Israel haters groups response to anti-Semitism at SFSU "But we're the victims".

The recent lawsuit alleging systemic anti-antisemitism at San Francisco State University has gotten a great deal of press lately

Lawsuit claims San Francisco State, university leaders, have history of cultivating campus environment hostile to Jews

San Francisco State University fosters anti-Semitism, lawsuit alleges

Lawsuit says Jewish students ‘intimidated’ at SF State

Current and former students sue SFSU over alleged anti-Semitism

Not being able to control the narrative is a first for the haters.  How are they handling the stress?

What is the reaction of, oh, lets say Jewish Voice for Peace to this? After all, their mission statement claims they oppose "anti-Jewish, bigotry and oppression".   

Ben Lorber, a JVP staffer has "talking points" to share and can help you write a letter, denying anti-Jewish bigotry and oppression even exists

Other anti-Israel groups are also mobilizing fast as they can, utilizing their perpetual theme of  " But, but, but we're the victims" ( so send us money).

A "Launch good" page has been set up to raise money for  SFSU  Professor Rabab Abdulhadi and her students. 

The page reads

They disagreed with her work on Palestine, so they plastered posters across campus calling her a terrorist and a Jew-hater.

Professor Rabab Abdulhadi of the Arab Muslim and Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies program has filed several grievances against San Francisco State University for the hostile and unsafe work and study environment for Palestinians, Muslims and Arabs on campus. Your generous donation will contribute to the legal defense fund against Islamophobia, anti-Arab discrimination and hostility to Palestinians at SFSU campus and to supporting the AMED Studies program against destruction.

"They" apparently means pro-Israel groups such as David Horowitz, Canary Mission, AMCHA, Campus Watch, Stand With US, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Middle East Forum and the Zionist Organization of America -any group that dares defends the rights of Jewish students on campus.

In the eternal sunshine of their spotless victimhood, apparently  the appearance of several dozen tasteless posters on campus constitutes "intimidation" for the General Union of Palestinian students at SFSU. However, there is no evidence that any group other than the Horowitz center was involved, and Jewish SFSU faculty and student groups on campus immediately denounced the posters.  

The General Union of Palestinian Students has rather tender sensibilities for a group that routinely shouts down any dissenting voice, calls for genocide, and maintains a truth-optional view of history.

Spreading hatred at SFSU

Spreading hatred at SFSU

Koret Foundation withdrew $1.7m grant to San Francisco State University

Anti-Semitism doesn't pay. SFSU has learned the hard way.

According to an article in the J Weekly, the Jewish News of  Northern California, written by Max.Cherney:

The San Francisco-based Koret Foundation last year held back a $1.7 million grant to San Francisco State University, according to a federal lawsuit filed earlier this week.

Among other accusations in the lawsuit, the plaintiff’s lawyers laid out a squabble over the sizable grant between SFSU and the San Francisco-based Koret Foundation, a well-fundedphilanthropic organization that works on a range of causes.

Koret’s reason for withholding the grant was due to concerns about “anti-Jewish animus” at SFSU, the lawsuit claims, and because of a 2016 incident where protesters prevented Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat from giving a scheduled talk at the school.

Read it all here

Groundbreaking Civil Rights Lawsuit Against San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University has been hit with a lawsuit, alleging systemic patterns of discrimination and harassment directed towards Jewish students.

The lawsuit  filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California  names the Board of Trustees of the California State University System, SFSU President Leslie Wong and others as defendants. The plaintiffs, including students, alumni and community members are represented by attorneys from The Lawfare Project and the global law firm Winston & Strawn LLP.

