Note: On December 28, 2010 The Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism, formally asked the Orange County Jewish Federation, Hillel and the Rose Project. to adopt the Jewish Community of San Francisco’s guidelines for funding. Among other things, the guidelines prohibit funding for any activities that “advocate for, or endorse, undermining the legitimacy of Israel as a secure independent, democratic Jewish state, including through participation in the [BDS] movement, in whole or in part.” On March 21, 2010, we published the Pledge in memory of the Fogal Family. To date those entities, The OC Jewish Federation, Hillel and the Rose Project have not bothered to respond.
IDF Arrests Hamas Speaker of PA Parliament Who Met UC Irvine Students
by Jerry Gordon
New English Review Saturday, 21 January 2012
On Thursday, the IDF arrested the Hamas Speaker of the Palestinian Parliament, Aziz Dweik near Ramallah. Dweik had been detained by the IDF in 2006. Dweik had figured prominently in the controversial Olive Tree Initiative at U.C. Irvine, when students had met students had met with Dweik during a visit to the West Bank in 2009. Orange County Jewish activist, Dee Sterling of Ha-Emet, the Truth had discovered through a California Public Records search evidenced that a Jewish Federation of Orange County (JFOC) affiliate, the Rose Project, had funded the Olive Tree Initiative program at U.C. Irvine.
IDF soldiers arrested senior Hamas official, Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian Authority parliament on suspicion of involvement with terrorist groups on Thursday, the IDF and Hamas said. Hamas said Dweik was taken into custody at a checkpoint near Ramallah and it accused Israel of trying to prevent rival Palestinian factions from completing a unity deal. Dweik was arrested by Israel in 2006 and spent two years in jail.
Hamas won a parliamentary election in 2006 and seized control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a brief civil war a year later, since when parliament has been inactive. Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah faction agreed a reconciliation deal last year, but it has yet to be implemented.
JFOC loses its Credibility- the smoking gun letter. The JFOC’s credibility problem surfaced from a response to a California Public Records Act (PRA) request by local activists from Ha’Emet. That information surfaced a “smoking gun” letter sent by JFOC President Elcott to UCI Chancellor Drake in October, 2009 revealing a meeting between OTI students and Hamas representative Dweik. The JFOC leaders seized upon this letter as evidence that they had brought this to the attention of UCI administrators seeking an investigation. The JFOC leaders never informed the community.Read more »
Posted By Nichole Hungerford On January 4, 2012 @ 12:02 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage
Many were disturbed at a recent video of young Jews — the hope of the next generation — “occupying” a Birthright event and spewing noxious anti-Israel rhetoric in and outside the gathering. But considering the competition Birthright is up against, it’s not difficult to see how such a scene was produced. The fact is, not only have anti-Israel activist made 21st century blood libels fashionable, but they have found a way to turn a profit from them in the process. More and more, sojourners to the Holy Land are falling into the orbit of the growing “alternative travel” or “justice tourism” industry, which specializes in politicized tourism to Israel and adjacent territories. As the name indicates, alternative travel is entirely focused on exposing tourists, not with mainstream, commonly accepted information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but with an “alternative” account predicated on needless Palestinian suffering at the hands of their brutal Israeli oppressors. Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — The family of a 14-year-old Ohio girl is suing school officials in the state for allowing bullying and anti-Semitic attacks aimed at their daughter.
The lawsuit alleges that officials at Green High School did nothing to curb years of bullying by classmates, which included being called a “dirty Jew” and told she would “rot in hell” for not believing in Jesus Christ, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Read more »
On Tuesday evening, October 26, 2011, members of the Orange County Independent Task Force on anti-Semitism attended an event called ”Conflict and Identity” hosted by the Olive Tree Initiative at UC Irvine. It was billed as an opportunity to “meet the students who just came back from their trip to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank.” The presentations contained precious little of the students experiences “on the ground.” Instead, in our view this program was a decidedly skewed, and a thinly veiled political diatribe against the State of Israel which included selective historical revisionism and simplistic conclusions. During the presentations, most of the students blamed or intimated that Israel was responsible for the “breakdown in the peace process”. One of the more troubling aspects of this program came from a female presenter who appeared to justify suicide bombings, by suggesting that we need to understand why they occur. Even more troubling was the continued endorsement of the OTI, by the so-called ”Rose project” of the Orange County Jewish Federation and Family Services some whose leadership was in attendance.
On December 28, 2010, The Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism, formally asked the Orange County Jewish Federation, Hillel and the Rose Project to adopt the Jewish Community of San Francisco’s guidelines for funding. Among other things, the guidelines prohibit funding for any activities that “advocate for, or endorse, undermining the legitimacy of Israel as a secure independent, democratic Jewish state, including through participation in the [BDS] movement, in whole or in part.” On March 21, 2010, we published the Pledge in memory of the Fogal Family. To date those entities, The OC Jewish Federation, Hillel and the Rose Project have not bothered to respond.
(New York) Jewish civil rights group Shurat HaDin—Israel Law Center has
launched the “Campus Hotline,” a manned telephone switchboard to assist
university students in the United States who are subjected to
anti-Israel and anti-Semitic attacks at their schools. Students and
faculty are being encouraged to call the Campus Hotline at (718)
907-9258 to report to Shurat HaDin any incidents of anti-Semitism,
discrimination, intimidation or harassment arising from anti-Israel
activities on American college or university campuses. Shurat HaDin is
also soliciting information and updates via the Hotline on BDS (the
boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign to delegitimize Israel)
activities on campus and organized efforts to provide support for
terrorist organizations. Read more »
On June 28 2010 a Letter signed by OC Task Force and 11 Organizations was went to to UC President Yudof concerning, among other things, the alarming rise of anti-semitic rhetoric and physical and verbal aggression. In a very public and dismissive response in July 6, 2010 issue of the L A Times , Yudoff called that letter a “dishearteningly ill-informed rush to judgment…” The following letter, copied to the Orange County Independent Task force on Anti-Semitism, is President Yudofs response to a recent petition from over 5,000 individials expressing concern over the rising tide of anti-Semitic acts on the UC campuses: (Click) UC President Yudofs response to Jewish Community concerns
The danger of sending American college students on Olive Tree Initiative trips to the West Bank was underscored by the recent discovery of 13 Hamas terror cells and a foiled suicide bombing plot in Jerusalem.
