Heckler Disrupts Jewish Student Event at UC Davis on March 16, 2012
Incident: A program put on by Jewish students at UC Davis on February 27, 2012 was disrupted and almost shut down. The Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Davis illegally planned and executed coordinated action to interrupt and heckle the event’s speakers, and in so doing suppressed the freedom of speech and freedom of assembly of the Jewish students and their invited speakers.
AMCHA’s Response: We wrote to UC President Yudof asking him to condemn what happened at UC Davis, as well as the harassment and intimidation of Jewish students that occurred at UC San Diego two days later.
AMCHA’s Correspondence with UC President Yudof
March 6th, 2012 – AMCHA’s letter to President Yudof
In February, UC Davis and UC San Diego saw vicious anti-Israel demonstrations, including organized hecklers attempting to shut down a Jewish-organized event. AMCHA called on President Yudof to condemn these incidents of harassment and denounce the economic and academic boycott of Israel.
March 8th, 2012 – President Yudof’s open letter condemning anti-Israel bigotry at UC
Two days after AMCHA co-founders and supporters sent letters urging him to condemn a series of harassments against Jewish students at the UC, President Yudof did just that. In his open letter he addressed specific incidents and both condemned them and noted their terrible effects on the Jewish community across the UC.
AMCHA Bulletin Update about President Yudof’s condemnation
March 16th, 2012 – AMCHA’s response to President Yudof’s condemnation of anti-Israel bigotry
President Yudof’s condemnation of the series of harassments of Jewish students across the UC incorrectly asserted that the UC Davis officials “dealt appropriately” with the organized attempted shutdown of a Jewish event. In response, AMCHA co-founders sent a letter thanking him for the appropriate condemnations and outlining suggested steps to improve campus officials’ response to future attempts to disrupt and harass Jewish students’ events.
Later, in light of the murders in Toulouse, AMCHA co-founders sent another letter to President Yudof regarding campus climate.