Davis addresses anti-Semitism

By Kelly Rayburn
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
krayburn@media.ucla.edu University of California class
descriptions, law enforcement tactics and demonstration policies
are all under review, after Gov. Gray Davis last week called for a
crackdown on campus anti-Semitism. Citing a U.S. Department of
Justice Study that said “there is no place where hate crimes
are occurring with increasing frequency, more visibility and
hostility than in institutions of higher education,” Davis
sent a letter to UC President Richard Atkinson and CSU Chancellor
Charles Reed, urging their help in putting a stop to trends of
anti-Semitic “violence, harassment, and abuse.” Davis
cited an attack on two Orthodox Jewish men near UC Berkeley, and a
pro-Palestinian protest on the same campus that turned into an
administration building takeover as evidence of developing
anti-Semitic trends. “In this country political disagreements
should always be resolved peacefully and without rancor. That is
what makes our democracy envied the world over,” Davis wrote
in his letter. At UCLA, the Center for Student Programming,
university police and Chancellor Albert Carnesale all expressed
similar sentiments. Thankfully, they said, UCLA has not experienced
more than its share of hate crimes or ethnicity-based abuse,
anti-Semitic or otherwise. Some UCLA faculty members and students,
meanwhile, expressed concern about their personal freedoms if the
governor should crack down what he considers to be anti-Semitic
action or speech. The letter asked the UC and CSU heads to take the
following actions: “¢bull; Undertake a review of all anti-Semitic
incidents on or near campuses and report them. “¢bull; Assess steps
to prevent such incidents in the future. “¢bull; Review campus
policies and guidelines governing demonstrations to ensure they
don’t escalate into violence or unlawful acts. “¢bull; Ensure
orientation programs inform students that hate crimes will be
punished and that only civil discourse will be tolerated. “¢bull;
Review official university activities including course descriptions
to ensure classes are forums for inquiry and not vehicles of
discrimination or hate. Davis sent out the letter ““ which
alternates between concern with anti-Semitism specifically and hate
crimes in general ““ early in the week of July 22. Michael
Reese, a UC spokesman, said the UC Office of the President shares
Davis’ concerns. “We are taking this very
seriously,” he said. The UC contacted the chancellors of the
nine UC campuses, asking them to respond to the governor’s
concerns in about a week.

Examining UCLA By the middle of last week, at UCLA, the UCPD,
the CSP, the Dean of Students, and the chair of UCLA’s
Academic Senate, among others, were collecting data and preparing
analyses of UCLA’s current state regarding anti-Semitism. As
of July 26, the UCPD had not yet collected data for 2002, said
spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein. She added that in 2001 there was just
one anti-Semitic crime reported since Sept. 11 ““ an assault
allegation, which occurred between two non-students. Anti-Semitic
crime “doesn’t appear to be an issue on our
campus,” she said. “People seem to keep their
differences focused around dialogue,” she added. Besides the
anti-Semitic crime, Greenstein noted reports of racial slurs
against people of various races and ethnicities and many incidents
of anti-American slurs. Addressing whether one particular ethnic
group seemed targeted, Greenstein said: “It’s pretty
mixed.” Greenstein is confident in the department’s
current policies. Officers receive training from the District
Attorney regarding hate crimes, and attend seminars at the Museum
of Tolerance. Additionally, the UCPD publishes information about
hate crimes on its Web site and has a hotline where students can
anonymously report any hurtful act done to them, even if they
aren’t sure if it qualifies as a crime. Berky Nelson, the
director of the Center for Student Programming, is also confident
in his entity’s ability to combat violence on campus and said UCLA
has “not had great incidents of anti-Semitism.” Nelson
credits students for acting responsibly and working with the
administration to go about demonstrating appropriately. He recalled
a pro-Palestinian “speak-out” and a simultaneous
pro-Israeli counter rally early in spring quarter. While tensions
ran high, the UCPD reported no violent incidents or vandalism. When
demonstrations do get out of hand, it is usually the responsibility
of outsiders, who are not familiar with UCLA’s rules and do
not face punishment from the administration, Nelson said. As for
recommendations for the future on how to avoid violence, Nelson
said there’s always room for improvement and if the CSP
realizes there are holes in its policies, they will be amended. The
chancellor, apparently collecting input from various campus
entities, wrote back to the UC on July 26. Echoing what Greenstein
and Nelson said, Carnesale wrote that UCLA has experienced no
increase in hate-related activity since Sept. 11. UCLA has a
zero-tolerance policy on hate crimes and is “a model for
other institutions,” he wrote. But even though university
officials are happy to say UCLA is not a bastion of anti-Semitism,
they are not complacent. Nelson, Greenstein and Carnesale all
expressed the need for UCLA to strive to remain a beacon of
tolerance in the future. “We will continue our diligent
efforts to prevent hate crimes,” Carnesale wrote to end his
letter. A popular Jewish leader in the UCLA community, Rabbi Chaim
Seidler-Feller, meanwhile, said some anti-Semitic incidents at UC
Berkeley and San Francisco State University are of an
“extreme and frightening variety.” Though he does not
think anti-Semitism is universal, he said everyone must distinguish
between free speech, academic freedom and “the need to
condemn bigotry.”

