The targeting of Jewish students in the University of California school system continued last week when the University of California Students Association’s Board of Directors passed a motion to conduct an emergency meeting after students misrepresented facts and questioned the supposed financial and political conflict of interest of student-regent designate nominee Avi Oved.

The Jewish Telegraph Agency provided coverage of the recent developments in which Oved will be investigated:

The University of California Student Association will hold a meeting to discuss allegations against a Jewish student nominated to serve as a regent for the statewide university system.

UCSA’s board agreed Saturday to hold an emergency meeting to look into the allegations against Avi Oved, a UCLA student and the student regent-designate nominee for the larger University of California system.

Amal Ali, a former president of Students for Justice in Palestine at U.C. Riverside, had alleged at Saturday’s UCSA board meeting that Oved failed to disclose a UCLA student government campaign donation from a pro-Israel philanthropist, The Daily Californian, U.C. Berkeley’s student newspaper, reported.

Ali pointed to an April 2013 email purportedly sent by Oved to philanthropist Adam Milstein thanking him for what was described as a “generous donation.”

Amal Ali’s ties to Students for Justice in Palestine, a leading anti-Semitic organization, raise questions about the continued efforts to malign and smear Jewish students. In response, Oved has issued a statement refuting the false and malicious charges.

STATEMENT ON RECENT ALLEGATIONS

I would like to address the hurtful and deeply unfair allegations that have been made about my 2013 election to the Undergraduate Student Association Internal Vice President’s Office.

In May 2013, I ran with Bruins United and complied with all requirements of the election code bylaws. USAC required me to disclose how campaign contributions were spent ­­ which I did. Any suggestion that I violated the election code by failing to provide information not required is spurious and is nothing more than an attack against me as a pro­Israel student. No similar demand has been made of any other candidate. If USAC in future years would like to amend the elections code, that is its prerogative.

Unfortunately, this recent attack is representative of a new breed of bullying on our campuses in which baseless attacks are leveled against the integrity of individuals. This is unacceptable, regardless of the passion one feels towards a political cause. There is an unhealthy tendency of certain student groups and bloggers to misconstrue any information and publish ad hominem attacks targeting groups or individuals simply because they hold divergent political beliefs.

Like many other student leaders across the nation, I ran for student government because I had a vision for my campus and a desire to safeguard my community. And my track record is clear; during my tenure as the IVP, I focused on issues impacting all students. In spite of that fact, I have continually come under attack not for my actions, but for the beliefs I hold on one issue: Israel.

As a proud pro-­Israel advocate, I have never wavered on my political beliefs on respective issues nor diluted my stances to appease those who had differing opinions. I would hope everyone would respect me and my point of view just as I respect and welcome those that differ from my own.

In my new position as the UC Student Regent­designate, I will continue to serve as an advocate for all students. Over the next two years, I look forward to partnering with those who seek to bring our communities together; to unite us on issues we care about. I hope that together we can have an impact on issues such as sexual violence prevention on college campuses, increasing student representation on the Board of Regents, revisiting the California Master Plan for Higher Education in order to expand upon joint advocacy, and other pressing issues affecting the UC.

Respectfully, Avi Oved

​The campus of UCLA, where is Oved is a student, was the launching pad for vicious anti-Israel initiatives in the spring of 2014. The attacks against the Jewish state and Jews included a smear campaign targeting a Jewish student government candidate, Israel being wiped off the map in an Arab sorority flyer, and an “ethics statement” which most student government candidates signed pledging that they would not travel to Israel on pro-Israel trips. The student government also rejected a proposal to divest from Israel, a manifestation of the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, in February.