When a recent report from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, dismissed claims that the university had failed to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitism on campus, many thought that it could create a watershed moment for Berkeley. Leading the fray was The Daily Californian, which made the almost Panglossian prediction that the report “could mark a new era for the campus community.”
Though I wish that the Daily Cal’s conclusion was correct, the fact is that the OCR’s conclusions are limited only to the legal matter of the university’s liability with regards to the civil rights of minority students. Although the OCR acknowledged the occurrence of hostile acts directed against Jews, they concluded that because there is no law compelling the university to prevent students from being personally offended or hurt, the university made no legal infractions. Indeed, for the OCR to have taken action, they would need evidence that the university had failed to stop direct coordinated actions against Jews. Given that the issues faced by Jewish students come from a widespread general bias across the entire student body and not from a single organization, the OCR would never find Berkeley to be legally liable, no matter the degree of hostility faced by Jewish students.
However, as any Cal student or alum could likely confirm, Berkeley has chosen to commit itself to principles beyond the law. The university’s well-known dedication to protecting student rights and concern with matters of justice is at the very core of our identity. These values, even if not made explicit in federal law, explicitly bar the actions that led to the legal complaint filed with the OCR. The report may legally exonerate Cal, but it does not excuse the university, faculty and students from the grave moral failing of our community in dealing with the baseless hatred in our midst.
It is an incontrovertible fact that over the past several years, Jewish students at Berkeley have had to deal with numerous hate incidents, including verbal, written and physical assaults. Jewish students have been called horrendous, unprintable things. They have been shoved and pushed. In campus housing, the past several years have seen repeated occurrences of swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti. Continue reading →
In the post-Holocaust era, many had predicted, mistakenly, that the world’s oldest hatred would recede, even anticipating that anti-Semites would soon become an extinct species.
Participants at the fourth conference of the Global Forum for Combating anti-Semitism, held under the auspices of the Foreign Ministry this week in Jerusalem, will be provided with data highlighting the accelerated global erosion of the status of Jews and Israel.
In the post-Holocaust era, many had predicted, mistakenly, that the world’s oldest hatred would recede, even anticipating that anti-Semites would soon become an extinct species. Instead, defaming Jews has emerged as the greatest global political growth industry – a virtual tsunami. In fact we are witnessing a resurrection of the medieval paranoia which effectively blamed Jews for all the disasters of mankind.
The most concentrated venom is relentlessly directed against “the state of the Jews” (anti- Israelism) which is now the principal vehicle employed to demonize Jews. It dominates debates at the UN and other international organizations where rogue states and barbaric regimes seek to delegitimize the state of the Jews.
The bias and double standards against Israel became so intense that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) decided to explicitly define such behavior as anti-Semitic.
The escalation of Jew-hatred in recent years has been greatly accelerated by the economic meltdown and surge in unemployment throughout Europe. Such an environment breeds xenophobia which, since time immemorial, was always directed against Jews, exploiting them as scapegoats.
The era of the Internet and electronic global communications has been a boon to Jew-baiters, enabling them to globally disseminate their hatred instantly and effectively. New varieties of Judeophobia have emerged and integrated with the traditional anti- Semitism which had been temporarily muted due to revulsion at the horrors of the Holocaust.
The new blend fuses traditional right-wing religious, racial and economically inspired hatred of Jews with leftist varieties which now dominates indigenous Western anti-Semites. Ironically, the Left bases its demonization of the Jewish state on bogus Israeli human rights violations while avoiding condemnations of Arab anti-Semitism and abdicating its traditional long-standing role of purporting to champion rights of the oppressed and condemning human rights violations – an area in which the Arab world excels.
The greatest outpouring of anti-Jewish hatred emanates from the newly empowered Muslim countries, with their combined population of 1.6 billion. In conjunction with their diasporas in Western countries, they frenziedly promote a devilish brew of unique Islamic anti-Semitism combined with the traditional Western varieties. They depict Jews as vampires; descendants of apes and pigs; evil creatures disseminating AIDS; the masterminds behind 9/11; etc. Their incitement is at least as potent as the worst Jew-hatred promoted during the Nazi era. In addition, the jihadist component has been the principal element stoking the escalation of global violence, terror and murder against Jews. Continue reading →
As you know, we are faculty members at the University of California, who have been investigating and documenting anti-Jewish bigotry on California public university campuses for the last several years.