Since its founding in 2007, the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI), a self-described non-partisan educational program, has been a lightening rod of controversy.
With chapters already operating on four UC campuses and more scheduled to open, the OTI has steadfastly maintained its mission is to bridge differences among college students on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through what it calls “civil discussion” and “open minds.” Read more »
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas pushed backlast week against critics of his successful prosecution of 10 students who tried to shut down a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren last year at the University of California, Irvine.
Since a jury convicted the 10 who stood trial on two misdemeanor counts Sept. 23, Islamist groups and their allies have decried the case as an assault on the First Amendment sure to chill political speech. The students were charged criminally solely because they are Muslims, the argument goes, and because they dared challenge an Israeli official.
Rackauckas’ response? Bunk. In a column published by the Orange County Register, he said the case stands in defense of free speech, no matter how hard critics spin.
“History tells us of the dire consequences when one group is allowed to shout down and intimidate another or a group of people so as to not allow them to have opinions or be heard. History requires us to draw a line in the sand against this sort of organized thuggery.” Read more »
Forty-five minutes of the Israeli ambassador’s speech and emails among the students are available.
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By Lauren Williams. Daily Pilot
September 28, 2011 | 4:01 p.m.
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The Orange County district attorney Wednesday published evidence from the so-called Irvine 11 case online.
The trove includes email threads sent among the defendants and video of the
UC Irvine and UC Riverside students shouting down Israeli Ambassador Michael
Oren’s Feb. 8, 2010, speech at UCI.
The district attorney rarely releases evidence online but did so this time
because of intense public interest, said D.A. spokeswoman Farrah Emami. Read more »
The Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism applauds today’s Superior Court Jury’s verdict to convict 10 U C Irvine students on all counts of disturbing a public meeting and conspiracy to disrupt the Feb. 8, 2010, talk by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. The Orange County Jury’s decision sends a powerful message that you cannot use the “hecklers veto” to violate the free speech rights of others, then hide behind the First Amendment.
By VIK JOLLY and LARRY WELBORN / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA – A jury Thursday found 10 Muslim university students guilty of
disrupting a speech by an Israeli diplomat at UC Irvine last year, in a case
that focused on free speech.
The six-man, six-woman jury found the students guilty on all counts of
misdemeanor disturbing a public meeting and conspiracy in connection with the
Feb. 8, 2010, talk by Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the United
States.
The prosecution said the defendants used a “heckler’s veto” to thwart the
free speech rights of the speaker and others in the audience, while the defense
countered that what the protesters did was a lawful expression of their free
speech. Read more »
Relations between Israel and Egypt
have become increasingly strained in recent weeks, and in the Egyptian capital
there is a mounting sense of tension, including incidents of anti-Semitism. Read more »
Commenting on the subject of minority rights in the potential Palestinian state, PLO envoy to the U.S. says past experience shows the two people should ‘be separated.’
The future independent Palestinian state will not include a Jewish minority, a top Palestinian official told USA Today on Wednesday, adding that it was in the best interest of both peoples to “be separated.”
Maen Areikat, PLO Ambassador to the United States, made the comment just as the Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, was preparing to offer up Palestinian statehood to a vote in the United Nations General Assembly later this month.
Answering questions on minority rights in a future state, Areikat was quoted by USA Today as saying on the possibility of a Jewish minority: “After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated.” Read more »
SANTA ANA – Emails detailing plans by Muslim Student Union (MSU)members to interrupt a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren last year were entered into evidence Monday in the misdemeanor trial of 10 University of California, Irvine students.
The emails outline how the group actively developed a plan to silence the Israeli ambassador, while dishonestly maintaining that the organization had no involvement. “We will be staying for the majority of the program and disrupting it throughout the whole time,” one email said.
Witness Rhoda Harris, a Holocaust survivor, described a scene of chaos as the students interrupted the speech multiple times. Oren could not be heard over the cheering that followed each disruption, she claimed, shutting down the event an hour before scheduled. Read more »
By JOANNA PARASZCZUK
09/08/2011 02:41 Jerusalem Post
Hundreds of US college and university presidents were set to receive warning letters on Thursday morning, instructing them of their legal obligations to prevent anti-Semitism on campus.
The letters also remind universities it is their legal duty to prevent university funds from being diverted to unlawful activities directed against the State of Israel.
Civil rights group the Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin) is carrying out the legal campaign in response to “an alarming number of incidents of harassment and hate crimes against Jewish and Israeli students on US college campuses.”
“Anti-Israel rallies and events frequently exceed legitimate criticism of Israel and cross the line into blatant anti-Semitism, resulting in hateful attacks against Jews,” the center’s lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said on Wednesday.
One university that has attracted criticism over anti- Semitism on campus is Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
Aaron Marcus, a senior at Rutgers, says he was dubbed a “racist Zionist pig” in a public Facebook posting by a fellow student.
The political science and history student said he complained about the incident to the university administration, but was told the student’s comments were protected under the US Constitution’s First Amendment, and she had a right to freedom of speech.“They didn’t even mention that her actions were in direct violation of the student code of conduct or acknowledge the fact that she was taking part in an extreme case of campus bullying,” Marcus said.Lawyer Kenneth Leitner, Israel Law Center’s director of American affairs, said “perpetrators of hate” are exploiting academic ideals.“By condoning it, college administrators have allowed an environment of intimidation and hostility against Jewish students and faculty to fester on campus,” Leitner said. Read more »
Shin Bet security service intercepts explosive after it was smuggled to Jerusalem, it emerges Wednesday; dozens of Hamas militants operating in 13 separate cells arrested by security forces.
The Israeli Shin Bet security service foiled a suicide terrorist attack last month in Jerusalem, it emerged Wednesday. An explosive belt was seized only 24 hours before the planned attack, after it was already smuggled into Jerusalem.
The interception of the planned attack was part of a large-scale operation by the Shin Bet, the IDF and the police against the Hamas military infrastructure in the West Bank and Jerusalem. During the operation, dozens of Hamas militants – operating in alleged 13 separate cells – were arrested.
