Concerned Students Are Not "Outsiders"
Posted by: Kevin Schmelzlen | 04/10/2008 1:18 PM
I have been a student at UC Irvine for two years now, and I have seen many things on campus that have greatly upset me as a Jew, as a Zionist, and as a rational, peace-seeking human being. Nearly all of the most disturbing things that I have seen have been sponsored by the Muslim Student Union, a group that focuses most of its attention and its resources on vilifying the State of Israel. Rather than focus on promoting peaceful messages, the intent of this organization is to spread misleading information and to propagate hatred against Jews, Israel and America. The Muslim Student Union has brought many speakers to our campus that I have heard on campus, all of whom have been opposed to the existence of the Jewish State, with many going so far as to claim that those who support the State of Israel are partially, if not fully, responsible for horrible events such as the Holocaust and 9-11. However, the most troubling thing that I have witnessed at this school is reading that a few of my fellow pro-Israel activists on campus have been going on record as saying that the problem is under control at UCI with regard to anti-Semitism. These students acknowledge that anti-Semitism exists but prefer to ignore the problem and suggest that there is little that we can do about it.
Anteaters For Israel, which was until recently the only pro-Israel activist club on campus, has experienced a dramatic turnaround since its current leadership was elected. The current leadership was elected mostly by members of the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi who had never even attended a meeting previous to the election and unsurprisingly elected a fraternity "brother" as the president of the Anteaters for Israel who had just started attending meetings a few weeks earlier, as the new president. Unlike the previous year's elected officers, this year's group has actively worked against the interests of both Israel and Jewish students on campus, despite the Anteater For Israel president's insistence that he speaks for "hundreds of Jewish students on campus". Unfortunately, the current president has claimed that students who acknowledge anti-Semitism on campus are in the "minority." The president of this organization is doing a disservice by calling out students and suggesting they are the minority or have not been on the ground when in fact they have been at UC Irvine much longer.
I can honestly say, through experience of actually communicating with Jewish students (as opposed to generalizing my personal opinions upon the entire student body) that those who have actually listened to the Muslim Student Union's speakers generally walk away shaken, upset, and worried. How can one not be afraid when an MSU speaker claims that there will not be peace until "[the Israelis] are all gone"? Not only is this a threat to all Jews, due to our spiritual bond with Israel, but it is especially threatening to the students on campus who are actually Israeli citizens. However, the Anteater For Israel president wishes to ignore statements such as these and refuses to take a moral stand. Another problem in the Anteater For Israel president's belief that anti-Semitism on campus is not a problem is that he does not equate wanting to destroy the Jewish State as being the same thing as trying to destroy the Jewish People. However, according to a vote taken at an Anteaters For Israel meeting earlier this year, most Jewish students in the club did feel that anti-Zionism is linked with anti-Semitism. This should be obvious to any rational human being, seeing as how almost half the Jews in the world live in Israel and that about 76% of the people in Israel are Jewish. It must not be forgotten that the war cry of the invading Arab armies during the Israeli War of Independence was "drive the Jews into the sea", not "drive the Zionists into the sea". It is also an interesting side note that one of the speakers that the Muslim Student Union brought to UC Irvine claimed that a quote in the Koran which condones the killing of Jews is not just condoning killing any Jews, just Zionist Jews; the Koran was written one thousand years before Zionism was even a mainstream idea or began to have any fruition. This just goes to prove that when people say "Zionist" they really mean "Jew". The president of Anteaters For Israel does not seem to understand this concept.
Due to the unfortunate transformation of Anteaters For Israel this past year, I felt obligated to start a new pro-Israel activist club on campus, one which would do more than smoke hookah and apologize for the existence of a Jewish State to the fanatical members of the Muslim Student Union who support the destruction of Israel and America.
In starting this club, I formed a partnership with the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), one of the oldest and respectable Zionist organizations in the world, and started a chapter of the ZOA at UC Irvine. I hope that Anteaters For Israel will open its eyes and realize that its denial of anti-Semitism on campus is detrimental to our mutual cause. However, until that day, the Zionist Organization of America at UC Irvine will continue to fight anti-Semitism on campus and spread the message of peace that the State of Israel has been offering since its creation.
Kevin Alan Schmelzlen President, Zionist Organization of America at UC Irvine (ZOA-UCI)
Anteaters For Israel, which was until recently the only pro-Israel activist club on campus, has experienced a dramatic turnaround since its current leadership was elected. The current leadership was elected mostly by members of the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi who had never even attended a meeting previous to the election and unsurprisingly elected a fraternity "brother" as the president of the Anteaters for Israel who had just started attending meetings a few weeks earlier, as the new president. Unlike the previous year's elected officers, this year's group has actively worked against the interests of both Israel and Jewish students on campus, despite the Anteater For Israel president's insistence that he speaks for "hundreds of Jewish students on campus". Unfortunately, the current president has claimed that students who acknowledge anti-Semitism on campus are in the "minority." The president of this organization is doing a disservice by calling out students and suggesting they are the minority or have not been on the ground when in fact they have been at UC Irvine much longer.
