Chutzpah Re-defined. SJP demands that JVP teach workshops on anti-Semitism at UC Davis.

UC Davis has  the ignoble distinction of being on the top ten list of antisemitic universities in America.  Over the years, events put on by Jewish organizations have been disrupted  There has been anti-Semitic graffiti and vandalism on campus. Anti-Semitic flyers  have been distributed on campus. Swastikas were painted on a Jewish fraternity house.

Last year, Jewish student leaders and UC Davis officials met with the intention of improving campus climate for Jewish students  and combating antisemitism. The administration agreed to  host a town hall and a series of workshops with the ADL. 

Following outcry from Students for Justice in Palestine, the workshops were never held. An SJP petition , with 149 signatures was presented , with the demand that Jewish Voice for Peace instead conduct the workshops.

From the Daily Aggie 

Following the submission of a petition from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) against the ADL workshops, however, none of the planned ADL-hosted workshops have presently been scheduled, according to Associate Vice Chancellor Sheri Atkinson.

In early December, Chancellor May mentioned in an interview with The California Aggie the mutually-agreed upon commitments made with Jewish students and administrators.

“We came up with a series of things we were going to do, including a town hall and some training from the ADL to improve the campus climate,” he said at the time. “I think after that meeting, everyone came away feeling like we were in a partnership mode rather than an adversarial mode.”

It is now unclear whether the university plans to follow through on this commitment in the near future.

A recent editorial in the UC Davis student run paper, the Daily Aggie called the University officials out on their failure to satisfactorily address the issue of antisemitism, writing

Well-intentioned groups must also understand that anti-Semitism exists on both the right and the left — in both explicit and implicit forms. Certain leftist groups have historically excluded Jews from liberal spaces because of actual or assumed Zionist ideologies. Anti-Semitism is often wrongly delegitimized. Like any other reprehensible form of discrimination, this form of hatred must be unequivocally and unilaterally condemned and denounced by university and student leaders.
It is undeniable that anti-Semitism is present on campus and in the Davis community. This is not a solitary incident and should not be treated as such. Discrimination in this form requires and deserves both short-term and long-term action. The campus community must know that anti-Semitism of any kind will not be tolerated.