Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, federally funded schools must provide Jewish students with a learning environment that is both physically and emotionally safe.  It is the responsibility of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and administrators of their respective Tennessee university campuses to ensure the enforcement of state and federal laws, like Title VI, as well as their own rules and regulations of student conduct and hold violators accountable, even as it pertains to hateful and offensive speech.

In 2015, the Tennessee State Legislature adopted a resolution condemning the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement establishing that BDS is a manifestation of anti-Semitism on college campuses.  In the context of the acceleration of the rise of anti-Semitism on college campuses, the State Legislature should determine whether all state and local laws, campus regulations and codes of conduct for students on our state campuses are being enforced.

In November 2015, PJTN was instrumental in pushing for state legislation against the rising anti-Semitic BDS Movement peddled by organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) that calls for the boycott and eventual dismantling of the Jewish State. Recent media reports have indicated that vile anti-Semitic hate crimes continue to increase on Tennessee campuses despite legislation that was passed to curb these deplorable incidents.

Members of organizations like SJP on Tennessee campuses have taken to social media to celebrate the recent wave of Palestinian terrorism in Israel, in addition to peddling age-old anti-Semitic conspiracies against Jews.  Organizations like SJP are renowned nationwide for using violent attacks and intimidation tactics to silence Jewish and Christian Zionist students and diminish their rights to a safe and secure educational environment.  PJTN is calling on the legislative and university authorities to closely monitor the activities of these groups on campuses across the state. 

Last month, Cardoza-Moore met with State Senator Dolores Gresham, Chairman of the Senate Education Committee to update her on the recent alarming developments.  Senator Gresham stated, "On the heels of the passage of Tennessee's landmark resolution condemning the BDS movement and groups like SJP, we will not tolerate anti-Semitism to flourish in our educational system.  Whether it is in our secondary schools, or schools of higher learning, the Constitutional rights of all students will be protected by providing a safe learning environment for our students to excel.  No individual will be denied that right."

In 2012, to combat the growth of anti-Semitic teaching materials in secondary schools' classrooms, Ms. Cardoza-Moore launched a campaign to remove a Pearson Human Geography textbook that contained an anti-Semitic quote from a Williamson County School. The quote legitimized Palestinian homicide bombers murdering Jews in a Jerusalem restaurant because "they were waging a war against Israeli government policies and army actions". In 2013, while picking her daughter up from a Williamson County middle school, two students raised their hands to salute Hitler as an anti-Semitic gesture in response to a pro-Israel bumper sticker on her vehicle.

Laurie Cardoza-Moore commented: "There is no doubt that anti-Semitism is growing in Tennessee's education system.  Is it due to the indoctrination of our children in our textbooks and instructional materials statewide?  With the alarming increase in incidents of anti-Semitism in colleges and universities across the United States, this is a wake-up call for Tennessee.  As Tennesseans, we are unwilling to wait until anti-Semitic hate spills over into anti-Semitic incitement, violence, and bloodshed on Tennessee university campuses. No student should be made to feel intimidated, or unwelcome on our campuses. The Volunteer State has always led the way in the fight against hate and bigotry, now is the time to uphold state legislation against the anti-Semitic BDS Movement and confront this hate head-on".

ABOUT PJTN: Proclaiming Justice to The Nations (PJTN), a 501c3 non-profit organization, was established to educate Christians about their Biblical responsibility to stand with their Jewish brethren and Israel, utilizing powerful film and video presentations, a variety of grassroots rallies, events and speaking engagements to facilitate dialogue between the Christian and Jewish communities in support of the State of Israel and against global genocidal anti-Semitism. In recent months the organization has led the struggle against BDS in America with a wave of state resolutions and the upcoming release of a new documentary film that will expose the truth behind the BDS movement.