Trees and Fig Leaves-A Follow Up to Leila Beckwith's Article

Sandow the Strong Man in his fig leaf


In the prviously posted article by UCLA professor emeritus Leila Beckwith, she very eloquently raised the issue of whether the UC-Irvine Olive Tree Initiative represents a "fig leaf' to answer critics of the anti-Semitic hate speech that has been occurring on the UCI campus for several years.

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2011/01/leila-beckwith-article-on-olive-tree.html

Beckwith raises an important point. As she points out, after three OTI trips to the Middle East, the situation on the UCI campus has not really been improved (at least subsequent to the 2008-09 visits).   The tensions still exist even if they are manifested mostly at the annual May Israel Apartheid event.

One of the principal arguments made in favor of OTI is that both Jewish and Muslim students who participate on the trips come back with new perspectives. The Jewish supporters argue that Jewish students learn how to counter anti-Israel arguments. They also claim that some Muslim students have returned with more moderate views regarding Israel's security concerns and the subject of Boycott, Divest and Sanction movements. That may be, but I would ask how many Muslim students upon their return from an OTI trip have publicly taken such a stand and broken ranks with their anti-Israel colleagues.

But even if that is true, does sending a dozen or so students to the Middle East every year really make a dramatic difference? Or is the real difference that the university can claim that they are taking remedial action and taking care of the problem of anti-Semitism and hate speech on campus?

It should also be known that the UC system has initiated a "Campus Climate" program on each campus.  There is a state wide council, and each university has set up its own council. Below is the state-wide council.

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/23577

(I believe the Jewish representative has been changed.)

https://ucsystems.ethicspointvp.com/custom/ucs_ccc/default.asp

That's all well and good, but does it really address the problem? Has it up to now? The true test is whether campus incidents continue. Just in the past year, several UC campuses have experienced problems of this nature, which led to the idea to form this body. To be fair, I would say there has not been enough time to properly evaluate its effectiveness.