The main cell charged with carrying out the attack was based in Hebron. Read more »
Vehicle vandalism was reported from Indian River Court, Aug. 22 at 11:59 a.m. The victim found anti-Semitic symbols and threatening statements written on the car, and said that a few weeks prior, threatening notes and a doll with the same symbol was left nearby. No suspect(s) were seen or heard. Read more »
A Scottish student has been found guilty of a racist breach of the peace after he “insulted” an Israeli flag and called a Jewish student a terrorist, in a landmark case that has been described as “profoundly ignorant” by some campaigners.
Paul Donnachie, an 18-year-old studying at St Andrews University, was found guilty by a Scottish court on Tuesday, following a complaint by a Jewish-American student at the campus.
Chanan Reitblat, said his privacy had been invaded when Donnachie and fellow student Samuel Colchester, entered his room, rubbed his hand first on his genitals and then on an Israeli flag.
“Paul put his hands down his pants, pulled off a pubic hair and rubbed it over my flag. Sam did the same thing,” Reitblat said.
Donnachie also told him Israel was a terrorist state and the flag was a terrorist symbol.
After finding Donnachie guilty, Sheriff Charlie Macnair said the student had racial motivations for his actions. Read more »
“With any luck, the AJC’s reversal may facilitate a unified Jewish communal response to the resurgence of anti-Semitic incidents that have been seen around the country, and especially in California, over the past decade…”
David Harris Stood Behind Moves to Protect Jewish Students By Kenneth L. Marcus
Published August 23, 2011, issue of September 02, 2011. Jewish Daily Forward
In early August, the American Jewish Committee’s executive director, David Harris, finally renounced his organization’s highly controversial joint statement on campus anti-Semitism.
The initial statement, which AJC anti-Semitism expert Kenneth Stern had published four months before, with Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors, had generated considerable criticism within the Jewish community. Interestingly, the AJC reversal coincided with disturbing revelations in the University of California, Berkeley campus anti-Semitism case.
The context for the AJC statement can be found in California. Jessica Felber had gotten national attention earlier this year when she filed a federal lawsuit alleging an anti-Semitic attack at the University of California’s flagship Berkeley campus. In her federal complaint, the recent graduate detailed how a Palestinian activist assaulted her on campus by ramming her from behind with a loaded shopping cart. In mid-August, Felber revealed to the court that this assault was part of an ugly pattern on that campus. In another incident, a campus protester stopped a lecture to berate Felber for the Hebrew lettering on her sweatshirt, yelling that she must be a “terrorist supporter.” In a third, the head of Berkeley’s Students for Justice in Palestine allegedly spat at her.
Felber is not alone; a second Berkeley student, Brian Maissy, has now joined her lawsuit. Maissy submitted a declaration describing the “terrifying” atmosphere on the Berkeley campus during “Apartheid Week,” when protesters toting realistic-looking guns taunt passing students, demanding to know, “Are you Jewish?” Even more disturbing, Mel Gordon, a senior member of the Berkeley faculty, is now supporting Felber’s lawsuit with written testimony that he had been, “savagely beaten and spat upon” by the Students for Justice in Palestine. Gordon described “serious injuries” that he received from blows to the stomach. Read more »
Back in April, I wrote to take issue with a statement written by Kenneth Stern of the American Jewish Committee and Cary Nelson, the president of the American Association of University Professors. The duo contended that a number of recent troubling incidents involving Jewish students on American college campuses did not rise to the level of a “working definition” of anti-Semitism. Even worse, they sought to dismiss efforts to fight back against the vicious anti-Semitism that masquerades as criticism of Zionism as an unscrupulous attempt at censoring anti-Israel speech. Their stand undermined the campaign to get the government and universities to take the issue of anti-Semitism seriously. Read more »
Stella Paul of Stellapundit has sent me this article she wrote in American Thinker entitled, “Jews in the Basement”. It is strongly written and is strongly critical of certain Jewish men whom Paul deems have not stood up to anti-Semitism. It is certainly thought provoking.
This is an issue that I have encountered myself in my efforts to call out instances of anti-Semitism. It certainly does not apply to all Jewish men (or women for that matter). I can name plenty of Jewish men who are actively standing up to anti-Semitism. David Horowitz is certainly no shrinking violet. My friend Ted Bleiweis of the Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism is one of my closest colleagues as well as Dee Sterling in Orange County, who has endured a vicious backlash from the more established figures and organizations in Orange County for her activism and criticism of their own inaction. Read more »
The following is an excerpt from a post by Gary Fouse on his blog Fousesquawk:
In his final months, Rabbi Dunner had expressed his concern over the Olive Tree Initiative. He was so concerned about it that last January, he wrote a public letter to the Orange County Jewish Federation asking them to reconsider Federation funding and support for this UC-Irvine-based project. In response, Rabbi Dunner was inundated with letters, e-mails and phone calls from OTI supporters. In late January, he received a correspondence from the embattled Federation asking for a March meeting in London, where Dunner was based. The Federation informed Dunner that it would be sending a group to London to discuss the OTI with the rabbi. Dunner wrote back informing the Federation that he (Dunner) would be out of town and not available.
All of which raises the question of what business does the Orange County Jewish Federation have in sending a group of their leaders to London to argue on behalf of the Olive Tree Initiative-and what funding would be used to finance such travel.
British rabbi Aba Dunner, the longtime executive director of the Conference of European Rabbis, has died in London at the age of 74. He was the leading activist for the cause of Orthodox Judaism in Europe and was widely respected across the Jewish world. He had been seriously ill for some months. Born in Königsberg (then Germany, today Kaliningrad, Russia) in 1938, Aba Dunner was the eldest son of the Rosh Beis Din of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations in Britain, Rabbi Josef Hirsch Dunner.
The World Jewish Congress said in reaction to Rabbi Dunner passing: “He was one of the leading activists for the cause of Orthodox Judaism over the past decades and was widely respected across the Jewish world. He was at the heart of the building and strengthening Jewish institutions in Europe. Within the World Jewish Congress, Rabbi Dunner and the Conference of European Rabbis – which he led for many years – were actively engaged in addressing the concerns of Jews and Jewish communities and in strengthening dialogue with other faith communities. He was a dedicated fighter for achieving peace and freedom for all peoples, irrespective of their origin, religion or ethnic background. He will be sorely missed by all those who had the pleasure to work with him over the years. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife and his family. May the memory of the righteous be for a blessing.”