We are writing to you now to express our serious concern regarding an incident that occurred during a student protest on November 19, 2012, during which UCD students “occupied” an administration building on campus. We believe that numerous violations of state and federal law and university policy may have occurred at the event. To our knowledge, your administration has neither acknowledged nor addressed these violations. Continue reading →
Jewish at U.C. — the real report, by the students themselves
Thursday, October 18, 2012 | by dan pine– Jewish Weekly
They called Tammuz Dubnov a liar. Right to his face.
The 17-year-old sophomore was standing in U.C. Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza alongside other students defending Israel.
Therefore, reasoned the pro-Palestinian protestors, Dubnov, who was born in Israel, must be a liar. “I stayed calm,” he recalled of the incident last spring. “They don’t actually know what they’re talking about.”
U.C. Berkeley, like any university, is a bastion of free speech, a testament to the power of the First Amendment and fundamental American values. At the same time, U.C. campuses have long been the sites of verbal attacks against Israel and, occasionally, Jews.
Divestment resolutions, heckling of Israeli speakers, “Israel Apartheid Week,” calls for academic boycotts of Israel and ethnic slurs — as well as an occasional swastika scrawled here or carved there — have become part of university life. Continue reading →
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. Continue reading →
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. Continue reading →
Two federal parliamentarians, John Baird and Joe Volpe, set aside their partisan difference Wednesday to denounce the promotion of “Israeli Apartheid Week” as morally, intellectually and historically incoherent.
The letterexpresses concern about the problem of campus anti-Semitism and about whether the Department of Education is enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation. Courtesy of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) To read the letter click here.
[1]UCSD is embroiled in another cultural controversy. (Photo by Alex Hansen / Wikipedia Commons)
Recent news that organized groups of students at the University of California, San Diego have criticized the nation of Israel and called upon the university to divest itself of economic ties to corporations and groups that do business with the Jewish state is proof positive that the culture of intolerance exposed several months ago, then against African-Americans, has far from abated.
If UCSD is to repair its damaged reputation and be considered a campus that respects the humanity, dignity and rights of all people, UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox will refuse to overlook bigotry of any kind and will speak out forcefully against this reckless display of anti-Semitism at her school. Continue reading →
Proponents say the measure is meant to condemn human-rights violations worldwide.
An A.S. resolution demanding that the university stop working with companies associated with human-rights violations has come under fire from members of the pro-Israel campus community. Continue reading →
The fate of a divest-from-Israel resolution passed last month by the U.C. Berkeley student senate and vetoed a week later by the ASUC president was decided April 15, with a 12-7 vote to sustain the veto, according to the Twitter feed from the Daily Californian, U.C. Berkeley’s student-run campus newspaper. Continue reading →
Europeans frequently view Iran’s genocidal threats against Israel as a way to make use of the annihilation of European Jewry as a catharsis to alleviate their guilt-ridden history.
BERLIN – Where do Iran’s quest to speed up the production of uranium centrifuges for its alleged nuclear weapons program and global anti-Semitism cross paths? Both processes are proliferating at an astonishingly fast pace, and are not being met by fierce resistance. Just days before Israelis observed Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Islamic Republic marked its National Nuclear Day last Friday, proclaiming its accelerated drive to go nuclear. Continue reading →
In your open letter published in the New University, you propose a return to UC Irvine in order to “dialogue” with those whose views juxtapose yours. We willingly take you up on that offer. But to clarify, our willingness does not stem from any delusional notion that your words can right the decades of wrong and injustice. Continue reading →
“In past years some students have opted not to go to class during IAW, and threats and dangers encountered by Jewish students have included swarming, confinement, racial slurs, and physical assault, according to the Canadian Federation of Jewish Students.”
OTTAWA—The controversial Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), which began Monday, has been marked by condemnations from Canadian officials denouncing the comparison between Middle East ethnic tensions and South Africa’s former policy of racial segregation. Continue reading →
In a rant that reeked of old-fashioned anti-Semitism, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that the “Zionist regime” was seeking to control the world.
