University of California, Berkeley is in hot water again, this time by showing just how unwelcoming one of the most liberal campuses in America can be for Jewish students.
The university’s chancellor condemned “disturbing expressions of bias” in a campus-wide email this week, referencing a recent student government meeting where several student senators made anti-Semitic comments.
The comments, some of which referred to “white tears” and “Zionist tears,” also triggered a joint statement from various Jewish groups on campus, according to the Daily Californian.
“We, as Jewish students, condemn the events of April 17th and stand united against the hatred and ignorance that permeates our campus,” the statement said. “We ask that the campus community stand with us, make your voice heard and show that Berkeley truly does stand united against hate.”
Chancellor Carol Christ’s email failed to reference the incident in particular, only reaffirming the administration’s condemnation of “racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of prejudice.”
“This kind of hateful, leftist bigotry has already been normalized in our society at large, but it’s a shocking thing to witness firsthand in one’s own community,” Jacob Nikolau, a Jewish political economy student at the university, told Red Alert Politics.
The university’s student government was set to discuss the disqualification of Student Action’s candidates from the latest election cycle during a lengthy Q&A period attended by more than 200 students. Student Action, a coalition consisting of student organizations, was disqualified from this year’s elections over election violations, according to the student newspaper.
Disqualified Jewish groups who voiced their disapproval at the meeting were swiftly met with remarks referencing “Zionism” and the Israel Defense Forces. Some comments alluding to “white tears” and “Zionist tears” were captured on video and uploaded to Facebook.
“When a Jewish student voiced his concerns about underrepresentation in the student government, former Senator Rizza Estacio of the CalSERVE Party dismissed his ‘Zionist tears’ and implied that Jews ‘don’t even know what disenfranchisement means,’” said Milton Zerman, a junior at the university and recently-elected student senator.
“Several radical speakers subsequently used the meeting as an opportunity to spread anti-Zionist vitriol and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, including the idea that the IDF trains American police to kill black people,” he said.
Nikolau also responded to the incident. “It’s not even clear to me how to appropriately respond to a specific and yet obviously implausible blood libel like that,” he said.
Berkeley Hillel Student Board, Bears for Israel, and the Greek Jewish Council subsequently signed a statement saying they were collectively “appalled and deeply pained” by the anti-Semitic remarks.
One of the student organizations that decided not to sign the statement was Jewish Voice for Peace, which released a statement of its own condemning any language it says equates anti-Zionist rhetoric with anti-Jewish rhetoric.
“We are Jews who stand in our Jewish identities just as firmly and proudly as we do in our rejection of Zionism,” JVP said in its statement. “It is not only disingenuous, but also dangerous, to conflate the two in order to brand any criticism of Zionism as antisemitic and attack progressive voices on campus committed to uplifting marginalized students.”
Zerman, an active member of the Tikvah, Chabad, and Hillel Jewish groups on campus, isn’t persuaded that a mostly united front on the part of the university’s Jewish groups will put an end to these outbursts moving forward.
“My friends, faith, and community were openly and unapologetically attacked that Wednesday night,” Zerman said. “Sadly, these kinds of beliefs and actions have become all too commonplace among a radicalized segment of the Berkeley student population.”
Troy Worden is a recent graduate in English and philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was president of the Berkeley College Republicans in 2017.
