JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

03/26/08 05:01 PM

Michael Drake came across at best as wishy-washy and at worst as disingenuous.  He claims to condemn hate speech and to work diligently to prevent it, but he has apparently done neither of these things.  If there is freedom of speech on campus for people to purvey lies and incitement, there is freedom of speech for him to come out and publicly condemn it, when it happens. 
Furthermore, the fact that he was not even willing to voice his own opinion that comparing Israelis to the Nazis was hateful and wrong tells me that he in fact believes that Israelis are like the Nazis.

Veda R. Charrow, Ph.D.

03/26/08 07:13 PM

The headline, “Michael Drake in a ZOA Constrictor,” is completely inaccurate.  The “constrictor” that Drake is in is of his own making. Political correctness has stifled rational thought on campuses throughout the world; indeed, it even prevents Drake from telling the truth.  He states that university policy is to condemn all hate speech, yet he cannot name any hate speech specifically because the university must remain “content neutral.” If Drake himself knows that what the Palestinians and their supporters are saying is false, and is hate speech, then his failure to name specific instances is even more ridiculous.  How can a university administration stand by when falsehoods are promulgated on its campus?  Aren’t universities interested in truth and open debate?  Either Drake is lying when he states that the university stands against hate speech or political correctness renders the university policy impotent.  His silence speaks volumes.

03/26/08 08:43 PM

what drake and klein think or say is unimportant..
what is important is we all realize
NO ARABS...NO PROBLEMS
TRANSFER IS THE ANSWER!

03/26/08 10:37 PM

This is not a ZOA vs. Hillel issue.

I studied at UC Irvine for three years. The fact remains that the administration is remiss in dealing with legitimate student concerns.

Chancellor Drake will say nice things behind closed doors about how Anti-Semitism is wrong, but he refuses to exercise his own moral authority by condemning it in a clear manner. This makes me and other students feel that he is insincere. Other administrators have advised Jewish students not to present themselves as “Zionists” because this offends Muslim students. Administrators have also selectively enforced policy against certain groups (namely the College Republicans and the Anteaters for Israel) while allowing other groups free reign of the campus.

Most of the words issued by UCI administrators in response to Anti-Semitic incidents have been merely perfunctory. Most of the time there isn’t even a response from the administration. Administrators have also been unhelpful in dealing with incidents of harassment and intimidation.

We should note that it was the investigation prompted by the ZOA in 2005 that this issue even came into the limelight. The ZOA has been dedicated to supporting students at UC Irvine who want to go beyond the cultural events and programs like “Hookah in the Sukkah.”

Orange County Hillel and Hillel National have been incompetent when it comes to dealing with the administration at UC Irvine. This is a shame because students often perceive Hillel to be the main Jewish organization on campus.

03/27/08 03:55 AM

Reut, This whole Hillel issue is a debaucle, and to boot, they just got a 10.5 million dollar grant to work on the campus. I am sick about Hillel, and sick about how the kids at UCI put out a press release saying things at UCI were fine, and they did not want outside groups to help them. What is going on?