COMMUNITY VOICES: ASSAULT OF JEWISH STUDENT AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
A Jewish student at Temple University, Daniel Vessal – a CAMERA Fellow and member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity – was punched in the face and knocked down and called “baby-killer, racist, Zionist pig” by individuals at the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) table that was part of “Templefest,” an organizational exhibition on August 20, 2014.
For more information on this campaign, please click HERE.
August 31, 2014
- “Temple is now off the list for MY grandchildren, for sure…”
- “I’d like to be assured that my children can go to Temple University without fear, and that all students enjoy full academic freedoms.”
- “Any type of physical assault is to be condemned in an academic environment, but when it is coupled with hateful anti-Semitic verbal
attacks, it becomes intolerable and must be dealt with quickly and strongly.” - “Please see how these actions on your campus fit in with the worldwide terror engulfing the Jewish people.”
- “I am an alumna of the NY city graduate center. I condemn the vile attack against a Pro-Israel, Jewish student on August 20, at Temple University and I urge Temple to protect Jewish students.”
- “We are concerned about our children on campus. Free speech does not excuse incitement and brutal attack. Please provide protection for those rightfully on campus.”
- “We are outraged at the vicious aggression suffered by a Jewish student on your campus. The perpetrators should be brought to justice.”
- “This is not the first incident when SJP members are engaged in intimidation, harassment, and incitement merging into anti-Semitism against Israel and its supporters on campuses. SJP was suspended from Northeastern University for anti-Semitism and violence. It takes courage from the President and Board Members to stop unacceptable behavior at roots. The University should encourage discussion, but not battlefield and intimidation. It is the responsibility of the University to promote a peaceful environment and eradicate groups that promote hate and violence.”
- “Responsible university administrators never tolerate such despicable and illegal behavior against blacks, gays or women. Such attacks against non-Jews are inconceivable. They must never be tolerated against Jews. Robert A. Corrigan, then President of San Francisco State Univ., rightly stated that “hate speech is not free speech.” Jewish college and university students should not have to fear for their safety on campus. As campus authorities and leaders, you have the grave responsiblity of ensuring that your students’ safety and welfare are always your top priority.”
- “Why is it “open season” on Jewish students at Temple University?”
- “I was sent to school at nearby U of Penn as a student in the army in WW 2 and then went overseas to France and Germany
in the war to conquer the Nazis who wiped out half of my people. To now see the ugly disease of anti-Semitism alive in your university makes me needless to say angry and disappointed.” - “As an academic myself, I find it unbelievable that at a university such as Temple, a Jewish student could be treated the way Daniel Vessal was treated by the Students for Justice in Palestine.”
- “Our universities cannot be a place of hate, a place of intimidation, and a place where others, including a Jewish student, are attacked and are called baby-killers.”
- “I have had many relatives graduate from your fine institution, so I was greatly alarmed to read about the violent, anti-Semitic attack against Daniel Vessal made by students of SJP…As a partially publicly funded institution it is of paramount importance that you maintain a hate free and safe environment at Temple.”
- “I have always thought of Universities as being honored spaces where intelligent people could conduct reasonable conversations –
even in the face of widely divergent views.” - “Groups should be closely monitored by campus authorities to ensure that they abide by the basic university rules for open academic discussion and intellectual debate. Otherwise, there is no place for them on campus.”
- “As outrageous a conduct as this was, these kinds of behaviors have become a very disturbing, common occurrence on campuses around the country. The fact that these despicable events most regrettably continue to take place must be directly related to the fact that they’re not being thoroughly investigated by campus police, and, as appropriate, by law enforcement authorities, and nipped in the bud.”
- “How can a beating of a Temple University student of the Jewish faith bring about justice in Palestine?”
- “Once again, I find myself writing such a request to a major university President in our country after “Students for Justice for Palestine,” has violated the rights of Jewish students and injured them or encouraged others”