Addressing the International Conference on National and Islamic Solidarity for Future of Palestine, Ahmadinejad said that the existence of the “Zionist regime” is an insult to all of humanity, asserting that it had lost its raison d’être. Continue reading →
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), which begins today on many university campuses, is an odious and bigoted annual ritual. While organizers bill it as an exercise in “Palestine solidarity,” it typically features rabid expressions of hatred against Israel and its Jewish inhabitants. As a general principle, it goes without saying that criticism of Israel is not automatically tantamount to anti-Semitism. But the atmosphere at some IAW events blurs the line — with extremist speakers whipping crowds into the sort of frenzy one more usually sees in newsreel footage from the streets of Cairo or Gaza City. As a result, many Jewish students often report feeling intimidated on their own campuses. Continue reading →
In a rare show of unanimity, Ontario MPPs of all political stripes have banded together to condemn “Israeli Apartheid Week.”
Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman (Thornhill) tabled the motion Thursday to denounce the sixth annual provocative campus event that kicks off next week at universities and colleges in 35 cities around the world.
“Resolutions in the Ontario Legislature send a message. They are about moral suasion,” said Shurman, adding “it is close to hate speech” to liken democratic Israel to apartheid-era South Africa. Continue reading →
TORONTO – At the last minute, York University has cancelled events organized by a coalition of Canadian pro-Israel students and organizations due to “security” concerns. The events organized by the Imagine With Us coalition were scheduled for this week in anticipation of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), which begins on March 1. Continue reading →
“Jews are the enemies of Allah and humanity” ” The Prophet says: ‘Kill the Jews'”
“Even if donkeys would cease to bray, dogs cease to bark, wolves cease to howl and snakes to bite, the Jews would not cease to harbor hatred towards Muslims.“
A sermon calling for the genocide of Jews was broadcast Friday by PA TV, which is under the control of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The speech called the Jews the enemies of God and humanity, and compared Jews to Nazis.
In a recent interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Abbas proudly declared that there is no more incitement in the mosques:
“They [Israel] said there is a problem with incitement in speeches in mosques
during Friday prayers. Today there is no more incitement at any mosque,” he
[Abbas] said.” [Haaretz, Dec. 16, 2009]
The following is the transcript of excerpts of the hate speech in a mosque broadcast on PA TV:
“The loathsome occupation in Palestine – its land and its holy places – by these new Mongols and what they are perpetrating upon this holy, blessed and pure land – killing, assassination, destruction, confiscation, Judaization, harassment and splitting the homeland – are clear proof of [unintelligible word – Ed.] hostility, of incomparable racism, and of Nazism of the 20th century. The Jews, the enemies of Allah and of His Messenger, the enemies of Allah and of His Messenger! Enemies of humanity in general, and of Palestinians in particular – they wage war against us using all kinds of crimes, and as you see – even the mosques are not spared their racism…
“Oh Muslims! The Jews are the Jews. The Jews are the Jews. Even if donkeys would cease to bray, dogs cease to bark, wolves cease to howl and snakes to bite, the Jews would not cease to harbor hatred towards Muslims. The Prophet said that if two Jews would be alone with a Muslim, they would think only of killing him. Oh Muslims! This land will be liberated, these holy places and these mosques will be liberated, only by means of a return to the Quran and when all Muslims will be willing to be Jihad Fighters for the sake of Allah and for the sake of supporting Palestine, the Palestinian people, the Palestinian land, and the holy places in Palestine. The Prophet says: ‘You shall fight the Jews and kill them, until the tree and the stone will speak and say: ‘Oh Muslim, Oh servant of Allah’ – the tree and the stone will not say, ‘Oh Arab,’ they will say, ‘Oh Muslim’. And they will not say, ‘Where are the millions?’ and will not say, ‘Where is the Arab nation?’ Rather, they will say, ‘Oh Muslim, Oh servant of Allah – there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’ Except for the Gharqad tree [tree mentioned in the Quran – Ed.], which is the tree of the Jews. Thus, this land will be liberated only by means of Jihad…”
In an interview with the newspaper ‘Skånska Dagbladet’, the mayor of the Swedish city of Malmö, Ilmar Reepalu, has equated Zionism and anti-Semitism and said both were unacceptable. “We will neither accept Zionism nor anti-Semitism,” the Social Democratic politician was quoted as saying. He rejected allegations that anti-Semitism in his city – the third largest in Sweden, with 280,000 inhabitants – was rampant, but said Jews should not have staged demonstrations in support of last year’s Israeli military offensive in Gaza. “I wish that the Jewish community had distanced itself from Israel’s violations of the civilian population in Gaza. Instead, they chose to hold a demonstration in the main city square, something that could send the wrong signals.” Continue reading →
As JA presents alarming report, Sharansky seeks more emissaries.