Note: On January 19 2011 Rabbi Dunner sent an email letter to OC Federation leader Shalom Elcott and copied to the OC Task Force The letter requested that Elcott ” cancel any support for Olive Tree (Initiative) and to desist from sending anyone to their programmes.” He also suggested that the Federation “should carefully monitor what they are doing and take action to counteract their activities.” Apparently, Elcott and local Jewish community leaders have ignored his counsel. Rabbi Dunner will be missed. We wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to Rabbi Dunners Family– OCITF
The following is an excerpt from a comment posted by a Jewish member of the Olive Tree Initiative in response to our post Olive Tree Initiatives “nefarious”connections? His entire comment can be read by scrolling down to the bottom of the post to the comment section. Are these the words of a student who has become overwhelmingly supportive of Israel, or do they belie the naive notion espoused by proponents of the Olive Tree Initiative, including Jewish Federation Leaders? :That Jewish students become overwhelmingly pro-Israel by belonging to an organization which gives a platform to those who unambiguously wish to harm Israel and the Jewish people.
Judge for yourself:
“….each side believes they know the truth, and takes unprecedented steps towards disseminating such truths. Additionally each side perceives themselves in the right, and expects international solidarity against the “other”. The conflict has evolved into an international industry, a media enterprise whose sole concern is to gain popular support at the expense of civilians. Each side has engineered a campaign so clever, so manipulative and self-destructive that its intention to sway the international community ends up cultivating deep resentment and entrenched hatred.”
Evidence continues to mount over the nefarious nature of the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI), a controversial student program that originated at the University of California, Irvine and is rapidly spreading to other campuses. Radical anti-Israel activists with long-standing involvement in the program have been identified as lead organizers of what has been dubbed the “flytilla,” a recent stunt aimed at putting the Israel delegitimization campaign back in the headlines. Sending young college students to meet with such Israel-hating extremists — including a leader of the terrorist organization Hamas — is what the OTI’s powerful patrons consider “holistic” education. Read more »
Note: Falk has taught UC Santa Barbara, at Chapman University and has appeared as a speaker at numerous anti-Israel events on Southern California Campuses including UCLA.
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Obama administration, joined by U.S. Jewish groups, called for the United Nations to dismiss Richard Falk, its rapporteur on Palestinian rights, after he posted an anti-Semitic cartoon on his blog.
“I am deeply disturbed that once again U.N. Special Rapporteur Richard Falk has used his personal blog to publish abhorrent material,” Joseph Torsella, the U.S. representative for management and reform to the United Nations, said in a statement on Friday. “His shameful and outrageous behavior is an embarrassment to the United Nations. Someone who publishes such vicious images has no place in the U.N. system.”
The cartoon, posted by Falk, depicts a dog wearing a shirt labeled “USA” and a yarmulke marked with a Star of David devouring a bloody human carcass. Lady Justice stands by blindfolded, holding the dog’s leash as it urinates on her foot. Read more »
Since we live in a craven age, let’s salute our few heroes. Meet Jessica Felber, a 21-year-old Lioness of Judah, who’s suing the University of California for failing to protect her civil rights.
Felber is a student activist at Berkeley who simply asserts her right to stand on campus and hold a sign saying, “Israel Wants Peace,” without subsequently needing urgent medical attention. What Jew can count on that right on a UC campus these days?
In March 2010, Felber was violently assaulted by Husam Zakharia, the leader of Students for Justice in Palestine, as she peacefully held her sign at a pro-Israel event. UC authorities “were fully aware that Zakharia, the SJP and similar student groups had been involved in other incidents on campus to incite violence against and intimidate Jewish and other students,” says her renowned lawyer, Neal Sher. Nevertheless, “[d]efendants took no reasonable steps to protect Ms. Felber and others.”
Felber names UC President Mark Yudof in her lawsuit and therein lies a tale. Read more »
Jacob Binstein, New Jersey Jewish Standard
June 3, 2011 (From IJCR)
It was a tough year for friends of Israel on the Rutgers campus.
But last Tuesday night, at the Rutgers Hillel Gala held in Livingston, student activists got a warm reminder that they don’t stand alone as community leaders from all corners of the state came out to support the 68-year-old campus organization. Read more »
On May 9th, the President of the Jewish Federation & Family Services of Orange County, California (JFOC), Shalom Elcott, was loitering on the plaza during the first day of the 2011l anti-Israel Apartheid Awareness Week organized by the Muslim Student Union (MSU)at University of California, Irvine (UCI). He encountered Professor Amihai Glazer. Glazer was one of 60 faculty members who had signed a letter expressing the view that antisemitism did indeed exist on the UCI campus – Islamic antisemitism. The conversation became heated when Elcott suddenly hit Glazer with coiled up flyers after Glazer told him he had “a credibility problem.”
Elcott is the brother of Prof. David Elcott of NYU Wagner College. David Elcott is a former US Interreligious Affairs Director of the American Jewish Committee. He left to become executive director of the J Street ally, the Israel Policy Forum (IPF). His successor at the IPF is MJ Rosenberg an active supporter of J Street’s mantra of “pro- Israel and pro-Peace” seeking immediatedeclaration of a Palestinian State.
One potential problem at UCI was the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI). The OTI was co-founded as a student led group in 2008 that included former Muslim Student Union President, Ali Malik, Isaac Yerushalmi, former head of Anteaters for Israel, and then graduate student, now director of the OTI, Daniel Wehrenfennig. The objective of the OTI program, sponsored by the JFOC Rose Project, was to send Jewish and non-Jewish students to Israel and the West Bank to expose them to a variety of views from Israeli and Palestinian representatives so they might gain an understanding of all sides of the issues.
Jewish student leaders at UCI Hillel, local JFOC officials and Jewish students who have gone on OTI sponsored trips persist in saying that antisemitism doesn’t exist on campus. Read more »
As a follow-up to last year’s letter to UC President Mark Yudof, which 12 organizations — including your own — signed, my colleague Dr. Leila Beckwith and I have recently posted another on-line letterto President Yudof, urging him to forcefully and promptly address the problem of the harassment and intimidation of Jewish students on UC campuses. We are hoping that thousands of Jewish community members will join us in signing this follow-up letter.
Could you please forward the following to your email subscribers?
