Hat tip to OC Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism
Recently, I posted a video of a group of Jewish students at UC-Irvine making statements in front of the student government asking who would protect their rights of free speech after the student government had passed a resolution defending the right of free speech of the Muslim Student Union members who disrupted the Israeli ambassador's speech on February 8th.
Below is a link the the OC Jewish Experience blog of the Orange County Jewish Federation, which (as I understand it)originally posted the video made by the Jewish students.
http://ocjewishexperience.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/must-see-video-from-jewish-students-at-uc-irvine/
As I said before, I commend these students, some of whom I have met. They are fine young people who showed courage in going to make their case to the student government. One of them, a previous president of the campus group, Anteaters for Israel, has been at UCI for 5 years and has attempted repeatedly to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Muslim Student Union over the issue of Israel. I applaud the action they took.
What I would like to nitpick, if I may, is the Jewish Federation's labeling of the event as "breaking the silence". The people who broke the silence at UCI go back to around 2002. Earlier students like Merav Ceran and Reut Cohen, who were members of Anteaters for Israel, were quite vocal in protesting the MSU-sponsored events and speakers. I never knew Merav, but I do know Reut, and I know personally what she did when she was a student at UCI. She complained repeatedly to the UCI administration about hate speech and got nowhere. She was treated as a troublemaker. Once, she had her camera shoved into her face at one of those events. Nothing was done.
A former UCI student, Jonathan Movroydis, was very involved in reporting on the MSU events on the Red County blog of Orange County. There are many others.
The Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism has been breaking the silence for a few years now bringing to public attention the incidents of anti-Semitic speech spoken on the UCI campus. They launched their own investigation and interviewed students who were affected.
The Zionist Organization of America has taken a lead in breaking the silence. They filed a complaint with the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights on behalf of Jewish students at UCI who were complaining of anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation. To this day, they continue to follow the events at UCI and write letters complaining to the university. No other national Jewish organization has done what they have done.
In the past year or so, ACT for America has been breaking the silence about events going on at UCI.
And if I may, if you are looking for a UCI faculty member (albeit adjunct) who has broken the silence, it is yours truly. If there is another UCI faculty member who has taken a stand, I am unaware.
I am gratified to hear that the Orange County Jewish Federation, after the ugly event of February 8th, is joining the battle. But during the period of years that I have just described, that organization was very silent. It was their position that there was no problem of anti-Semitism at UCI, and that the administration was doing a great job. (That's not hearsay or something I read somewhere; that's from the horse's mouth.) Nevertheless, it is greatly satisfying to see that the Federation, in the words of one newspaper writer, is "laying down the gauntlet" to the school and demanding punishment for the disruptors of the ambassador's speech. It is great to hear that they are "working intensely with multiple channels of leadership on local, national and international level . . . to be sure the ongoing [disciplinary] process proceeds quickly.” It is also good to see that the Federation's reaction is "immediate and swift".
So I look forward to the next Israel Apartheid week when the Federation and their leaders will join with me, the Task Force and others shoulder to shoulder in challenging the words of speakers like Amir Abdel Malik Ali, Alim Musa, Cynthia McKinney, George Galloway and others.
We shall see.
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8 comments:
Gary,
Great job and next week should
be very interesting, to say
the least. Yours and others
efforts are paying off and
being herad.
Thanks.
Good job, Gary.
For my money though, the very best of the former students was the guy who set up this website
http://concerneducistudent.blogspot.com/
He did not use his name on the site then because of a promise he made to his wife. I don't know what his preference is now, after he has graduated, but I'll keep his trust, just in case.
He documented all the Malik Ali and other really bad tirades on campus as well as all the other complaints to the University that went nowhere. He pointed out many of the UCI "accommodations" to the MSU and some of the battles that went on there. This was while the Federation denied any problems or minimized them or otherwise claimed they were "working behind the scenes." Their main effort then was keeping the problems at UCI quiet.
He is an infrequent contributor now but at one time, a few years ago,he was the best. It is worth the time to browse around his site to get a sense of where we've been in the recent past.
Again, this is the problem with using the students as a criteria for the level of anti-Semitism at UCI. Some years there is a really good one who is outraged by what they see goes on there, but the rest of the time ....
Marty,
Thanks for reminding me. I never met him and forgot his name. Is taht blog still active and is he still a student?.
He has graduated and only posts to his site every once in a while. The site is still a good source for the history of the problem ... meaning all the failures to get the MSU to comply with the UC Code of Conduct and the level of common decency and civil discourse that most of the rest of Americans follow instinctually.
Miggie,
I just relinked it.
Gary, thanks for your work on this subject matter. I have learned quite a bit from reading your stuff.
I am really disappointed with the New University. Has the paper ever printed an article on what Oren actually said during his lecture?
Meanwhile, they first provided the MSU a platform to spew their venom in the aftermath of the incident. And they now are rewarding the students who tried to prevent ideas being heard on the campus with their own platform to share their distorted version of reality.
http://www.newuniversity.org/2010/02/opinion/msu-speaks-out/
http://www.newuniversity.org/2010/03/opinion/stand-with-the-eleven-answers-ambassador-orens-open-letter/
I have only seen the online version of the New University this week. Did they cover the Jewish students who took the proper course for civil discourse who voiced their opinions to the ASUCI?
- Jeff Klives
Jeff,
Thank you. I have been on break for the last two weeks and have not seen a hard copy of New University. Safe to say, they are going to toe the politically correct line. One thing that it is important to remember. To my knowledge, there has never been an aggressive or inappropriate action by Jewish students at UCI. Anyone who tries to draw a moral equivalency and say that both sides are guilty is just making up spin.
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