I can honestly say, through experience of actually communicating with Jewish students (as opposed to generalizing my personal opinions upon the entire student body) that those who have actually listened to the Muslim Student Union's speakers generally walk away shaken, upset, and worried. How can one not be afraid when an MSU speaker claims that there will not be peace until "[the Israelis] are all gone"? Not only is this a threat to all Jews, due to our spiritual bond with Israel, but it is especially threatening to the students on campus who are actually Israeli citizens. However, the Anteater For Israel president wishes to ignore statements such as these and refuses to take a moral stand. Another problem in the Anteater For Israel president's belief that anti-Semitism on campus is not a problem is that he does not equate wanting to destroy the Jewish State as being the same thing as trying to destroy the Jewish People. However, according to a vote taken at an Anteaters For Israel meeting earlier this year, most Jewish students in the club did feel that anti-Zionism is linked with anti-Semitism. This should be obvious to any rational human being, seeing as how almost half the Jews in the world live in Israel and that about 76% of the people in Israel are Jewish. It must not be forgotten that the war cry of the invading Arab armies during the Israeli War of Independence was "drive the Jews into the sea", not "drive the Zionists into the sea". It is also an interesting side note that one of the speakers that the Muslim Student Union brought to UC Irvine claimed that a quote in the Koran which condones the killing of Jews is not just condoning killing any Jews, just Zionist Jews; the Koran was written one thousand years before Zionism was even a mainstream idea or began to have any fruition. This just goes to prove that when people say "Zionist" they really mean "Jew". The president of Anteaters For Israel does not seem to understand this concept.
Due to the unfortunate transformation of Anteaters For Israel this past year, I felt obligated to start a new pro-Israel activist club on campus, one which would do more than smoke hookah and apologize for the existence of a Jewish State to the fanatical members of the Muslim Student Union who support the destruction of Israel and America.
In starting this club, I formed a partnership with the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), one of the oldest and respectable Zionist organizations in the world, and started a chapter of the ZOA at UC Irvine. I hope that Anteaters For Israel will open its eyes and realize that its denial of anti-Semitism on campus is detrimental to our mutual cause. However, until that day, the Zionist Organization of America at UC Irvine will continue to fight anti-Semitism on campus and spread the message of peace that the State of Israel has been offering since its creation.
Kevin Alan Schmelzlen President, Zionist Organization of America at UC Irvine (ZOA-UCI)
CATEGORY:
FEATURE
Bravo for taking a stand!
Kevin, you're doing a great job! Thanks for taking a stand!
Good for you, Kevin. You are correct that the agenda of Anteaters for Israel has apparently changed. Is it because they are more to the left? Is so, that would explain things.
You are absolutely correct that the MSU and its speakers are not only anti-Israel, but anti-Jewish-and anti-American.
In my view, the administrators of UCI have shown no courage and no leadership in standing up to the MSU and their inciteful speakers.
Gary Fouse
adjunct teacher
UCI-Ext
Kevin, I think you share an interesting perspective, but I suggest you do some more research before you talk so lowly of this organization.
Under this "current leadership" you speak of, Anteaters for Israel has:
- Grown by 400% in membership size, since inauguration of the new leadership (that's a figure I heard from previous year's AFI board members)
- Held the largest pro-Israel event ever to hit UC Irvine, with 1,000+ in attendance (by the way, this was a POLITICAL EVENT)
- Set an all-time record for the number of Jewish students at weekly Shabbat dinner (over 100 students attended this past quarter's AFI-Hillel cosponsored "Israeli Shabbat")
- Taken the most active stance against anti-Semitism at UCI, since the history of AFI (i.e. Mohamed Al-Asi protest)
There's a reason for all this success, and it's not luck. This is the strongest leadership Anteaters for Israel has ever experienced in UCI's history (and strongest leadership Jewish/pro-Israel life @ UCI has experienced in general). EVEN YOUR ORGANIZATION, THE ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA ACKNOWLEDGED THIS EARLIER THIS YEAR!!!
Before you publicly criticize these guys, I'd suggest you get to know the leaders of AFI and try to understand the approach they're taking. They are just as much against anti-Semitism as you are, and I'm sure your energies will be much more effective if you work together.
how many members does that ZOA club have anyways? i heard it's only like 2 jewish kids and some republicans.
that guy makes a good point..i heard a.f.i. is nearing 150 members.