Many thanks,
Tammi
Dear Jewish Community of California,
Bigotry against Jewish students has occurred on University of California campuses over many years and on many campuses. Jewish students have been subjected to: swastikas; acts of physical aggression; speakers, films and exhibits that use anti-Semitic imagery and discourse; speakers that praise and encourage support for terrorist organizations; the organized disruption of events sponsored by Jewish student groups; and most recently the promotion of student senate resolutions for divestment from Israel that seek to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish State.
Last May, more than 700 Jewish UC students signed a petition expressing outrage at anti-Jewish rhetoric and imagery on their campuses. They asserted that these incidents are as offensive and hurtful to Jewish students as a “Compton cookout” or a noose are to African American students. In addition, dozens of Jewish students from three different UC campuses, who responded to an on-line questionnaire, described feeling harassed and intimidated by the promotion of hatred against the Jewish State and of Jews. Almost all of the students felt that the administrators on their campuses did not treat Jewish concerns as sensitively as they did the concerns of other minorities such as African Americans and Latinos.
In June 2010, leaders of 12 Jewish organizations, including the Orthodox Union and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, wrote to UC President Mark Yudof, expressing their concerns about the hostile environment faced by Jewish students on UC campuses, and calling on him to address this serious problem immediately. President Yudof responded by asking Jewish leaders to have patience and faith in the newly-established Advisory Councils on Campus Climate, Culture, and Inclusion. Over the last year, however, these Advisory Councils have failed to address, or even acknowledge, the problem of anti-Semitism on UC campuses. In fact, the aims and actions of the Advisory Councils since their inception, as revealed by documents released under a Freedom of Information request, show that Jewish students are not a focus at all. Read more »
Last week, a troubling article appeared in The Jerusalem Post on the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI), a shady student organization run primarily through the University of California, Irvine that is rapidly spreading. The subject of intense criticism, the OTI has been infiltrated by (among others) activists from the terrorism-supporting International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and has sent students to meet with a leader of Hamas. Even so, what appeared in the Post does little to hold the organization accountable — or its powerful supporters in the Jewish Federation of Orange County (JFOC).
The OTI has been covered extensively at FrontPage, most recently in an article detailing a 2009 student trip to Israel and the West Bank on which students met with one of the foremost leaders of Hamas, Aziz Duwaik (trips to Israel to meet with “dialogue partners” are a central function of the program). The meeting occurred just months after Duwaik’s release from Israeli custody. Afterward, students were told to coverup the meeting and to essentially deceive officials in order to avoid trouble crossing borders and leaving the country. A spokeswoman from UC Irvine told FrontPage that there was no investigation into the incident that she knew of, nor has there been any evidence of an investigation subsequently. That is to say, neither the university nor the OTI’s funders have shown any interest in understanding the OTI’s dealings with Hamas, and in particular, how it is possible that the OTI arranged this meeting and what internal connections brought it about. (Duwaik, incidentally, was detained again in May by the Israeli Defense Force.)
The fact that there was no investigation is most puzzling, as JFOC sent a letter to Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake ostensibly insisting that an investigation be preformed. Yet with no investigation conducted, the federation continues its support. Read more »
So, sending students into a dangerous neighborhood and into the arms of those who seek to destroy Israel and the Jewish people to get their “perspective”is appropriate, so long as they get the other point of view? And this is what we call leadership?
Is the Olive Tree Initiative, an interfaith program that brings American students here to learn about the Israeli-Arab conflict, offering its participants the appropriate mosaic of views?
Shalom Elcott thinks you may have gotten the wrong idea.
In Israel this past week for Shavuot, the Orange County Jewish Federation president and CEO said that criticism of his group’s support for the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI) was misplaced and not based on an honest examination of the program.
“We could all agree that we don’t love all the speakers, but we have to work with American Jews to develop a greater understanding about how important that diversity of opinions in Israel is. Our job is to work with OTI and open the door to the best possible teachers and people who know the facts on the ground and make sure they’re engaged on the trip,” he said. Read more »
On Tuesday, May 31st at around 1:30pm a potted plant was thrown at the front window of the Chabad House at UCI. The home also serves as the residence of Rabbi and Mrs. Zevi Tenenbaum.
The object broke a glass panel of the front window. Thank G-d no one was hurt. The housekeeper was the only one home at the time. A police report was filed with the Irvine Police Department.
Rabbi Zevi and Miriam Tenenbaum regularly host UCI Students for Shabbat and Holiday Dinners at this location. There is a Menorah on display in the front patio.
At this point in time there are no leads as to who may have been the perpetrator.
– Rabbi Zevi Tenenbaum
The University and College Union (UCU), which represents more than 120,000 University staff, used its annual gathering in Harrogate over the Bank Holiday weekend to disassociate itself from EUMC working definition of antisemitism which is used by law enforcement agencies all over the world.
The UCU, the leading trade union partner of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, made this move in an attempt to deligitimise and redefine anti Semitism. They didn’t just reject parts of the definition or propose changes to it, instead they decided never to use it again whether educating members or dealing with internal complaints of antisemitism. Read more »
AS A MEMBER OF THE IRVINE JEWISH COMMUNITY, I WILL CONTINUE BEARING WITNESS FOR ISRAEL AT UCI LONG AFTER THE PRESENT CROP OF HILLEL EMPLOYEES AND UCI STUDENTS MOVE ON
I, as a member of the Irvine Jewish community, participated in peaceful and dignified demonstrations supporting Israel during anti-Israel Hate Week at UCI. I went to the campus, held placards, and respectfully quietly bore witness that I am a Zionist, that I love Israel, and that I am not deterred from demonstrating that love on the UCI campus. I did not wait for Hillel to invite me, and I do not care whether Hillel wants me there. Irvine is where I live. Long after the Jewish students at UCI have departed from Irvine, long after yet another Hillel director departs from Irvine, my community and I will be here. Irvine is not Berkeley, and our Jewish community will bear witness. Read more »
An interesting article entitledJust some food for thought was linked today on the OC Task Force Facebook page by the president of UC Irvine Hillel. The article appears on the U C Irvine Hillel Blog . Here is some additional food for thought:
The article stands in stark contradiction to a previous article written in 2009 by the same author describing Vicious Jew-Hatred at UC Irvine.
In an article published in the May 2009 Jewish Journal entitled Protecting Hate at UC Irvine a former UC Irvine student wrote: “ I have been told to censor myself so that potential students are not afraid to come to UCI, but I have had enough censorship”.
