During the Black Lives Matter riots, UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ endorsed police defunding. “Elements of our country’s law enforcement culture dehumanize some of the very people whose safety and wellness police officers are sworn to protect,” she falsely claimed.
Two weeks ago, UC Berkeley called the police on a conservative truck protesting campus antisemitism and the “Jewish Free Zones” erected by elements of its law school.
Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky had claimed that the university couldn’t take any action against the “Jewish Free Zones” enacted by student organizations even as he admitted that they would bar 90% of Jewish speakers. “That is their First Amendment right. I find their statement offensive, but they have the right to say it. To punish these student groups, or students, for their speech would clearly violate the Constitution,” he argued.
That was in early October.
In late October, Chemerinsky responded to a truck rented by a conservative group protesting the “Jewish Free Zone” by threatening that, “we’re exploring whether there’s any action that can be taken against the Accuracy in Media for the truck.”
According to Chemerinsky and Berkeley, banning Jews is free speech, protesting the ban isn’t.
Chemerinsky described the ban of 90% of Jewish speakers as merely “offensive”, but condemned a protest against it as “despicable” and “outrageous behavior.”
Adam Guillette, the president of Accuracy in Media, had decided to challenge the culture of campus antisemitism by renting a truck to name and shame the students responsible for the “Jewish Free Zones”.
It’s a tactic that has been successfully used by groups fighting antisemitism like Canary Mission.
Recalling his own student days, Adam told me that, “When I attended the University of Florida we dealt with the same sort of nonsense and our campus Jewish groups wouldn’t do a thing about it.
“Most Jewish students and most Jewish student groups just want to go to class, live their life, and not be bothered. They think standing up to these bullies will only make things worse, so they remain silent and hope the problem goes away. Silence is never the correct response when dealing with bullies.”
Instead of silence, he sent a truck naming the perpetrators and declaring, “shame, shame.”
And UC Berkeley responded with violence and legal threats.
A previous AIM truck protesting UC Berkeley’s antisemitism had been met with thrown rocks and condemnations by the ADL, Berkeley’s Hillel and the local JCRC.
UC Berkeley administrators offered “emotional support” to students who felt upset by a truck with a picture of Hitler on it reading, “All in favor of banning Jews, raise your right hand.”
In response to the latest AIM protest truck, Adam Guillette told me that “the university called law enforcement on our truck last week. The police told our driver that he was violating a city statute and wasn’t allowed to park on the public street in a paid parking spot near the law school.”
It isn’t clear if such a regulation even exists, but what is clear is that despite his professed support for free speech, UC Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky attempted to suppress a non-violent protest against antisemitism by abusing police resources and local regulations.
“It’s a shame that Chemerinsky’s devotion to free speech extends to antisemites but not to those who combat them. It seems he’d rather see us silenced than those who wish to intimidate Jews,” the AIM president told Front Page Magazine.
Chemerinsky and UC Berkeley failed to protect Jewish students, but turned to the police to protect some of the students named by the AIM truck, like Jasmin Luz, of the Womxn of Color Collective, Jung Kim, of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and Nicki Guivatchian, of the Middle Eastern and North African Law Students Association.”
The AIM truck had a very simple message, “Stand Up To the Ringleaders of Antisemitism at Berkeley.” Instead, UC Berkeley Law rushed to protect them while suppressing free speech.
“Whatever the disagreement on issues, to put students’ names on the side of the truck was despicable,” Dean Chemerinsky fulminated.
The disagreement, as Chemerinsky had already admitted, was a plan to, in his own words, “exclude about, I don’t know, 90 percent or more of our Jewish students.” But banning Jewish students is a “disagreement on issues” while naming antisemitic students is “despicable”.
According to him, naming Bull Connor at a protest was worse than the actual segregation.
Jewish campus groups proved equally useless.
Adam Naftalin-Kelman, Berkeley Hillel’s executive director, described the protest against antisemitism as “reprehensible” and “antithetical to building community”.
Naftalin had previously condemned a similar campaign by the David Horowitz Freedom Center: #StopTheJewHatredOnCampus named students involved in the BDS “Hamas-inspired genocidal campaign to destroy Israel”. Naftalin had claimed then that the Freedom Center posters were “counterproductive to creating a vibrant and healthy community”.
How Naftalin intends to build community with students who ban Jews has yet to be clarified.
“It’s consistently frustrating to see how little campus Jewish groups will do to stick up for themselves,” AIM President Adam Guillette told me.
Accuracy in Media intends to continue pressuring UC Berkeley with an email campaign and ongoing protests. And UC Berkeley has made it clear that it will continue protecting antisemites.
Dean Chemerinsky argued that the perpetrators of the “Jewish Free Zones” have “free speech rights, including to express messages that I and others might find offensive.”
