A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article on a controversy at the UC Berkeley School of Law. Certain ethnic identity student groups within the law school had announced that they opposed inviting speakers to campus who were pro-Israel.
In the interest of defending free speech, Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky expressed disappointment in the action of these groups. My own reaction is that while I applaud his statements, in my view, he should not be surprised. Chemerinsky, a liberal, was previously dean of the UC Irvine Law School at the time I was a part-time teacher at the UC Irvine Extension. In my opinion, both law schools under Chemerinsky's leadership are little more than left-wing activist training grounds. Thus, it is a natural consequence that many within these law schools are marching arm in arm with pro-Palestinian agitators on campus, a nationwide phenomenon that has led to so much anti-Semitism on our campuses.
In that spirit, I have sent an email to Dean Chemerinsky expressing my views in the form of an open letter and inviting his response. It can be read below.
To Dean Erwin Chemerinsky
UC Berkeley School of Law
UC Berkeley
Dear Dean Chemerinsky,
My name is Gary Fouse, and I am a former part-time teacher of English as a Second Language at UC Irvine Extension (1998-2016). Thus, I was working at UCI during your previous tenure at the UCI Law School. I should note at the outset that I am writing this in the form of an open letter since I intend to post the contents on my blog (https://garyfouse.blogspot.com). You are welcome to respond in any manner you choose, either on my blog or otherwise.
I am writing to you concerning the recent controversy over the decision of certain law school student groups at UCB to exclude inviting speakers who are deemed Zionists. I have been following this story with interest since, as a gentile, I was active in fighting anti-Semitism on the UCI campus. It is my firm opinion from my own experiences and observations that the resurgence of anti-Semitism in the US in recent years is mostly due to the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel movement on our college campuses. This has now metastasized to society in general, and it is my opinion that it is largely traceable to this controversy on campuses centered around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I recognize the fact that historically, as well as today, Jews are attacked from all directions, and I condemn anti-Semitism on the right as much as from any other direction.
I also realize that not all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, but much of it is if you follow the IHRA's (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of anti-Semitism. I also recognize that there is the issue of free speech involved. I have no wish to silence the voices of the pro-Palestinian students and faculty, but rather to counter them.
I also believe that much of the discourse against Israel has crossed the line from legitimate criticism of Israel's policies to out-and-out Jew-hatred. I have seen it at UCI and heard it as well.
I am aware that you have spoken out against this latest action by certain student groups within your law school. I commend you for it. But I have to frankly ask-what did you expect?
When you took on the job of heading the UCI Law School, you told a mostly Jewish audience in Orange Country that you would not have taken the job and moved your family there if you thought there was a problem of anti-Semitism on campus. I am paraphrasing your words, but I was present. I disagreed with you on that point then, and I disagree today. I have personally seen the images, the intimidation of Jewish students, the disruption of their events, and the out-and-out Jew hatred expressed by many of the invited speakers of the Muslim Student Union and Students for Justice in Palestine.
I was also troubled by the fact that the National Lawyer's Guild (NLG) had a student chapter at the UCI Law School. In May 2017, I personally spoke with a young lady during the annual week of attacking Israel at UCI. She told me she was a law student at UCI and was wearing the distinctive lime green cap of the NLG, which identified her as a "legal observer". Later that same week, I observed her accompanying a group of pro-Palestinian students as they disrupted a pro-Israel event. In fact, I videotaped the incident.
I also note from the NLG website that the UC Berkeley Law School has a similar NLG student chapter. The NLG was established in the 1930s as a legal arm of the Communist Party USA. Why any law school would want to have any association with them at all is beyond me. However, it only reinforced my view that the UCI Law School had a distinct leftist bent. That is all perfectly legal, of course, and protected by our Constitution, which you know as a noted Constitutional expert.
It appears that the philosophy of the UC Berkeley Law School is also to the left, which again, is your right. But that brings me to my point. There is an obvious alliance today between the pro-Palestinian forces and the left in the US. That is clearly manifested on our college campuses. Again, I appreciate your concern for the free speech rights of Jewish students who are being impacted by this latest action by student activists, but you should not be surprised at what is happening within your own law school. Frankly, I find it troubling that so many law students have such a view of equal rights under the law. It makes me wonder what they are being taught in class.
In closing, I return to my original points. It is not about whether these student groups have the right of free speech. They do. It is not about whether you or your law school support the Palestinian cause, Israel, or are divided on the issue. It is not about the UCB School of Law's philosophical positions. Ultimately, it is about what Jewish students are having to go through on the UCB campus as well as other campuses as a result of this highly organized pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel movement on campus, a movement that has led to a resurgence in anti-Semitism in this country. It has also led to bullying and intimidation of Jewish students and constant disruption of their events by people I can only describe as latter-day Brown Shirts. This is intolerable and university administrators are to be condemned for allowing it to get out of control and for not protecting their Jewish students. And make no mistake: I condemn the current and recent administrations of UC Irvine and UC Berkeley in this regard.
And with all due respect, Sir, if you want a leftist law school, that is your prerogative. But given the current alliance between the left and the pro-Palestinian movement and the resultant anti-Semitism that has followed, what did you expect? At the end of the day, it's your law school.
Sincerely,
Gary Fouse
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