Read the Letter to Sullivan & Cromwell

300 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20001
Phone: 202-465-8728
July 30, 2024
Joseph C. Shenker Esq.
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
125 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004
Re: Blacklisting detractors of the Israeli government provoked by the indiscriminate Israeli
killings of infants, children, women, and men in Gaza, including a siege openly earmarked by no
water, no food, no shelter, no power, no medicine, no journalists.
Dear Mr. Shenker:
This letter responds to your remarks reported in The New York Times, “A Wall Street Law Firm
Wants to Define Consequences of Israel Protests,” by Emily Flitter (July 9, 2024).
Speaking as a leader of Sullivan & Cromwell, you stated all applicants for employment would be
vetted for lawful statements, actions, or beliefs that your law firm defines as antisemitic,
including mingling with pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanting “From the river to the sea,
Palestine will be free.” Will Sullivan & Cromwell establish an Index of Forbidden words, songs,
signs, or sayings that would be off limits to any of the firm’s employees?
We are concerned about the absence of due process safeguards that could destroy an applicant’s
professional career in addition to Sullivan & Cromwell’s apparent complacency with hiring
lawyers who engage in hate speech or violence against Arabs or other races. Doesn’t that
discrepancy smack of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some or more
equal than others?” Is Sullivan & Cromwell, now in its 145th year, seeking to make amends from
its earlier history of notorious discrimination against Jews until the 1950s, not to mention biases
against Muslims and Arabs?
There is no articulable definition of verbal antisemitism free from manipulation for ulterior
purposes. Sullivan & Cromwell seems to equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism. But renowned
scholars of Judaism like Allan C. Brownfeld insist that Zionism is a form of political idolatry that
elevates worship of the State above worship of the Torah and God. Would Sullivan & Cromwell
hire Mr. Brownfeld?
Will Sullivan & Cromwell provide applicants a fair warning of what words or acts will be treated
as antisemitic? What will be Sullivan & Cromwell’s standard of proof? Reasonable suspicion,
probable cause, a preponderance, clear and convincing, beyond a reasonable doubt, or non-
fantastic speculation? What rules of evidence will govern the antisemitism vetting? Will hearsay
be admitted? How will documents be authenticated? Will applicants have a right to counsel to
voice objections and a right to confront their accusers? Who will do the vetting? What selection