Anti-Semitism at UC Irvine: Where Is the Jewish Leadership?

The latest outrage from Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Student Union (this time aided by the American Indian Student Association) is in the books and we await the next disruption. Once again, SJP and their brown shirt allies have acted like storm troopers against a Jewish event as the university and campus police stand by. This time, everything was caught on video, and I have made the video I took of the incident available to the university. Keep in mind that SJP received a letter of warning last May for disrupting a Jewish event. What will the university do now against this latest incident of thuggery? Probably another warning letter. How long are the feckless administrators of UCI going to allow these bullies to ruin the school’s reputation before they take decisive action?

I have written until my fingers are numb about the lack of action by UCI-and the entire UC system, in the face of pro-Palestinian bullying and intimidation. SJP and MSU periodically destroy the otherwise tranquil atmosphere of UCI where 99% of the students have nothing to do with this ugliness. The plain fact is that the administrators refuse to take the necessary measures to protect Jewish students on campus because they will not confront Muslim students and the lawyers of CAIR waiting to file a lawsuit against them. Worse yet, these anti-semitic brown shirts are given support by far too many radical leftist faculty, in many cases Jews themselves, who find that opposition to Israel fits in nicely with their anti-American bent.

And where is the Jewish leadership in Orange County? The same place they have been for the past decade or two-hiding and insisting there is no problem. Last Wednesday night, neither Hillel nor the Jewish Federation was present when five Israeli students and their audience were subjected to disruption by some 30 thugs yelling their tired Palestinian chants. And where are they now? Are they banging on the desk of Chancellor Howard Gillman demanding to know when he is going to implement the UC Regents statement of principles against intolerance? Don’t hold your breath. The fact is that they do not support the efforts of Students Supporting Israel at UCI just as they failed to support their predecessor organization, Anteaters for Israel. Frankly, I wonder how many members SSI even has at UCI. I am told that the moderator at last Wednesday’s event is the only member of SSI. What a sad statement.

And where is the Jewish community in Orange County? Where are the people who donate to UCI? Where are the parents of Jewish students at UCI? Do they even care what their children and other Jewish kids are being subjected to on campus if they support Israel? Where are the rabbis of the local synagogues? I’ll tell you where they are. They are holding inter-faith events at places like Temple Bat Yahm with their Muslim counterparts-the same people who allow their mosques to be used to assemble that mock apartheid wall used at UCI every May during hate week while blaming Trump and the alt-right for the resurgence in anti-semitism (which long predates Trump even  dreaming of becoming president.)

It is truly frustrating as a gentile who admires the Jewish people and cares deeply about anti-semitism to find so few Jewish allies on campus. How many times have I gone alone into these pro-Palestinian events and challenged speakers like Amir Abdel Malik Ali, George Galloway and others while groups like Hillel and the Jewish Federation told Jewish students to stay away and stand down? Twice I have stood eyeball to eyeball with Ali after his speeches as his MSU followers stood around looking mean and thought to myself, “Where are the Jews?” Why isn’t the head of the Jewish Federation or Hillel or the ADL standing here with me? The fact is that Hillel and the Jewish Federation have for years slapped down any Jewish student who dared to speak out and fight back. Their tactic is the same tactic used by the Judenrat, the Jewish Councils of Nazi Germany, leaders who thought that by keeping a low profile it would all go away. Ten years ago, when Jewish students were complaining about anti-semitic harassment on the UCI campus, it took a small group of concerned Jewish community members to establish the Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism to investigate the claims and join with the Zionist Organization of America (based in New York of all places) to lodge a complaint with the Dept of Education Office of Civil Rights.

Until the Jewish leadership and the Jewish community gets on board and brings serious pressure upon UCI, the problem will only continue until somebody gets killed on campus. The same can be said about other universities all over the country.

In the meantime, all I can do is continue to do what I have been doing for the past ten years. When the tragedy happens at UC Irvine, the blood will not be on my hands.