Brooke Goldstein Quotes

We have never ourselves, as a minority community, really taken advantage of our rights to equal protection under the law, by strategically using the legal system to fight against anti-Semitic discrimination.

An intelligent, forceful Jewish pride movement… Jews have always supported other minority pride movements. Now it’s time for ours.”

We should be able to stand up like every other minority group in this country and say we deserve justice — and say it loudly. We have every right to avail ourselves of the legal system, to equal protection under the law.

now is the time for a Jewish civil rights movement” and pointed out that “litigation is always the last resort.

I'm reminded of M.J. Nurenberger's 'The Scared and the Doomed,' " "During our people's darkest hour, as Hitler's war machine kicked into high gear, much of the Diaspora establishment eschewed collective action to save European Jewry. These cosmopolitan, assimilated Jews did not want to risk their hard-earned place in American society by speaking out of turn. They wanted to be a part of the prevailing culture, not disturb it.

The community spends so much money on so-called pro-Israel advocacy, and it's not moving the needle. Dollars are being spent educating Jewish students how to defend themselves, handing out pamphlets and leaflets for them to memorize, as though it's the job of a Jewish student to defend Israel. The change you can make with one lawsuit or even one legal letter is enormous," she said. "Not only can you ensure that the rights of your clients are respected and protected, and that similar unlawful behavior is deterred, but you go from defense to offense. And when one minority community enforces the law, all minority communities benefit.

“outstanding complaint” they filed on behalf of a client at Columbia University who was allegedly spat on and called a “dirty Zionist” in the university quad; this happened four years ago,

important to work with them to guide them on what to do.

Exposing the state-sponsored indoctrination and recruitment of innocent Muslim children was eye-opening," she said. "This hate education is the root cause of terrorism.

As a civil rights attorney, aggressively asserting the rights of my clients to be free from unlawful discrimination is a compliment. That means you’re a good lawyer. Can you imagine the NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) being accused by the black community of too aggressively advocating for black civil rights? If we don’t stand up for ourselves, who will? And if we don’t fight to enforce our rights, why should we expect anyone to respect them?”

“When I first proposed a Jewish civil rights litigation fund there was backlash from some of the traditional Jewish leadership,” Goldstein said. “ ‘That’s too aggressive,’

We will continue to do what we do best," Goldstein said. "Advocate against Jew-hatred and file groundbreaking civil rights cases to ensure our clients achieve the respect they deserve.

Yet, while Jews have always been at the forefront of advocating for other minorities — Rabbi [Abraham Joshua] Heschel marching with Martin Luther King [Jr.], for example — we have never ourselves, as a minority community, really taken advantage of our rights to equal protection under the law, by strategically using the legal system to fight against anti-Semitic discrimination.

There is this very liberal, democratic tradition in our country: using the courts to engage in litigation to uphold the basic rights of minorities,

We will argue, on the basis of anti-discrimination law, against applying the requirements exclusively to Israel," Goldstein said. "We are committed to challenging enforcement in every country and every locality that attempts to discriminate on the basis of ethnicity or religion.