From a press release, filed by Amanda Berman, Lawfare Project Director of Legal Affairs
and Brooke Goldstein, Lawfare Project Director

The lawsuit was triggered following the alleged complicity of senior university administrators and police officers in the disruption of an April, 2016, speech by the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat. At that event organized by SF Hillel, Jewish students and audience members were subjected to genocidal and offensive chants and expletives by a raging mob that used bullhorns to intimidate and drown out the Mayor’s speech and physically threaten and intimidate members of the mostly-Jewish audience. At the same time, campus police – including the chief – stood by, on order from senior university administrators who instructed the police to “stand down” despite direct and implicit threats and violations of university codes governing campus conduct.

The lawsuit states that “SFSU has not merely fostered and embraced anti-Jewish hostility -it has systematically supported … student groups as they have doggedly organized their efforts to target, threaten, and intimidate Jewish students on campus and deprive them of their civil rights and their ability to feel safe and secure as they pursue their education at SFSU.” SFSU continues to affirm its preference for those targeting the Jewish community, according to the lawsuit, by claiming to handle such incidents successfully by removing the Jewish students from their lawful assembly without allowing them the opportunity to exercise their free speech rights.”

Making matters worse, no actions were ever taken by SFSU against the disruptive students, no disciplinary charges were ever filed, and no sanctions were ever imposed against the groups or students responsible for committing these acknowledged violations.

“Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the underpinning of the modern American ethos of equal protection and anti-discrimination. This case isn’t about Jews, it’s about equal protection under the law,” says Brooke Goldstein, Lawfare Project Director. “If the courts fail to apply Title VI in this context, we are creating a massive loophole that will ultimately be exploited to target other marginalized minority communities. If we refuse to enforce anti-discrimination law for Jews, if we say Jews don’t deserve equal protection, it will erode constitutional protections for everyone. Jews must be protected the same as any other minority group, or the bedrock of civil rights law will crumble.”

In addition to the disruption of the speech by Nir Barkat, the lawsuit describes a long list of discrimination, intimidation and mistreatment of Jewish students at SFSU.  Following are just a few examples:

In 1994, a ten-foot mural was erected on SFSU’s student union building that portrayed yellow Stars of David intertwined with dollar signs, skulls and crossbones, and the words “African Blood.”

In 1997, a banner depicting an Israeli flag with a swastika next to an American flag with a dollar sign was hung over the same wall where the 1994 mural had been painted.

In April of 2002, posters appeared around campus advertising an event called “Genocide in the 21st Century,” featuring a dead baby on the label of a soup can, surrounded on either side by Israeli flags.

In May of 2002, following a Peace rally, a small group of Jewish students were targeted by a large group of students who shouted bigoted and offensive remarks, including “Hitler didn’t finish the job,” “Get out or we’ll kill you,” and “Go back to Russia.”

In 2009, SFSU hosted on-campus events that advocated for the elimination of the Jewish state of Israel.

In 2016, President Wong complained that in all his years, he had never seen a university donor withhold a pledge because of a “political issue.” A Jewish Studies faculty member told him, “the physical safety of Jewish students is never a political issue.” President Wong replied, “on this, we will have to agree to disagree.”

In 2017, when specifically asked whether Zionists are welcome at SFSU, President Wong refused to provide the only proper answer: “Yes.” Instead, President Wong demurred, stating “That’s one of those categorical statements I can’t get close to. . . . Am I comfortable opening up the gates to everyone?  Gosh, of course not.”

"Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the underpinning of the modern American ethos of equal protection and anti-discrimination. This case isn’t about Jews, it’s about equal protection under the law,” says Brooke Goldstein, Lawfare Project Director. “If the courts fail to apply Title VI in this context, we are creating a massive loophole that will ultimately be exploited to target other marginalized minority communities. If we refuse to enforce anti-discrimination law for Jews, if we say Jews don’t deserve equal protection, it will erode constitutional protections for everyone. Jews must be protected the same as any other minority group, or the bedrock of civil rights law will crumble."

