Jewish scholar addresses anti-semitism at seminar

Anti-Semitism is on the rise at colleges nationwide, a visiting
Jewish scholar said Wednesday.

Laurie Zoloff, head of the Jewish studies department at San
Francisco State University, spoke at a UCLA Hillel-sponsored
seminar that explored what she called a “strong, powerful
movement” toward anti-Semitism at universities.

Students on her campus are calling for the government to
withdraw its support of Israel and are asking for a boycott of
Israeli products, she said.

“The support for Israel by America is seen as
unjustified,” Zoloff said.

In May, a ruckus at competing rallies between pro-Palestine and
pro-Israel groups at SFSU prompted the school’s president to
suspend the funding of the General Union of Palestinian Students
for a year and issue a warning letter to San Francisco Hillel.

Zoloff lauded a petition signed by 300 heads of American
colleges and universities ““ including Robert Corrigan of
SFSU ““ that declares zero tolerance for anti-Semitic acts on
their campuses, and she called on all university presidents to do
the same.

Chancellor Albert Carnesale did not sign the statement, citing
concern that it only guaranteed protection for only one group of
students, among other reasons. He issued a message Friday that
reiterated the university’s zero-tolerance policy for
“hate-motivated behavior.”

“He should have signed the petition,” Zoloff said.
She agreed with a participant’s suggestion that the
chancellor’s decision to abstain was a
“cop-out.”

Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller of UCLA Hillel said he originally
asked the chancellor to sign the statement. Now, he thinks that
instead of issuing a broad statement, Carnesale should reserve his
strongest condemnation for actual incidents on campus.