The phrase "Never Again," the rallying cry of post-Holocaust Jewry, describes the imperative that Jews don't repeat the naive belief that Hitler wouldn't carry out what he had declared he intended to do. Rabbi Meir Kahane, the founder of the Jewish Defense League in 1968, popularized the saying in America, which also served as the title of his 1972 book, "Never Again! A Program for Survival."

As Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Philip Martin recently recounted in his column on the Nazi era, denial and wishful thinking in the face of explicit threats proved catastrophic. The lesson of WWII is that when evil people say they intend to do awful acts, believe them.

Last week, I detailed two troubling cases of antisemitism right here in Arkansas. The first involved postings by University of Arkansas- Fayetteville professor Mohja Kahf of the King Fahd Center for Middle Eastern Studies. She affixed to her office door vile invectives equating the Israeli viewpoint with some of history's worst racists, alongside the now-infamous mantra calling for Israel's destruction: "Palestine, from the river to the sea."

To grasp Kahf's worldview, I also recounted the poem she maladroitly published shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Palestinian terrorists. In her diatribe, she claimed the dispute over the Jewish homeland is merely 75 years old, has nothing to do with Biblical Israel or Judaism itself, and stems solely from European Jewish "invaders." Every assertion is demonstrably false--ignoring millennia of history, archaeology, and the continuous presence of Jews in the Holy Land.

The second case featured tinfoil-hat commentary from Val Emmons, producer of the Dave Elswick radio show in Little Rock. On air, Emmons repeated a patently false, fringe-online trope--that Jews were generously offered various countries as a homeland but somehow insisted only on Israel. When Emmons cited Madagascar as an example, her claim collapsed, as Madagascar was not a benevolent "offer" at all. It was the Nazi proposal for the forced deportation of Europe's Jews, orchestrated by the murderous SS.

These incidents are not isolated. They reflect a disturbing pattern in which classical antisemitic canards are repackaged as academic discourse or talk-radio analysis.

The university rightly informed Kahf that her postings violated its discrimination policy and ordered their removal. Emmons, however, remains in place--despite a 2019 station statement declaring that she "does not represent Salem Media Group in any way, shape or form" and that she would "never appear on our air ... again."

Today, sadly, the saga continues. The same UA-Fayetteville King Fahd Center where Kahf still teaches thankfully no longer employs its recent director, Shirin Saeidi. Several months ago, I highlighted her shocking posts on X/Twitter and called for the center's closure--because it functions not as a neutral academic institution but as a hub for anti-Western indoctrination. As the fiscal session starts this week, I hope that the Legislature will address this concern. Arkansas taxpayers shouldn't be supporting this behavior.

Saeidi's posts and reposts included:

"Long live Iran! Free Palestine."

"Israel is a terrorist and genocidal state that must be dismantled by international forces. Free Free Free Palestine!"

Ayatollah Khamenei, "[t]he leader who kept Iran intact during the Israeli attack, May god protect you and the Iranian people from the Israeli regime."

"To the Arkansas State Legislature: You were unable to punish me because of the Zionist proxies who give you money and know your secrets, and now you are attacking the Middle East Studies Center and my colleagues."

"Of course [the Legislature] want the syllabi [from King Fahd Center courses] ... [T]he biggest reason--the one they'll never admit in public--is that their billionaire donors (many with direct ties to Israel) need everyone to keep hating Islam." (Repost with endorsement.)

"Western and European societies must apologize to Arabs and Muslims after discovering that terrorism is an American-Zionist creation." (Repost.)

"[T]hrust the dagger from Doha into the throats of the Zionists, so that all of them howl." (Repost; original in Farsi.)

Saeidi's X account was suspended.

Did you catch the rich-Zionist supporters controlling the Legislature meme? Wonder who she could be describing.

The university concluded that Saeidi violated the school's discrimination policy--that her words qualify as antisemitism and constitute discriminatory harassment based on race, national origin, and religion. The school also highlighted that her last aforementioned repost "advocated a violent and disturbing act of driving a dagger into the throats of those who are Zionist, many of whom are Jewish ... The repost is disparaging of Zionists, but it is also violent and threatening in nature." Violence and antisemitism, what a toxic cocktail.

In December, Saeidi was relieved of her administrative duties as director of UA-Fayetteville's King Fahd Center. Shortly thereafter, she was suspended with pay from her tenured faculty position. Saeidi sought review from a faculty committee, which recommended she not be fired. Last week, University of Arkansas System President Jay B. Silveria declined the committee's recommendation and dismissed Saeidi from her academic post.

In an era when antisemitism surges globally--fueled by campus radicalism, online-misinformation echo chambers, and selective historical amnesia--Arkansas institutions must reject this hatred. We need to continue to demand "Never Again."

This is your right to know.

Robert Steinbuch, the Arkansas Bar Foundation Professor at the Bowen Law School, is a Fulbright Scholar and author of the treatise "The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act." His views do not necessarily reflect those of his employer.

Robert Steinbuch, the Arkansas Bar professor at the Bowen Law School, is a Fulbright Scholar and author of the treatise "The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act." His views do not necessarily reflect those of his employer.

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