Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
Letters to the Editor
October 1, 2007
Letters to the Editor
October 1, 2007
UC Irvine
In your article about the UC Irvine fiasco (“Chemerinsky Affair Reflects UCI-Jewish Conflicts,” Sept. 21), you noted the ZOA’s federal civil rights complaint on behalf of Jewish students there, which alleges the university’s unlawful failure to respond to anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation on the campus.
Your readers should also know that the complaint triggered a government investigation into the university’s conduct, which is still ongoing. Also, while noting that UC Irvine’s chancellor has been criticized for failing to respond effectively to the harassment of Jewish students, you seemingly suggest that he is somehow redeemed by having condemned the British boycott of Israeli universities. The chancellor’s protest is commendable, but where has he been when it comes to speaking out against anti-Semitism on his own campus? UC Irvine routinely hosts events at which speakers inaccurately call Israel an apartheid state, blame “the Zionist Jews” for the Sept. 11 terror attacks and other problems in the world, and accuse “the Zionist Jews” of bullying, conspiratorial conduct, and trickery. It is this kind of hateful bigotry that leads to a British academic boycott, and Chancellor Drake should stop remaining silent and start clearly and forcefully condemning it.
Susan B. Tuchman
Director
Center for Law and Justice
Zionist Organization of America
The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.
Our Mission
ZOA STATEMENT
The ZOA speaks out for Israel – in reports, newsletters, and other publications. In speeches in synagogues, churches, and community events, in high schools and colleges from coast to coast. In e-mail action alerts. In op-eds and letters to the editor. In radio and television appearances by ZOA leaders. Always on the front lines of pro-Israel activism, ZOA has made its mark.
Center for Law & Justice
We work to educate the American public and Congress about legal issues in order to advance the interests of Israel and the Jewish people.
We assist American victims of terrorism in vindicating their rights under the law, and seek to hold terrorists and sponsors of terrorism accountable for their actions.
We fight anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses.
We strive to enforce existing law and also to create new law in order to safeguard the rights of the Jewish people in the United States and Israel.
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