The University of California’s Board of Regents say they will form a working group to retool the first draft of systemwide principles defining intolerance after Jewish students expressed outrage that it makes no mention of anti-Semitism.
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The latest on a debate over the University of California’s first draft of system-wide principles defining intolerance.
“We’re hopeful regents will come up with a much more adequate statement to address the issue for which the statement was drafted in the first place – which is the alarming incidents of anti-Semitism on UC campuses”, said Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, director of the AMCHA Initiative, which fights to end anti-Semitism on campuses.
But, like the “Black Lives Matter” movement that has rejected an “All Lives Matter” approach, many pro-Israel students and others say UC is wrong to reject it.
Many Jewish groups and others wanted the UC to adopt a statement similar to the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism, which was equated with demonization of the state of Israel.
University of California’s Student Regent, Abraham Oved, left, holds up a Star of David as he addresses the UC Irvine Board of Regents meeting at the UC Irvine Student Center to discuss a controversial policy statement on intolerance at the campus in Irvine, Calif., on Thursday, September 17, 2015.
UC officials say the statement would be just that – a declaration of the school’s beliefs – and disciplinary measures would still be guided by existing policies and federal laws.
Instead, UC is asking the regents to discuss and perhaps adopt later a broad “statement of principles against intolerance” that also condemns specific kinds of bigotry recently seen on campuses, such as depicting swastikas and nooses, and questioning religious students’ ability to be impartial.
Pro-Palestinian organizations believe that definition could affect their free-speech rights to criticize Israel. “This statement of principles applies to attacks on individuals or groups and does not apply to the free exchange of ideas in keeping with the principles of academic freedom and free speech”. Supporters of Palestinians and faculty objected, arguing that it would infringe upon their free speech rights and academic freedom. Critics said as proposed it seriously inhibited free speech.
Several Jewish students urged the board to adopt the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism, which includes demonizing Israel or denying the Jewish state’s right to exist.
“Productive discourse does not demand that our words be guarded, but it does certainly demand our respect”, said UC Student Regent Avi Oved as he spoke to the enduring nature of political issues on the UC campuses during the meeting.
On the other side, even Kenneth Stern, the lead author of the definition of anti-Semitism on which the U.S. State Department’s is based, wrote recently that if UC were to adopt it at the university, “it would do more harm than good”. “To say that we can’t identify a macro-aggression against Jewish students when we talk about micro-aggressions?”
“Zionists should be sent to the gas chamber”, as one bathroom wall scrawling at UC Berkeley declared, sounds like a slogan coined at a messaging workshop jointly convened by the American Nazi Party and Students for Justice in Palestine.
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Regent Bonnie Reiss expressed concern over recent events in which a Jewish fraternity at UC Davis was vandalized with Swastikas and the credentials of a Jewish UCLA student government candidate were allegedly questioned on the basis of her religion.