Read the full complaint here

Read students and community members first hand accounts of the campus climate at SFSU  here

Read the full press release from the Lawfare Project here

San Francisco State University Toxic Climate for Jewish Students: the mainstream media catches on (part 2)

Recently a series of articles and op-eds has appeared in the J- the Jewish News of Northern California documenting the toxic campus climate for Jewish students at San Francisco State University.

Written by 2 long term professors at San Francisco State University, Marc Dollinger and Fred Astren, this article condemns the " inability or unwillingness of the university administration to speak out and act in the face of the marginalization of Jewish students". 

Jewish studies professors: S.F. State marginalizes Jews

The most troubling instance of marginalization of Jews occurred in February when members of an on-campus organizing committee, whose co-sponsors included student and faculty groups, excluded S.F. Hillel from participation in a “Know Your Rights” event, whose program was intended to assist students from marginalized communities navigate the current national political environment. In previous years, the intentional exclusion of Jewish students based upon their group status would have been properly met with an immediate administration repudiation and a call to action. The trust and goodwill of open two-way channels of communications would have facilitated an appropriate response. Instead, the S.F. State administration has made no public comment, thereby continuing in a silence that acquiesces to Jewish marginalization on campus.

In a recent email to S.F. State Hillel students concerned about their physical safety and place on campus, Wong followed an affirmation that “safety is my top priority as president” with the qualification that “one person cannot change the culture of an institution as large as San Francisco State.”

To the contrary, we believe that if there is one person who has the voice to speak out against the marginalization of Jews on campus, the ability to initiate needed change, and the obligation to lead, it is President Wong.

Marc Dollinger is the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Chair in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility at San Francisco State University. Fred Astren is chair of the Jewish studies department.

Read it all here

San Francisco State University Toxic Climate for Jewish Students: the mainstream media catches on

Recently a series of articles and op-eds has appeared in the J- the Jewish News of  Northern California documenting the toxic campus climate for Jewish students at San Francisco State University.

From Ollie Benn, the executive director of San Francisco Hillel, who believes that the university must acknowledge the problem, make a strong statement against it, and then make an better effort to incorporate Hillel and the Jewish community into the campus

S.F. Hillel director: SFSU must reject intolerance against Jewish students

First, the university must acknowledge the problem. Large systems do not effectively change without their leadership using language giving recognition to wrongs.

In the 1990s, an S.F. State commission found that Jewish students had experienced “bigotry, stereotyping, intolerance and insensitivity” from institutions across campus and that anti-Israel activity had “repeatedly” crossed the line into anti-Semitism. Unfortunately, events of the past year follow that historic pattern. The university cannot change without first taking the healing step of recognizing that systemic problems have re-emerged.

Second, the university must make a strong statement rejecting systemic intolerance against Jews. The recent “Know Your Rights Fair” debacle should have played out quite differently. Students will always push the envelope, and sometimes make wrongful or even malicious decisions. But once the Palestinian student group decided to shut Hillel out of the event (which, ironically, was to discuss the marginalization of domestic minorities), the organizing committee, composed of sponsoring students, faculty and administration, should have stepped in and rejected this move.

As extensive reporting now makes clear, this is part of a troubling pattern at S.F. State. We are sure a university as committed to equality as S.F. State will no longer allow the abrogation of Jewish students’ rights to speak, listen and participate in campus life. A strong public statement rejecting systemic intolerance against Jews should not be difficult to adopt: In March 2016, the regents of the University of California unanimously passed a statement of Principles Against Intolerance; UC Irvine recently adapted and implemented those principles for its own campus; and CSU, Long Beach has committed to becoming a model of “Inclusive Excellence.”

S.F. State should follow suit. It must reject the festering culture of “anti-normalization,” instead affirming that the core values of a university include respectful debate and dialogue, and the ability to hear the opinions of others.

Third, S.F. State must better integrate Hillel into the fabric of university life. Across the country, Hillels have entered into partnerships with their universities on everything from career services to dialogue groups to housing issues to social justice causes to interfaith prayer to mental health training.....

Read it all here