We, the members of the UCLA Jewish Faculty Resilience Group (JFRG), UCLA staff, students, and alumni have mobilized to support each other during the current crisis in the Middle East and rising global antisemitism. The mission of the JFRG is to counter rising Jew-hatred on campus and in the UC system, support Jewish students and faculty, and promote Western democratic values. As members of the UCLA community, we want to make our voices heard.
While Jewish rallies across the world -- including UCLA -- peacefully support Israel’s right to exist and call for the release of civilians kidnapped by Hamas, UCLA has been the site of virulent antisemitic tropes and incidents by pro-Palestinian protesters. Instead of promoting the only constructive path to a sovereign Palestinian state – rejection of terrorism and endorsement of peaceful co-existence with Israel – they have terrorized Jewish UCLA faculty, students, staff, and allies, with destructive, provocative signage, chants, and/or behaviors that:
Call for “Itbah El Yahud'' (the slaughter and genocide of Jews)
Deny the atrocities of October 7th
Justify the murder and barbaric torture of Jews and others on October 7 as a legitimate resistance movement
Promote anti-Israel rallies with photos of people carrying weapons
Advocate for “Global Intifada” (violent uprising) on campus
Erase the State of Israel “from the (Jordan) river to the (Mediterranean) sea”
Demonize and ostracize Jews, simply because they identify with being Jewish
We want UCLA leadership to immediately and unequivocally denounce antisemitism, whether through action, intimidation, or hate speech on our campus.
Specifically, we demand that leadership at UCLA take the following specific steps now to combat and address antisemitism on the UCLA campus while avoiding any hints of a "Whataboutism" approach:
Publicly recognize that the Jewish people, as an historically oppressed and vulnerable minority, deserves protection and inclusion, like any other
Publicly support the Jewish people’s right to live peacefully anywhere in the world, including in their ancestral homeland, in the State of Israel
Formally adopt the definition of antisemitism as outlined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), Working Definition of Antisemitism
Denounce the demonization of Jews as a group
Denounce calls for violence against, ethnic cleansing, and/or genocide of Jews, including "From the River to The Sea", "Intifada", and "Jihad"
Denounce and enforce UCLA policies against images, signage, speech, or behavior that incite violence against any group, including Jews
Mandate antisemitism awareness and sensitivity training for all faculty, administrators and staff, and all organizations that receive funding from the University
Demand that The Office of Campus Safety and the UCPD respond promptly to instances of violence and hate and provide security for targeted students and faculty.
We wish to meet collaboratively with you to establish a process by which these goals can be met in a time-sensitive manner.
UCLA, a publicly-funded university, needs its leaders to bravely demonstrate moral clarity and act decisively to specifically address antisemitism on UC campuses now.
[NOTE: A RUNNING LIST OF SIGNATORIES CAN BE VIEWED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE NEXT SECTION.]
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