Another Take on Anti-Semitism in the University of California and Hillel Letter to LA Jewish Journal

In March, I posted a letter from a group of Hillel* leaders from 6 University of California campuses to the LA Jewish Journal which basically white-washed the problem of anti-Semitism on UC campuses.

* Hillel is a nation-wide organization that supports Jewish students on university campuses and promotes Jewish life and activities.

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2012/03/hillel-leaders-say-no-problem-on-uc.html

Below is a letter (unedited) which Paul Schnee, a California writer, activist and blogger, sent to the LA Jewish Journal in response. I am posting it with his permission.

"Dear Sirs, 
 
 Once, when Mark Twain was trying to describe Richard Wagner's music 
 to a friend he said, "It's better than it sounds". No such claim can 
 be made for the article written by 6 Hillel rabbis titled, "The 
 Truth About UC Campuses" which appeared on March 8th. in The Jewish 
 Journal. 
 
 One gets the impression that in anticipation of their long overdue 
 meeting with UV President, Mark Yudof, the good rabbis were behaving 
 like giddy school girls on their first date imagining the 
 possibilities of seduction in scented cinema darkness. As one read 
 on one also became increasingly aware of a symbiotic relationship 
 between the Hillel rabbis and the UC Administration in much the same 
 way as the crocodile birds feast on the insects that infest their 
 host's reptilian hide. 
 

 Nothing else could explain how they failed to take Mr. Yudof to task 
 for consistently failing to excercise his own right of free speech 
 by condemning the constant hate-speech as practiced by the MSU at 
 every available opportunity. No mention was made of the annual Jew- 
 hate extravaganza, "Israel Apartheid Week" which takes place on over 
 a dozen campuses replete with tenth rate, rabble rousing Islamic 
 demagogues spewing one lie after another about Israel and 
 intimidating Jewish students througout the UC system. 
 
 Mr. Yudof is quoted as saying, " I am concerned and do care about 
 the well-being of Jewish students on campus." Really? When Louis 
 Farrakhan spoke at UC Berkley ten days ago at the African Black 
 Coalition Conference, organized by the Black Student Union, he 
 accused the publishing industry in America of being in the control 
 of Jews. The best that Mr. Yudoff could muster by way of objection 
 to this enormous slander was to say that Farrakhan's remarks were 
 "provocative and divisive". When one gives assent to such obvious 
 lies one co-operates with evil and in a very real way one becomes 
 evil oneself. 

 Last Thursday, Mr. Yudof published an open letterforcefully 
 condemning the reprehensible behavior of student hecklers at UC 
 Davis who conspired to disrupt and shut down a Jewish student event. 
 While I appreciate President Yudof's condemnation of the hecklers, I 
 was dismayed by his suggestion that the UC Davis police "dealt 
 appropriately" with the situation. Despite the fact that the 
 hecklers' behavior was an egregious infringement of the Jewish 
 students' freedom of expression and assembly, and a clear violation 
 of university policy, state law, and common decency, the UC Davis 
 police did absolutely nothing to prevent the disruption, which 
 lasted for the duration of the event. So much for caring about the 
 well-being of Jewish students on campus. 
 
 The rabbis noted that the UC, with President Yudof's backing, is 
 "actively promoting a travel/study program to Washington, Israel, 
 the West Bank and Jordan that nurtures coexistence between Jewish 
 and Arab students." They did not mention it by name but this is the 
 Olive Tree Initiative and is one of the most pernicious and counter- 
 productive programs imaginable. On September 16th. 2009 students 
 were taken to the disputed territories for a meeting with a Aziz 
 Dweik, a high Hamas official who was arrested by the IDF in January 
 this year on suspicion of involvement with terrorist groups. After 
 the meeting the students were asked to keep the meeting secret in 
 case objections to it were raised! The whole episode was an outrage 
 and a damnable disgrace. What is worse is that it was wrapped in the 
 cloak of "outreach" a favorite tactic of appeasers who can't bring 
 themselves to imagine that their enemies actually do want to wipe 
 them off the face of the earth. This is the same sort of failure of 
 imagination that led to the murder of 6 million Jews in 
 concentration camps. Nevertheless, it exposed those who are unable 
 to distinguish between collaboration and education. Confusing the 
 two can be fatal. That time it wasn't but it is unwise to put one's 
 faith in luck. It is far better to realise that terrorist 
 organizations do not behave in ways that comport with lofty academic 
 discussions held in the Senior Faculty Common Rooms and at the High 
 Tables of universities. 
 
 By the end of the article one was left with the impression that 
 everything on the UC campuses, as it related to Hillel and the 
 Jewish students, was one long felicitous march towards enlightenment 
 but when one hears hoof-beats one should look for horses not 
 unicorns. One of the main goals of Hillel is to provide its students 
 with an abiding appreciation of their Jewish identity and heritage 
 as well as the vital connection to the ancient and historical 
 homeland now known as the Jewish nation state of Israel. The Hillel 
 rabbis will best be able to accomplish this goal when not in a 
 prostrate position." 
 
 Sincerely, 
 

Paul Schnee 
 
 **************************************************************

To that I can only add (as I have written countless times on this site) that UC President  Mark Yudof has a 

big problem on this hands. There is anti-Semitism on UC campuses, and he has not adequately confronted

it, nor have his chancellors. The six Hillel directors wrote an absurd letter that flies in the face of the facts 

and the documented incidents over the years on the UC campuses. Part of the problem is that Hillel is too 

embedded with the universities with which they work. They also have a built in conflict of interest in that if 

Jewish students are driven away from a campus, there is less need for a Hillel chapter. And you wonder whysome Hillel chapters downplay anti-Semitism on their campuses?