As previously reported, a letter protesting anti-Semitism in the University of California system was recently sent to UC President Mark Yudof. It was signed by some 5,000 people. The Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism has recently posted his "response".
http://octaskforce.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/more-doubletalk-from-uc-president-mark-yudof-yudof-i-remain-a-strong-supporter-of-the-olive-tree-initiative/
In his response, Yudof repeats the tired old lines he has been saying for years now. He says that acts of intimidation against any group will be dealt with. Nonsense. In 2008, a young Jewish woman who was filming a speech by Amir Abdel Malik Ali at UCI was followed back to her car by male members of the Muslim Student Union. She was prevented from leaving as they surrounded her car and attempted to write down her license plate. She called 911-as did a citizen witness who was present. The campus police arrived but took no action against the perpetrators and placed the blame on the young Jewish woman for the incident. Why? Because she had had the temerity to show up at an MSU event and film it. When the witness, whose own car was sat upon by the young men as they attempted to get her car registration information, tried to make a complaint, she was given short shrift by the campus police. What action was taken by UCI or UC? None.
What action was taken by UC or UC San Diego when last year, David Horowitz spoke at UC San Diego and was told by an MSA member that she supported the leader of Hizbollah's statement that Jews should all gather in Israel so that the job of hunting them down would be easier? None.
What action was taken at UC Berkeley last year when Jewish students held a peaceful demonstration on campus to protest the appearance of swastikas on bathroom stalls and were heckled and given the finger by a UCB professor named Andrew Gutierrez (photos and video available on this site)? None.
What action was taken last year at UC Berkeley when a Jewish female student allegedly had a loaded shopping cart rammed into her from behind by a member of the Students for Justice in Palestine? None. She has filed a suit, and the university is opposing her charges. Yudof makes reference to the case in his letter.
What action was taken a few years ago at UCI when a Jewish female student complained to officials about being confronted and screamed at by a group of pro-Palestinian students on campus? She was advised to seek counseling!
Yudof refers to his appearance in Orange County when the problems at UCI were the topic of discussion. I was there. It was a whitewash, hosted by the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil OC Jewish Federation that has tried to hide the problems at UCI from the Orange County Jewish community for years. And guess what. The same young Jewish woman who had been accosted at UCI in 2008 was there to film the speech. She was hustled out the door by security and confronted by Federation officials who demanded to know for whom she was filming. Yudof's presentation and his answers to questions were, to put it mildly, disappointing. The questions from the audience were screened by the Federation and Rose Project and chosen to give to Yudof. (Mine of course, was identified and put on the bottom of the stack-I witnessed it. It was never selected.)
Naturally, Yudof brings up the Olive Tree Initiative, which he continues to defend. No matter that in 2009, the OTI group met with a high-ranking Hamas official while roaming around the West Bank. No matter that the deeper one delves into this venture, it is obvious that there is a decided tilt to the Palestinian narrative, and that many of the persons involved in this venture are anti-Israel.
Finally, Yudof's reference to his much-vaunted Campus Climate group is laughable. It is an all-star line-up of multi-cultural activist figures with some Jewish person thrown in to make it look good.
And that "punishment" handed out to the UCI Muslim Student Union for disrupting the speech of the Israeli ambassador to the US last year? Ten weeks suspension handed out to the MSU, ably filled in by the Students for Justice in Palestine. It was originally a one-year suspension, but that was reduced to one quarter by MSU-friendly Vice Chancellor Manuel Gomez on his final day in office before he retired. By the way, he is due to be honored with the UC-Irvine Award in the coming weeks. That is UCI's highest award. I am told that the award will be presented by Hazem Chehabi, the chairman of the UCI Foundation, who also just happens to be the Syrian Honorary Counsel in Orange County.
Well, as the old saying goes....
"One person's hate speech is another person's education."
Yudof and those who drafted the protest are indulging in the same broad generalizations, which inevitably lead nowhere.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been far more productive to pursue complaints to the Irvine Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the California State Police (I know, they probably don't have jurisdiction), the state attorney general's office, oh yes, the Orange County District Attorney, etc. It is better to curse a single candle than to blame the chemical process of oxidation.
Yudof, of course, should be spoken directly to such an incident, rather than blandly saying that acts of intimidation will be dealt with.
The statement made by the woman to Horowitz, which Gary posted for us all to view, is not actionable. He asked her opinion, and she gave it. She endorsed genocide, no question, but she hasn't committed genocide. She has as much right to speak as Geert Wilders.