I'm skeptical of the uniqueness of the previous two comments because as editor of the blog I can see that the IP addresses match. Unless it's two people sitting behind the same computer, I think you are only talking to yourself.
Nevertheless, I think you are missing the point. Isaac and the other 4 students made the charge (publicly) that anyone who disagrees with them is an outsider and not "on the ground," despite the efforts of both Jewish and pro-Israeli students to prompt a civil rights investigation. AFI to my knowledge never issued a complaint. If you did, you certainly weren't very effective.
On an another note, I was there when Isaac protested Al-Asi, which I acknowledged in a previous post. But it seems he had a change of heart based on his interview in the Daily Pilot and the OC Register.
I don't doubt Isaac is very smart, he just has to take a more bold stance and become the leader he purports himself to be. He and others can't be sending mixed signals. One the one hand the press release from the 5 students acknowledges that antisemitism is a problem, while making the contradicting claim that the reality of the environment is being fabricated by off-campus groups. As a student at UCI who has documented MSU events, I take great offense to that assertion. Isaac along with the other 4 students, should take the first step not to discredit those who have taken painstaking efforts to raise awareness on this campus. At that point, we can start to channel our energies.
--Jonathan
Dear Anonymous 1 and Anonymous 2:
I am waiting for Anonymous 3 and Anonymous 4 to also "support" your perspectives... and then Jonathan can point out that all of these Anonymous comments are coming from the same IP address.
That's clever! Keep patting yourself on the back... whoever you are.
Anteaters for Israel isn't a real political group anymore. The entire premise is smoking Hookah on ring road. Cultural aspects of a group are fine, but the group is sadly lacking.
Kevin saw the need for a new group that actually supports Israel and encourages people to think for themselves rather than having everyone jump on the bandwagon.
It's amazing how a few people can make a positive difference. It takes a real, strong person not to follow the crowd.
How does Anteaters For Israel count its membership? It is easy to get people onto a mailing list, but it is more difficult to get people to show up to meetings, let alone actually participate actively. If holding up protest signs at one event this year was the strongest stance against anti-Semitism at UC Irvine, that really says something about Anteaters For Israel. I was at that event; the protest was not impressive. Although it might be nice if it could, five people holding signs does not make a difference. I understand the approach Anteaters For Israel is taking; the president has explicitly stated that Anteaters For Israel is taking a cultural approach this year. Although culture is important in teaching people about Israel, smoking "hookah in the sukkah" does not fight anti-Semitism or anti-Zionism, at UCI or anywhere else.
I have heard that some leaders of Anteaters for Israel, including its president although this cannot be verified, actually support surrendering Israeli land. How is that taking a stand for Israel? Perhaps if the President of Anteaters "for Israel" took a moral stand and did not simply care about smoking hookah things would start to change at UCI. Bravo to everyone at UCI who is willing to do the hard work of actually shedding light on a challenging issue.
Well I must say, this is an interesting conversation. I stumbled on this post while surfing the net for my favorite hate week videos! :)
Regarding the current AFI Membership, I can confirm (or at least I think I can) that the membership statistic quoted is fairly accurate. I am UCI Alum c/o '06, and I am still in touch with a few pro-Israel activists on the campus. One of them mentioned to me a few months ago that AFI had 60+ people at a couple of their meetings this year.
I'm not trying to argue with anyone, but I am impressed at the membership growth. This leadership must be doing something right. When I attended UCI, AFI was under 20 members. When I visited last year, there were less than 15 people at meeting. But to hear that they reached over 50 people at meetings is almost unreal....
I don't understand the point of your article, Kevin. It sounds like you are seeking some sort of divide between the ZOA and AFI. We should be banding together to combat the anti-Semitism on campus and Administration's acceptance of it, not pointing fingers just because you don't agree with the way Isaac is running AFI. The last thing we need is tension between Israel groups.
Beyond that, my opinion is that Isaac is strategically trying to maintain a NEUTRAL offensive stance towards the MSU. Just look at the jokers of the MSU themselves; they parade terrorist supporters around the camps and shove them in people's faces in the Student Center when all they want to do is enjoy their meal. I've heard many students uninvolved with the conflict on campus and the Middle East heavily dislike the MSU and think they're very radical.
AFI stands for Anteaters for Israel. The point of the group is not to target those would harm us but to inform the public about Israel and the situation. If we took the MSU's path and began bringing in speakers that pointed fingers at them and Palestinians instead of discussing peace, the campus would dislike us as well.