Founded in 1962 in Berkeley, California as a consortium of five Protestant institutions, the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) has since expanded to include eight schools, each representing a different Christian denomination, and several academic centers for the study of other religions, Judaism and Islam among them. In October of last year, it formally inaugurated its first non-Christian president—Rabbi Daniel Lehman—who had already held the job for a year. While GTU celebrated Lehman’s inauguration with much fanfare as a milestone of pluralism and tolerance, it had little to say when he left the position four months later.
Gabe Stutman concludes that the most probable explanation for Lehman’s departure is his Zionism. Likely responsible for his resignation is Alison Weir, a professional anti-Israel obsessive who lacks the tact to disguise her prejudice solely in left-wing clothing, happily rubbing elbows with anti-Semites ranging from Nation of Islam leaders to “Christian-identity” conspiracy theorists. Stutman writes:
Opposition surfaced publicly last September, a month before the inauguration, via an article on [the] anti-Israel news website, Israel-Palestine News. The site is run by Alison Weir. . . . At the inauguration, Weir and two others, described as “seventy-year-old peace advocates,” were asked to leave the event after handing out “fact sheets” critical of Lehmann. They read: “Will pro-Israel Rabbi Lehmann change GTU’s focus on justice and human rights?”
“Lehmann publicly emphasizes that he is a Zionist,” the handouts [accurately] stated. “Apparently in disregard for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.”
Those criticisms would eventually find purchase with more than 100 GTU alumni and a host of Bay Area clergy, who signed an open letter to the board of trustees expressing “concern” about Lehmann’s appointment. The letter, written by three Bay Area ministers who are alumni of GTU, described Lehmann’s views as “Islamophobic,” “racist,” and at odds “with the professed mission of GTU.” Lehmann is a “self-described Zionist,” the letter read.
GTU is a progressive institution. . . . The school has hosted pro-Palestinian events in the past, including a talk on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by the anti-Zionist [and pro-Hamas and -Hizballah], Jewish author Judith Butler.
One of the only news outlets to cover Lehmann’s departure was Weir’s.
Read more on Jewish News of Northern California: https://www.jweekly.com/2020/08/06/first-jewish-president-of-berkeleys-gtu-resigns-amid-attacks-for-his-pro-israel-views/