Student Government at Berkeley: It's a Joke, But Hardly Funny

Hat tip Pro-Israel Bay Bloggers

UC Berkeley chancellor Carol Christ, who appears to be just as feckless as her predcecessor, has issued a statement in  response to the ugly scene that erupted at April 17′s Student Government meeting, which reportedly featured an outbreak of anti-semitic remarks.

http://proisraelbaybloggers.blogspot.com/2019/04/uc-berkeley-chancellor-carol-christ.html

“Even as we seek to more fully understand what was said, I want to make clear that the University’s administration condemns bias, including racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of prejudice, on this campus and beyond.”

Well, at least she mentioned anti-semitism although she used the standard university administrator tactic of lumping it together with “isms” in general.

Christ continues:

“I also understand that at the same meeting students of color provided passionate, moving comment about the extent to which they feel isolated and marginalized on this campus. This, too, is disturbing and demanding of our attention and concern.”

Really? Was she, perhaps, referring to these statements?

“A former Senator complained about only hearing “white tears, Zionist tears,” and was met with uproarious applause while an audience member shouted, “F*ck Zionists.”

Claiming that being friends with Zionists means one is complicit in oppression, the prison-industrial complex, and modern-day slavery;”

Are those statements what Christ considered “passionate and moving”?

In addition, this week’s Daily Californian, the UCB campus paper, is running two news articles on the meeting as well as an editorial. There is not one mention of the complaints of Jewish students which were reported by Pro-Israel Bay Bloggers. Those pieces can be accessed here, here and here. I have added my own comments to the DC reader thread. It would appear that they were unwilling to specifically mention anti-Jewish  (as well as anti-white) remarks reportedly mader at the meeting.

Unfortunately, this is typical of all too many university student governments, which have degenerated into ugly exercises in name-calling and trying to change the world instead of dealing with issues that affect students. It is also typical of university presidents/chancellors who either ignore campus anti-semitism or try to bury it among a litany of other isms, many of which are non-existant to begin with. It is also typical of campus newspapers who are terrified of writing anything that doesn’t follow the politically correct line.