The University of California at Los Angeles last week condemned an anti-Semitic comment that a UCLA student posted on the Facebook page of “The Big Bang Theory” star Mayim Bialik, Inside Higher Ed reported. Bialik, a UCLA alumna, wrote on Facebook about her pride in being Jewish and Zionist. The student — in a comment widely discussed on the UCLA campus —addressed European Jews living in the US, saying:
“If you’re of Euro ancestry and you were born in the Americas, you are still a white immigrant, the way you call us brown people immigrants and aliens in our own damn space. YOU people invades our space and used your bogus gods to justify taking land that was never yours. I don’t know how that’s different from what’s happening in Palestine — you come into their land, crying persecution and diminished numbers, and instead of returning to your own homes in Poland, Germany and Russia, your people chose to invade another culture’s homeland, invoking your [expletive] sacred pacts with your gods and massacring an entire culture unless they bend to your will. [Expletive] with all your Zionist [expletive]. Crazy [expletive] [expletive] troglodyte albino monsters of cultural destruction.”
UCLA officials said that they respect the First Amendment, but believed it would be worthwhile to publicly criticize the post. Janina Montero, vice chancellor for student affairs, sent an email to all students, saying: “We have become aware of anti-Semitic comments allegedly posted by a UCLA student on a private Facebook page not affiliated with UCLA,” the email said. “The hurtful and offensive comments displayed ignorance of the history and racial diversity of the Jewish people, insensitivity and a disappointing lack of empathy. Bigotry against the Jewish people or other groups is abhorrent and does not represent the values of UCLA or the beliefs of our community. UCLA remains proud of the ethnic, racial, religious and cultural diversity of our campus. Sustaining such a diverse community is possible only if we treat each other with compassion and resist the temptation to stereotype or belittle those who may be different. Incidents like these are a reminder that we must always remain committed to inclusiveness and to understanding and respecting others.”
“Sadly this is only the latest in a slew of anti-Jewish incidents at UC where virulently anti-Israel expression crosses the line into blatant anti-Semitism,” writes Tammi Rossman-Benjamin. “This fall, swastikas and ‘[expletive] Jews’ were carved into two cars and tires were slashed on multiple vehicles at UC Davis, and a female Jewish student at UC San Diego was followed and harassed by a male Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) student who yelled ‘racist Zionist cow’ at her. Last year, swastikas were spray-painted on a Jewish fraternity after fraternity brothers spoke against divesting from Israel, ‘grout out the Jews’ and ‘Hitler did nothing wrong’ was carved into school property after contentious BDS campaigns, a Hillel event for the LGBT community was protested and disrupted by anti-Israel students and faculty, flyers blaming Israel AND all Jews for 9/11 were plastered on campus and a Jewish student running for office was questioned about her eligibility by anti-Israel activists simply because of her religion. UC Jewish students report that hostile actions against them are often linked to anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns and that they feel afraid to tell fellow students they are Jewish, walk to the Hillel house for Sabbath dinner and wear a Jewish star necklace. Many report being bullied, harassed, intimidated and assaulted.”
Rossman-Benjamin notes that in September the Regents formed a working group to address the rise of anti-Semitism on campus and develop a statement against intolerance. More than 50 Jewish organizations, including ADL, AJC, Hillel, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and AMCHA and more than 3,000 UC students, faculty, alumni, California residents, rabbis, Jewish day school principals and educators, including the world’s preeminent scholars of anti-Semitism, have written to UC in support of adopting an accurate definition of modern anti-Semitism to properly identify and educate the campus community about contemporary Jew-hatred. Specifically, the groups have urged the inclusion of the State Department definition of anti-Semitism into the intolerance statement.