Originally Posted by James Brown
"At the beginning of the current academic year, nine law school student groups at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Law amended their bylaws to ensure that nobody who supports Israel or Zionism is invited to speak." https://www.newsweek.com/uc-berkeley-law-schools-jew-free-zones-latest-progressive-trend-opinion-1748218
"Multiple student groups at the UC Berkeley School of Law passed a bylaw on August 21 stating that they would never invite any speakers that support “Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel, and the occupation of Palestine.”
The bylaw, which was spearheaded by UC Berkeley’s Law Students for Justice in Palestine (LSJP), stated that not inviting such speakers is necessary for “the safety and welfare of Palestinian students on campus.” It also stated that any student organization that adopts the bylaw is required to hold a “Palestine 101” training hosted by LSJP “to create a safe and inclusive space for Palestinian students.” The student groups who adopted the bylaw include the Berkeley Law Muslim Student Association, Middle Eastern and North African Law Students Association, Womxn of Color Collective, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Queer Caucus, Community Defense Project, Women of Berkeley Law, and Law Students of African Descent." https://jewishjournal.com/news/351239/berkeley-law-student-groups-pass-bylaw-pledging-to-not-invite-pro-israel-speakers/
This is embarrassing to me as a lawyer and a human being. What the hell are these kids thinking, what are they being taught? Berkeley is an elitist liberal enclave of course, but this sort of anti-Semitism is beyond the pale. No lawyer or law student should ever vote to stifle contrary opinions. When and why did the left abandon Israel anyway? The school and it's students should be ashamed of themselves.
More detailed analysis: https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/351854/berkeley-develops-jewish-free-zones/
"Anti-Zionism is flatly antisemitic. Using “Zionist” as a euphemism for Jew is nothing more than a confidence trick. Like other forms of Judeophobia, it is an ideology of hate, treating Israel as the “collective Jew” and smearing the Jewish state with defamations similar to those used for centuries to vilify individual Jews. This ideology establishes a conspiratorial worldview, sometimes including replacement theory, which has occasionally erupted in violence, including mass-shooting, in recent months. Moreover, Zionism is an integral aspect of the identity of many Jews. Its derogation is analogous, in this way, to other forms of hate and bigotry."
I could not agree more. The above is from Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which has represented Jewish students in the New Paltz, Tufts, and USC cases discussed in the article above.
The Jewish Student's measured response: https://medium.com/@jsabl_48322/jsabl-board-statement-97de2e3f7e77
Jim
This sort of thing goes way-back at Berkeley. Nothing new here and it's sad to see nothing changed...