Cal-Irvine Being Investigated for Anti-Jewish Attacks

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The New York Sun

The federal Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating allegations of anti-Jewish incitement and harassment at the University of California at Irvine.


The department’s investigation comes in response to a complaint filed last month by the Zionist Organization of America. It alleges that UCI has failed to protect its Jew students from “a pervasive hostility and intimidation on campus” against Jewish students.


“The university administration has been aware of this serious problem since it started, but, for the most part, has accepted it and remained silent,” the director of the ZOA’s law and justice center, Susan Tuchman, wrote to the education department in the complaint.


Ms. Tuchman said the “long pattern of discrimination against Jewish students” violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.


Among the incidents alleged by the ZOA:


* In February 2001, the Muslim Student Union, a campus group, invited Imam Muhammad al-Asi to speak on campus. He reportedly said: “We have a psychosis in the Jewish community that is unable to co-exist equally and brotherly with other human beings.”


* In March 2002, the Muslim Student Union posted a sign on a main campus road that stated, “Israelis Love to Kill Innocent Children.” When Jewish students complained about the sign to school officials, the administration ordered it removed. The ZOA claims the university “did nothing” after the sign was subsequently used by an Arab group as a promotional device.


* Following the incident with the sign, ZOA said Jewish students were intimidated and as a result “stopped wearing jewelry and clothing that identified them as Jews.”


* In February 2004, the Muslim Student Union sponsored “invited Amir Abdel Malik Ali to address students at a seminar titled “America Under Siege: The Hidden Agenda of Zionism.” The Jerusalem Post reported that he told students that Zionism combines “chosen people-ness with white supremacy,” and that Israel would have assassinated Al Gore if he were elected president in the 2000 election, to allow running-mate Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut senator who is Jewish, to become president.


* The same student group played host to a “Zionist Awareness Week” in May 2004, displaying posters picturing Prime Minister Sharon of Israel under the caption, “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” and equating the Star of David with the swastika. During a staged reenactment, a member of the group who was dressed as an Israeli soldier pretended to beat a student who was dressed as a pregnant Palestinian Arab. The Irvine administration did not issue any statement condemning the incident, according to the ZOA.


A spokesman for UCI, which is part of the public University of California system, said the school was “not offering public comment” regarding the case.


Merav Ceren, a third-year student at UCI who is president of a pro-Israel student group, said the school administration has been “completely silent” on the issue of anti-Jewish intimidation on campus.


Osman Umarji, president of the Muslim Student Union, said, “There have been no anti-Jewish statements made. We are very openly anti-Zionist.” He said Zionism is a “racist ideology,” and its followers “will use any means to achieve their purpose, including terrorism.”


The New York Sun

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