Feds investigate claims of anti-Semitism at UC Berkeley

Feds investigate claims of anti-Semitism at UC Berkeley

latimesblogs.latimes.com...

The federal government is investigating charges that UC Berkeley officials fomented a hostile campus climate for Jewish students by failing to sufficiently tamp down anti-Israel protests.

The U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights office confirmed this week that it has launched an investigation into the charges, first filed in July by two recent Berkeley graduates. They complained that an annual “Apartheid Week” in February featuring protests against Israel's treatment of Palestinians was one of several campus events that have stoked anti-Semitic hate speech.

By failing to curb such activities, the university is presenting “a disturbing echo of incitement, intimidation, harassment and violence carried out under the Nazi regime and those of its allies in Europe against Jewish students and scholars ... during the turbulent years leading up to and including the Holocaust,” the complaint alleges.

Why am I not surprised the Federal Government is wasting their time investigating so called antisemitism on a college campus in California? Remember folks, if you're against Israel you are a racist! That said, if you read the article you'll learn that the Jewish students felt respected on campus and the same goes for Muslim students.

What we have here is anti Israel activists using their first amendment rights to protest the state of Israel and not all protests are pretty but are meant to send a message.

Joel H. Siegal, one of two attorneys who filed the complaint, said the actions by activists with the Muslim Student Assn. and Students for Justice in Palestine went beyond protected political protest. During “Apartheid Week,” the San Francisco attorney said, student activists posing as Israeli guards forcing people through mock checkpoints wore Stars of David and skullcaps to attack Judaism and portray all Jews as “bloodthirsty barbarians.”

Interestingly enough California's own state Gov't is also looking to quiet any attempts to speak out against Israel on college campuses as well.

California State Assembly Seeks to Stifle Debate on Israel

www.huffingtonpost.com...

The California State Assembly has just passed a bipartisan resolution (HR 35) by voice vote which constitutes a serious attack on academic freedom and the rights of students and faculty to raise awareness about human rights abuses by U.S.-backed governments. While purporting to put the legislature on record in opposition of anti-Semitism on state university campuses, it defines anti-Semitism so widely as to include legitimate political activities in opposition to Israeli government policies.

To read the actual bill see this link: leginfo.ca.gov...

reply to post by Swills

By failing to curb such activities, the university is presenting “a disturbing echo of incitement, intimidation, harassment and violence carried out under the Nazi regime and those of its allies in Europe against Jewish students and scholars ... during the turbulent years leading up to and including the Holocaust,” the complaint alleges.

By the State and the Federal Gov. investigating people, exercising their first amendment rights, it is showing more true to the Nazi regime by trying to bar people from being able to speak their opinion.

Fact: Israel perpetuates genocide against Palestinians on a daily basis, in a similar manner to that of the Nazi regime did unto them.

God forbid people speak out against the Zionist regime in charge of the bloodshed. They MUST be racists!

Peace.

Well gee guys, does that mean that we can have Anti-Palestinian violence days at Midwestern Universities where we can all openly call for an end to the deliberate and open targeting of purely civilian targets by design? I mean, I'm not talking vigorous debate as anyone ought to seek and encourage at University levels, but a good rip roaring protest over the murder of Jewish civilians by Palestinian suicide bombers, snipers and katyusha rocket teams. A roaring protest like the one picture there.

That would never make Arabs at the same school uncomfortable right? If it did? Who cares....after all, people THEY'VE never personally met or had anything to do with have absolutely committed years of atrocities through guerrilla/urban warfare.

^^^ See how really offensive, petty and outright wrong that all sounds? Yet, it's precisely what this is doing in reverse and by sheer census numbers, with a MUCH higher likelihood of offending/intimidating Jewish students in larger numbers than Arabs exist in %'s.

Hey, it's people's right to be pissed and protest either side of the two sided and very ugly war that's been on simmer over there for decades......but go find something Israeli to make people feel uncomfy at.

