Hillel director apologizes for attack
By Carolyn McGough
Feb. 14, 2007 9:00 p.m.
Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, director of Hillel at UCLA, has sent a written statement to freelance journalist Rachel Neuwirth apologizing for attacking her on campus in 2003.
The apology is part of a settlement in the lawsuit Neuwirth brought against Seidler-Feller in 2003 in response to the incident, said Neuwirth’s attorney, Charles Fonorow. The case was recently settled after three years of litigation.
The incident took place more than three years ago in front of Royce Hall after a presentation by Harvard Law professor and author Alan Dershowitz.
Seidler-Feller attempted to apologize in 2003, but Neuwirth wanted a formal apology that would be released to the public, according Daily Bruin archives.
Seidler-Feller, who is on sabbatical until August and unavailable for comment, wrote to Neuwirth “I am deeply sorry that I hit, kicked and scratched you and called you a liar on October 21, 2003.”
Neuwirth said she heard Seidler-Feller discuss an upcoming event featuring Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al Quds University in Jerusalem and Palestinian Authority Commissioner for Jerusalem.
Neuwirth said she approached Seidler-Feller, warning him against bringing Nusseibeh to campus because the university president had helped direct missile attacks into Israel during the first Persian Gulf War and had been caught by Israeli intelligence calling for troops to attack Israeli citizens.
Seidler-Feller confronted Neuwirth and kicked and grabbed her wrists, Neuwirth said.
Neuwirth admitted that at some point during the confrontation she called Seidler-Feller a “capo,” which is a derogatory term used for Jews who were given lighter punishment if they worked inside death camps during the Holocaust.
But there has been speculation in the past over whether Neuwirth called Seidler-Feller a “capo” before or after the confrontation.
“”˜Capo’ was said after I was attacked maliciously and verbally,” Neuwirth said. “It was said more in the tone of “˜you wimp.’ I could have said “˜you dirt bag.'”
Neuwirth asserted that her use of the word “capo” was not intended to be derogatory toward Jewish people. She defined it as anyone forced to work for the Nazis in concentration camps.
Besides an apology, the settlement also included monetary retribution that Fonorow called “substantial.”
Fonorow and Neuwirth would not comment on the exact amount of the financial settlement.
In the apology, Seidler-Feller stated, “by taking these unprovoked actions, I have contradicted the pluralism, peace and tolerance about which I so often preach.”
“I am accepting 100 percent responsibility for my actions on October 21, 2003. I had no right to do what I did,” he wrote.
While Neuwirth said she accepted the apology, she believes it should have been made long ago.
