UC Berkeley Group posts antisemitic charicature

Everyday antisemitism at UC Berkeley.

On World Water Day, Cal Berkeley's Palestinian Public Health group posted an antisemitic charicature on their Instagram account.

The bulbous nosed Jewish stereotype has been used since the Middle ages and was a regular feature of Nazi-era propaganda.  Now we see it at one of the top public universities in America.

UC Berkeley has had more of its share of antisemitic activities.  There have been assaults on Jewish students, swastikas carved into dorm doors and bathroom stalls, and exhibits glorifying the murderers of Jews.    This has a cumulative effect on the psyches of Jewish students, Israeli students, and pro-Israel students and has contributed to creating an unsafe space on campus.

Antisemitic posters at UC Berkeley

Last week, Associate Chancellor Nils Gilman sent the following email to the UC Berkeley campus community:

Dear Campus Community:

This week a number of posters have appeared on campus that include anti-Semitic rhetoric. The language used violates our Principles of Community, as well as the Regents’ Principles Against Intolerance.

In accordance with our well known 'time, place, and manner' rules, we have instructed that the posters be removed. We urge all in our campus community to use this opportunity to reinforce our values as a campus, and to report any further incidents.

We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure we have a campus climate that is safe, welcoming, and respectful for all. 

Nils Gilman
Associate Chancellor-Chief of Staff

The Daily Cal, the UC Berkeley newspaper was uncharacteristically silent on the incident.

It took an article in Algemeiner to fill in the blanks for concerned community members

An antisemitic poster at UC Berkeley. Photo: Nanette Asimov/Twitter.

From Algemeiner

The posters began cropping up when UC Berkeley announced it was reinstating “Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis,” decried by a campus watchdog group as “a classic example of antisemitic anti-Zionism.”

One such poster referred to a coalition of 43 Jewish, civil rights and educational organizations that had written an open letter expressing concern about the course and disappointment in UC Berkeley’s vetting process, calling them “advocates for a foreign state” who “seek to control our freedom of speech and academic expression.”

It also claimed that the Israeli government was directly involved in the suspension of the course.

Another poster underscored the large US military-aid deal with Israel, snidely telling “non-Jews” that they had better “pay up and shut up” in the face of “Jewish bullies.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the posters

UPDATE

The Daily Cal weighs in on the posters here

UC President Janet Napolitano supports adopting state department definition of antisemitism

In an interview on Boston Public Radio, University of California President Janet Napolitano said she supported adopting the state Department definition of antisemitism,

In July. the Board of Regents will vote on whether the University of California should adopt the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism.

Tammi Rossman Benjamin of the AMCHA initiative quickly responded

“We strongly commend Janet Napolitano for joining three UC student governments and the California Senate in understanding that we must implement our government’s definition of antisemitism on campus to identify and address antisemitic behavior with the same vigor as all other forms of bigotry"

This discussion takes place in the wake of many antisemitic incidents and after months of escalating tensions on California campuses.

Cindy Shamban, of Jewish Voice for Peace spoke against adopting the definition,  claiming it would “silence legitimate criticisms of Israel”

 Even with JVP’s warped sensibilities,  how could they possibly consider any of this “legitimate criticism” of Israel?

•UC Berkeley: Graffiti  “Zionists should be sent to the gas chamber” was found on a bathroom wall March 2 after an anti-Israel protest.

•UCLA: Four student senators who sponsored a successful divestment resolution argued in February that a candidate for a student board was ineligible because she was Jewish. She was rejected in one vote and accepted in a second after a professor intervened.

•UC Santa Cruz: A Hillel sponsored event had to be moved on Jan. 27 after repeated threats .

•UC Davis: Graffiti  “Grout out the Jews” was found in a bathroom at Hillel. Swastikas were painted on a Jewish fraternity after a  BDS vote.

•UC Santa Barbara:  Flyers appeared on campus blaming Jews for 9/11.

For more information, see: 

UC President Napolitano Supports Adopting State Department Definition of Antisemitism

150+ California Rabbis and Faculty Call on UC to Address Antisemitism

How can you help? 

Are you a University of California stakeholder? A taxpayer, a student, an alumni? Please consider signing this petition to the UC Regents. urging them to adopt the State department definition of antisemitism

Top UC Administrator Addresses Jewish Concerns; Protects Jewish Students

From the AMCHA Initiative,  indefatigable advocates for Jewish students on campus:  Proof that advocacy can make a difference.


Top UC Administrator Addresses Jewish Concerns; Protects Jewish Students

Provost Dorr Affirms that UC Policy Prohibits Graduate Student Instructors From Bringing Hateful Antisemitic Propaganda or the Boycott of Israel Into the Classroom

AMCHA Initiative was joined by 11 Jewish advocacy groups in applauding University of California (UC) Provost Aimee Dorr and UC administrators for protecting the well-being of Jewish students by affirming that, according to University policies, graduate student instructors may not bring political propaganda and advocacy, including the promotion of a boycott of Israel, into UC classrooms. This is the first time that University administrators have publicly acknowledged such policies and their intention to enforce them!

The groups had written to UC President Janet Napolitano in August after the 83-member joint council of UAW 2865, representing all the graduate student instructors, tutors and readers at the 9 teaching campuses of the University of California, issued a statement outlining the union’s intent to support the anti-Israel and antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and to seek a full-membership vote. The groups wrote to Napolitano that while supporting the free speech of members outside of an instructional setting, they were jointly concerned that the union members would bring unscholarly, politically-motivated and antisemitic propaganda and advocacy into UC classrooms, where it does not belong.

Many AMCHA supporters also wrote letters to President Napolitano, urging her to provide public assurance that graduate student instructors would not be allowed to promote hateful antisemitic propaganda or the boycott of Israel as part of their teaching responsibilities. Your letters had an impact!

In response to our letters, Provost Dorr, on behalf of Napolitano, affirmed that the University’s Policy on Course Content and other UC policies prohibit academic student employees (ASEs) from engaging in such actions, and she assured us that all ASEs would be reminded of these policies and their obligation to adhere to them. Dorr also wrote to all Chancellors notifying them of the UC policies which prohibit ASEs from using their instructional positions to promote political propaganda or advocacy, including the promotion of a boycott of Israel.

In Dorr’s letter to all Chancellors she explicitly stated, "Attached is a letter from Tammi Benjamin, AMCHA Initiative, raising concerns about academic student employees (ASE) supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in classrooms. In the last several weeks, we have received over a hundred emails similar to Ms. Benjamin's. You may have received such inquiries as well."

Your activism helped Provost Dorr take the appropriate steps necessary to protect Jewish students on UC campuses. Thank you for your time, passion, and actions that greatly contributed to these positive results!