Boycotters of Israel attempt to monopolize a meeting, again

[King_David]

By Roberta R. Seid and Roz Rothstein/JNS.org

The recent California State University (CSU) Trustees bimonthly meeting took an odd turn.

Amid pressing discussions about budgets, improving student success, and other education issues, anti-Israel boycott activists at the Jan. 29 meeting interjected the subject of Jews and Israel. They made up almost a third of the speakers (seven out of 22) who had requested time to address the trustees during the allotted 30-minute public comments session.

Perhaps it wasn’t so surprising that they had signed up to speak. Anti-Israel groups have repeatedly tried to hijack institutional meetings and make their hostility to Israel somehow relevant to the institution, no matter how far they have to reach to make it seem pertinent. This attempt is central to their strategy. They want to foment controversy in multiple venues so they can disseminate their defamations of Israel.

But on Jan. 29, three supporters of Israel also attended and spoke during the public comments session. The anti-Israel activists could not have known they would appear since the speakers’ names are not made public before the meeting. Israel’s supporters at least raised concerns relevant to the CSU system: Should faculty be able to use university resources to promote their personal political agendas or to promote bigotry? Tammi Benjamin of the Amcha Initiative urged the trustees to investigate whether California State University, Northridge (CSUN) math professor David Klein was misusing—or even illegally using—his university Web page to spread his anti-Israel bigotry and to advocate for boycotts against Israel. The ZOA’s David Kadosh seconded Benjamin’s request and underlined that “based on U.S. government standards, Klein is promoting anti-Semitism and using California state resources to do it.”


http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2014/2/7/boycotters-of-israel-attempt-to-monopolize-a-meeting-again#.UwBCkPldWRV

[King_David]

1. “We are the good Jews. Those who support Israel are bad Jews, and we’re not like them.”

It is particularly troubling to see anti-Israel activists trumpet their Jewish identity, only to defame Israel. JVP speakers made their remarks with a kind of triumphant relish, as though they were bravely smashing idols or as though to say, “We are the good Jews. Those who support Israel are bad Jews, and we’re not like them.”


http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2014/2/7/boycotters-of-israel-attempt-to-monopolize-a-meeting-again#.UwBCkPldWRV

[JDPriestly]

2. We have freedom of speech. The pro-Israel students and faculty need to speak up.

The pro-Israel students and faculty have the same right to free speech as do the anti-Israel students and faculty. And faculty members have the right to intellectual freedom. Everyone gets to say what they think. This is a matter of organization. The anti-Israel groups are well organized and vehement. The pro-Israel groups need to reach people with persuasive arguments. You can't complain about people exercising the right of free speech. You have to organize if you want to convey a different message.