Judith Butler's Statement to the UC Regents-Wrong on Many Fronts

In reference to today's resolution by the University of California Regents on anti-Semitism, UC Berkeley professor Judith Butler has released a statement she made at the meeting. I found the below link on Cloudminder, a UC watchdog blog.


http://utotherescue.blogspot.com/2016/03/judith-butlers-statement-on-uc-regents.html


Judith Butler is an activist against Israel. I heard her speak last year at UC Irvine, where I teach part time. Afterward, I wrote her a letter detailing cases of anti-Semitism at UCI and other campuses. Of course, she never responded.

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2015/05/an-open-letter-to-professor-judith.html

Teaching part-time at UCI over the last several years, I have seen and heard the anti-Semitic expressions first hand. Though I am not a Jew, I can personally attest that much of the anti-Israel/BDS activity is, in fact, anti-Jewish. I can also attest that the complaints at UCI she referenced were not false. In fact, the DOE/OCR investigation ended unsuccessfully because  many complaints were not made in a timely manner, and there was originally the problem that religious discrimination was not then covered under Title VI. In my view, it was a whitewash.

Finally, it was, indeed, proper that the Regents  statement put anti-Semitism at the forefront. It was the myriad complaints of anti-Semitism over the years that led us to this moment. Anti-Semitism is the worst -ism on our campuses today.

In my view, Butler does not want to acknowledge the anti-Semitism because she opposes Israel. I laid it out in front of her when I sent her the above letter.  I laid it out when I spoke at the Regents working groups at UCI and UCLA.

I respect free speech and acknowledge that mere opposition to Israel and her policies do not by itself constitute anti-Semitism. However, I have personally seen and heard many incidents that have crossed the line into Jew hatred.


Gary Fouse
Adj teacher
UCI -Ext

PS: I have tried repeatedly, but without success to post these comments in the Cloudminder and Remaking the University reader threads.