Nanette Asimov, August 9, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle
(excerpts)
Katherine Orr had just started her freshman year at UC
Berkeley last August when she was stunned to see five students in military
fatigues carrying what looked like rifles and stopping students at Sather Gate.
"They were asking people, 'Are you Jewish?' They were trying to be like
soldiers interrogating Palestinians along the border," Orr said.
"They were re-enacting what was happening on the West Bank." To
students who regard Israel as an essential Jewish homeland, this event and
others like it that are staged each year on University of California campuses
seem hostile, like poorly concealed anti-Semitism - especially when the Israeli
flag with its Star of David is paired with a Nazi swastika, says a new report
by a UC fact-finding team seeking to understand Jewish students' experiences. But
to students who oppose Israeli policies and support such sensational protest
methods, some recommendations by the team - that UC adopt a definition of
anti-Semitism, prohibit hate speech and consider banning campus sponsorship of
offensive activities - have become a new subject for protest.
The dispute is a collision between civil rights and free
speech, where allegiances can't always be sorted out by religion. And it
suggests a microcosm at UC of the conflict in the Middle East: angry,
defensive, intractable. …(President) Yudof
convened an Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture and Inclusion to study
students' experiences and offer solutions. On July 9, two teams of experts
reported to the council on the experiences of Jewish students and of Muslim and
Arab students across UC. One team concluded that Muslim and Arab students feel
"marginalized and alienated on campuses" and that many experience
"daily harassment," from classmates, faculty and staff.
…(T)he report on Jewish students offers dramatic solutions
to a more circumscribed brand of animosity: anti-Israel virulence and its
ripple effect. …(A) willingness to
denounce Israel is often a litmus test for acceptance into social-justice
groups on campus, the report found. Tension also exists with faculty, the
authors found, with students describing "instances of overt hostility
toward Jewish or other students" who express pro-Israel views.
…"I am a vigorous defender of free-speech rights,"
(Yudof) wrote. "While hurtful speech may make that goal difficult to
achieve at times, the answer is not to restrict speech, but rather to see that
all our community members feel supported." His office is reviewing the
recommendations…
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