduates, faculty, and supporters of Temple, and now they have hired an definite anti-Semite. It’s incredible.
Disgraceful choice , it’s no puzzle that given the leftist ideology rampant in universities this occurred .
But it was not his anti-semitism that led to his downfall , it was his glaring incompetence as an administrator.