UC Berkeley Chancellor Weighs in on Bears for Palestine Display
Following the fallout from a December display by UC Berkley’s Bears for Palestine praising Palestinians involved in hijacking and bombing attacks, the school’s Chancellor Carol Christ sent letters to Jewish and pro-Israel groups as well as pro-Palestinian groups on Feb. 19 addressing the issue.
On Feb. 10, the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) University and External Affairs Committee rebuffed a ASUC Senator Milton Zerman’s resolution to condemn the display, for glorifying “violent terrorists, including but not limited to Rasmea Odeh, Fatima Bernawi, and Leila Khaled.”
At that same meeting, a Jewish student, who identified himself as “H” said he wanted to join the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) so he could “eliminate Palestinians.”
Following that meeting, Jewish groups on campus wrote to Christ asking the university to better protect Jewish students during ASUC meetings.
Previously, in a Feb. 3 ASUC meeting pro-Palestinian students chanted “Free Palestine!” as Jewish and pro-Israel students walked out. Jewish students claimed that the pro-Palestinian students intimidated and threatened them. Pro-Palestinians students claimed that pro-Israel students harassed them.
In her letter Christ wrote, “While the campus acknowledges and understands that students have a constitutionally protected right to display the posters in question, using a campus location to honor those who killed unarmed Jewish civilians and/or bombed, or planned to bomb places frequented by unarmed Jewish civilians, is an affront to our Principles of Community. So too were the words of a speaker at the latest ASUC meeting who proclaimed a desire to, ‘eliminate Palestinians from the world.’”
She added, “I understand why these kinds of actions and words have created fear and safety concerns among our Palestinian and Muslim communities, and I am telling you — our Israeli students, as well as Jewish students from the United States and elsewhere — the very same thing regarding your understandable fears and concerns about the poster’s implications.”
Christ reiterated her commitment to combating all forms of bigotry.
“I will in the future, as I have in past, speak out loudly and clearly in condemnation of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-Blackness, racism, and other hateful ideologies and perspectives that target people based on their identity, origins or beliefs,” she wrote. “We are in the process of assessing the best, most effective way to continue providing educational information about anti-Semitism in the Golden Bear Orientation for all incoming students, while expanding that essential training to include Islamophobia, anti-Blackness, and other ideologies that are antithetical to our Principles of Community.”
She also condemned websites that engage in the practice of doxing students.
“I believe that practices such as doxing, posting home addresses and other private information on public websites, and inaccurately labeling people as criminals or terrorists are inconsistent with the values of a democratic society.”
Christ previously said during a Feb. 5 ASUC meeting, “Students who support the Palestinian cause have a right to celebrate those they see as fighters for that cause, and their rights to express that support are fully protected by our country’s constitution. By the same token, Jewish students have a right to feel dismay and concern after seeing a poster they perceive as honoring those who killed, or attempted to kill, unarmed Jewish civilians.”
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