Updated 10 a.m. August 8 to include comments from SF Hillel director Ollie Benn
After five months of investigation, San Francisco State University officials have concluded that SF Hillel “was improperly excluded” from a campus civil rights information fair early this year.
An SFSU communications officer said in an Aug. 4 email to J. that the investigation found “San Francisco Hillel was improperly excluded from the “Know Your Rights” fair by the self-organized and self-appointed planning committee … The unfortunate decision by this group to exclude Hillel from the Fair represents an unacceptable breach of the University’s values, policies, and standards for inclusion and respect expected of all members of our University community.”
In an Aug. 7 email to J., S.F. Hillel executive director Ollie Benn said of the report, “The university found discrimination and retaliation against Hillel. Given this finding, the unanswered question is what the university will do to address what [SFSU President Les] Wong has himself described as ‘institutionalized anti-Semitism,’ rather than just the ‘campus climate’ generally.”
Concerned parties, including Hillel, were privately informed of the decision on July 21.
As detailed in a J. cover story on May 3, the dispute arose after Hillel was dropped from participating in “Know Your Rights,” an information fair held in February that was geared toward “vulnerable populations who may be feeling targeted in the new political climate,” according to the event web page, and which presented workshops on legal resources and immigrant rights, and tabling opportunities for student organizations.
Hillel had initially been invited to take part in the event, and staffers gladly accepted. Several days later, Hillel staffer Jason Steckler received an email: “Dear community organizer, thank you for your interest. We are at capacity.”
Later, according to Steckler, an SFSU employee with inside knowledge informed Hillel that days earlier, the event’s organizing committee, with S.F. State personnel looking on, had arbitrarily cut off registration for the express purpose of excluding Hillel.
It came out much later that S.F. Hillel was deliberately barred because of “its demonstrated record of suppression of student rights, including advocacy for justice in Palestine,” according to fair organizer Saliem Shehadeh, as quoted in a blog at Palestine Legal. “In S.F. and across the country, Hillel International has attacked students and professors with unfounded accusations of terrorism and anti-Semitism, and called for law enforcement to scrutinize our political speech.”
Palestine Legal is, according to its website, an independent legal organization “dedicated to protecting the civil and constitutional rights of people in the U.S. who speak out for Palestinian Freedom.”
The fair’s web page listed the event’s co-sponsors, among them official university entities such as the S.F. State California Faculty Association and the Dream Resource Center.
Speaking to J. in April, Benn said about the fair, “This was supposed to be a discussion of marginalized groups. So to be excluded as a marginalized group is doubly ironic.”
Hillel complained to the university administration, and an investigation was launched. The probe wrapped up last month, though its findings were not made public.
In its email to J., SFSU said that both complainants and respondents had 10 days to state their intention to appeal the findings, but that after that, the university would “determine all appropriate corrective actions.”
Though SFSU also declined to go into further detail, an anonymous blogger at Palestine Legal leaked details of the report, noting that SFSU found “no religious discrimination, [but] SFSU did find organizers of the Fair responsible for ‘retaliation’ and viewpoint discrimination.”
Palestine Legal attorney Liz Jackson, who represented the student organizers of the Know Your Rights Fair, said, “This is a politically motivated decision to punish and silence people who stand up for Palestinian rights… we will appeal this piece as far as we need to go.”
This is outrageous. And it took them how long to investigate?? SFSU has a lot to answer for, and to correct the hostile campus atmosphere towards Jews. Enough.
Willkommen, Kinder des vierten Reiches
This was a foregone conclusion; what will matter are the consequences. Will the offenders who literally plotted to exclude the Jews be punished? Will the SFSU staffers who were in on it be fired, and the students expelled? If not, this whole thing is just another SFSU farce.
You see, because the university claimed there was no overt religious discrimination the Jew haters are pleased because they can continue to attack Israel on the grounds that it’s nothing to do with religion. The old, ‘we have no problem with Jews, just Zionism’ ploy. Just forget the fact that 90% of the world Jews identify as Zionist meaning these folks, including the specious JVP, only have problems with 90% of the world Jews. So generous. Keep the 10% non Zionist and get rid of the rest. JVPs goals are even more ambitious then Adolph’s
Wow, Dan Pine, you sure buried the lede! Only by reading almost to the end do I learn that the report found no religious discrimination by the event organizers, which had been the main accusation, as you know. And Hillel had nothing to say about it either
That the event organizers engaged in “retaliation” or “viewpoint discrimination” against an organization that has in fact worked to shut down others’ protected speech in support of Palestinian rights? Well, that’s no surprise, and it’s mickey mouse for the university to make any issue of it at all. Since when is an organizer of a campus event obligated to invite every single student group to participate, let alone one that behaves counter to the purpose of the event?
Also, from what I’ve heard, Hillel’s claim that it was initially invited is false. Rather, it submitted an application that it had received forwarded from another group.
Let’s get real. Outside groups determined to squelch viewpoints THEY don’t like on campus are using Hillel to pretend that protest against Israeli policies are attacks on Jews. It’s getting old, and very few are buying it.
So I suppose you think it should progress to a free-4-all. Suppose Hillel hires a huge mobile sound system go obliterate any noise coming out of the next anti-Zionist Israel hating speaker with such noise that nobody could hear a thing. Your going to up the anti. Stop playing childish games and pull your head out of your rear. You know damn well why the pro-pals want pro Israel pov excluded.
P.s. The whole concept of students feeling or not feeling ‘safe’ be it Jews or Palestinians is going to be one of the most embarrassing and humiliating memories of this generations zeitgeist. Unless somebody starts bringing baseball bats
baseball bats might be useful in this case. show these children, on both sides of the street, that children shouldn’t start fights they cannot finish.
david mandel is a commie and a member of jvp
The Bay Area is NOT “Northern California”
Yreka is northern California
Is this a fake news story? This piece distorts the actual findings of SFSU. The finding was that the claim of religious discrimination is UNSUBSTANTIATED. So why wouldthe director of Hillel say that the university found “discrimination”and repeat the frame of “institutionalized anti-Semitism”? That isthe opposite of what the factual investigation determined. You also neglected to report that other Jewish groups were involved in the event, countering the claim of anti-Semitism. Very disconcerting to
read this type of distorted reporting on such an important issue!
Right, the other Jewish groups being JVP which has lost any sense of credibility it has as a ‘Jewish’ group long ago. You can’t slap stripes on a warthog and pass as a tiger just like you can’t slap the star of David on a bunch of Jew haters and call yourself ‘Jews’ . ( well, of course you can- but nobody with an ounce of integrity will believe it)
JVP is much like the little bug that has camouflage like a larger insect to trick them into believing they are not easy to eat when they are
I don’t see anywhere in the article where the university’s finding is disclosed. The article says: “Hillel complained to the university administration, and an investigation was launched. The probe wrapped up last month, though its findings were not made public.”
The organizers’ response of “… thank you for your interest. we are at capacity.” is reminiscent of the words used in the past by upscale hotels and country clubs to “limit their clientele” — they wouldn’t come out and say “we don’t want any kikes here” but genteely say pleasant words to the effect of “we’re all full at present.”