My Response to an Op-ed in The Hill

Hat tip to College Professors United for Israel and Jews

Thanks to an alert from College Professors United for Jews and Israel, I have sent a letter to  The Hill, a leading political news site reporting on national events. My letter was in response to an op-ed by two professors opposed to the investigations launched by the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights into complaints of anti-Semitism in US universities. It appears the letter I sent will not be published by The Hill, so I am sharing it here.

 The Department of Education’s approach to anti-Semitism is fully warranted

By Gary Fouse

Former part-time lecturer at University of California at Irvine Extension 

 

I am writing in response to The Hill's recent op-ed by Glenn C. Altschuler and David Wippman criticizing the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (DOE/OCR) investigations of anti-Semitism in many of our universities (The Department of Education's approach to anti-Semitism is dangerous and won't work, November 10, 2024).

I was a part-time lecturer at the University of California at Irvine from 1998-2016. During those years and beyond, I have personally witnessed anti-Semitism on that campus. I respect free speech and concede that mere criticism of Israel's policies does not in itself constitute anti-Semitism. However, all too many times, I have seen and heard anti-Israel speech cross the line into pure Jew-hatred. I have personally witnessed events in support of Israel by Jewish students disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Muslim Student Union. I have witnessed Jewish students being insulted, bullied, and intimidated by pro-Palestinian students. On numerous occasions, I saw and heard an Oakland imam named Amir Abdel Malik Ali come to campus and attack various individuals as "Zionist Jews", literally spitting out the word "Jew" as Nazis did back in the 1930s and 1940s. Over and over again, this man came to our campus and called for the wiping out of Zionists. 

In February 2001, a Washington DC-based imam named Mohamed al-Asi came to UC Irvine and said the following: 

"We have a psychosis in the Jewish community that is unable to co-exist equally and brotherly with other human beings. You can take a Jew out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the Jew. And, this has been demonstrated time and time again in Occupied Palestine. And, now they have American diplomats and politicians and decision makers and strategists in their pocket because they have the money."

In May 2008, I personally photographed a caricature of Ariel Sharon on the so-called Apartheid Wall put up by the UC Irvine Muslim Student Union, which was drawn in the style of Julius Streicher's Der Stuermer Nazi newspaper.

I also was present in 2010 when the Muslim Student Union disrupted the speech of the Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren at UC Irvine.

In 2013, two students from the General Union of Palestinian Students at Francisco State University openly expressed their desires to kill Israeli soldiers, one by displaying a poster, and the other by making a videotape while brandishing a knife.

As a Gentile, I am appalled and outraged by the resurgence in anti-Semitism in our country and the world. The focal point for that resurgence in the US has been on our college campuses, and now, it has metastasized into the communities at large.

I also condemn the inaction and cowardice of university administrators all over the country. They either sympathize with these outrages or are too afraid to confront groups like SJP, the Muslim Student Association chapters, or the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). It goes without saying that far too many professors have contributed to the rising anti-Semitism by egging on the campus bullies. Now we even have chapters of Faculty for Justice in Palestine cropping up around the country.

In 2006 and 2007, investigations regarding complaints of anti-Semitism at UC Irvine were undertaken by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and DOE/OCR. Regrettably, they ultimately went nowhere due to issues of timeliness of complaints and the fact that there were no actual Israeli student complainants. Being Jewish was not enough since religion was not covered in Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Subsequently, DOE has rightly included religious status when it comes to complaints of discrimination.

Since October 7, 2023, the problem on our campuses has increased dramatically in terms of disruption and bullying of Jewish students. Jewish students are subjected to fear and are being robbed of their right to get a quality education without being harassed. And it's not just since October 7, 2023. This has been going on for at least two decades.

To reiterate: Everyone should have the right to support the Palestinian narrative and criticize Israel's policies. In itself, that is not anti-Semitic. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which has developed its own working definition of anti-Semitism, concedes that. However, there are elements pertaining to Israel which, according to that definition, are anti-Semitic, such as denying Israel's right to exist, blaming all Jews for Israel's policies, calling Israelis Nazis, accusing Jewish citizens of having dual loyalty, and holding Israel to a different standard when it comes to human rights as contrasted with other countries.

Free speech aside, it is not OK to bully Jewish students on campus. It is not OK to disrupt their events. It is not OK for swastikas to appear on campus. It is not OK for students and outside guest speakers to call for violence. That is not part of the "free, unfettered, and robust debate that is central to (the universities' ) academic mission". There is no question that this has all led to a hostile environment for Jewish students.

Far too many universities, including the one where I taught, have for years, failed to protect their Jewish students from bullying, threats, and intimidation. It is right and proper that DOE/OCR step in. It is high time that the public spotlight be shone on these institutions. The federal government and state governments should be able to make informed decisions about giving public funds to these institutions. Parents, especially Jewish parents, should be able to make informed decisions about where they will send their children to college. Those who donate huge sums of money to universities should be able to make informed decisions as to continuing or discontinuing that financial support. 

Mere wringing of hands by university administrators, condemnations of anti-Semitic incidents, empty phrases about the university's "standards of civilized discourse and inclusion" are not enough and do not constitute, in my mind, compliance or a sincere effort to protect Jewish students.

Finally, I believe that the recent hearings by the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workplace have been a positive first step in bringing about the process of reform. In that same vein, the DOE/OCR has an important role to play. That effort should be supported, not halted.