In March 2008, 20 “current and former” students issued a Press Release expressing deep concern about the anti-Semitism at UC Irvine and Hillels “response” to it. That story was covered in JTA and the Jerusalem Post”.
On February 12, 2008, the Orange County Independent Task Force on anti-Semitism completed its year-long investigation at UCI. Over 80 hours of interviews, as well as, documents, written complaints and numerous visits to the campus were used in the compilation of the subsequent Report and Recommendations. The complete 34 page report can be found here . The Task Force has continued to monitor and report on events on the UC Irvine campus.
Note: to read the articles click on the underlined phrases above.
The Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism applauds the U. C. Irvine Police Department and the U. C. Irvine Administration for deploying a large contingent of officers and maintaining a high profile during this years version of the contentious “Palestine awareness week”. We commend Chief Paul Henisey and his officers for their courtesy and professionalism. For the past several years we have criticized the U C Irvine administration for maintaining a negligible police presence and allowing Muslim Student Union members to act as security personal at highly contentious and potentially volatile events. The deployment of additional police officers this past week helped to insure the safety of students, faculty and everyone present.
In the shadow of this years version of the vehemently anti Israel wall of hate stands the Muslim Student Union “information’ booth offering tours of the wall. Note the sign that reads “caution genocide ahead” While the Middle East and North Africa continue to roil in blood shed with governments in Libya and Syria gunning down civilians on a daily basis, the Muslim Student Union, fresh from its “suspension”, presents this years edition of hypocrisy and hatred.
Who is presenting a speaker who physically embraced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at his conference questioning the Holocaust; A conference attended by the likes of former Ku Klux Klan Leader David Duke? The UC Irvine Muslim Student Union
Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) is considered a terrorist organization by much of the non-Arab international community including Israel, the U.S., Canada, Japan, the U.K., Australia and the European Union. Its declared goal is to destroy the Jewish state and replace it with an Islamic one. Read more »
While the Middle East and North Africa continue to roil in blood shed with governments in Libya and Syria gunning down civilians on a daily basis, the Muslim Student Union, fresh from its “suspension”, presents this years edition of hypocrisy and hatred :
This program and these students are not as important as they might hope to be. They do not deserve special attention. I oppose the program – particularly Jewish organizational support for the program – because it is premised on idiocy (the notion that students with limited background can grasp the truth by meeting with genius propagandists who can fool even trained diplomats), foolishness (the premise that these students can be peacemakers in this encounter between Jewish citizens trying to live and murderers hoping to murder), and falsehood (the premise that, by bring Jews to hear murderers and their proponents, the UCI Administration somehow is responding creatively and ingeniously to the problem of Arab Moslems at UCI disrupting speakers like Pipes and Oren, while promulgating Jew-hatred during Hate Week). Read more »
When I finished my midterm on Tuesday morning, I switched on my phone and was surprised by the flood of emails, articles and messages: Fatah, with mediation by Cairo, had successively reached a reconciliation pact with Hamas. Was Palestinian unity achieved overnight?
Fatah, the secular Palestinian political faction currently leading the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) and operating in the West Bank, had been in long-term dispute with their Islamist rivals, Hamas, who expelled the PA from Gaza, launching a bloody intra-Palestinian civil war. The PA and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), who accepted Israel’s right to exist in the 1990s adopting a stance of non-violence, have been at odds with Hamas, who utterly rejects Israel’s existence and carries strict anti-Semitic lines.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, co-founder of Hamas, said in 2010: “There is no place for Jews among us. And you have no future among the nations of the world. You are headed to annihilation.”
Like clockwork, the Israeli government had already released statement after statement condemning the agreement, naming any attempt at cooperation with Hamas — which is labeled a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union — a “complete collapse of the peace process.” I expect the ever-hawkish Zionist Organization of America and “StandWithUs” to exploit this opportunity in order to raise money. Read more »
Which nation on this planet is subjected to such a question? The following advertisment appears on OC Hillel’s Facebook page with the interesting disclamer:
While the Middle East and North Africa continue to roil in blood shed with governments in Libya and Syria gunning down civilians on a daily basis, the Muslim Student Union, fresh from its “suspension”, presents this years edition of hypocrisy and hatred:
Anti-Semitism: The Zionist Facade Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a United States Haredi rabbi, is an activist and spokesman for a branch of Neturei Karta, an anti-Zionist grouping of Haredi Jews. Based in Monsey, New York, he believes that observant Jews should peacefully oppose the existence of the Israeli state: “It would be forbidden for us to have a State, even if it would be in a land that is desolate and uninhabited.” May 9, 2011 12:00 PM, Flagpoles. 8:00 PM Biological Sciences 3.
Efforts stalled Wednesday to pass an A.S. Council resolution that called for the UC system to divest funds from non-neutral corporations currently providing technology to the Israeli Defense Forces. This is the second year the resolution, proposed by Students for Justice in Palestine, has been brought before council.
On December 28, 2010 The Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism, formally asked the Orange County Jewish Federation, Hillel and the Rose Project. to adopt the Jewish Community of San Francisco’s guidelines for funding. Among other things, the guidelines prohibit funding for any activities that “advocate for, or endorse, undermining the legitimacy of Israel as a secure independent, democratic Jewish state, including through participation in the [BDS] movement, in whole or in part.” On March 21, 2010, we published the Pledge in memory of the Fogal Family. To date those entities, The OC Jewish Federation, Hillel and the Rose Project have not bothered to respond. The following letter is endorsed by the Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism: Read more »
Following this line of thinking, one must wonder if OTI employs this sort of naive logic with the Ku Klux Klan or other dangerous white supremacist groups? Hamas is virulently anti-Semitic and dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel. Meanwhile, despite OTI’s “efforts”, nothing has changed on campus. Also noteworthy, according to this article: ” Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), believes the students are pioneering an important educational project by engaging with the region hands-on.”
Group of UCI students takes trips to Middle East to talk to officials, activists in both Israeli and Palestinian territories.
April 23, 2011|By Joanna Clay, joanna.clay@latimes.com
At multicultural UC Irvine, the Middle East and U.S. policy in that region can create fervent debate.
While tensions sometimes escalate on campus — as they have with the Irvine 11 case against student protesters — in 2007 a group of students decided to respond to Middle East tensions in a way that wasn’t polemical or political.
