Salon.com Opposes the University of California Letters to Napolitano

I located the below-linked article from the liberal site Salon.com on Cloudminder, a site devoted to covering events within the University of California. While covering the  UC Regents meeting this week in San Francisco, the below article was included in the reportage of the submission of three letters protesting anti-Semitism on campus and asking UC to adopt the State Department's definition of anti-Semitism.

http://www.salon.com/2015/05/20/is_being_a_critic_of_israeli_state_policies_the_same_as_being_an_anti_semite/

In response, I submitted the below comment to Salon.com.

"I am a part-time teacher at UC Irvine, and a Gentile. I have regularly attended the annual anti-Israel events on campus and listened to the speakers. I have never challenged their right to speak and no, I don't think that being critical of Israel makes one an anti-Semite. I do question why Israel is being singled out given the horrors going on in the neighboring countries.

However, I know that this campaign against Israel being carried out on UC (and other campuses) has often crossed the line into anti-Jewish rhetoric and actions. In 2001, Mohammed al Asi, a radical, pro-Iranian, anti-American imam from Washington said at an MSU event, "You can take the Jew out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the Jew."

Then we (at UCI) have too often hosted Amir Abdel Malik Ali, a radical imam from Oakland, who regularly accuses various people of being, "Zionist Jews", a term he spits out in the style of the Nazis. About 4 years ago, he told the Jews in the audience, "You Jews, Y'all the new Nazis."

Just in the last year, a Jewish student at UCLA was questioned as to her ability to serve on student government because she was a Jew who might be sympathetic to Israel. There was a similar incident at Stanford. At UC Davis, the passage of a BDS resolution was accompanied by taunts of "Allahu Akbar" at Jewish students as they left the room. Then a swastika was painted onto a Jewish fraternity building.

Opposing Israel and taking the pro-Palestinian side is one thing. That is one's constitutional right. However, all too often, it has crossed into anti-Jewish expressions. Make no mistake: Anti-Semitism is on the march and the focal point for this resurgence is on our university campuses. It is wrong, and it must be confronted. I do believe that behind this well-organized and well-funded campus movement against Israel is old fashioned Jew hatred.

That is why I co-authored the letter that was signed by 104 UC faculty members."

Gary Fouse

Adj teacher

UC Irvine Ext.
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In addition, Cloudminder also linked the below report from SF Gate:

http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/Group-demands-UC-action-as-anti-Semitsm-escalates-6276974.php