Anti-Semitic incidents in western Europe peaked to a level not seen since the close of World War II, according to numbers released by the Jewish Agency on Sunday, three days before the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Continue reading →
Popular student website from land down under recently smeared with racist postings against Jews. High school students post threads saying: ‘Kill all Jews’ and ‘I hope Iran nukes them big time.’ One of posts discusses locations of synagogues in Sydney, provides instructions on how to make Molotov cocktail Continue reading →
The French ministry of the interior will appoint a representative to monitor and deal with antisemitic incidents, which have more than doubled in 2009.
The announcement was made by Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux at the annual meeting for the Union of French Jewish Professionals, where he was awarded the organisation’s prize for the Fight Against Racism.
He called antisemitism “a poison for our Republic” and emphasised that his ministry would deal appropriately and firmly with antisemitic crime.
According to official figures, there were 123 antisemitic acts and 581 antisemitic threats between January and September 2009. These include verbal aggression and attacks on Jewish buildings and cemeteries.
Since 2003 the French police and community representatives have worked together to gather statistics on antisemitic incidents. These rose sharply in January after the Israeli military incursion into Gaza.
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — (Marketwire) — 12/16/09 — Canada is putting a renewed focus on the new anti-Semitism, one predicated on the notion that the Jews alone have no right to a homeland, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney said today in Jerusalem.
“Canada is not content to be an observer on the world stage. Rather, Canada is playing a leadership role in combating the new anti-Semitism,” said Minister Kenney, speaking at the Global Forum for combating anti-Semitism.
The Minister noted that among other things, Canada was the first country in the world to announce it would not attend the Durban 2 conference. The Governments of Israel, the United States, and much of the European Union later followed Canada’s lead and boycotted the conference. “Canada’s fears that Durban 2 would, like its predecessor Durban 1, descend into an anti-Semitic hatefest were fully vindicated,” said the Minister.
“Rather than combating racism, Durban promoted it. Our government will not allow Canada’s good name to be sullied by association with a conference whose sole purpose, it seems, is like that of the first Durban”, said Minister Kenney.
Among recent measures Canada has undertaken on the world stage to lead in the combat against the new anti-Semitism, Canadian officials walked out on a speech by Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and at a summit of francophone countries, Prime Minister Stephen Harper refused to sign a one-sided draft statement criticizing Israel.
“In addition to our leadership in combating anti-Semitism on the world stage, we have taken a hard look at Government of Canada programming as part of our zero-tolerance approach to anti-Semitism” said Minister Kenney.
“Our Government is working to dismantle the client relationship that existed between the Government of Canada and organizations whose priority is seemingly to advocate for the legalization of banned terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as deny the Jewish people’s right to a homeland,” the Minister added. “We have also taken a leadership role in condemning anti-Semitism on Canadian university campuses.” (emphasis added) Continue reading →
TEHRAN (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Holocaust a lie Friday, raising the stakes against Israel just as world powers try to decide how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of an Iran in political turmoil.
“The pretext (Holocaust) for the creation of the Zionist regime (Israel) is false … It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim,” he told worshippers at Tehran University at the end of an annual anti-Israel “Qods (Jerusalem) Day” rally.
“Confronting the Zionist regime is a national and religious duty.”
Ahmadinejad’s anti-Western comments on the Holocaust have caused international outcry and isolated Iran, which is at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear program.
The hardline president warned leaders of Western-allied Arab and Muslim countries about dealing with Israel.
“This regime (Israel) will not last long. Do not tie your fate to it … This regime has no future. Its life has come to an end,” he said in a speech broadcast live on state radio.
Germany said Ahmadinejad was a “disgrace to his country.”
“This sheer anti-Semitism demands our collective condemnation. We will continue to confront it decisively in the future,” Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. Continue reading →
” …Hate speech is difficult to define precisely.” It is largely defined by the person individual hearing it: what some or many might find hateful or offensive, others may not….” UCI Chancellor Michael Drake ” Message on hate speech” May 26.2006.
“..One persons hate speech is another persons education” — UCI Vice Chancellor Manuel Gomez October 18, 2006.
“We have 1,000 guest speakers on campus every year. Could I evaluate them and say this one is anti-Semitic? I could not. What I could say is that as a person and a campus, we abhor hate speech, period.” — UCI Chancellor Michael Drake May 30, 2007.
