Note from Leila Beckwith

Campus News and Tolerance Report
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Leila Beckwith Reports [11 Oct]: Since at least 2001, several of the University of California campuses have been marked by numerous incidents of anti-Jewish bigotry, hidden under the guise of anti-Israelism. The manifestations have included: physical assaults against Jewish students, destruction and vandalism of property, deliberate disruption of Jewish students’ events, virulently anti-Israel divestment campaigns that sought to demonize the Jewish state, and “Israel Apartheid Week” events, which included rhetoric and imagery that fit into the definition of antisemitism used by the U.S. State Department.

In June 2010, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin and Leila Beckwith, members of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, organized a letter to UC President Yudof, signed by 12 Jewish organizations, expressing concern and recommending policies to combat the bigotry. President Yudof, in his response, dismissed the concerns and ignored the recommendations.

On September 19, 2011, Rossman-Benjamin and Beckwith organized more than 5,200 California Jewish community members to sign on to a letter to UC President Yudof asking him again to address the bigotry against Jewish students forcefully, publicly, and immediately. The signatories included more than 1400 UC alumni and current students; 230 UC faculty and staff members; 2,200 UC parents and family members. The effort was reported in the LA Times (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/09/jewish-groups-complain-of-anti-semitism-at-uc-campuses.html ) and Arutz Sheva (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/148255 ). The letter (http://amchainitiative.org ) prompted Yudof to make the first official statement on the UC website that recognized anti-Semitic bigotry at UC.

(http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/26327 ). However, his actions continue to be insufficient to combat the problem.

Note from Leila Beckwith

Campus News and Tolerance Report
  • 0
AUTHOR

SPME

Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) is not-for-profit [501 (C) (3)], grass-roots community of scholars who have united to promote honest, fact-based, and civil discourse, especially in regard to Middle East issues. We believe that ethnic, national, and religious hatreds, including anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism, have no place in our institutions, disciplines, and communities. We employ academic means to address these issues.

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