I don't recall seeing South African protests set up to protest with total indifference like this. They were targeted at places those in Cape Town and Pretoria would see memos mentioning at the very least. It sent a message, not a menace. Eventually, change came too. Just my thoughts.....

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Umm yeah, if anyone wanted to protest exactly as you've describe they are absolutely free do to so, even if it offends people, just as long as you don't break the law. Btw, wayyyyy more Palestinians have been killed, both terrorist and civilian, than Israeli's. Just sayin, www.btselem.org...

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
-Voltaire

Oh and these protests happen on some college campuses nationwide known as Israeli Apartheid Week.

College students and protest go hand in hand, no?

reply to post by Swills

Yes.. They do.... As long as it's not intimidating to other students or comes to be directed at them in any way. Seems that line got real blurry here, if not crossed. Hmm... That's what investigations are for. It's applauded often enough on other situations where politics are different, lets see how the system works with looking into this.

Now my example was being sarcastic and where some people have been ignorant enough to attempt that kind of protest where Arabs are plentiful, violence tends to happen right then and there. A recent protest in Michigan went that way and that idiot preacher from Florida is still talking about doing one there. So...I don't expect we'll see many more running that direction. Jews don't generally kill people for offending them. They just sue and/or call the law. That's the better way of the two, right?

As far as the underlying situation, well...this is the clearest example of moral relativism taken to extremes as our times has to see, IMO. As true as it is to say a double standard exists for the West passing over cowardly tactics like White Phosphorous being used in the Gaza Strip or the outright atrocities of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps (google it for any others who don't know the names...everyone SHOULD know them), it does absolutely nothing to mitigate what the PLO and Islamic Jihad did for two 'Uprisings' and happens year around and daily on a lower level.

Pointing to the other guy and saying it's okay to do things like blow Pizza Parlors and Metro buses full of normal people to pieces because the IDF are bastards is what leads the IDF to get worse and it's a race to the bottom for who gets to be true animals first. BOTH...racing like hell to get there. Either....capable of stopping and changing the course of events....and NEITHER caring much either way to try all that hard.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


My point is simple, protesting is allowed and I fully endorse it, even if I don't agree with it. If violence finds it way to a protest then something went wrong but its not uncommon for violence to find its way to any and all protests. I am not at all familiar with anti Israel protests in the USA, let alone ones that end in violence, so was the UC Berkly protest one of violence? No, article says it made for a hostile environment. Now is this hostile environment going on year round? Are Jewish students being attacked by Hate crimes or at the least intimated? Or does this one week make for a "hostile" environment? Because, let's be honest, any political talk of Israel and Palestine usually creates a hostile environment. Amirite ATS?

As the article also says, both Jewish and Muslim students feel respected on their campus so I'm guessing these protests create a temporary hostile environment for the week they are there. In fact, according to the article this investigation began because of 2 complaints of 2 recent graduates. And these 2 are upset because they claim these protests promote hate speech, which to me could also translate into they don't like what they heard so they're gonna try to silence them.

Unfortunately, with any debate about Israel and Palestine, racist people or stupid people or stupid racist people, can and will end up at said debates. It's hard for a lot of people to understand the difference between Zionism the political movement and Judaism the religion. Stupid people will blame the Jews when in fact the political leadership they should be attacking. Racist people are just bigots and should be ignored.

I really hate to say it but I support the WBC right to protest even though I despise their message and condemn their acts protest.

And I agree, both sides are racing to Hell dragging their friends in with them, and maybe that's how some in positions of real power want it.

I think my main point to note here is that these are confrontational and shock-minded by their very nature. That's the whole point. I wouldn't care to go down the road where Universities outright ban ANY speech or topic...but they do a lot more here than simply allow the free speech and that need not be offered. They have commons area for a semi-perm display to be erected for their week or however they go. They have electronic amplification. That may not have been a big thing until recently, but having been in Occupy and using the 'Mic Check' system personally, I can say that's quite a benefit being given their little protest here.

