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Fighting Back Against Campus Anti-Semitism

(Minding the Campus) Kenneth L. Marcus - Last March Jessica Felber, a Jewish undergraduate at the University of California at Berkeley, was holding a placard bearing the words: "Israel Wants Peace," when Husam Zakaria, a leader of Students for Justice in Palestine, rammed Felber from behind so hard with a loaded shopping cart that she had to be taken to the university's urgent medical care facility. Felber fought back, charging this month in a federal lawsuit that UC Berkeley has ignored mounting evidence of anti-Jewish animus and should be held liable for the injuries she suffered. Her suit also contends that "physical intimidation and violence were frequently employed as a tactic by SJP and other campus groups in an effort to silence students on campus who support Israel." University of California Santa Cruz lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin makes a similar case against her own employer. "Professors, academic departments and residential colleges at UCSC promote and encourage anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish views and behavior," she insists. She filed a civil rights action with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, arguing that UCSC has created a hostile environment for Jewish students. The problem does not reflect a broad-based resurgence of anti-Semitic attitudes on college campuses, nor does it even suggest a widespread collegiate rejection of Israel in favor of the Palestinian cause. The problem is that a small minority of anti-Israel and perhaps anti-Semitic academics have gained disproportionate influence on many campuses. The writer is Executive Vice President of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research.
2011-04-01 00:00:00
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