Image by ACasualPenguin from Pixabay Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt urged University of California President Michael Drake in an August 9 letter to condemn UCLA’s Asian American Studies Department’s anti-Israel statement in May that, among other things, accused Israel of “yellow-washing.”
The department’s statement, titled “Statement of Solidarity with Palestine,” denounced “the exchange of military tactics and financial support between the United States and Israel, noting how U.S. counterinsurgency techniques and military equipment used during the Vietnam War were then extrapolated to the Occupied Territories; how the Israeli military’s policing of the apartheid wall dividing Jerusalem and isolating the West Bank has influenced the U.S.’s own brutal border security policies along the U.S.-Mexico border; and how Israel has too often upheld its support of Asian and Asian American individuals as proof of multicultural democracy, over and against the ethnic cleansing of Palestine via a process of ‘yellow-washing.’” It also stated that the violence that occurred during the May escalation between Israel and Hamas “are but the latest manifestation of seventy-three years of settler colonialism, racial apartheid, and occupation.”
“The statement makes many problematic claims and biased assumptions, including blaming the outbreak of violence in May solely on Israel and questioning Israel’s right to exist,” Greenblatt wrote to Drake, adding that while the ADL supports free speech, “we are concerned that the Asian American Studies Department statement isolates Jewish and non-Jewish students and faculty who are supportive of the state of Israel, and for whom a connection to Israel is part of their Jewish identity and will have a devastating impact on campus climate.”
He argued that it was important for UC officials “to issue a public statement distancing itself from the Asian American Studies Department statement” given that antisemitism is on the rise. “Now is the time for the University of California leadership to use your voice to speak out and offer support to all students who may be affected by the recent conflict in Israel and Gaza. It is long overdue for universities to send a clear message: they will prioritize the needs of their entire student body ahead of politics.”
Judea Pearl, Chancellor Professor of Computer Science at UCLA, National Academy of Sciences member and Daniel Pearl Foundation President, thanked the ADL in a tweet for supporting “UCLA professors who protested the politicization of academia and the criminalization of Israel and its supporters.”
In a letter to UC President, @JGreenblattADL supports UCLA professors who protested the politicization of academia and the criminalization of Israel and its supporters. See https://t.co/QW3BrRP5Yt
Thanks you @ADL https://t.co/5Ri1ULrX0k— Judea Pearl (@yudapearl) August 11, 2021
Several university professors, including Pearl, signed onto a July 20 letter that similarly called on Drake to condemn the statement for creating “an unwelcoming, even toxic, atmosphere for students who disagree with them.”
At the time, a spokesperson from Drake’s office told the Journal that Drake “appreciates the concerns raised by the authors of the letter. The University will continue to ensure that its campuses are welcoming, inclusive spaces for all students as UC continues its rich tradition of free speech and diversity of thought.” Drake’s office similarly said in a statement to the Journal on August 12 that Drake “appreciates the concerns raised by Mr. Greenblatt on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The University will continue to ensure that its campuses are welcoming, inclusive spaces for all students as UC continues its rich tradition of free speech and diversity of thought.”
A spokesperson for the university said in a statement to the Journal, “These are important issues facing campuses across the UC system. Given their complexity and the importance of faculty input, we are grateful that the systemwide University Committee on Academic Freedom (UCAF), as well as the UC Academic Council, are conducting reviews on this matter for the University of California and its campuses. It is our understanding that this matter was discussed by the council in July and that the council plans to take it up again in partnership with UCAF in early fall, when new members are seated. We look forward to the outcome of this review.”
The department did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment regarding Greenblatt’s letter at publication time.
Other university faculty departments that have issued statements of solidarity with Palestinians include UC Davis and USC. StandWithUs’ Saidoff Legal Department and Center for Combating Antisemitism issued an August 10 letter to various universities demanding that they take action against the use of university resources to issue statements “that marginalize students based on their Jewish ethnicity, Zionist identity, and Israeli national origin.”
“Academic departments and student governments should not champion and disseminate one-sided political viewpoints on behalf of a university,” the letter read. “This is especially true of rhetoric and actions that marginalize students based on protected components of their identity, such as the Jewish religion, Jewish ethnicity or ancestry, and Israeli national origin. Universities should not be safe harbors for those who disseminate anti-Jewish hate by calling it another name and then dressing it with the university’s imprimatur through the use of the university’s channels.” The letter concluded with a call for universities to adopt guidelines regarding the “inappropriate use of official electronic communications resources, such as university listservs and official university social media channels, including a prohibition against the use of these resources to advance politicized viewpoints that could marginalize students and contribute to a pervasively hostile campus climate” and ensuring “that there are consequences for” violating these guidelines.
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