{"id":2586446,"date":"2026-04-02T09:24:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/graduate-student-unions-push-anti-american-antisemitic-agendas\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T09:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:31:14","slug":"graduate-student-unions-push-anti-american-antisemitic-agendas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/graduate-student-unions-push-anti-american-antisemitic-agendas\/","title":{"rendered":"Graduate Student Unions Push Anti-American, Antisemitic Agendas"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgraduate-student-unions-push-anti-american-antisemitic-agendas%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2586446&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece argues that graduate student unions at major universities are largely focused on anti-Israel activism and foreign influence rather than improving pay and working conditions for graduate students. It claims the unions analyzed (21 in total) are broadly preoccupied with Israel, with about 76% taking official positions critical of the jewish state, while only a small fraction commented on Ukraine or Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Key points include:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Foreign influence: a substantial portion of union members are foreign nationals (e.g., at Brown University, about 40% of members are on F-1 visas). The article says Brown\u2019s union has issued numerous messages attacking Israel,denouncing U.S. imperialism,and praising communism.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Examples of activism: posts and campaigns call for ending U.S. aid to Israel,using terms like \u201cTurtle Island,\u201d and displaying banners with Marxist slogans such as \u201cWorkers of the World Unite,\u201d actions the author says do not relate to improving graduate student conditions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Michigan case: the Graduate Employees\u2019 Organization at the University of Michigan is described as embracing a radical, foreign-fueled agenda, including support for the TAHRIR Coalition\u2019s broader anti-imperialist goals.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Free speech stance: the article contends these unions oppose campus speakers (e.g., Israeli soldiers or former Israeli leaders) while using free-speech rhetoric to shield protest actions that disrupt classes and occupy spaces.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; AFT affiliation: the unions are linked to the American Federation of Teachers, wich the piece portrays as having a historically pro-American, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/xi-jinping-courts-south-korea-as-north-korea-aligns-with-russia-stirring-unease-in-china\/\" title=\"Xi Jinping seeks closer ties with South Korea as North Korea strengthens its alliance with Russia, causing concern in China.\">anti-communist stance<\/a>, contrasting that with the unions\u2019 asserted positions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Policy recommendations: the author argues policymakers should deny these unions the legal right to collective bargaining and should withhold government subsidies from universities that enable such unions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Author and aim: Jay P. Greene of the Defense of Freedom Institute frames the discussion as part of broader efforts to combat antisemitism and foreign influence in education.<\/p>\n<p>the article presents a critical view of graduate student unions, portraying them as prioritizing foreign-backed, anti-Israel, and anti-free-speech agendas over the interests of their members.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In theory, labor unions are supposed to focus on improving the compensation and working conditions of American workers. But graduate student unions at leading universities don&rsquo;t seem to care much about those things and instead are consumed by hatred of Israel and repeating the talking points of America&rsquo;s enemies.<\/p>\n<p>I examined the public communication of 21 graduate student unions for which information was available and found that they are generally obsessed with anti-Israel activity, <a href=\"https:\/\/dfipolicy.org\/radicalism-of-graduate-student-unions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">with 76 percent taking official positions critical of the Jewish state<\/a>. For comparison, I also looked at what they had to say about the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. Only 10 percent had something to say about Ukraine and only 31 percent commented on the situation in Iran, of which about half sided with the protestors and the others opposed U.S. involvement against the regime.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Foreign Influence<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It&rsquo;s no mystery why graduate student unions have become advocates for foreign interests; a large portion of their members are themselves not American citizens. At Brown University, for example, 40 percent of the graduate students that the Graduate Labor Organization (AFT Local 6516) represents are foreigners who entered the country with F-1 visas. Not surprisingly, Brown&rsquo;s labor union has issued hundreds of public messages attacking Israel, denouncing U.S. imperialism, and praising communism.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DPolKwFkepq\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Graduate student unions issue calls<\/a> &ldquo;to end all US aid to Israel, remove AIPAC from politics, and defeat the zionist [sic] occupation once and for all!&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cy4d-KHpyhC\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">They refer to North America<\/a> as &ldquo;Turtle Island (so-called &lsquo;United States&rsquo; and &lsquo;Canada&rsquo;),&rdquo; preferring the term used by some American Indians over the language of what they believe is the colonial occupier. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/1DCoGZQGec\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Their members hold banners<\/a> that repeat the Marxist slogan &ldquo;Workers of the World Unite&rdquo; and celebrate the communist holiday of May Day. None of this increases pay or improves the lives of graduate students, but it does express the views of many of their members and the foreign governments that sponsor them.<\/p>\n<p>The Graduate Employees&rsquo; Organization (AFT Local 3550) at the University of Michigan, whose membership is almost a third foreign, has similarly embraced a radical, foreign-fueled agenda. They frequently reposted messages from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tahrirxmich.