Fear For Jewish Students at Demonization of Israel in Oregon State U., U of Oregon and Portland State U.

 Nadene Goldfoot                                              

Illustrative photo of an Anti-Semitic graffiti on a building near the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville. (Courtesy of Michaela Brown) , near Washington DC.

Jewish parents and members of OSU discovered a letter accusing Israel of unfounded accusations. amounting to just plain old anti-Semitism.  Marc Blattner of MJCC alerted me and others to this act."    College students that are not aware of the struggle that Israel has to endure are just full of mis-information that becomes anti-Semitism.  It's a crime that on this level of receiving education, that they remain uneducated about such a topic as this.                                                                    

                                 Cleveland High, Portland, OR in 2010 :Administrators at two Southeast Portland schools have reported finding anti-Semitic vandalism and graffiti on their campuses this fall.  Cleveland High School Principal Ayesha Freeman wrote in a notice to parents Wednesday that a vice principal, a teacher and the building’s head custodian found a swastika and “hateful words” on fliers for the Jewish Student Union one morning in late October. "  Such anti-Semitic acts have been going on for some time.                                                                            

                      A Jewish mother reading a letter just received demonizing Israel   

"As OSU Jewish and allied students, parents, faculty, and alumni, it has come to our attention that an antisemitic and discriminatory letter was sent by ASOSU recently, which cast unfounded accusations, perpetuating the demonization of the State of Israel, the world’s only Jewish-majority state and refuge for expelled Jews of the Middle East, Africa, and of the Holocaust in Europe (and home to approximately half of the global Jewish population). "  

 

 The letter starts like this:  To our Oregon State Community, 

"We condemn the violence and attacks against the Palestinian people by the Israeli armed forces.  Following the Hamas Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights organization, B'tselem, we must call this systemic discrimination and the violence what it is, an Apartheid.  This is colonialism.  this is ethnic cleansing, this is state-sanctioned violence, this is Zionism.  We stand for liberation and justice for the people of Palestine. It goes on.   (https://orjewishlife.com/asosu-letter/) update 12:50am.  

                                                         

This is accusing Israel of practicing apartheid, which is the very opposite of the truth.  Incidentally, that's what people against Jews and Israel seem to do.  Their accusations are the very opposite of the truth.  In fact, it often reflects their own acts against humanity. Here we have students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology take part in a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Boston last week. Photograph: eiko Hiromi/AFLO/Rex/Shutterstock the headline of this picture was "

US campuses become a growing front in Israeli-Palestinian conflict

                                                          

"ASOSU is every student at Oregon State University.  We exist as an organization to promote academic excellence, encourage the intellectual, social, cultural, and physical development of the student body,"  It is they who sent out this horrible accusation.  What all the colleges or universities in Oregon have done is join the mass in accusing Israel of untrue acts adding up to anti-Semitism in its glory!  

                                     

Well, I know of one student who would not be in agreement;  my grandson, now a veterinarian.  I hope that there are others who are as shocked as he must be to this group of doubting Thomases who have not bothered to read literature in defense of Israel.  

These same students have expressed their fear and insecurity regarding the shifting climate at OSU. Students who identify as Jewish and/or Israeli are struggling to be heard and feel that the dialogue surrounding the current events in the Middle East has been one-sided, alienating, and misinformed.

This   one-sided anti-Israel statement came from the Oregon State University student government. The statement, which went out to the entire student body, has been removed from its various postings on social media, but the damage was done. 

The VP of Equity and Inclusion finally responded with a brief email that the student government statement was made by the outgoing student leadership group and did not represent the views of the university. That is helpful, but as of now the student body has yet to receive any formal public response from the OSU administration (we understand a response from the administration is in the works) nor has there been any outreach directly to Jewish students on campus.

The letter that was wrongfully sent en masse to the entire OSU student body encouraged subscription to organizations like IMEU, which aligns with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, an international campaign that has perpetrated antisemitism in civic institutions for more than 15 years. 

Representing unequivocal support to their cause creates an incredibly unsafe situation for Jewish and Israeli students on our campus.

 Standing behind organizations that support BDS (and its National Committee which includes terror factions like Hamas) is standing behind the terrorism and the antisemitism they represent. 

                                                           

           Hamas terrorists rule Gaza, "voted" in by Palestinians living in Gaza

 Gaza is currently under the rule of Hamas, an internationally-recognized terrorist organization, seeking Jewish genocide and the destruction of Israel. Hamas uses civilians as human shields and as bait in order to gain global support and to continue taking innocent lives within both Gaza and Israel alike".

Perhaps not surprising, earlier this week the student government at University of Oregon (ASUO) sent out via Instagram an even uglier and more hate-filled statement against Israel. Two days later, the ASUO posted this “apology”. Although it acknowledges missteps by the student government, you can decide if this new statement goes far enough.

"The UO administration has been very responsive to both Oregon Hillel and the Lane County Jewish Federation. The President is involved along with the Dean of Students and the Office of Equity and Inclusion. They see this as a learning opportunity that may potentially lead to new relationships and collaborations."  

                                                     

     A book all college students should read-watch out, no pictures

This actually is more of a defense than an apology.  Jewish students are learning something they may not have been aware of, this horrid anti-Semitism and they are actually in the middle of it today, even more than their parents.  They've probably led a sheltered life from our history.  I do hope they also give all they have to studying   and understand what is happening.  

 

If what happened at OSU and UO is not enough, on Wednesday we learned that the Portland State University chapter of the American Association of University Professors issued this statement attacking Israel.  

PSU-AAUP issued a brief statement on May 20 condemning colonization, occupation, and continuing violence by the State of Israel against Palestinians. There has been an upswell of similar expressions from academic and labor organizations across the country.

At its June 3rd meeting, the PSU-AAUP Executive Council additionally voted to sign on the following statement in solidarity with the Palestinian People:

 Statement on Behalf of Faculty and Staff of Oregon Universities and Colleges in Solidarity with the Palestinian People

June 9, 2021

 The statement purports to speak for all faculty and staff at PSU, which it of course does not. We have already been in touch with the Portland State University administration and several Jewish faculty members are eager to present another voice.

 

Kelly Menachemson, Chair of the Lane County Jewish Federation, shared her feelings with me that on each of these campuses students are upset, faculty are upset, likely alumni are upset, and community members are upset. While this may be happening on campus, this issue extends into the broader community. That is why Oregon Hillel, Greater Portland Hillel, Jewish student leaders and faculty, Lane County Jewish Federation, Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, and other groups are responding.

 

Resource:

https://www.change.org/p/associated-students-osu-petition-against-antisemitism-and-zionophobic-bias-at-osu

https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/1/messages/142809

https://www.timesofisrael.com/with-israel-gaza-crisis-students-ask-us-colleges-to-declare-war-on-antisemitism/

https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2018/12/anti-semitic-graffiti-vandalism-discovered-at-2-se-portland-schools.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/21/us-campuses-sraeli-palestinian-conflict-universities

https://orjewishlife.com/oregon-hillel-responds-to-anti-israel-message-from-student-government-leaders-at-osu/