“ADL calls on UCI to denounce anti-Semitic speaker and Pull the Muslim Student Union Charter”

“How long must we hear Malik Ali support terrorism, express hatred of Jews and call for the destruction of the State of Israel before the University is willing to denounce him and those who invite him and sponsor his speech at Irvine?”  ADL Regional Director Kevin O’Grady

For the press release  by the Orange County Anti Defamation League Regional Director click  here

And the solution? Host a series of discussions on civility and values

UCI ruckus leads to forums on civility

February 18th, 2010, 10:42 am

by Gary Robbins, science writer-editor

Less than two weeks after 11 students were arrested at UC Irvine for disturbing a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, the university’s chancellor says the campus will soon host a series of discussions on civility and values.

UC Irvines “habitualy craven administrators, led by a feckless Chancellor Michael Drake…”

“…But despite continual complaints from the Orange County Task Force on Anti-Semitism and other concerned UCI stakeholders, the tenor and frequency of speakers at the MSU’s lurid hate-fests continue unabated, seemingly with the tacit approval of the university administration…” Richard Cravatts Ph.D

UCI hecklers: ‘Speech for me, not for thee’

By Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D

Director of Boston University’s Program in Publishing

2010-02-11 Orange County Register

Of the many intellectual perversions currently taking root on college campuses, perhaps none is more contradictory to what should be one of higher education’s core values than the suppression of free speech. With alarming regularity, speakers are shouted down, booed, jeered, and barrage with vitriol, all at the hands of groups who give lip service to the notion of academic free speech, and who demand it when their speech is at issue, but have no interest in listening to, or letting others listen to, ideas that contradict their own world view.

OC Task Force Applauds OC ADL’s May 14, 2009 letter to UCI Chancellor Drake

The Orange County Independent Task Force on anti-Semitism applauds  ADL Regional Director Kevin O’Grady for taking a firm stand against anti-Semitic and racist hatred at UC Irvine:

“….We firmly believe that your unwillingness to specifically condemn the anti-Semitic comments that were spewed on your campus last year in conjunction with MSU’s activities sent a signal that they were acceptable and led to the escalation of hate this year. In such circumstances, it is your responsibility as Chancellor to exercise your own First Amendment rights and use your bully pulpit to denounce Amir Abdul Malik Ali by name, to remove the offensive display from the entrance of your campus and to restore the integrity of U.C. Irvine as a place that promotes a civil, respectful and welcoming academic environment. There is no legitimate excuse for inaction now – enough is enough!…” Read the letter here:

UCI Police Chief: Campus Police do not have the means to control boorish and intimidating behavior on campus

Correction: Paragraph three line one  should read :   The incidents occurred on May 15, 2008 during a campus rally sponsored by UC Irvine’s Muslim Student Union featuring controversial speaker Malik Ali.

UCI Police Chief: Campus Police do not have the means to control boorish and intimidating behavior on campus

Huntington Beach, CA– February 12, 2009–In a written response to criticism of  UCI’s Police Department investigation of complaints of assaults on a student journalist and a Christian evangelist,  UC Irvine Police Chief Paul Henisey stated the following:

“… 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…”.

ZOA: New UC President needs to stop anti-Semitism at UCI

The ZOA mentions the Task Force in its critique of UCI. The new UC President’s reply will be posted as well, when it’s published. Download the letter: ZOA Letter to UC President

ZOA CALLS ON UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESIDENT TO RECTIFY ANTI-SEMITISM PROBLEMS AT UC CAMPUSES

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has urged the newly-appointed President of the University of California (UC), Mark G. Yudof, to address ongoing problems of anti-Semitism and Israel-bashing on two UC campuses: UC Irvine and UC Santa Cruz. In an eight-page letter to President Yudof dated August 8, 2008, the ZOA described in detail “the pattern of anti-Semitism on both of these campuses, and the hostile environment that the bigotry has engendered for students and faculty.” The ZOA noted that President Yudof has publicly identified himself as a Jewish activist and a strong defender of Israel, and thus presumably would “share our concern about campus anti-Semitism.” The ZOA called on President Yudof to take several “reasonable steps . . . to rectify the ongoing problems.” (To read the ZOA’s letter to UC President Yudof, click here.)

With respect to UC Irvine, the ZOA described the events regularly sponsored by the university’s Muslim Student Union (MSU), which “demonize and vilify Jews, Zionism and Israel.” According to the ZOA, “[t]he events’ titles alone convey just how false and hateful the events are,” including “Zionism Hijacking Judaism,” “Israel: The 4th Reich,” and “From Auschwitz to Gaza: The Politics of Genocide,” a program absurdly suggesting that the systematic and deliberate murder of Jews in Auschwitz is comparable to the situation today in Gaza. Last May, the MSU sponsored such programs as “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine”; “Death to Apartheid: A Farewell to Zionism”; and “Silence is Consent: Stop the Palestinian Holocaust.” The ZOA pointed out that “[t]hese events promoted the monstrous lie that Israel is committing genocide and perpetrating a holocaust on the Palestinian Arabs.”

