More Reaction to the UC Campus Climate Report

Amir Abdel Malik Ali with "security" at UC Irvine


Recently, I have been writing about the University of California report on anti-Semitism on UC campuses. The report, which confirms the problem, is being opposed by supporters of the Palestinian cause including CAIR, Jewish Voice for Peace, and other left-wing activists, who are urging UC President Mark Yudof to disregard the report and its recommendations.

                                                                                                   
                                                                                                      Apartheid Wall at UCI

                              
Mohamed al Asi at UC Irvine
"You can take the Jew out of the ghetto, 
but you can't take the ghetto out of the Jew."


UC Irvine Muslim Student Union disrupts speech of Israeli ambassador to US


Above: UCI advertises MSU week


Below: UC Irvine Hate Week



Below is a letter to the committee who produced the report from  Tammi Benjamin of the AMCHA Initiative.
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Dear UC Advisory Committee on Campus Climate, Culture, and Inclusion:

We would like to bring to your attention two op-ed pieces that appeared this week in the J Weekly, the Jewish newspaper of Northern California.  

The first is written by Guy Herschmann, a Jewish student at UCSC, who commends the UC campus climate report on Jewish students, stating that it "accurately describes the experiences many of us have had over the last several years with anti-Israel bias and agitation":

http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/66340/u.c.s-pro-israel-jewish-students-s

The second piece is written by Jennifer Gorovitz, CEO of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma and the Peninsula, the largest Jewish communal organization in the Bay Area:

http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/66341/house-resolution-35-exposes-anti-semitic-fervor-on-california-campuses/

Ms. Gorovitz writes that the UC Jewish student campus climate report and the unanimously-approved State Assembly resolution  condemning campus anti-Semitism are both important indicators of anti-Jewish bigotry facing Jewish students at the University of California and the need to address such bigotry directly and forcefully.  Gorovitz urges members of the Jewish community to read the UC report and then ask campus officials "if they have read the report and whether any of the recommended policies are in effect on campus," and she challenges the UC system "to produce a report card within 12 months that highlights whether any of these policies have been adopted."

We bring these two articles to your attention because we believe they are representative of how grateful the majority of Jewish students and community members are to your committee for commissioning a Jewish student campus climate report, and how important that report's findings and recommendations are to the Jewish community.

Please note that among the recipients of this email are Jewish community leaders from across the state.

Sincerely,

Tammi Rossman-Benjamin
Lecturer, University of California at Santa Cruz
Co-founder the AMCHA Initiative


Leila Beckwith
Professor Emeritus, University of California at Los Angeles
Co-founder the AMCHA Initiative

CC: Guy Herschmann, UCSC student

Jennifer Gorovitz, CEO Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma and the Peninsula

        UC President Mark Yudof

UC Regents
        UC Chancellors
        California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
        Speaker of the State Assembly John A. Perez
        State Assemblywoman Linda Halderman

        State Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal    
        California Jewish community leaders

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UC Berkeley professor Andrew  Gutierrez heckles Jewish students protesting swastikas on campus


As for the linked State Assembly resolution, AMCHA has also written a letter to Yudof asking for clarification of reports that the university has rejected the resolution.

Dear President Yudof, We are deeply troubled by reports that the University of California leadership has rejected the California State Assembly's unanimously-approved resolution condemning anti-Semitism in California's colleges and universities. Although symbolic, this resolution is an important step in acknowledging the long-standing and pervasive problem of campus anti-Semitism in our state. Using a definition of anti-Semitism embraced by the U.S. State Department, the United Kingdom and the European Union, the State Assembly's resolution accurately describes manifestations of anti-Jewish bigotry on California campuses, including at the University of California, such as: physical aggression, harassment and intimidation directed against Jewish students; speakers, films and exhibits that engage in anti-Semitic rhetoric or use anti-Semitic imagery; swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti in residence halls and public areas on campus; campaigns to boycott and otherwise harm Israel; student groups that encourage support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah and openly advocate terror against the Jewish state; and the suppression and disruption of speech in support of Israel. The resolution urges that serious attention be directed towards combating anti-Jewish bigotry on California campuses, specifically calling on college and university leaders to take the following four actions: ensure that no administrator, faculty, or student group can be in any doubt that anti-Semitic activity will not be tolerated in the classroom or on campus; ensure that no public resources will be allowed to be used for anti-Semitic; increase efforts to swiftly and unequivocally condemn acts of anti-Semitism on campus; utilize existing resources, such as the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights’ working definition of anti-Semitism, to help guide campus discussion about, and promote, as appropriate, educational programs for combating anti-Semitism on campus. It is important to point out that nowhere in the resolution does the State Assembly call for limiting free speech. Rather, it focuses on ensuring that Jewish students are not singled out for intimidation, harassment or discrimination and that public resources are not being used to promote anti-Semitism, both of which are prescribed by law. Given that the University of California has called on California taxpayers to vote for legislation which would raise our taxes in order to support the University in this time of fiscal crisis, it is only fair that you clarify for the Jewish community the University's position on this important resolution on campus anti-Semitism, which has been unanimously approved by our elected state legislators. The Jewish community deserves to know: will you commit to carrying out the four actions cited in the State Assembly's resolution? Please note that Jewish community leaders from across the state have been copied on this email. We look forward to your reply in the near future. Sincerely, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin Lecturer, University of California at Santa Cruz Co-founder the AMCHA Initiative Leila Beckwith Professor Emeritus, University of California at Los Angeles Co-founder the AMCHA Initiative CC:  UC Regents         UC Chancellors         California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson         Speaker of the State Assembly John A. Perez         State Assembly Members who introduced and co-authored the resolution regarding campus anti-Semitism              California Jewish community leaders BCC: Members of the Jewish Community

It is time to Yudof and his see-no-evil  chancellors to say, "Enough is enough".   

      

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