Hot Potato for Yudof

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…

Full article at http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/UC-report-on-anti-Semitism-draws-ire-3774302.php