He clearly doesn’t believe that those protesting against antisemitism do.
UC Regents Chair Richard Leib issued a statement falsely claiming that “the existence of ‘Jewish Free Zones’ at the campus are both incorrect and designed to inflame the situation” and that student groups have a First Amendment right to “express their views” even “when some of us find those views reprehensible or offensive.”
“That is the basis for free speech and UC will always support that,” he concluded.
UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ admitted that the bans on Jews were “regrettable”, but that “there is no legal basis for sanctioning, defunding or deregistering” the organizations involved in them.
All of that support for free speech for antisemites by UC Berkeley leaders falls apart when Jewish activists and conservative organizations actually protest against the antisemites.
Then UC Berkeley sends in the lawyers and the cops.
Are Christ, Chemerinsky or Leib willing to commit to the same level of free speech protection for Jews protesting against antisemitism as they do for antisemites protesting against Jews?
The difference in their rhetoric and the systemic discrimination of their responses makes it clear that they believe that banning Jews is more legitimate than protesting against those bans.
Their rhetoric and their actions reveal the underlying bias of their political sympathies.
Former Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch responded to the crisis at Berkeley by challenging Chemerinsky to recognize that “groups advocating for BDS are frequently looking to wipe the state of Israel off the face of the earth, as their oft-repeated slogan ‘from the river to the sea’ so vividly illustrates.” They’ve begun by trying to wipe Jewish students out of college campuses.
UC Berkeley continues providing cover to those hateful organizations, students and faculty.
Two weeks ago, UC Berkeley called the police on a conservative truck protesting campus antisemitism and the “Jewish Free Zones” erected by elements of its law school.
Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky had claimed that the university couldn’t take any action against the “Jewish Free Zones” enacted by student organizations even as he admitted that they would bar 90% of Jewish speakers. “That is their First Amendment right. I find their statement offensive, but they have the right to say it. To punish these student groups, or students, for their speech would clearly violate the Constitution,” he argued.
That was in early October.
According to Chemerinsky and Berkeley, banning Jews is free speech, protesting the ban isn’t.
Chemerinsky described the ban of 90% of Jewish speakers as merely “offensive”, but condemned a protest against it as “despicable” and “outrageous behavior.”
Adam Guillette, the president of Accuracy in Media, had decided to challenge the culture of campus antisemitism by renting a truck to name and shame the students responsible for the “Jewish Free Zones”.
It’s a tactic that has been successfully used by groups fighting antisemitism like Canary Mission.
Recalling his own student days, Adam told me that, “When I attended the University of Florida we dealt with the same sort of nonsense and our campus Jewish groups wouldn’t do a thing about it.
“Most Jewish students and most Jewish student groups just want to go to class, live their life, and not be bothered. They think standing up to these bullies will only make things worse, so they remain silent and hope the problem goes away. Silence is never the correct response when dealing with bullies.”
Instead of silence, he sent a truck naming the perpetrators and declaring, “shame, shame.”
And UC Berkeley responded with violence and legal threats.
A previous AIM truck protesting UC Berkeley’s antisemitism had been met with thrown rocks and condemnations by the ADL, Berkeley’s Hillel and the local JCRC.
UC Berkeley administrators offered “emotional support” to students who felt upset by a truck with a picture of Hitler on it reading, “All in favor of banning Jews, raise your right hand.”
In response to the latest AIM protest truck, Adam Guillette told me that “the university called law enforcement on our truck last week. The police told our driver that he was violating a city statute and wasn’t allowed to park on the public street in a paid parking spot near the law school.”
It isn’t clear if such a regulation even exists, but what is clear is that despite his professed support for free speech, UC Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky attempted to suppress a non-violent protest against antisemitism by abusing police resources and local regulations.
“It’s a shame that Chemerinsky’s devotion to free speech extends to antisemites but not to those who combat them. It seems he’d rather see us silenced than those who wish to intimidate Jews,” the AIM president told Front Page Magazine.
Chemerinsky and UC Berkeley failed to protect Jewish students, but turned to the police to protect some of the students named by the AIM truck, like Jasmin Luz, of the Womxn of Color Collective, Jung Kim, of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and Nicki Guivatchian, of the Middle Eastern and North African Law Students Association.”
The AIM truck had a very simple message, “Stand Up To the Ringleaders of Antisemitism at Berkeley.” Instead, UC Berkeley Law rushed to protect them while suppressing free speech.
“Whatever the disagreement on issues, to put students’ names on the side of the truck was despicable,” Dean Chemerinsky fulminated.
The disagreement, as Chemerinsky had already admitted, was a plan to, in his own words, “exclude about, I don’t know, 90 percent or more of our Jewish students.” But banning Jewish students is a “disagreement on issues” while naming antisemitic students is “despicable”.
