Dear President Napolitano and the Board of Regents,
We are University of California students who have heard about, witnessed, or experienced antisemitism at the University of California. Antisemitism targets Jewish students, but it affects all students on campus. We are concerned by what appears to be a rising tide of hatred and bigotry directed at Jewish students and their identities. We implore you to help adopt solutions capable of properly identifying, addressing, and curtailing antisemitism at the University of California.
In direct response to the rising antisemitic activity on UC campuses, the student governments of
UCLA,
UC Berkeley and
UC Santa Barbara have all unanimously passed resolutions against antisemitism. Each one of these resolutions, in identifying antisemitism, references the U.S. State Department’s definition of antisemitism which explicitly defines anti-Israel activity that goes beyond normal criticism and into demonizing, delegitimizing, or denying Israel the right to exist as antisemitic.
These student resolutions had a broad base of support among students and student leaders. As the UCSB Student Newspaper, the
Daily Nexus published, “UCSB Muslim Students Association (MSA) President and fourth-year biochemistry major Yasmin Sallak said she supports the bill and noted there is a distinction between anti-Semitism and criticism of the Israeli government. ‘I want to do my part to make sure that Jewish students feel safe expressing their identity,’ Sallak said. ‘When speaking about Israel I’d like to point out, just as the resolution does, that there is a significant difference between criticizing the being of Israel and critiquing Israeli policy.’”
We students have spoken out and taken action to protect Jewish students by first identifying antisemitism in the forms it has appeared on our campuses, and forthrightly condemning it. Now it is your turn, to do the same.
We echo the concerns of the AMCHA Initiative-led coalition of 23 organizations who have
written to you recently regarding antisemitism on UC campuses. We agree with the 23 organizations that in order to fully meet the needs of Jewish students facing antisemitsm and to address the root causes of antisemitism in the UC system, the University of California must, first and foremost,
formally adopt the U.S. State Department’s definition of antisemitism as a means of accurately identifying all forms of antisemitic expression on UC campuses.
We commend you for
your statement against antisemitism, and we await your leadership in implementing solutions, such as the adoption of the U.S. State Department’s definition, to address antisemitism at the University of California.
Thank you for listening and responding to our concerns as students of the University of California.
Sincerely,