“…I do agree there were certainly instances of boorish and intimidating behavior. Some of this behavior involved people not associated with the University. Neither the University nor the Police Department has the means or ability to control such rude or obnoxious behavior…” UC Irvine Police Chief Paul Henisey—January 20, 2009
“…UC Irvine did experience instances of racist, hateful and anti-Semitic speech on our campus last month. The Chancellor has stated on many occasions that he personally finds this type of speech abhorrent, offensive and counterproductive…” Ramona H. Agrela, UCI Associate Chancellor–June 12, 2009
“…..The ferocity and extraordinary resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe cannot simply be attributed exclusively to the impact of Muslim migrants or rage against Israeli policies. The anti-Israel tsunami which swept across Europe can only be appreciated in the context of the profound traditional hatred of Jews which, we now realize, only went into remission when the horrors of the Holocaust were unveiled. But half a century later it has reemerged with a vengeance, with the Jewish nation state acting as surrogate for anti-Semitism directed against Jews.
How else can one explain why this tiny embattled Jewish state has assumed the role of scapegoat for all the ills of humanity. It is reminiscent of the times when Jews were accused of poisoning the wells, spreading the plague and acting as the sinister force behind capitalism and communism? How else to explain why Israel has been condemned as a rogue state representing a greater threat to peace than North Korea or Iran? How else to explain the application of Holocaust inversion to its treatment of the Palestinians while silence prevails concerning human rights violations and mass murders in countries like Sudan, Sri Lanka or Congo? How else to explain why its legitimate efforts to defend its citizens against terrorists and missiles are blamed for the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and global terrorism?…” Continue reading →
“Controversy is good … Controversy is exactly what we want.”
This statement, made by Anna Baltzer last Tuesday, reflects a growing trend in the Muslim Student Union’s (MSU) annual anti-Israel week. Baltzer apparently fails to realize that some people prefer facts rather than a questionable presentation based on faulty assertions and plain fabrications. Baltzer not only damned the Israeli security barrier for “preventing daily life” but took a step past the line of reason by saying it “doesn’t prevent attacks,” even though terrorism has declined by 92 percent since the barrier’s construction in 2002.
Cynthia McKinney, a former congresswoman, was a new addition to the MSU’s lineup of speakers. McKinney decried American foreign aid to Israel and briefly recounted her experience in attempting to sail through the Israeli naval barrier implemented around Gaza to prevent Hamas from smuggling arms.
However, the show was stolen by Malik Ali, an Oakland imam who has repeatedly accused the “Zionist Jews” of corrupting and controlling the United States government, economy and media. Ali has also repeated the conspiracy theory that the “Zionist Jews” were responsible for 9/11. His constant vilification of the “Zionist Jew” is a weak way to dodge charges of anti-Semitism, as most Jews are Zionists by religious affiliation.
Last Thursday night, Ali delivered a speech in the Student Center entitled “Silence is Consent.” Unfortunately, Ali’s speech was not at all concerned with facts, as it focused more on religious extollment and anti-America and anti-Israel rhetoric. What was surprising was the much-higher level of vitriol and naked hate in Ali’s rhetoric at the nighttime event in comparison to his public daytime event at the flagpoles. Continue reading →
It is incumbent upon the University to provide adequate security and police protection for all of its students, especially when organizations such as the Muslim Student Union at UCI bring incendiary and hate speakers to the campus. The UCI administration has allowed untrained MSU members to act as “security guards” for their own events. This should not be tolerated as it creates an unsafe and potentially hazardous environment for students, faculty and visitors to the campus. If the university does not have the resources to provide adequate police protection, then perhaps they should require those groups to pay for additional qualified uniformed campus police.From top: MSU supporters “guard” Cynthia McKinney. Middle: Audience member approaches Ms. McKinney’s podium to ask a question and is immediately met by several MSU supporters. Bottom: Dean of Students Sally Peterson escorts audience member away from the podium.
Imagine if you sent your children to university and they were subjected lies, distortions, hatred and racism every year for one, two or three weeks at a time.? Imagine images of your religious symbols drenched in blood? Imagine displays depicting grotesque stereotypical images of your ethnicity? Is this what you want your university to be known for?
Welcome to MSU’s annual “anti-Zionist” diatribe at UC Irvine.
