U.C. Berkeley’s student senate has unanimously passed a bill condemning anti-Semitism and urging student leaders to do more to keep Jewish students safe on campus.

At its Feb. 25 meeting, the Associated Students of the University of California Senate voted 20-0 to approve the bill, which was introduced by ASUC senator Ori Hersch-mann and co-sponsored by members of such campus groups as Tikvah, the Jewish fraternity AEPi and Bears for Israel.

Ori Herschmann

The bill cited recent “hateful incidents” at U.C. campuses, such as the swastikas spray-painted at a Jewish fraternity at U.C. Davis in January. The bill further calls for the creation of an ad hoc committee to discuss anti-Semitism on campus.

The committee will be made up of the ASUC president, two ASUC senators, the Jewish Student Union president, one faculty member and one student, according to the Daily Cal.

“It’s extremely important for the ASUC and student governments to actively fight anti-Semitism and make sure all Jewish students feel safe on campus,” Herschmann said in a statement. “Today, we have taken a big step in making sure the Jewish people of all U.C. campuses, not just Berkeley, can live safely without fear of anti-Semitism throughout their time at college.”

Bears for Israel president Becca Berman added, “Because discriminatory comments against Jews go almost unnoticed, because spray-painted swastikas aren’t properly addressed, and because Jewish students need to feel safe and secure on this campus and in the U.C. system as a whole, we need this bill.”

To see the full text of the bill, see www.tinyurl.com/cal-senate-bill.

The vote came on the heels of a spate of successes for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement on local campuses. Divestment resolutions have been passed this year by student governments at Stanford University and U.C. Davis, though the Davis vote was reversed in a suit brought before the student senate court. — j. staff