Letters to Chancellor Reed Go Unanswered
April 16th, 2012 – AMCHA Bulletin update regarding the letter
April 16th, 2012 – AMCHA Initiative co-founders’ letter to Chancellor Reed
In February, the AMCHA Initiative sent a letter signed by over 1,800 members and supporters of the California Jewish community to Chancellor Reed, urging him to remove several anti-Semitic websites from CSU servers. Two months later, Chancellor Reed has neither taken action nor acknowledged the concerns and demands of the Jewish community expressed in that letter. On April 16th, AMCHA co-founders responded to this rebuff, asking Chancellor Reed a simple question: Do the CSU rules of academic freedom protect faculty and administrators who use their university positions and state resources to engage in political activities that promote anti-Semitic actions, such as the boycott of Israel?
February 6th, 2012 – AMCHA Initiative’s letter to Chancellor Reed
The AMCHA Initiative sent a letter signed by over 1,800 members and supporters of the California Jewish community to Chancellor Reed, urging him to exercise his authority to ensure that the web pages are removed.
Correspondence with CSUN President Jolene Koester
David Klein, a Mathematics professor at California State University Northridge, is a founding member of the Academic Boycott of Israel campaign, and authored an open letter to CSU Chancellor Reed, urging him to rescind the newly revived CSU-Study Abroad Program in “apartheid” Israel. Professor Klein uses the official website of the CSUN Mathematics department to post anti-Semitic text and pictures, which are intended to incite hatred of Israel and her supporters and encourage political activism to harm the Jewish state.
In November, the AMCHA initiative’s co-founders took this issue up with CSUN administration. Here is the correspondence between AMCHA co-founders and CSUN President Jolene Koester regarding this issue.
December 12th, 2011 – Tammi Rossman-Benjamin’s response to President Koester’s apology
AMCHA co-founder Tammi Rossman-Benjamin responds to President Koester’s apology. In her response, Tammi reiterates CSUN’s obligation to remove defamatory and offensive content from its websites.
December 9th, 2011 – President Koester’s “message of apology”
After President Koester received numerous emails from AMCHA Initiative supporters regarding her message to Tammi containing the words “too bad,” President Koester sent out the “message of apology” linked to below.
December 8th, 2011 – President Koester’s dismissive email
President Koester responds to AMCHA co-founder, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, in a dismissive email that simply says: “Too bad.”
December 7th, 2011 – AMCHA co-founders’ response to President Koester
Two days later, AMCHA co-founders sent President Koester a response. It thanked President Koester for her attention but criticized her for not not removing Professor Klein’s anti-Semitic webpages.
December 5th, 2011 – President Koester’s response to AMCHA’s initial letter
President Koester sent AMCHA co-founders a response to our initial concerned email. While graciously acknowledging our concerns, she failed to address them, instead excusing the hateful content Professor Klein’s inappropriately promotes on a CSUN website.
November 22nd, 2011 – AMCHA co-founders’ initial letter to President Koester
AMCHA co-founders sent a letter to President Joelene Koester, apprising her of Professor Klein’s anti-Semitic webpages and urging her to have them removed from the CSUN server.