From neo-Nazi graffiti at Berkeley to the grilling of a Jewish student
at UCLA, anti-Semitism is on the rise at liberal schools thought to be
bastions of political correctness.
Disturbing 03.19.15 Emily Shire
The grilling of student Rachel Beyda
over whether she was unqualified to join the UCLA’s student judicial
board, merely because she is Jewish, shocked people with its blatant
display of anti-Semitism at one of the nation’s most liberal schools.
“Given that you're very active in the Jewish community, how do you
see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?” Fabienne Roth, a
member of UCLA’s Undergraduate Student Association Council, asked
her. After Beyda left the room, another member of the council opined,
“I don't know. For some reason I am not comfortable. I just don't know
why. I can definitely see she's qualified. I am just worried about her
affiliations.”
The remarks made during her questioning are disturbing, as is the
fact that these undergrads appear to be oblivious to how anti-Semitic
they sound. (The council passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism last week in response to the uproar over Beyda’s confirmation, after the writing was already on the wall, as it were.)
What’s
even more frightening is that Beyda’s case was nothing new, a
run-of-the-mill example of the suspicions and hostility directed toward
the Jewish community at some of the most socially progressive campuses
across the country.
Read the full story here.
Pro-Israel Jews across the spectrum agree that concern is warranted, but differ on what constitutes anti-Semitism.
03/03/15 Doug Chandler Jewish Week Correspondent
A student at the University of Ohio recalls the heated moments when she
and three of her classmates were arrested last September while
protesting the fiercely anti-Israel rhetoric of a fellow student, the
president of the Student Senate.
A young woman at the University of New Mexico worries about grade
reprisals from professors who routinely denounce the Jewish state and
don’t like her pro-Israel views.
Other students recall the appearance of swastikas on a Jewish
fraternity house (at Emory University last fall), fake eviction notices
slipped under the dorm-room doors of Jewish peers (at New York
University last spring), and the refusal of some Palestinian students to
engage in any sort of dialogue with pro-Israel classmates.
Those and other scenes make up the meat of a new documentary, “Crossing
the Line 2: The New Face of Anti-Semitism on Campus,” screened at a
special showing last week at the 92nd Street Y.
Presented by Jerusalem U, a pro-Israel group that seeks to promote
Jewish education and identity through film, the documentary was followed
by a panel discussion that included Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO
of Hillel International, and three of the students who appear in the work.
Read the full story here.
POUGHKEEPSIE >> An expert on Arab and Turkish politics, as well
as U.S.-Middle East policy, will give a talk called “The Middle East
and Us: How Did it Get So Bad?” on April 7.
The talk, by Steven A. Cook, will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the
Villard Room of the Main Building at Vassar College. The event is free
and open to the public.
Cook is the Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern
studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He also is the author of
“The Struggle for Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir Square,” which won the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s gold medal in 2012.
Cook also currently writes the blog “From the Potomac to the Euphrates.”
Cook is a Vassar alumnus, class of 1990. Read more here.