Instead of debating the different sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict from the confines of the UCI campus, they would travel to the region — meeting with officials, academics, religious leaders and activists — and come back to the community with the results of their conversations.
They called their organization the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI).
Since its inception, the group has organized three university trips and two community trips. Fifteen to 20 UCI students go on the two-week trip, splitting their time equally between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
“I think OTI is a really great example of an innovative campus program that has developed a really constructive way of addressing campus tension,” said Megan Braun, a UCI graduate who went on the 2010 trip.
Other UC campuses, such as UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz and UCLA, have taken a cue from OTI’s accomplishments by starting chapters of their own.
OTI recently came under fire for meeting Aziz Duwaik during a 2009 trip to the region. The student group had intended to meet with a member of the Palestinian Authority, but that official didn’t make it to the meeting. Duwaik, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, filled in for the official. And unbeknownst to the OTI delegation, Duwaik was also a Hamas representative in the West Bank. Read more »
Should the federal government intervene when an American university permits its campus to become unsafe for Jews? When the prevailing atmosphere on campus is hatred against Israel and all things associated with the Jewish people?
After a long and involved debate, the Obama administration finally did the right thing last October and stated definitively that such conduct is impermissible at institutions that receive federal funding. Read more »
Vittorio Arigoni found strangled in abandoned house; Erekat calls killing “dark page in Palestinian history”; Hamas says intention was to kill.
Security personnel in the Gaza Strip found the body of a pro-Palestinian activist from Italy who was killed and left in an abandoned house in the Gaza Strip following his abduction by militants, a Hamas official said on Friday. Read more »
This poster appeared along with others on ring road at the last Muslim Student Union (MSU) Israel bashing event in May 2010. The picture shows an American GI with a Jewish Talit (prayer shall) and a Torah scroll in his helmet. Is this what passes for civil discourse among tongue-tied community leaders and university administrators?
The poster below appeared on the MSU “Apartheid” wall a couple of years ago. (Hat tip to Gary Fouse)
Letter says “decency, justice and hope compel us to demand immediate cessation to deliberate misappropriation of words.”
NEW YORK African American student leaders from a variety of historically black colleges and universities took out full page ads in numerous American college newspapers Thursday, displaying an “Open Letter to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP),” to convey that they were offended by SJP’s use of the term” apartheid” at recent Israel Apartheid Weeks at campuses across the country. Read more »
As reported earlier, in an article in the OC Register, UC Irvine official Cathy Lawhon was quoted as saying ” meeting with people of many different points of view is consistent with (Olive Tree’s) mission.” “Their stated mission is to hear varying points of view, and to take people of varying points of view over there,” Lawhon said. “It’s not a homogenous group at all.” Lawhon went on to say “more trips to the Mideast have taken place since 2009, but that she is unaware if additional meetings with Duwaik or other Hamas officials were held.”
This statement was apparently ignored and contradicted in a different UC Irvine official response letter to The Zionist Organization of America . According to that officials letter : ” The meetings should not have happened. This was discussed specifically and at length with the Olive Tree Initiative leadership and board after their return to the United States in the fall of 2009 in an effort to avoid similar missteps in the future.” Missteps? Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. State department and it’s charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews.
PA police arrested and are interrogating former al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades militant who was released from Israeli prison more than five years ago, and is now a suspect in murder of Mer-Khamis.
Palestinian security forces arrested on Tuesday a suspect in the killing of Israeli actor Juliano Mer-Khamis in Jenin on Monday.
According to a security official, Palestinian police have been probing the man – a former al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades militant who was released from Israeli prison more than five years ago – but he has yet to confess to the murder. Read more »
Courtesy of the Zionist Organization of America ( ZOA)
In letters sent on April 1, 2011, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) called on the University of California, Irvine (UCI) to terminate a university program called the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI) – set up to build understanding and dialogue about the Arab-Israeli conflict – and called on the Jewish Federation of Orange County (the “Federation”) to stop funding and supporting the program, after it was revealed that students who participated in an OTI trip to Israel, including Judea and Samaria, met with a top leader of Hamas and then were instructed to keep the meeting a secret. The revelation about the secret meeting was made in a letter dated October 8, 2009, from leaders of the Federation – Jeffrey H. Margolis, Co-Chair, Rose Project; Dr. James Weiss, Co-Chair, Rose Project; and Shalom C. Elcott, President & CEO of the Federation – to UCI Chancellor Michael Drake. Read more »
Letters to UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake and Jewish Federation Federation and Family Services leaders have been forwarded to the Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism from the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). We join with the ZOA in expressing outrage over the 2009 alleged secret meeting of Olive Tree students with a known Hamas leader Aziz Duwaik and reiterate our call for the Jewish Federation and Family services to cease any and all connection with the Olive Tree Initiative. Hamas has been designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization . We once again call upon the Federation leaders to adopt The Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties Funding Guidelines.
In an article in today’s OC Register, UC Irvine official Cathy Lahawn was quoted as saying ” meeting with people of many different points of view is consistent with (Olive Tree’s) mission.” “Their stated mission is to hear varying points of view, and to take people of varying points of view over there,” Lawhon said. “It’s not a homogenous group at all.” By contrast in a statement appearing in todays Issue of JTA “Jewish Federation Official” Jay Feldman is quoted as saying ” The federation demanded that the university investigate the incident. The university did, and later acknowledged that the meeting was inappropriate and unapproved “ “The individual who led the trip was reprimanded, and the university pledged that the incident would not repeat itself — and it hasn’t.” According to the Register article “Lawhon said more trips to the Mideast have taken place since 2009, but that she is unaware if additional meetings with Duwaik or other Hamas officials were held.” Read more »
A letter obtained from UC Irvine via the Freedom of Information Act, was forwarded to the Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism: We encourage you to to read this revealing letter.
According to this letter dated October 8, 2009 and addressed to UCI Chancellor Michael Drake from Orange County Jewish Federation leaders, students on the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI) trip met with Aziz Duwaik , ‘a notable Hamas figure”, in a non scheduled “unapproved” meeting on September 16, 2009. The letter reveals that Duwaik is considered by Hamas to be the leader in the West Bank . Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.