According to him, naming Bull Connor at a protest was worse than the actual segregation.
Jewish campus groups proved equally useless.
Adam Naftalin-Kelman, Berkeley Hillel’s executive director, described the protest against antisemitism as “reprehensible” and “antithetical to building community”.
Naftalin had previously condemned a similar campaign by the David Horowitz Freedom Center: #StopTheJewHatredOnCampus named students involved in the BDS “Hamas-inspired genocidal campaign to destroy Israel”. Naftalin had claimed then that the Freedom Center posters were “counterproductive to creating a vibrant and healthy community”.
How Naftalin intends to build community with students who ban Jews has yet to be clarified.
“It’s consistently frustrating to see how little campus Jewish groups will do to stick up for themselves,” AIM President Adam Guillette told me.
Accuracy in Media intends to continue pressuring UC Berkeley with an email campaign and ongoing protests. And UC Berkeley has made it clear that it will continue protecting antisemites.
Dean Chemerinsky argued that the perpetrators of the “Jewish Free Zones” have “free speech rights, including to express messages that I and others might find offensive.”
He clearly doesn’t believe that those protesting against antisemitism do.
UC Regents Chair Richard Leib issued a statement falsely claiming that “the existence of ‘Jewish Free Zones’ at the campus are both incorrect and designed to inflame the situation” and that student groups have a First Amendment right to “express their views” even “when some of us find those views reprehensible or offensive.”
“That is the basis for free speech and UC will always support that,” he concluded.
UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ admitted that the bans on Jews were “regrettable”, but that “there is no legal basis for sanctioning, defunding or deregistering” the organizations involved in them.
All of that support for free speech for antisemites by UC Berkeley leaders falls apart when Jewish activists and conservative organizations actually protest against the antisemites.
Then UC Berkeley sends in the lawyers and the cops.
Are Christ, Chemerinsky or Leib willing to commit to the same level of free speech protection for Jews protesting against antisemitism as they do for antisemites protesting against Jews?
The difference in their rhetoric and the systemic discrimination of their responses makes it clear that they believe that banning Jews is more legitimate than protesting against those bans.
Their rhetoric and their actions reveal the underlying bias of their political sympathies.
Former Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch responded to the crisis at Berkeley by challenging Chemerinsky to recognize that “groups advocating for BDS are frequently looking to wipe the state of Israel off the face of the earth, as their oft-repeated slogan ‘from the river to the sea’ so vividly illustrates.” They’ve begun by trying to wipe Jewish students out of college campuses.
UC Berkeley continues providing cover to those hateful organizations, students and faculty.
Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. This article previously appeared at the Center's Front Page Magazine.
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Comments
Islamic free zones will obviate the need to test such specious free speech limits. These are not 'free speech' issues because we know what comes next. This is an abuse of free speech not a test of its efficacy. Those that deal in bigotry cannot complain when it is dealt onto them. Deal with Islam in the way that they find to be good in their own eyes. From the river to the sea Israel will be made free !!
ReplyDeleteJontyD
I am not Jewish.
ReplyDeleteI visited Berkeley in 2018, and hated every bit of its pretentious posturing, it's hate filled culture and entitled, privileged parsing of truth in favour of media supplications and gestures.
My instinct ,therefore ,was to gloss over this article. Anti Semitism is endemic in libtard hellholes like Oakland , no further questions .
But this article stands as a cultural autopsy, a linguistic and legal-lite dissection of all that we have tolerated and faced down ,and to little tangible benefit .
A case study in mealy mouthed deceits and liberal doublethink.
All the issues are laid out, all the trading out and exposition of evil and Potemkin pretences of fairness, language meanings, historical truth and a need for courage...all on display, and the elites despise it all.
Thanks Mr G. You do the work that we need to be doing, and this article leaves us,with no excuses,given its obvious current read across into all aspects of our culture, Jewish or not
Being a Russian Jewish unvaxxed Canadian trucker ,is just about what we are to Berkeley, and it's monomaniacal toadies and goons.
Time to see ourselves as Milos, not Rinos any longer. And prepare, then act accordingly.
Consider the biased inflow of "diverse" raw
ReplyDeletematerial. Then, the descendants of the
Frankfurt School as professors, administrators.
In a Leftist State, how can one expect anything
but a pathological enclave of dysfunction? (At
great taxpayer expense.)
Any young pre-professional who earnestly wants
to enter prosperous activity should serve an
employer sponsored apprenticeship of service and
core learning and mentor-ship.
Thomas
Chemerinsky is turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism at UC Berkeley just as he did at UC Irvine. His law school at UCB is just as despicable as his law school at UCI.
ReplyDeletePost a Comment