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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Family Research Council (FRC) and the Jewish Institute for Global Awareness issued a joint statement today questioning the Southern Poverty Law Center’s deafening silence regarding an anti-semitic incident that took place this week at Tufts University. On Monday, the Washington Free Beacon reported that the university’s Facebook page published “a student-made handbook that condemned the campus Jewish center for supporting Israel, which the guide called a ‘white supremacist state.’” University administrators later removed the handbook from its social pages.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and the Co-Directors of the Jewish Institute for Global Awareness, Arthur Goldberg and Elaine Silodor Berk, released the following joint statement:
“This week a Tufts University student-made handbook smeared a Jewish campus group for supporting what the handbook ludicrously called the 'white supremacist state' of Israel. University administrators removed the handbook after media outlets reported on the anti-Semitic incident. However, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which aims to establish itself as the preeminent authority on hate groups, made no public comment on the anti-Semitic smear. This is no surprise. Its deafening silence on incidents outside its preferred targets on the religious right cannot be ignored. While the SPLC wants to be viewed as a referee on the field of political debate, their demonization of mainstream conservatives and predictable silence on incidents like Tufts University's anti-Semitic handbook can only lead to one conclusion: the SPLC wants to be both referee and player. It's time the media recognize the SPLC for what it is ---a discredited left wing political group."
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