Furthermore, the students were allegedly told by OTI officials not to tell anyone of this meeting with Duwaik , ostensibly: (1) “in order to avoid being detained upon entering Israel from the West Bank or being held at the airport before leaving the country.” (2) ” to avoid confrontation with anyone who would have disagreed with this meeting had they known about it in advance…”. The Letter noted that “As it’s largest funder the Federation has strongly supported the concept and development of the OTI from it’s inception.” However, it suggested that Federation officials were “deeply troubled” by the Duwaik incident.
JERUSALEM (JTA) – Facebook has removed a page calling for a third Palestinian uprising against Israel, but a new one quickly took its place.
Nearly 350,000 people had registered for the “Third Palestinian Intifada” page, established on Facebook earlier this month. The page, which calls for a third Palestinian uprising to begin May 15, included quotes and film clips calling for killing Jews and Israelis, and for “liberating” Jerusalem and Palestine using violence. It also directs users to related content on Twitter, YouTube and elsewhere on the internet.
Links to the page now redirect the user to the Facebook homepage. The page reportedly was taken down by Facebook on Tuesday morning.
A new page with the same name attracted 4,000 friends by midday Tuesday. Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) – Facebook will monitor a page calling for a third Palestinian uprising against Israel but will not remove it.
“Third Palestinian Intifada,” established on Facebook less than a month ago, calls for a third Palestinian uprising to begin May 15. The page, which as of March 27 had more than 330,000 friends, includes quotes and film clips calling for killing Jews and Israelis, and for “liberating” Jerusalem and Palestine using violence. It also directs users to related content on Twitter, YouTube and elsewhere. Read more »
“Kauft Nicht Bei Juden” The BDS (Boycott Divest Sanction) Movement. Is there any difference?
Those who wish to harm the Jewish People and destroy of the State of Israel have designated March 30, 2011 as “Boycott Israel day”. You can help counter this world wide threat from haters and hypocrites by going to your local retailer and requesting and purchasing Israeli products. To find a list of Israeli Products in your city click this link
TORONTO (JTA) — A York University student filed a complaint with Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal alleging the university tolerated an environment hostile to Jews.
Sammy Katz claims that he and other students were subject to physical and verbal abuse at a pro-Israel event on the university’s Toronto campus in February 2010. Read more »
Newswise — BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Leading experts on what has been called “the new antisemitism” will meet at Indiana University next month for a scholarly examination of anti-Jewish bias and hatred that has arisen across much of the world in the past decade.
“Resurgent Antisemitism: Global Perspectives” will take place April 3-5 at the Indiana Memorial Union. It is the inaugural conference of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, which was established in 2009 at Indiana University Bloomington. Read more »
In memory of the Fogel Family we Pledge to Ban Jewish Federation funding of Anti-Israel Activities.
RESOLVED: We, the Board of Directors and officers of the Jewish Federation of [fill in the location], hereby resolve that, effective immediately, we will:
Deny funding, whether directly from our Federation or indirectly from agencies or funds related to, associated with, or controlled or administered by our Federation,
to any individual, program or organization, whether foreign or domestic, that directly or indirectly, through its doctrine, mission, policies, activities, leadership or partnerships, engages in any manner or in any respect whatsoever and to any degree, large or small, in
(a) Promoting or advocating the delegitimization of the State of Israel as a secure independent, democratic Jewish state; or
promoting or advocating BDS; or
promoting or advocating anti-Semitism or harm to any Jewish community in any location throughout the world; or
facilitating, encouraging, or supporting the bringing of Jewish persons (including but not limited to Jewish students of all ages), to any location (including but not limited to Middle East locations within or outside the State of Israel) to attend lectures, presentations, or discussions by individuals who support the delegitimization of the State of Israel or BDS or are opposed to the existence of the State of Israel as a secure, independent, democratic Jewish state. Read more »
The Chapter gives special thanks to the Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism for its assistance in promoting this program and appreciation for the work it does on behalf of the Orange County Jewish Community.
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
12:00 noon
Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun
125 E.85th Street
New York City
Join in a community wide memorial service for the five members of the Fogel family who were brutally murdered this past weekend while asleep in their home. We must not be silent! We must demand justice for the victims. Speak out against the continuing incitement against Israel and the Jewish people.
Co-Sponsors:
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Consulate General of Israel in New York, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, UJA Federation of New York, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun-Ramaz Schools, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, ARZA, American Zionist Movement, The New York Board of Rabbis, Stand With Us, World Jewish Congress-US, WIZO USA, America-Israel Friendship League, Camera, AMIT, Jewish Labor Committee, American Friends of Likud, One Jerusalem, Rabbinical Council of America, Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc., National Council of Jewish Women, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, ORT America, EMUNAH of America
B’nai B’rith International, National Council of Young Israel, Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
American Friends of Ateret Cohanim/Jerusalem Chai, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, Mercaz, USA, ADL, Lincoln Square Synagogue
In a letter dated March 7, 2011, responding to a complaint filed by Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education (OCR) has agreed to open a Title VI investigation at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC). The letter stated, “We have determined that the issue is appropriate for investigation under the laws enforced by OCR.” The letter also stated that OCR has identified the following issue for investigation:
The recipient (UCSC) “failed to take steps in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to respond to notice of a then existing hostile environment for Jewish Students based on their actual or perceived ancestry or ethnic characteristics.”
Ms. Rossman-Benjamin, a lecturer in Hebrew at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), lodged a 29-page extensively documented Title VI Complaint with the OCR in June, 2009. The complaint alleges, among other things, that anti-Israel discourse and behavior in classrooms and that departmentally and university-sponsored events had created an “emotionally and intellectually hostile environment for Jewish students and had adversely affected their educational experience” at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). The complaint further alleges that: Read more »
“How ironic — no, scratch that; how incredibly shortsighted — that just as Egypt starts to open up, an American Jewish community would start to clamp down.” This, Rob Eshman penned February 16th in a piece for the Jewish Journal in which he argued against the removal of Jewish communal funds from organizations engaged in BDS (boycott, divestment, sanction) strategies against Israel. To do so, as Eshman intimates, would be to close the Jewish community; to stifle the freedom of thought and expression from within its ranks. Although it is a well-meaning call for openness, it is, nonetheless, a deeply misguided assessment of the danger posed by the BDS movement. To understand the true nature of the movement, is to understand why it cannot be countenanced by the Jewish community in any form — at least not a Jewish community interested in the preservation of Israel. Read more »
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