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Naïs (1945) - Raymond Leboursier
nais, raymond leboursier 1945
By Susan B. Tuchman, Esq. and Morton A. Klein (March 7, 2025 / USA Today) With antisemitism growing at an alarming rate across the world, in
By Susan B. Tuchman, Esq. and Morton A. Klein
With antisemitism growing at an alarming rate across the world, including in K-12 schools, it is indefensible that the National Association of Independent Schools, or NAIS — the largest association of independent schools — is contributing to the problem. Its recent “People of Color” Conference, attended by approximately 8,000 educators and students and touted as its prized commitment to equity and justice in teaching and learning, turned into what some described as a “festival of Jew hate.” Yet to date, NAIS has failed to condemn the antisemitism expressed at the conference, let alone acknowledge it.
NAIS prominently featured Dr. Suzanne Barakat as the keynote speaker at the conference, who used her podium to falsely and offensively accuse Israel of “genocide.” Had she been truthful, Barakat would have lodged the genocide accusation against Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist group that is openly committed to destroying Israel and murdering every Jew. Barakat not only downplayed Hamas’s slaughter, rape and mutilation of bodies in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but also rationalized the terrorist group’s atrocities. Instead of using her microphone to educate the audience of teachers and students about the historical fact that Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel going back thousands of years, Barakat labeled Jews as “colonists” and disgracefully stated that Israel was “founded on ethnocentric superiority and an inherently systemically racist framework.”
Almost more troubling than Barakat’s antisemitic speech was the response to it: Thousands of educators at the conference, who teach at some of our country’s most prestigious schools, stood up and cheered.
Barakat was blatantly violating NAIS’s commitment to equity and justice in teaching and learning, but not a single NAIS official intervened to stop her — as someone surely would and should have had any speaker used NAIS’s platform to demonize Blacks, Asians, Muslims or any other ethnic or racial group, with lies. To date, NAIS has not condemned Barakat for abusing the platform she was given to fuel already soaring antisemitism.
That was not the end of the hate and misinformation at NAIS’s conference. The closing speaker, Dr. Ruha Benjamin, continued the attack on Israel and the Jewish people. Benjamin repeated the false “genocide” accusation against Israel and denied Israel’s right to defend itself — again, shamefully to the applause of the crowd. Despite marketing the conference as a “safe space” for people of “all backgrounds,” NAIS was sending the message that the conference was a safe place for everyone but Jews.
The impact on Jewish students and educators who attended NAIS’s conference was devastating. One student reported that he and other students “felt so targeted, so unsafe, that we tucked our Magen Davids [Stars of David] in our shirts and walked out as those around us glared and whispered.” A teacher described the experience as “like being punched in the gut.” These reactions were understandable: An association supposedly dedicated to inclusivity and inspiring excellence in education had instead helped to indoctrinate thousands of teachers and students to hate Israel and Jews, based on lies.
After the conference, four national Jewish communal organizations complained to NAIS that the conference “normalized” antisemitism. Debra P. Wilson, NAIS’s president, immediately responded, expressing her “profound remorse” to the four Jewish groups. She assured them that changes to NAIS’s speaker selection and content review processes were underway. NAIS also posted “an important note” on its website referring to its exchange with the four Jewish organizations. But the note downplayed the Jew- and Israel-hatred expressed at the conference, chalking it up simply to “divisive and hurtful comments expressed on stage.” NAIS did not condemn the comments or even acknowledge them as antisemitic.
Remorse is not enough
Especially at this frightening time of rising antisemitism, NAIS must do more and without further delay. It must send a forceful message directly to all its member schools and associations of schools, condemning the conference speakers by name who abused their platforms to attack Israel and Jews with falsehoods. NAIS must condemn their speech as antisemitic and explain why it is antisemitic. NAIS must also apologize for failing to fulfill its values and assure its members that it will never again promote or tolerate antisemitism, including when it is masked as criticism of Zionism or Israel.
In addition, NAIS should use its platform to educate and empower its members by encouraging them to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, including the definition’s examples of contemporary antisemitism. The IHRA definition is so widely accepted in the United States and around the world for good reason: It’s an excellent tool for understanding how antisemitism is expressed today, including related to Israel. NAIS should emphasize to its members that they cannot expect to address antisemitism effectively if they do not understand this bigotry in all its manifestations.
In the wake of NAIS’s hateful and hurtful “People of Color” Conference, a remorseful letter to four Jewish groups is woefully inadequate.