61 years of illegal occupation. 61 years of statelessness. 61 years of systematic ethnic cleansing. The Palestinians have lost thousands of lives and millions of have been displaced from their homes. Despite all of this, their resolve remains steadfast, their resistance enduring, their fire unflinching. However, though Israel continues to violate international law and inflict these injustices, Palestinian blood stains our hands, too. We as taxpaying American citizens directly contribute to Israel’s perpetual dehumanization of the Palestinians, as United States tax dollars directly fund Israeli military operations and sustain Israel, the largest recipient of US foreign aid annually. We invite you to attend these events dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of the Palestinians, and to explore the potential for changing this situation through our efforts.
FEATURING…
***GEORGE GALLOWAY, British Member of Parliament
***CYNTHIA MCKINNEY, Former Congresswoman and 2008 Green Party Presidential Candidate
CO-SPONSORED BY…
***Afrikan Student Union
***Alpha Epsilon Omega ®
***Armenian Student Association
***Asian Pacific Student Association
***Hindu Student Council
***Hip Hop Congress
***Pakistani Student Association
***Society of Arab Students
***Sikh Student Association
***The Agora
***Radical Student Union
***Vietnamese Action Committee
***Young Americans for Liberty
***Workers Student Alliance
Tuesday, May 5
***THE GAZAN MASSACRE with Reem Salahi
Doheny Beach CD, Student Center || Doors Open at 5:30pm
Monday, May 11
***PALESTINE IS THE ISSUE with Jim Lafferty of the National Lawyers Guild
Outside @ Flagpoles || 12:00pm-1:00pm
***OCCUPATION 101 SCREENING of award winning documentary
Crystal Cove Auditorium, Student Center || Doors open @ 5:30pm
Tuesday, May 12
***WITNESS IN PALESTINE: PART I with Anna Baltzer, Journalist
Outside @ Flagpoles || 12:00pm-1:00pm
***WITNESS IN PALESTINE: PART II with Anna Baltzer, Journalist
Cross Cultural Center || 2:00pm-3:30pm
***THE NEW ISRAELI GOVERNMENT… THE SAME OLD STORY with Gideon Levy, Journalist
Crystal Cove Auditorium, Student Center || Doors Open at 5:30pm
Wednesday, May 13
***INVESTING IN APARTHEID: 6.8 MILLION U.S. TAX DOLLARS A DAY
with Cynthia McKinney, Former Congresswoman and 2008 Green Party Presidential Candidate
Outside @ Flagpoles || 12:00pm-1:00pm
***SAILING TO THE SHORES OF OPPRESSION
with Cynthia McKinney, Former Congresswoman and 2008 Green Party Presidential Candidate
Crystal Cove Auditorium, Student Center || Doors Open at 5:30pm
Thursday, May 14
***TO EXIST IS TO RESIST with activist Amir Abdel Malik Ali
Outside @ Flagpoles || 12:00pm-1:00pm
~// SILENCE IS CONSENT with activist Amir Abdel Malik Ali
Crystal Cove Auditorium, Student Center || Doors Open at 5:30pm
Thursday, May 21
***VIVA PALESTINA with GEORGE GALLOWAY, British Member of Parliament
Pacific Ballroom CD, Student Center || Doors Open at 5:30pm
“…The global Zionism is the complete symbol of racism, which with unreal reliance on religion has tried to misuse the religious beliefs of some unaware people and hide its ugly face. But what should be seriously considered are the goals of certain superpowers and those in possession of major interests in the world; those who try their best through economic power and political influence and wide media means, to lessen the crimes and ugliness of the nature of the Zionist regime….”
*Note the disturbing similarities to the anti-Semitic hate speakers and who are regularly presented on the UC Irvine campus by the Muslim Student Union. Continue reading →
Later this month, on April 21, Holocaust Remembrance Day or Yom Hashoah will be commemorated in memorial rallies in major U.S. communities. Politicians will declare their commitment to combat hate crimes, church leaders will sermonize against all hatred, and yet despite all of these annual efforts, the oldest hate-anti-Semitism is as pervasive as it has ever been.
According to the FBI Biased Motivated crimes in the U.S. for 2007 by religion, a total of 1,477 such bias crimes were committed, of that 1,010 were committed against Jews, 65 against Catholics, 59 against Protestants and 133 against Muslims. Jews were targeted almost 10 times more than Muslims.
Sixty-three years after the Holocaust, Jews in Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and elsewhere on the Continent are at risk of being physically attacked if and when they wear identifying symbols such as a Star of David, a skullcap, a beard, etc. For the Jews in Europe, it is the 1930s all over again, except that this time the threats and actual violence are not coming from governments, but from local Muslims.
