More bad news about the Olive Tree Initiative?

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.

Bringing the War on Jerusalem to American Universities

By Frank Crimi On April 2, 2012 @ 12:01 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage

The Olive Tree Initiative (OTI), the self-described “non-partisan college educational program” operating out of numerous universities, has, since its founding in 2007, received the support of a bevy of rabidly anti-Israeli, anti-Jewish individuals and groups, many with connections to terrorist organizations and their apologists, including Hamas.

One such notable OTI supporter is Palestinian political leader Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), a Palestinian political party founded in 2002 as a purported “democratic third force” between the “corruption” of the Palestinian political umbrella group Fatah and the “extremism” of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Barghouti has not only served as a lecturer for the OTI for many years, but in 2009 his organization, the PNI, was thanked for being an “Institiutional Supporter” of the program. An overview of Barghouti’s background validates why critics of the OTI believe the organization’s purpose is to manufacture anti-Israel advocates, all the while masquerading as a group dedicated to promoting “understanding” between Israelis and Palestinians.

Barghouti’s antipathy for Israelis may run in his family, given that his cousin, Marwan Barghouti, led the First and Second Intifadas and is currently serving five life sentences for murder in Israel. While Barghouti has publicly portrayed himself as a promoter of non-violence and an advocate of a two-state solution, he has also shown a disdain for the political process, having once proclaimed that “there’s no use in meetings with Israelis and there is no peace partner in Israel.”

Nevertheless, the reality is that Barghouti has played a leading role in the Fatah-Hamas coalition, a role which includes sidling up to the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and portraying Israel as bastion of apartheid and a perpetrator of crimes against humanity.

For example, Barghouti, who is a leader in the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, the economic warfare campaign against Israel, often uses “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing” rhetoric in describing Israel.

Barghouti’s most recent effort to delegitimize Israel was as a prime organizer of the Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ) on March 30, an event also supported by Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and the theocratic totalitarians of Iran.

According to event organizers, the GMJ was a protest march in which Arab and foreign activists were to descend upon Jerusalem in an attempt to “confirm that the policies and practices of the racist Zionist state of Israel against Jerusalem and its people are a crime not only against Palestinians but against all humanity.”

Rutgers Hillel fights campus Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israelism; Gets community involved.

“The event caught the attention of Jewish leaders from surrounding communities, and almost 400 people showed up to protest“

Rutgers Hillel celebrates successes in combating anti-Israelism on campus

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.

Rumors and Nonsense?

An interesting  article entitled Just 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:

1. The article stands in stark contradiction to a previous article written in 2009 by the same author describing  Vicious Jew-Hatred   at UC Irvine. 
2.  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”. 
3. 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”.
4. In January 2009 an email sent to the Jewish community by the former president of Anteaters for Israel described U C Irvine as a ” a hotbed for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activism over the past seven years”.
5.  In March 2010, Jewish student leaders appeared before the UCI student council describing the situation on campus and asked “when will the student government stand up for me?”
6.  May 2010 over 63 UC Irvine  faculty members issued a public statement saying in part: “Some community members, students, and faculty indeed feel intimidated, and at times even unsafe.”
7. 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.

SEE ALSO: Why Did Hillel Co-Sponsor Speaker Who Supported Goldstone Report?

Once again, OC Federation asked to endorse pledge to deny funds to those who support BDS and those who seek to destroy Israel

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:

Why Did Hillel Co-Sponsor Speaker Who Supported Goldstone Report?

According to an email we received from Orange County Hillel:  On Monday April 11, 2010  “Chapman’s Hillel and Muslim Student Association have come together to host the first joint event between these two organizations in Orange County’s history. ” (Note:  It is peculiar that the email announcement we received from Hillel did not mention either of the speakers by name)  One of the two guest speakers was Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer.  According to his website, Rabbi Feyer is a member of the Rabbinic Council of the  Jewish Voice For Peace and a member of the Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence .  Shomer Shalom and the Jewish voice for peace  support  Boycott Divestment and Sanction  (BDS). Here are  Shomer Shalom Elders’ letters to UC student government supporting divestment . Rabbi Feyers name appears on the following letter of support  of the Goldstone report:   Rabbis thank Judge Goldstone for upholding principles of justice, compassion and truth

Front Page Magazine Weighs in on Hillel, The Olive Tree Initiative and the “Tale of Two Rishmawis”

The following is an opinion piece from Front Page Magazine:

A Chapter That Should Be Expelled from Hillel

 by Nichole Hungerford on Apr 11th, 2011 and filed under Daily Mailer, FrontPage   

Orange County Rabbi Expresses His Concerns About “Jewishly Hostile Campus Environment” at UCI

What Is Going On at UCI?