JPost: Fight UCI Anti-Semitism

Article mentions Task Force:

Fight UC Irvine campus anti-Semitism

Apr. 3, 2008
MICHAL LANDO,  Jerusalem Post correspondent, NEW YORK , THE JERUSALEM POST

A group of students at University of California, Irvine – known as one of the more militant campuses in the country when it comes to anti-Israel activity – took the chancellor to task in a news release this week for failing to adequately respond to the ongoing incidents on campus

The 20 current and former UC Irvine students said they were “deeply concerned about the anti-Semitism at UCI that has been frequently couched as false and hateful attacks on Israel.”

The letter follows a statement by campus Jewish groups that called concern over anti-Semitic activity “exaggerated” and defended the administration’s handling of the situation

The authors of the letter disagree: “We do not believe that UCI Chancellor Michael Drake has exercised his responsibility as an educator and university leader in response to the anti-Semitism,” they stated.

Susan Estrich: on Erwin Chemerinsky, Chancellor Drake and anti-Semitism

The Most Corrupt Man In California

Susan Estrich

“…Last February, Hillel of Orange County formed a task force to investigate what it viewed as a troubling number of anti-Semitic speeches and incidents on the UCI campus, including complaints by Jewish students that they were being followed and harassed by their Muslim classmates. That was before UCI’s Intifada week this past spring, which included speakers supporting the terrorist group Hamas and a speech entitled “Zio-Nazis.” That was before the infamous Ward Churchill, defender of the 9/11 attacks, was invited to speak on campus.

This past June, at a meeting attended by hundreds of concerned members of the Jewish community in Irvine, Dr. Drake told one parent, whose children don’t want to attend UC Irvine because of the virulent expressions of hatred, not to worry because these incidents “are not every other day. It’s a couple times a year.” Asked why he didn’t exercise his own right to free speech to “speak directly to statements made on campus” (as former Harvard President Lawrence Summers did when he opposed calls for divestment from Israel by terming such actions “anti-Semitic in their effect, if not their intent”), Dr. Drake ducked. “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.”

Read the commentary here: the-most-corrupt-man-in-california.html

OC Register Editorial

Friday, June 1, 2007

Today’s editorial: UCI falls short on a test of leadership

Defending free speech is responsible, but so is denouncing hateful speech.

An Orange County Register editorial

We’re used to seeing disturbing pictures of angry political conflict from the Middle East, but not used to seeing such anger here in Orange County. Specifically, we’ve been a bit shocked by ongoing events at UC Irvine where Muslim and Jewish students have been in a state of simmering conflict, stemming in part from a series of Muslim speakers and protests highly critical of Israel.

Unfortunately, the school administration seems to be punting in its response – firm in its defense of free speech, to its credit, yet reluctant to criticize clearly objectionable behavior and actions. Both are in order.

Jewish groups say they feel intimidation on campus. The Register’s Opinion pages have carried letters and columns debating whether UCI has a safe atmosphere for Jewish students, after incendiary words were uttered by some invited Islamist speakers, a Holocaust memorial was defaced and some other incidents. Muslim students were the ones complaining this week, regarding a Bren Events Center program sponsored by UCI Republicans that featured three self-proclaimed former terrorists who denounced Islamic fundamentalism. Reports indicate that security was intense.

Task Force cited as reason for Drake Town Hall meeting with the Jewish community

UCI chief meets with Jewish groups

Chancellor encourages community involvement against incidents of perceived hate speech on campus.

By JORGE BARRIENTOS

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

IRVINE – UC Irvine Chancellor Michael V. Drake told several hundred concerned Jewish community members Wednesday night to join in on discussions and work together against what he calls isolated incidents of anti-Jewish speech by outsiders on campus.

Drake answered questions during a 90-minute town hall meeting at Shir Ha-Ma’alot in Irvine addressing concerns about what the Jewish community calls ongoing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity on UCI’s campus.

“We promote dialogue, understanding, growth and tolerance at UCI,” Drake said. “I’d like to enlist all of you in working with me to make Jewish life on campus as strong as possible.”

The meeting comes after a February decision by the Hillel Foundation of Orange County, a Jewish group, to form a task force to investigate what it called “a growing number of anti-Semitic incidents” at UC Irvine.

Drake, who maintained throughout the night that presentations on campus sponsored by Muslim student groups constituted free speech, was invited by several Orange County Jewish groups.

Here are a few questions, with responses by Drake:

Why is it that you personally don’t exercise your right to free speech and speak directly to statements made on campus?

“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.”

Right now, my kids don’t want to go to your school. With the activity on campus, why should my kids go to your school?

“It’s an outstanding educational institutional. If you talk to our students, they will tell you how much they love their experience here. (These incidents) are not every other day. It’s a couple of times a year. And they’re from people coming from off campus. It just got more media attention.”

Is there a place on campus that does not tolerate anti-group speech on campus?

“There are 26,000 students on campus. I want every student on campus to know that this is their home. I want them to feel secure, and feel that is their home.”

Contact the writer: jbarrientos@ocregister.com or 949-553-2913