In Northern California, at UC Berkley’s law school, several student law groups have gone beyond a desire to participate in BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction ), and are now trying to influence free speech on campus by denying any speaker with a pro-Zionist opinion. This according to a very interesting article in The Jewish News of Northern California.
We must ask ourselves what is going on in US law schools, schools dedicated to the study of the law and dedicated to upholding the rule of law and preserving the law of the land—including the most foundational concepts of the Bill of Rights and Freedom of speech? How can law students be supporting censoring opinions and debate and still consider themselves scholars and in possession of any academic integrity?
This measure prompted a pro-Zionist dean to pen a letter of concern to the student group. And, while the proposition to ban speakers with any pro-zionists notions was presented to dozens of student groups on campus, only nine have officially adopted it. The BLSJP (Berkley Law Students for Justice in Palistine) touted this as a victory on their instagram page, listing those nine groups. I will surely not be seeking the services of any attorneys that emerge out of this school who were part of these groups.
UC Davis, another California campus, has expericed antisemitic hate according to The Sacremento Bee.
Photos posted to social media showed two banners hung from the overpass. One read: “The Holocaust is an anti-white lie.” The other read: “Communism is Jewish.”
Luckily, the leadership in Davis is openly outspoken in disgust over this latest event. Both the UC Davis school chancellor Gary May as well as the Mayor of Davis Lucas Frerichs condemn the banners and messages and stand with the Jewish community of Davis.
We are sickened that anyone would invest any time in such cowardly acts of hate and intimidation…..They have no place here.”
– Gary May, Chancellor UC Davis.
“Hate has no place in Davis. As Mayor, I unequivocally stand with our Jewish community in Davis, at UC Davis and beyond.”
– Davis Mayor Lucas Frerichs (tweeted)
(As reported by The Combat Antisemitism Movement CAM)
Combat Anti-Semitism (CAM) offers a great weekly newsletter cataloging news from around the globe (The Jerusalem Connection is also a coalition member), it consolidated some disturbing news out of California:
Davis has had a history of hateful incidents despite its efforts to be inclusive and tolerant, including…
- 2015: The spray-painting of swastikas on a Jewish fraternity in 2015.
- Fall 2018: Flyers calling Jewish people “anti-American” appeared in at least three lecture halls at the campus.
- September 2019: Police investigation of “neo-Nazi and white supremacy” flyers posted on publicly accessible noticeboards at several different locations on the UC Davis main campus.
The California State government released 2021 data that 152 anti-Jewish events occurred in 2021, up 32% from 2020. I fear 2022 will continue the trend upward.
While California is not an isolated haven of antisemitic activities, it is a microcosm of trends we are seeing. The New York region, Toronto, and Montreal, as well as other cities and campuses throughout North America see similar trends of violence and hate—coming from leadership, student organizations, and street thugs. Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism seems to appeal to a broad range of demographics, political leanings, age groups and socio-economic strata.
Europe and Australia are not immune, either. The Middle East, of course, is its very own course of study in collective and individual ant-semitic and anti-Zion atmosphere and leading the way may be the leadership of Iran.
So, from the personal, daily and individual level antisemitism that we can see and our Jewish brethren endure, to the state and national level, antisemitism is a strain of evil we must all continue to call out and identify and do our personal best to combat.
Shavua tov, have a great week.