By Dov Fischer  February 28th, 2011

Cross Currents

I live in Irvine and have been a congregational rabbi and community activist here for more than five years. Because I grew up on the East Coast, have traveled all across America, and also have practiced as a high-stakes litigation attorney for a decade as well, I approach the subject informed when describing the environment at UCI as one of the most Jewishly hostile campus environments in America. I do not endorse, and I even oppose, a national Jewish student boycott of UCI. Yet I personally know Jewish undergraduates whom I could not convince to apply here because of the Jew-hatred. It will take a mix of a stronger Jewish student presence, an overhauled approach to campus Jewish leadership, and a more sensitized campus administration to turn the tide.

Those Who Defend Israel on Campus “Should Not Feel Safe”

The following email was forwarded to the OC Task Force. It was not forwarded to us by its author.

From: jaysfeldman@gmail.com [mailto:jaysfeldman@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 8:00 AM
Subject: Why Israel should be recognized as a Jewish state – Quid Pro Peace
Pretty interesting insight from one of the Jewish kids who went on OTI.

I hope Fousesqauwk or the Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism decides to cross-post it.

http://quidpropeace.com/post/3598778450/why-israel-should-be-recognized-as-a-jewish-state

Note: An important  question is why the author of this email or his colleagues, the leadership of the  Orange County Jewish communal organizations,  did not attend this exhibition first hand?  According to the Anti Defamation League, the Jewish Voice for Peace is classified as one of the top 10 anti-Israel groups in the United States.  Sadly,  community leaders were conspicuously absent at other  recent anti-Israel exhibitions at UCI, including  Ben White and  Jeff Halper.   The OCITF will continue to attend  and  inform the broader community as these events unfold, however, as always,  it is crucial for individual members of the community to peacefully attend these events and draw their own conclusions.

When the Jewish student asked  for a show of hands regarding his question “did Israel have the right to exist? ,  predictably,  none of  the three members of the so-called “Jewish Voice for peace” raised their hands.   His question was valuable because  it exposed these speakers as, de facto, having  no interest in the continuation of the State of Israel.   However,  the existence of the State of Israel is a reality and should not be open to question or debate.  No other nation on earth, whether righteous or evil,  is subject to this  question.    These Jewish Voice for Peace  “activists” at least one of  whom claimed to have disrupted  Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech in November 2010, proudly proclaimed that those who defended Israel did not deserve the right to free speech;  And that those who defended Israel on campuses like UCI should “not feel safe”and should  simply “deal with it”.

Tammi Rossman-Benjamin’s response to Dr. Daniel Wehrenfennig, Director of the UCI Olive Tree Initiative

Dear Dr. Daniel Wehrenfennig,

You did not write to me directly, though you did blind-copy me on your recent widely-circulated letter (forwarded below), in which you mentioned my name 18 times and attacked a letter I had sent to the heads of the Orange County Jewish Federation and Hillel.  My letter urged these Jewish communal organizations to withdraw their funding and promotion of the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI) because at least 15 of the OTI’s speakers are affiliated with organizations that have ties to terrorist groups that have murdered Jews, advocate the elimination of the Jewish state, and support boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel.  I also pointed out to the OC Federation and Hillel that it is wrong for Jewish communal resources to be used for a trip that engages Jewish students in activities that desecrate Jewish holy days, such as the OTI trip in 2010, during which students spent the two days of Rosh Hashanah and the following Sabbath (and other Sabbaths) engaged in non-Jewish activity in Jordan and the disputed territories.

You fiercely criticized my letter, stating that I “made up facts” and that my analysis was “incomplete and misleading,” “completely inaccurate,” and filled with “wrong information and missing facts,” “a pattern of misinformation,” “erroneous statements,” and “distortion.”  I would like to reply to your charges, which I believe are wholly baseless, extremely disingenuous, and highly offense to the Jewish community in general, and to me personally as a UC faculty member, and as a Jew.