Dear Friends,

As many of you may know, an independent group calling themselves The Orange County Taskforce on Anti-Semitism at the University of California, Irvine, issued their report a couple of days ago.  The report is highly critical of the university and of Orange County's Jewish organizations including the Anti-Defamation League.  The Taskforce claims: "the organizations the Jewish community looks to for leadership on these matters, have not effectively represented the Jewish Community or Jewish students at UCI."  Further, in a public presentation of the report at Temple Bat Yahm, Taskforce member Phil Schlesinger requested that the Jewish community stop donating to the Federation, Hillel and ADL.

By making this request, the Taskforce has asked the Jewish community to withhold funding from the Federation's humanitarian efforts, Israel advocacy, funding for the Bureau of Jewish Education, funding for Jewish Family Services, and every other agency and event supported by the Federation. Hillel is the primary voice advocating for students on campus.  It provides a rich Jewish life through Shabbat dinners, Israel advocacy, and educational, social and cultural events.  UCI Hillel serves a large and vibrant Jewish student body.  Hillel relies on community support to continue this valuable work.  The Taskforce has asked the community to deny funding to Jewish education, Jewish social welfare services, funding for Israel and for all Jewish life at UCI.  It is also asking that you stop funding our local and national work to fight anti-Semitism, track neo-Nazi groups, and provide public school K-12 education and end all of our Holocaust education programs.  The members of the Taskforce want you to stop funding counter-terrorism training and hate crime training for law enforcement officers.

ADL has worked on the UCI issue for at least six years.  Our work has included the following: 

    * Numerous meetings with university officials to help them understand the convergence of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.  Still more meetings to demand that the university condemn anti-Semitism on their campus.  The administration has done this.  Further meetings to urge the university to condemn individual speakers--this the university will not do.
    * We spoke out publicly against the wearing of graduation stoles modeled after Hezbollah headbands.
    * I have written letters to the editor of the Register, the LA Times, and the Jewish Journal and Op-Ed pieces calling for changes on the UCI campus.
    * ADL took a cadre of 20 Jewish student leaders for weekend long training in our Confronting Anti-Semitism program.  These students became trainers in this program and returned to their campuses qualified to run their own workshops.
    * More than fifty community presentations urging members of the Jewish and non-Jewish communities to lobby UCI for change.
    * Met with UCI police to discuss hate crime enforcement.
    * Ten days ago, I met with the Chancellor to discuss the situation and said again that it is incumbent upon him to condemn speakers by name.
    * Supported Hillel with programming and training for students.
    * Coordinated a national campaign through the Israel on Campus Coalition to bring attention to the situation at UCI.
    * Brought national staff to the UCI campus to press administrators to change.

What difference have these efforts made?

    * The university Chancellor has strongly condemned anti-Semitism.
    * The university administrators understanding the nexus of anti-Zionist speech and anti-Semitic speech.
    * National pressure has been brought to bear on UCI and the University of California system.
    * The university places clear time, place and manner restrictions on the Muslim Students' Union activities.
    * The UCI police department is actively engaged in supporting Jewish students on campus.
    * The university has put programs in place that attempt to mediate between the two student groups.

The Taskforce also called upon Jewish students with a "strong Jewish identity" to refrain from attending UCI.  This is, at best, an illogical suggestion.  We need students with a strong Jewish identity to attend UCI. We need students, who can advocate for Israel, who are not intimidated when Israel is attacked and who are willing to stand up and defend Israel.  We need to flood the campus with students who take pride in being Jewish. 

I believe the members of the Taskforce should be ashamed that the reprehensible request to withhold funding from vital Jewish agencies was made.  If Mr. Schlesinger does not represent the views of the Taskforce and was only speaking for himself, the Taskforce should issue an immediate and public apology and retraction.  If Mr. Schlesinger does represent the view of the Taskforce, the Jewish community should denounce these demands, and withdraw support from the Taskforce.

Sincerely,

Kevin O'Grady