A University of California committee unanimously approved a statement Wednesday that cites anti-Semitism as a form of intolerance that campus leaders have a responsibility to challenge. The committee of the university’s Board of Regents voted to send the statement on to the full board for final consideration on Thursday.
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“Anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination have no place in the university”, it reads.
The report did not specify punishments, but urged educators to “challenge” bias and affirmed the importance of “mutual respect and civility”.
“We also applaud the Regents for pointing out that some individuals and groups pursuing a virulently anti-Israel agenda on UC campuses have crossed a threshold into discrimination against Jewish students”.
Lehrer says it can be hard at times to determine if a remark or action is anti-Semitic or just an expression of deep frustration with Israel’s policies concerning the Palestinians.
Her group led the push for a statement after a series of incidents targeting Jewish students on UC campuses.
While strongly defending First Amendment freedoms, notably by the last-minute clarification that it is “anti-Semitic forms of anti-Zionism” that are prohibited – and not legitimate political opposition – the principles may be used to check anti-Israel activists who routinely shout down pro-Israel speakers, who contemptuously refuse to engage in Jewish-Muslim dialogue, and who have allowed hatred for Israel to mutate into anti-Jewish poison. “If we think that we solve the problem by identifying forms of anti-Semitic anti-Zionism, then we are left with the question of who identifies such a position, and what are their operative definitions”, she wrote.
Others, he said, will end up paying the price.
“This is an active debate among Jewish students that’s being hijacked by outside groups for a political advocacy gain”, said David McCleary, a Jewish UC Berkeley graduate student who is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine, which opposes the new resolution.
The campaign marks the latest in a series of efforts to address what Rossman-Benjamin says is negative fallout on Jewish students because of anti-Israel activities. It implies that strong statements against the policies and practices of the state of Israel or other statements that could be deemed “anti-Zionist” have no place on campus. He said Wednesday that he expects groups such as AMCHA Initiative, a group that defines its objectives as protecting Jewish students, will exploit the vagaries of the adopted language. It was revised to: “Antisemitism and antisemitic forms of anti-Zionism … have no place …”
The report includes 10 “principles against intolerance” that specifies that harassment, threats, assaults, vandalism, destruction of property and interference with the right of others to speak will not be tolerated.
Rabbi Matisyahu Devlin, of the Chabad of UC Riverside, an organization that promotes Judaism, said free speech is important. He had also tweeted a link to an article on social media that said it was time to confront “the Jewish question”. The hope is that it would prompt more education and nuanced conversations.
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But this morning Mr Corbyn issued an impassioned defence of his stance on anti-Semitism and said he was “disappointed” in the peer’s comments. “This is what a university is about”.
