Dear Editor:
We write to correct mischaracterizations in Sandy Van’s April 21st article, “Jewish organization alleges UCR class is ‘anti-Semitic’.
We are 20 advocacy organizations representing millions of members gravely concerned that UCR is offering a course that is anti-Semitic according to the U.S. State Department and in violation of UC policy that specifically prohibits using the classroom for indoctrination. This concern is not stemming from one organization as the headline and reporter’s emphasis suggests. Nor is it about wanting to silence criticism of Israel, as the course’s faculty advisor David Lloyd would like readers to believe. The course’s one-sided and biased syllabus, with an emphasis on promoting the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (BDS) movement designed to demonize and delegitimize Israel and seek its destruction, crosses the line into anti-Semitism according to our government and has us all deeply troubled.
Anti-Semitic incidents on campus are escalating at an alarming rate. According to a recent study by Trinity College and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, 54% of Jewish college students experienced or witnessed anti-Semitism this past school year. In addition, in the last year more than 19 college and university campuses around the country have been defaced with swastikas. There have also been multiple reports of anti-Semitic name-calling, threats and assaults. These acts often follow shortly after corrosive BDS preaching similar to those in student instructor Tina Matar’s syllabus and spewed by the Students for Justice in Palestine group Matar leads.
It is mind boggling that a university would allow an official course to be taught for the purpose of spreading anti-Semitic propaganda. This is not education, it’s indoctrination and the safety and well-being of Jewish students is at stake. Chancellor Wilcox must put a stop to this immediately.
Sincerely,
Accuracy in Academia
AMCHA Initiative
Americans for Peace and Tolerance
California Association of Scholars
Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA)
Christians United For Israel (CUFI) on Campus
David Horowitz Freedom Center
Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET)
Hasbara Fellowships
Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel
National Conference on Jewish Affairs
Proclaiming Justice to the Nations
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Simon Wiesenthal Center
StandWithUs
Students and Parents Against Campus Anti-Semitism
The Lawfare Project
Training and Education About the Middle East (T.E.A.M.)
Verity Educate
Zionist Organization of America
