http://octaskforce.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/further-from-reality/
Here is my comment: As I have said many times before on this blog and try to mention every time I speak to a group, 99% of the students at UCI are not involved in the issue. Generally, the atmosphere at UCI is quite calm and tranquil-as opposed to places like Berkeley and Santa Cruz.
But there is a problem. Every spring, the Muslim Student Union brings incendiary speakers to campus to rant against Israel, some of whom have made anti-Semitic statements as outlined in my previous posts. The tensions between Muslim and Jewish students are heightened during this time. True, some Jewish students pay no attention to the issue. Others would prefer to dialogue with Muslim students. Still others would like the outside community to butt out of the controversy. I respect those feelings much as I disagree. To them, I would like to pose a few questions:
If there is no anti-Semitism at UCI, then why did a group of Jewish students go to the student government and complain about anti-Semitism earlier this year when that body issued a declaration of support for the MSU in the wake of the Oren event?
If there is no anti-Semitism at UCI why, when a faculty advisor asked a group of Jewish students several months ago, how many of them felt uncomfortable on campus, about half of them -virtually all females-raised their hands?
If there is no anti-Semitism at UCI then why did over 60 Jewish professors at UCI issue a public letter complaining about anti-Semitism last May during Israel Apartheid Week?
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2010/05/jewish-faculty-at-uc-irvine-speak-out.html
If there is no anti-Semitism at UCI then how did this caricature of Ariel Sharon appear on the MSU's mock Israeli wall during Israel Apartheid Week in 2008?
And how is that the OC Jewish Life magazine erroneously put the wrong name down on their current article as the writer? Is it because the same writer wrote an article for Pajamas Media earlier which was the complete opposite of his OCJL comment on the perception of anti-Semitism at UCI?
I am not trying to trash anyone here in connection with the OCJL article. We are talking about college kids here including the writer in question-who, I might add-has written extensively and courageously against the MSU and radical Islam in general. Yet, there is a conflict on the central question; is there a problem of anti-Semitism at UCI-and on other UC campuses?
Here is the problem as I see it; there is a concerted effort by some-within the Jewish community, no less, to downplay the problem at UCI. Why, you ask? That is because for some, it is important that Jewish students continue to come to UCI. As we speak, some Jewish students are choosing to enroll elsewhere because of UCI's sullied reputation. There is also an eye to Jewish donors. Certain people have an interest in continuing Jewish donations to the university. Furthermore, certain donors don't seem willing to hear bad news about what happens on campus during Israel Apartheid Week. They need to realize that there are more important issues than who gets their name plastered on a university building or department.
It is pretty clear at this point that these interests are trying to co-opt as many Jewish students as they can to support their party line. However, there are other Jewish students, past and present, who have a different point of view.
I repeat, the problem at UCI is the work of a tiny minority. Yet, the reality of the radical and virulent speakers who come to UCI during Israel Apartheid Week, coupled with the weak response by administrators, has brought notoriety to the university-whose students deserve better.
This is very interesting. I do not hear so much about this type of thing going on at Texas colleges and universities but then again I am not attuned to what goes on at college campuses in state.
ReplyDeleteGary, I have yet to see any specifics of what form this "anti-Semitism" takes in daily life on campus.
ReplyDeleteAre students who "look Jewish" physically assaulted? Are they harrassed by crowds of ten to fifteen preppies, or by students with Arabic names dressed in long flowing robes following them around shouting insults as they walk across campus? Are they poked sharply in the ribs with pencils while sitting in class?
Do mobs rush into services at the Hillel Center shouting about dogs and pigs and interrupting prayers?
These are the kinds of actions I would call "anti-Semitism." I would think if they were going on, you would have provided considerable gory details.
I recall what you've said about the exchanges during Bash Israel Week, or whatever its called. But the rest of the year?
I have tried to put it in perspoective. It is only a tiny minority that are guilty and the problems usually occur during Israel Aparthied Week. Yet there have been several minor incidents. At UCI that has taken the form of certain Jewish students being insulted, followed, intimidated etc. Fortunately there have been no serious incidents at UCI-yet. If you want to research the history at UCI, take a couple of hours and go thru my postings back to 2007. It';s pretty much all there. Even more disturbing is the lack of reaction of the UC campuses and most of the major national Jewish organizations.
ReplyDeleteLook for my post on the speech last night by UC President Yudoff at Bat Yahm temple. I was there.