On Hamas fundraising there
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has praised both B’nai B’rith International and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for joining the ZOA in publicly condemning the ongoing anti-Semitism at the University of California Irvine (UCI) criticizing the administration’s response and urging action by UCI’s Chancellor Dr. Michael Drake.
In a letter (February 17) to Chancellor Drake, B’nai B’rith President Dennis Glick and Executive VP Daniel Mariaschin, “express[ed] deep dismay at the severe and persistent anti-Semitic harassment experienced by Jewish students at UCI…Sadly, the hate-filled demonstrations surrounding the appearance by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at UCI on February 8 were merely recent examples of the anti-Semitic animus that has resulted in the intimidation of the school’s Jewish population for many years…Too often anti-Israel messages propounded on the UCI campus have far exceeded the line separating legitimate policy criticism from anti-Semitic polemics. B’nai B’rith therefore calls on your administration to recognize these manifestations of anti-Semitism as precisely that, and to condemn them as such….One factor contributing to the atmosphere of anti-Jewish hatred on the UCI campus is the frequent appearance of speakers such as Imam Abdul Alim Musa and Imam Abdul Malik Ali, who routinely compare Israel to the Nazi regime. In May 2009 Malik Ali told a UCI student audience that “’the Zionist Jewish community”’ wanted to “’destroy your will to resist.’”
B’nai B’rith urged UCI “to make combating the insidious anti-Semitism on campus a high priority…The university’s leadership must make clear that denial of the Jewish right to self-determination – to peace and security for Jews in their homeland – is, very simply, anti-Semitism. And to intimidate and incite against Jews – in speeches, sermons, placards, demonstrations, and publications – is most certainly anti-Semitism.
“We implore the UCI administration not to turn a blind eye to intolerance.”
ZOA also praised the ADL for joining the ZOA in complaining about the anti-Semitism at UCI and urging Chancellor Drake to take specific actions that the ZOA has previously demanded. ADL “urged UCI to step up efforts to deal with anti-Semitic intimidation on campus.” In a letter (February 17) to Chancellor Drake, ADL wrote that, “your leadership is being tested now as never before. How you respond to the ongoing undemocratic bullying and confrontational tactics of the Muslim Student Union will be one of the defining issues of your tenure as Chancellor…Your efforts to maintain civility have not succeeded…the Muslim Student Union has staged many anti-Israel events at UCI…featuring virulently anti-Semitic speakers….your general condemnation of anti-Semitism and your calls for an atmosphere of mutual respect have not achieved your intended purpose. In our view, the situation calls for forceful moral leadership on your part. When the Muslim Student Union or any other group or individual once again seeks to make Irvine one of the leading American academic venues for anti-Semitic expression, we urge you, specifically, by name to condemn such hateful expressions and those responsible for spewing a steady diet of hate on your campus [emphasis added].
The ADL also urged Chancellor Drake to finally complete the investigation — triggered by the ZOA’s report to UCI’s Chief Campus Counsel – into the Muslim Student Union’s fundraising activities last May. The ADL wrote, “On a related matter…one visitor invited to UCI by the Muslim Student Union last year, British M.P. George Galloway, may have violated the material support provisions of federal anti-terrorism legislation by raising money for the terrorist group Hamas during his campus visit…UCI’s Counsel initiated an investigation at your behest, but we have yet to see any reports from the university regarding this serious matter.
“We urge you to make the university’s findings public as soon as possible.
“In your inaugural address as Chancellor, you spoke of the values by which you believed the Irvine community should be guided – including respect, integrity, truth, trust, and empathy. The Muslim Student Union, their guests and their supporters have made a mockery of every single one of these values. It is time for your to lead by example, and to use your bully pulpit to insist that those values apply not just to some members of the Irvine community, but to everyone.”