Gutierrez's action would be worth pursuing a complaint about, but again, a broadly worded protest got a response in kind. The fact that a man heckled a demonstration and extended his middle finger is probably not actionable, although if one of the Jewish students had thrown a punch at him, the heckling might have been a mitigating circumstance (fighting words). The only question for the university is whether such behavior merits dismissal, on grounds similar to an army officer failing to uphold the standards of "an officer and a gentleman." Are there such standards for faculty these days? I'm not sure.
The Olive Tree Initiative is an excellent program. Even if some people manage to find fault with it, individuals have a right to offer it, and to sign up for it. Yudof would be remiss in trying to suppress their efforts to do so.
The MSU -- I would have suspended them for a whole year, and demanded a written commitment to abide by university policies in general, and some specifics to rule out repetition of the planned disruption they engaged in. But again, this should have been pursued as a specific point, not a loose accusation of "anti-Semitism" by the university.
I'll just wait for the first murder of a Jew and the lawsuit following it for this idiot to change his tune.
ReplyDeleteWhy should that change his tune Findalis?
ReplyDeleteWhen (not if) a murder of that nature is committed he will be liable. He has been given ample warning.
ReplyDeleteI hope he has good insurance. The family will go after his assets too.
Wrong on all counts. First, it will hardly be the first time in the history of the world that a murder victim turned out to be of Jewish descent. Second, for acts in his official capacity, he is not personally liable. Third, the mere fact that he was given a vague petition saying some nasty people were making life hard for Jewish students does NOT mean he should have provided the specific person deceased with round the clock bodyguards, much less every Jewish student on campus.
ReplyDeleteIf he had credible evidence of a specific threat to a named individual, and failed to warn the individual or take reasonable precautions, then he or the university might be liable. It's a high hurdle.
Wrong again Siarlys. Yudof has been warned for years of the increasing violence to Jewish students on the campus by the MSU. He has done nothing to stop it. Even after the Oren Affair, he gave the group nothing more than a "slap on the wrist".
ReplyDeleteAny lawyer, let alone a good one, would put him front and center after such an incident. And include the Board of Regents (who have been notified of the problem) and even the Governor (Past and Present).
Lawyers shoot for any and everyone they can. Some charge every person who works for a company in the hope to garner a witness or two.
Findalis, stop passing your personal fantasy off as good jurisprudence. It is true that anyone who wants to sue can find a lawyer who will take the case and write up the papers -- but they will have to pay a substantial retainer up front, because no lawyer worth hiring will count on winning and collecting a share.
ReplyDelete"Yudof has been warned for years of the increasing violence to Jewish students on the campus by the MSU." That's debatable, and what it means is also debatable. It won't be enough that loud mouthed ideologues with oppression envy have been sending petitions to his office.
IF there is a credible record of specific reports (dates, times, names, acts) being made, and IF the family that wants to sue can show that what they are suing about is exactly within a pattern that any competent administrator should have seen, THEN, and only then, they MIGHT have a prima facie case (which is a long way from a winning case).
IF there is a credible record of specific reports (dates, times, names, acts) being made, and IF the family that wants to sue can show that what they are suing about is exactly within a pattern that any competent administrator should have seen, THEN, and only then, they MIGHT have a prima facie case (which is a long way from a winning case).
ReplyDeleteI am sure that Gary and this blog has the proof that you seek. And as a witness Gary is very credible.
Thank you, Findalis. If I do say so myself, I have chronicled this since 2007. The record is complete with reports and letters sent to the UC president, as well as witnesses. The incidents have been documented and are waiting for any lawyer to access if and when a tragedy happens on a UC campus.
ReplyDeleteI hate to break up the touching mutual admiration society, but Gary has put NOTHING on this blog that would amount to sufficient evidence. I've been offering unsolicited advice on how to take the bits and pieces of data Gary does embed in long-winded rants, and pursue them in a professional manner to BUILD a real case, but neither Gary nor the petition circulators seem to have the slightest interest in such meticulous attention to detail. Apparently, neither have you Findalis. It could be done. My suspicion is, some of it would stick, although it would not rise to the level you all keep laying claim to -- nothing like a persistent atmosphere of intimidation. But misdemeanor activity that individuals could be prosecuted for, probably so. That's not enough to make Yudof liable to a civil action.
ReplyDelete