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TAHRIR Coalition<\/a>, which describes itself as &ldquo;a movement dedicated to the liberation of all people. We advocate for resistance against systems of domination and struggle to destroy their manifestations at the University of Michigan, throughout Turtle Island, and across the globe. We act in solidarity with freedom fighters in Palestine and revolutionaries everywhere working to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arrests-made-after-pro-palestinian-demonstrators-disrupt-university-of-michigan-celebration-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Arrests made after pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupt ... of ... celebration\u200b\u200b - Washington Examiner\">dismantle global imperialism<\/a>, capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy.&rdquo; Nothing in this extreme list of goals has anything to do with improving working conditions for graduate students.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Against Free Speech<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Neither Brown&rsquo;s nor Michigan&rsquo;s graduate student unions are interested in protecting the principle of free speech on campus, which might be a non-monetary interest of their members. Instead, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CzmYgfxPWT3\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brown&rsquo;s Graduate Labor Organization objected<\/a> when the Brown Students for Israel invited a reserve Israeli soldier for a lecture, arguing that &ldquo;having an Israeli soldier speak on campus is unacceptable.&rdquo; Similarly, Michigan&rsquo;s Graduate Employees&rsquo; Organization tried to prevent former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett from giving a talk, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C5uVpv4gkQc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">calling upon their members<\/a> to &ldquo;spread the word and show up tomorrow&rdquo; at the lecture hall to &ldquo;SHUT IT DOWN!!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, both <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >graduate student unions invoked free speech<\/a> when demanding that their universities forgo any punishment for protestors who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/harvard-corporation-breaks-with-faculty-votes-to-block-13-anti-israel-encampment-protesters-from-graduating\/\" title=\"Harvard Corporation Votes to Block 13 ... Protesters from Graduating\">broke university rules<\/a> by occupying buildings, interrupting classes, and camping overnight in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. But denying to one&rsquo;s opponents the right to speak freely while invoking that same right to shield the advancement of radical agendas through force and intimidation does not demonstrate support for the principle of free speech.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Teacher Affiliation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>These graduate student unions are affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which, consistent with U.S. labor organizations in general after World War II, adopted anti-communist and pro-American positions. AFT president Al Shanker exemplified those positions by famously protecting Jewish teachers against antisemitic attacks by radical elements of the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. It is thus a dramatic reversal for teacher unions to endorse graduate student labor organizations that advocate antisemitic and anti-American positions pushed by foreign powers.<\/p>\n<p>If unions would rather be agents of foreign influence than protect the economic interests of their members, policymakers should deny those unions the privilege they are afforded by law to engage in collective bargaining. And government subsidies for higher education should be denied to any university that facilitates these radical graduate student unions.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Jay P. Greene is a senior fellow at the Defense of Freedom Institute. He focuses on combating antisemitism in K&ndash;12 education, higher education, and teacher unions.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a paraphrase of the main points in a concise form:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The piece argues that although unions are meant to improve pay and working conditions for American graduate workers, several elite\u2011university graduate unions have focused more on anti\u2011Israel activism and echoing foreign-state rhetoric than on labor issues.<br \/>\n&#8211; A review of 21 unions finds that a large majority have official stances critical of Israel, with relatively little coverage of Ukraine or Iran.<br \/>\n&#8211; The author notes many members are non\u2011citizens, pointing to Brown University as an example (a sizable share on F\u20111 visas) and describing a pattern of anti\u2011Israel messaging and praise for communism within Brown\u2019s grad union.<br \/>\n&#8211; The article contends these groups push radical, international political agendas rather than workplace improvements, citing the University of Michigan\u2019s grad union and their association with empowerment and anti\u2011imperial coalitions.<br \/>\n&#8211; It charges the unions with opposing free speech in some cases (e.g., blocking Israeli speakers) while selectively invoking free speech to shield disruptive activism, portraying a mismatch between stated principles and actions.<br \/>\n&#8211; The piece also argues these unions are affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, noting a historical pro\u2011American, anti\u2011communist stance in the federation, and views the current direction as a departure from traditional labor priorities.<br \/>\n&#8211; The author concludes that if unions operate as agents of foreign influence, policymakers should curtail their collective bargaining rights and deny subsidies to universities that host them.<\/p>\n<p>If you want a tighter, more neutral summary (or a longer, more detailed paraphrase), tell me and I\u2019ll adjust.<\/p>\n<p>55-character micro-summary:<br \/>\nGrad unions push anti-Israel activism, not pay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":928,"featured_media":2586447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Brown_University_Pembroke_campus-e1774577930793.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[71349,77021,77022],"class_list":["post-2586446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-campus-politics-2","tag-graduate-students","tag-student-unions-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Brown_University_Pembroke_campus-e1774577930793.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2586446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/928"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2586446"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2586446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2586450,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2586446\/revisions\/2586450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2586447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2586446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2586446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2586446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}