LDB Centre Urges University of California to Curb Anti-Semitism
ByThe Louis D. Brandeis Centre For Human Rights Under Law urged the University of California Monday to adopt certain recommendations featured in the report by the university's campus climate committee to fight campus anti-Semitism.
The centre, based in Washington D.C, whose mission is to 'advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and to promote justice for all' has appreciated the climate committee's strong recommendations, which, if adopted could resolve many ant-Semitism issues at the university, according to the LDB centre.
According to an article in The Jerusalem Post by Kenneth L. Marcus, Brandeis Centre President, the report acknowledges 'Jewish students are confronting significant and difficult climate issues as a result of activities on campus which focus specifically on Israel, its right to exist and its treatment of Palestinians.'
"The University of California's new campus climate report presents university leadership with a unique opportunity to substantially improve the situation that Jewish students face there," said Marcus in a statement.
He also added being an alumnus of the university and a civil rights advocate he hopes that the university will implement the report's recommendations.
The UC report recommends many important changes, such as reviewing policies under which university sponsorship is afforded to unbalanced and biased events such as "Israeli Apartheid Week."
The article also claims that the committee sensibly urges university administrators to better address Jewish students' dietary needs and accommodate religious holiday observance.
Marcus feels that the most important recommendation by the report, however, is to urge the university officials to adopt a formal definition of anti-Semitism, such as the European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia's Working Definition of Anti-Semitism, which clearly explains when anti-Israel incidents should also be considered anti-Semitic.
The University of California has been facing the charges of anti-Semitism for few years now and the centre- which combats campus anti-Semitism through legal advocacy, research and education- claims to have documented many of these incidents and allegations in a series of research publications and opinion pieces.
Last week, a group of Jewish students settled an anti-Semitism lawsuit against the university's Berkeley campus.