A Thank You to the California Legislature

I normally don't compliment the California Legislature in Sacramento, but I am happy to post this thank you letter from the AMCHA Initiative thanking them for their commendation of San Francisco State University president Les Wong after he condemned posters created by Palestinian supporters that read, "My heroes have always killed colonizers".

To: 

Assemblymember Marc Levine

Senator Marty Block

Assemblymember Das Williams

Senator Carol Liu

Assemblymember Jose Medina

Senator Lois Wolk

Assemblymember Richard Bloom

Assemblymember Steve Fox

Senator Mark Leno

Dear California Assembly Members and Senators,

We are the co-founders of AMCHA Initiative, an organization dedicated to investigating, documenting, educating about and combating campus antisemitism.

We would like to commend you for your letter to President Wong thanking him for denouncing the intolerant and antisemitic acts that took place at San Francisco State University during an event sponsored by the General Union of Palestine Students on November 7.  Like you, we applaud President Wong's courageous statement and appreciate his commitment to investigating this incident and addressing it appropriately.

In addition, we are grateful for your acknowledgement that the celebration of violence towards any group, including Jews, fosters a climate of prejudice and bigotry, which is "the antithesis of an institution of higher learning." 

Sincerely,

Tammi Rossman-Benjamin

Co-founder, AMCHA Initiative

Leila Beckwith

Co-founder, AMCHA Initiative

CC: SFSU President Leslie Wong

CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White  

CSU Board of Trustees 

Kenneth Monteiro, Dean of College of Ethnic Studies

California Jewish community leaders 

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As I have said before, this should not be the end of it. Those responsible for creating messages of hate and incitement to murder should have no place on a college campus. President Wong still has some work to do.