Campus Antisemitism
It will endow courses, research and programs of the Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies.
In his article, “The Moral Case for Israel Annexing the West Bank—and Beyond,” professor Jason Hill defends Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to extend sovereignty to Israeli settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria.
Students for Justice in Palestine is one of the primary student organizations that engages in anti-Israel activity on North American college campuses and is the leading force behind the BDS movement.
In the emergency motion filed, a lawyer representing the students wrote that students “suffer irreparable harm” if the event takes place on campus, noting that fliers for the event have been posted around campus making Jewish students “fearful and intimidated.”
Scheduled over Passover despite student criticism, the resolution calling for divestment from Israeli companies was voted down by an overwhelming majority.
“These departments bill the event as a defense of free speech, and yet they plan to silence pro-Israel voices by not including them,” says CAMERA’s Hali Haber. “The event is really nothing more than ugly political theater pretending to be liberal and academic for reasons of public relations.”
New student union leader Omar Chowdhury’s comments during a debate on the Facebook group Bristruths included telling Izzy Posen: “Your comments are like Israeli settlements: always popping up where they aren’t wanted.”
“Providing the imprimatur of three academic departments to such a politically motivated and directed event violates the core academic mission of the university, suppresses student expression and impedes the free exchange of ideas so essential for any university,” said a letter to UMass chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy.
The question’s preamble stated, “Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) is a poisonous gas, which Nazi Germany used to horrific ends in the gas chambers during The Holocaust.” It then asked to calculate how much of the gas would be a deadly amount in a particular-sized room.
“The timing of this resolution is insensitive given that many Jewish students will be away from campus and celebrating the intermediary days of the holiday when the vote takes place,” said UMD Hillel staff member Elan Burman.
Reportedly, $5,000 of taxpayer funds from the Education Department was used for the March 22-24 event, titled “Conflict Over Gaza: People, Politics and Possibilities.”
To date, more than 50 college campuses throughout North America and abroad have replicated the Shabbat 1800 dinner model started by Binghamton University—running from Berkeley to Boston, and along the length of Canada; as well as in Argentina, Israel and the Netherlands—since its inception at BU in 1994.