December 18, 2024 VIA EMAIL Ms. Debra P. Wilson President, National Association of Independent Schools 2001 K Street NW, Suite 1150 Washingt
by Morton A. Klein and Susan B. Tuchman
Ms. Debra P. Wilson President, National Association of Independent Schools 2001 K Street NW, Suite 1150 Washington, D.C. 20006
Dear Ms. Wilson:
We write on behalf of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), the oldest pro-Israel organization in the U.S. and a leader in the fight against antisemitism in schools and on college campuses. We know that four of our fellow Jewish communal organizations wrote to you on December 11, 2024, to communicate their concern about the antisemitism that was expressed and applauded at the NAIS People of Color Conference, which took place on December 4-7, 2024. We also know that you immediately responded, expressing remorse for the “divisive and hurtful rhetoric” of NAIS’s speakers, and indicating that changes to NAIS’s speaker selection and content review processes were underway.
While we appreciate your immediate and positive response, what occurred at the conference was horrifying and the impact was serious, far-reaching, and even dangerous. As you know, the NAIS conference felt hostile, unwelcoming and even unsafe for many Jewish participants, compelling some of them to leave early and some to hide their Stars of David out of sheer fear. We strongly believe that NAIS must take additional steps to send an unequivocal and more powerful message to its members and to the public: that NAIS will not tolerate antisemitism in any form – including when it is masked as criticism of Zionism or Israel – and that NAIS is truly committed to “the rights of every individual to belong and flourish,” including Jews.
As our colleagues’ letter to you described, the keynote speaker at the conference, Dr. Suzanne Barakat, abused the platform that NAIS gave her to demonize Israel. In her remarks to the approximately 8,000 educators and students who attended the NAIS conference, Dr. Barakat falsely and offensively accused Israel of “genocide” when in fact it is the terrorist group Hamas that is openly committed – as reflected in its charter – to the destruction of Israel and the murder of every Jew. Rather than condemn Hamas and its massacre of over 1,200 men, women and children in Israel on October 7, 2023, Dr. Barakat not only downplayed the slaughters, the rapes and the mutilation of bodies by Hamas terrorists, but also reportedly rationalized Hamas’s atrocities. In addition, Dr. Barakat outrageously denied the right of the Jewish people to self-determination and omitted from her remarks the incontrovertible fact that Jews are indigenous to the Land of Israel. Indeed, she deliberately misinformed the thousands of educators and students at the NAIS conference that Jews were “colonists,” and that Israel, the religious and ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, was “founded on ethnocentric superiority and an inherently systemically racist framework.”
What is almost more troubling than Dr. Barakat’s appalling antisemitic speech was the response to it: Thousands of educators, who teach at some of our country’s most prestigious schools, stood up and cheered her. No one from NAIS intervened to stop Dr. Barakat’s false and hateful speech, as someone surely would have if a speaker were wrongly and maliciously targeting and demonizing Blacks, Asians, Muslims or any other racial or ethnic group. No one from NAIS immediately publicly condemned Dr. Barakat for misusing the platform that NAIS gave her and fueling already soaring antisemitism in the U.S. and around the world.
Even after Dr. Barakat’s antisemitic keynote speech, when many educators had reportedly reached out to NAIS to express their outrage, NAIS took no action and permitted the antisemitism to continue. The closing speaker, Dr. Ruha Benjamin, repeated the vicious lie accusing Israel of “genocide” and denied Israel’s right to defend itself, again to the applause of the crowd.
Respectfully, it is not enough for you to express remorse in a letter to our colleagues, four Jewish communal organizations. It is not enough for NAIS to post a “an important note” on the NAIS website “regarding divisive and hurtful comments expressed” at the conference. The note does not even acknowledge the comments as antisemitic, let alone condemn the Jew-hatred that NAIS speakers expressed at the conference and educators shamefully applauded.
A truly meaningful response requires NAIS to issue a public statement that it also disseminates to all its more than 2,000 member schools and associations of schools. The statement should:
(1) Condemn the speakers by name who misused the platform that NAIS gave them to spout and promote antisemitic lies about Jews and Israel;
(2) Condemn their speech as antisemitic and explain why it is antisemitic;
(3) Make it clear that NAIS will not tolerate antisemitism in any form, including when the hatred of Jews is camouflaged as criticism of Zionism or Israel; and
(4) Encourage all of NAIS’s member schools and associations of schools to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, a critical, internationally accepted resource for understanding how antisemitism is expressed today, including related to Israel. NAIS should make it clear in its statement that schools cannot effectively address antisemitism if they do not understand what antisemitism is and how it can manifest.
We urge you to take all these steps to truly demonstrate NAIS’s commitment to inclusivity and its zero tolerance for antisemitism in all of its ugly forms. We look forward to your response and, like our colleagues, are here as a resource for you and NAIS.
Was doing a bit of experimenting for these. A very very shiny silver with ork contrast paint over that.
The Idea (because canon is a bit vague on this) is for the all those "oh the NAIS (New Avalon Institute of Science) was working on this new mech" ideas and put them into 1 company. The general idea is 1 or 2 "experimental" or "rediscovered" models paired with 2 well known "guard" mechs to do trials with. It's my head canon for now and I'm sticking with it until there's a official source contradicting it.