In the Judenrein Arab Middle East, racist anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are preached in mosques, featured in the media and taught in schools. In Latin America, particularly in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, anti-Semitism has become pervasive, albeit under the guise of anti-Zionism. Continue reading →
I have always felt that decency will prevail and that anti-Semitism, racism and hatred wherever they stand will ultimately be contained.
This is the Jewish way. I have faith that evil will eventually scatter and run, and goodness and tolerance will prevail. I have not been shaken from these beliefs, but I am shaken. Continue reading →
OTTAWA (JTA) — Canada’s prime minister denounced anti-Semitism as “a pernicious evil” that must be defeated.
Stephen Harper spoke Thursday at a Parliament Hill ceremony organized by Chabad-Lubavitch to honor Jewish victims of last November’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Continue reading →
The fifth annual Israel Apartheid Week, which ended on Sunday, was a more popular, better attended, and more aggressive series of anti-Israel rallies and lectures than ever before. Continue reading →
NEW YORK (JTA) — At York University in Toronto, a group of students had to be escorted from the Hillel office by campus police on Feb. 11 after a threatening mob shouting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel slogans gathered outside. Continue reading →
Mar. 9, 2009
ABRAHAM COOPER and HAROLD BRACKMAN , THE JERUSALEM POST
Neutral Sweden’s mixed World War II legacy is still debated by historians. On the one hand it supplied Nazi Germany with iron ore and ball bearings and allowed the Wehrmacht to use the Swedish railway system to transport soldiers. On the other hand, spurred on by the Danes, it accepted Danish Jews marked for mass murder by the Nazis. Continue reading →
ICan Ad Targets Student Boycotts of Israel
In the wake of Israel’s war in Gaza, anti-Israel rhetoric and anti-Semitism have once again flared up at some American universities. Now, as “Israel Apartheid Week” is being held on college campuses, the Simon Wiesenthal Center is fighting back with an ad campaign focusing on all the Israeli innovations that college students love: cell phones, instant messaging, Intel processors.
The ICan campaign was announced last Friday at a press conference featuring Judea Pearl, the UCLA professor and father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Judea Pearl, a columnist for The Jewish Journal, recently drew attention to a symposium of anti-Israel scholars at UCLA that included audience chants of “Zionism is Nazism,” “Free, Free Palestine” and “F…, f… Israel.”
“The verbal abuse is there, the intimidation is there, the feeling of helplessness is there, not only among students but among faculty,” Pearl said at the press conference at the Wiesenthal Center’s West L.A. office.
The Wiesenthal Center, Anti-Defamation League and other agencies have reported an explosion in anti-Semitism during and following Israel’s three-week assault on Gaza that began in late December. A protest outside the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles featured a now-infamous sign that depicted the Israeli flag with a Magen David twisted into a swastika and the words, “Upgrade to Holocaust Version 2.0.” On college campuses, some student bodies passed resolutions condemning Israel’s military actions; what for many crossed the line into anti-Semitism, though, were anti-Israel symposiums and lectures. Continue reading →
By Ron Kampeas · February 27, 2009 (JTA) — A Caracas synagogue was damaged by a bomb. The homemade grenade, tossed late Thursday night into the Orthodox Beit Shmuel synagogue, damaged windows and a car; no injuries were reported. It was the second such attack this year on a Jewish site in Caracas. Eleven people, including eight policemen, are under arrest for vandalizing a Caracas synagogue last month. In that attack, the walls were painted with anti-Semitic slogans, religious objects were damaged and thieves stole a database listing Venezuela’s Jews. Jewish leaders in Venezuela and overseas accused President Hugo Chavez of stoking tensions with rhetoric comparing Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip to Nazi oppression.
Some 125 parliamentarians gathered together last week for the historic founding conference of the Interparliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism (ICCA), brought together by a new sophisticated, globalizing, virulent and even lethal anti-Semitism reminiscent of the atmospherics of the 1930s, and without parallel or precedent since the end of World War II. Continue reading →
U.C. Berkeley, like any university, is a bastion of free speech, a testament to the power of the First Amendment and fundamental American values. At the same time, U.C. campuses have long been the sites of verbal attacks against Israel and, occasionally, Jews.
From top: MSU supporters “guard” Cynthia McKinney. Middle: Audience member approaches Ms. McKinney’s podium to ask a question and is immediately met by several MSU supporters. Bottom: Dean of Students Sally Peterson escorts audience member away from the podium.
Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism 
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