Now I'll be totally fair...this isn't the only kind of protest on campuses that are presented in such a way or cover an issue outright and deliberately confrontation or intimidating. You've seen me around here....and you ought to agree there are few more determined and serious about 2nd amendment rights than I am. I carry by permit as a regular thing and I'd DEARLY LOVE to see college campuses off the ban list. However..... This:

Students for CCW

..and their empty holster protests are precisely the wrong way to do it. What does one have to do with the other? They are both GOOD causes, at least to many....and legitimate causes regardless. They are both very much of concern to college students nationwide. ....and BOTH issues can be handled well or very badly. Now it sounds like this group is flakey and their message is....hard edged, to be real nice about it.

They also seem to be real situational about that whole free speech idea themselves......at least at other U.C. Campuses.

The Los Angeles Times has been covering a story about Muslim activists and their Jewish critics on the Irvine campus of the University of California. The story has been brewing for years but let’s look at the recent events.

In March, Muslim college activists decried the College Republicans plan to hold a discussion about Islamic militancy on campuses and whether some Islamic groups in the United States are apologists for terrorism. That, along with the group’s publication of the infamous Muhammed cartoons, didn’t go over well with the activists.

on the event itself as the direct extension of the one the OP is covering..

Controversial events scheduled at UC Irvine next week with such provocative titles as “Holocaust in the Holy Land” and “Israel: The Fourth Reich” are sparking outrage among Jewish students who are asking administrators to denounce aspects of the event.

Jewish students and community leaders say the program is the latest in a string of offensive incidents at the university. The U.S. Office for Civil Rights is investigating anti-Semitism at UCI, the first probe of its kind at a college.

Source

Now, those seminar/presentation titles alone are as offensive as they can be made to Jews without outright crossing into profanity or obscenity by legal definition, IMO. This last one is a good blog report in terms of details and tone for the event for the protest week at UC Irvine..

Although Malek Ali retiled his stump speech as "The Struggle Has no Borders," the only new material was a reference to Trayvon Martin and the addition of University of California president Mark Yudon to his ever-growing list of "Zionist Jews." When, during the Q&A, I took him to task for the latter, he asserted that there is a difference between referring to "Zionist Jews" and simply "Jews." After his speech, a questioner pointed out to him his infamous quote from his 2010 appearance at UCI, when he told a Jewish questioner, "You Jews. Y'all the new Nazis." That is a direct quote, yet he denied it, claiming that he always says "Zionist" Jews.

Source

I don't know if these guys are a problem or not.. hence, the investigation sounds appropriate. I can say that, like the empty holster protest, they obviously know by the reports of their protest event, they will offend people and make them distinctly uncomfortable. If they couldn't figure it, they've obviously been told that. As a College student, I wouldn't care whether I agree with the cause or not......if it disrupted the campus and made paying students feel uncomfortable, hold it off campus. Easy enough IMO.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I gotta say I definitely agree with you and I think we also have to take in consideration that these protests are being held by college students who are mostly young and not at all wise while also being very crude

Btw, I love seeing you in my threads because you bring so much information and you're own opinions

Originally posted by Swills
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

I gotta say I definitely agree with you and I think we also have to take in consideration that these protests are being held by college students who are mostly young and not at all wise while also being very crude

Btw, I love seeing you in my threads because you bring so much information and you're own opinions

edit on 4-10-2012 by Swills because: (no reason given)

Fully agreed on considering the source of planning all the way around here. I suppose in the context of what college students are likely to think through and consider, it's interesting and at least it does show the generation coming up now is interested and passionate. Ahh..with some more years to gain wisdom.

The feeling is mutual and I enjoy finding your new threads. You're among a good % who are always open and interested in exploring more of whatever you present as opposed to some who present something and then guard it at all costs as if it's their personal treasure. lol...

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


This generation coming up should be paid attention too because I think they will surprise many people. Maybe we can thank the likes of Ron Paul for giving the young people a reason to be passionate about politics & learning about global & domestic affairs but if we look to the world protests are being taken up by said generation more and more. Maybe it's these generations that bring real change to our Gov'ts?