Concern about speech rights Davis wrote in his letter he has the
utmost respect for the First Amendment of the Constitution, but
some are already concerned that a review of classes and
demonstration policies may lead to infringements on freedom of
speech. The Anti-Defamation League reports more than 100
anti-Semitic incidents have occurred on U.S. campuses since
January, Davis wrote in his letter. In fact, the ADL’s Web
site reports 63 anti-Semitic incidents on U.S. college campuses in
the first five months of the year. On a page summarizing
anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli events on campuses, incidents range
from clearly anti-Semitic ““ a report that a UC Santa Barbara
construction site was defaced with graffiti including the phrases:
“Nuke Israel,” “God Hates Jews,” and
“Burn the Torah” ““ to what many would call
anti-Israeli, but not anti-Semitic ““ a report, for
example, that the UC Riverside Muslim Student Union sponsored a
rally for Palestine, concluding with a march to Riverside’s City
Hall. And there lies the problem. What composes hate speech and
what composes appropriate means of protest? For instance, while
some do not separate anti-Zionism from anti-Semitism, others do.
While Davis cited the demonstration which led to a takeover of an
administration building at Berkeley as unacceptable, over 100 UCLA
students and faculty signed a petition saying demonstrators’
free speech rights had been violated when they were arrested and
demanding the UC Berkeley administration not punish them. Now,
students and faculty, hearing of Davis’ letter, are wary of
what may come in the future. If Davis or the UC start to try to
limit what people can say or how they can say it then “it is
a straight up violation of free speech,” said Sofia
Mazgarova, a fourth-year cognitive science student and Muslim
Student Association member. Former Jewish Student Union president
Justin Levi said free speech at UCLA is and will continue to be
well-protected compared to other universities in California;
individual schools will ultimately be responsible for ensuring free
speech. “They have to manage a good level of security for all
students,” Levi said. Professor Gabriel Piterberg, who is
open in his condemnation of Israeli policy regarding Palestinians,
was not happy to hear of Davis’ call to review all course
descriptions. “It’s completely inappropriate,” he
said. ” … It’s quite outrageous, to be honest.”
Piterberg said only a professor’s peers should critique one
another’s performance. Though the UC assigned the system-wide
Academic Senate to review course descriptions, Piterberg viewed the
governor’s call for the UC to do so in the first place as
“dangerous.” “The stench of politics is
clear,” Piterberg said. John Edmonds, the chair of
UCLA’s Academic Senate, on the other hand, is not as
concerned. He said academic freedom principles will be considered
when the faculty reviews course descriptions. “The governor
has every right to pursue this,” he said. “He
doesn’t want anything inflammatory to appear on any
literature at the university that would cause distress on various
parties on campus.” A spokesman said Davis is not concerned
that many may view his letter as a possible infringement on their
right to free speech. “Why should he be?” said Byron
Tucker, Davis’ deputy press secretary. Individual rights of
free speech are of the “utmost importance to the
governor,” but “breaking the law is unacceptable
behavior.” “Nothing,” Davis wrote,
“justifies … acts of violence, harassment and abuse.”
With reports from Robert Salonga, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.

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