Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Forward 50 2011

David Yerushalmi

Over the last 18 months, about two dozen state legislatures have taken up bills that would restrict judges from consulting Shariah, or traditional Islamic law, in their rulings. Three states have passed such laws.

It is a wave that began five years ago in the Crown Heights office of lawyer David Yerushalmi, a 56-year-old Lubavitch-affiliated Jew with a history of controversial statements about race, Islam and other Jews. It was Yerushalmi’s model legislation for these bills that a network of conservative groups sponsored and then pushed to get state legislatures to adopt. Critics question the legislation’s constitutionality as well as the view of Shariah as a creeping threat to America’s legal system.

Yerushalmi’s new initiative, called “The Mapping Shari’a Project in America,” unveiled its initial offering this past summer: a study of 100 American mosques that purports to show a direct link between Shariah law and support for “violent jihad.” Mainstream scholars have disparaged Yerushalmi’s research. But Yerushalmi has demonstrated an ability to edge his ideas into the mainstream, despite denunciations from hate-group watchdogs such as the Anti-Defamation League.

Yerushalmi is also targeting a broader enemy than Islam: liberal democracy. In his writings, he emphasizes America’s roots as a white, male-dominated, Christian country and criticizes political correctness for discouraging the discussion of why “the founding fathers did not give women or black slaves the right to vote.” Yerushalmi singles out “the radical liberal Jew” as an especially destructive agent in spreading liberal doctrines that, in his view, place international law above nationhood — including in Israel.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.