No better time than the present

reply to post by Swills


Didnt take them long to Play the "tired old Holocaust" card.

Really , a people that lived through the Warsaw Ghetto, shouldn't put other people in the same situation, then expect sympathy.

Its refreshing to see young people look through the Lies that is everyday Israel.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Just stop it.

While there may have been one or two Jews that felt uncomfortable, thats not issue, not even close.

There is a worldwide effort to stifle any criticism of izrael.

Full stop. End of story.

These Zionist izraelis have lost the moral high ground and have now resorted to brute force with the government acting as their enforcer.

reply to post by Tw0Sides

Are you kidding? They glorify the Nazis:

Israeli judge: Learn from Nazis

LONDON – "We must learn from the Nazi tactics," Retired Israeli Judge Hadassa Ben-Itto said recently during a conference discussing ways to improve the State of Israel's PR efforts in the world.

reply to post by Tw0Sides

But like the members of any group, no one is all bad.

Thousands march in Tel Aviv in support of Palestinian state based on 1967 borders

reply to post by gladtobehere


I'm simply not one of these people that looks for every reason and every opportunity to make Israel the bad guy, especially if it means making GOOD guys out of the scumbag murderers on the Palestinian side. The Israeli's do plenty to earn their lumps but the constant banging of the drum to make this a one sided Israel bash fest around here is sickening and vile and it's gone way past simply getting old.

Israel send F-16's with 500lb bombs and the Palestinians send their children and WOMEN in a couple cases, to murder Jews in cold blood. Whats the difference? I absolutely don't see one. Either direction. Both are criminal, and yeah, Israel too the way it's done. The WHOLE Gaza strip is an area with the landmass of Bakersfield, Ca. The idea of using jet bombers there would be like calling in an airstrike in downtown L.A. or something. Nuts.....

But then... It's NO LESS nuts to have been suicide bombing as often as they could do it while they didn't have a wall to stop them...and now, making sport of killing Israeli's by rocket and mortar harassment when it's not midnight raids into Jewish settlements to kill anyone they come upon in the home of choice. That's happening quite a bit as well....

And..in fairness, the Settlers take their pound of flesh right BACK....frequently. So, we''re all trying to pick sides in a nasty gutter fight that HAS no right side to pick and NO good guys. Both sides are just scum among those actually fighting and giving the orders, IMO., The efforts to make Palestinians look better is glorifying murderers and I'm just not able to go there.

So anti Isreal means anti Semitism now?

What's next? Anti America means rascism? Anti China equals anti Buddhism? Anti Hollywood is anti Scientology? If you're against being sexually molested that means you hate catholicism? If you'd rather not live in Iran, then you hate Islam with all your guts and want to kill them all? If you protest war that means you hate America and freedom?

Welcome to the land of nonsense, where words mean totally different things than they did just a moment ago!! Ioif you protest policies and human rights violations by a nation, that also means that you are prejudice against the leading religion in that nation by default... Wait. Whaaat??? This is crazy!

Originally posted by gladtobehere
reply to post by Tw0Sides

 

But like the members of any group, no one is all bad.

Thousands march in Tel Aviv in support of Palestinian state based on 1967 borders

absolutely. people who forget that do us a great disservice. in fact I would go further and say that in nearly 99% of cases with "groups", it is only a small amount of troublemakers who make them look bad at all. unless of course the group has an ideology that is in itself inherently evil. like Nazis, or serial killers, or midgets.

reply to post by Swills


I just finished my Masters there at UC Berkeley last year.
When I first went I pictured some kind of "Groovy" hippie throw back campus but you know it's not like that at all.
there's a not of pressure to succeed academically, UC Berkeley might just be the best school west of the Mississippi. because of that you see a lot of international students there.

As for the admin not doing enough? Let's just say in this PC sue me environment they were probably waiting for advice from the law school before deciding on what to do about the protest

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by gladtobehere

 

I'm simply not one of these people that looks for every reason and every opportunity to make Israel the bad guy, especially if it means making GOOD guys out of the scumbag murderers on the Palestinian side. The Israeli's do plenty to earn their lumps but the constant banging of the drum to make this a one sided Israel bash fest around here is sickening and vile and it's gone way past simply getting old.

Israel send F-16's with 500lb bombs and the Palestinians send their children and WOMEN in a couple cases, to murder Jews in cold blood. Whats the difference? I absolutely don't see one. Either direction. Both are criminal, and yeah, Israel too the way it's done. The WHOLE Gaza strip is an area with the landmass of Bakersfield, Ca. The idea of using jet bombers there would be like calling in an airstrike in downtown L.A. or something. Nuts.....

But then... It's NO LESS nuts to have been suicide bombing as often as they could do it while they didn't have a wall to stop them...and now, making sport of killing Israeli's by rocket and mortar harassment when it's not midnight raids into Jewish settlements to kill anyone they come upon in the home of choice. That's happening quite a bit as well....

And..in fairness, the Settlers take their pound of flesh right BACK....frequently. So, we''re all trying to pick sides in a nasty gutter fight that HAS no right side to pick and NO good guys. Both sides are just scum among those actually fighting and giving the orders, IMO., The efforts to make Palestinians look better is glorifying murderers and I'm just not able to go there.

meh I don't believe in this if your not with us your against us mentality...if people criticize Israel it doesn't directly mean they support Palestine or the crimes their standard deviation commits...

If people criticize Israel they may be doing so because they have put themselves up onto quite a pedestal of "modern civilized nation" while acting out in complete contradiction to that...its an insult to ones intelligence...an insult to what "civilized" means...and an outright lie to claim such things with a straight face...

They compound this with the fact they are infinitely more "meddlesome" in the daily lives of Americans than the Palestinians could EVER hope to be...We have a LOT of Zionist influence here in the US that is turning the principals of this country on its head...a little more room for directed animosity toward Israel instead of Palestine no?

Lets just not confuse criticism of Israel with support for Palestinian radicals...that is a Bush Jr. "if your not with us you are against us" type of assumption that paints people into boxes that aren't necessarily true but easy to dismiss...

reply to post by Sly1one

Okay, I'll agree that criticism of Israel need not include a support of Palestine, Palestinians or the Radical elements among them and it really shouldn't be that way. It all to often is though in a general way but that really isn't the focus of the thread. It's about this group, as I've understood it and their protest days at U.C. Berkeley. As a side note, they run the same 'event' in other Universities within the U.C. system, which is what I was noting. Same group in both places for Irvine being included.

Now, to look at this one specific group...umm.. the words chosen and method presented for their protest is just as extreme to Pro-Palestinian as a core along side Anti-Israel as it comes. That's actually what I'd say needs investigated and what I have a problem with. 'Events' like this SHOULD be in the spirit you're suggesting for being intellectually honest on things and this one is anything but.

In terms of Israel's influence inside the U.S....Sure, they have some and they buy some just like every other nation. They have more leverage by their strategic position. They basically sit at the crossroads of the world in many literal ways with the Suez Canal being on their coast and their being the gateway to the Middle East beyond for being the last truly friendly place for U.S. forces going East. Other M.E. nations are allies, but not truly friendly. Right or Wrong, it's part of the reality of what drives policy, IMO and it's just how things are for that aspect. There is also another aspect here.



All U.S. Treaties in Effect as on Jan 1 2011 (It's page 136 or so for Israel on the first section covering them and pages before/after that)

The U.S. has a number of long standing and very clear treaties with Israel. They are binding with obligations. As much as the debate is interesting, the U.S. is required to do some things unless we just want to exit the treaties outright. Fine if the nation decides that, but failing that.....U.S. Credibility on any level depends on meeting those obligations in the treaties currently in force. Dozens and Dozens of them. It makes most of the support/don't support debate a moot point unless a whole lot changes on official levels, IMO.