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May 24, 2002/Sivan 13 5762, Vol. 54, No. 36
Pro-Palestinians sabotage Pro-Israel SFSU rally
ALEZA GOLDSMITH
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California
SAN FRANCISCO - Call it the e-mail read around the world.
Laurie Zoloth wrote the e-mail May 9, in the wake of a pro-Israel rally that turned ugly, but the Jewish studies chairwoman at San Francisco State University sent it only to friends and some colleagues.
Within a few days, however, it had been circulated to thousands of e-mail addresses across the nation and in Israel, finding its way onto Jewish Web sites and worldwide media venues.
One local Jewish community leader, who asked not to be identified, said he was being flooded with calls wondering if there had been a pogrom at SFSU.
In the e-mail, Zoloth described the aftermath of the May 7 rally, when "an angry crowd of Palestinians and their supporters" surrounded the pro-Israel supporters screaming, "Get out or we will kill you" and "Hitler did not finish the job."
SFSU President Robert A. Corrigan was among the recipients of Zoloth's e-mail. Corrigan responded May 20 with a strongly worded letter, which he said has since been circulated to more than 30,000 people, condemning the turn of events at the rally.
He also met May 20 with Jewish community leaders and Jewish SFSU students and their parents, listening to several suggestions for addressing the pro-Israel/pro-Palestinian tensions on campus on a long-term basis.
According to Rabbi Doug Kahn, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, suggestions included:
- A follow-up meeting in the next few weeks, to ensure the Jewish community's concerns don't go by the wayside when the semester ends.
- Making sure the standards for rallies apply across the board.
- Finding a better way to address "civil discourse" on the campus.
Since May 20, Corrigan said, he and other SFSU administrators have taken several definitive steps to address the Jewish com-munity's concerns.
For instance, the department of public safety is currently reviewing videotapes and personal accounts of the incident to decide whether disciplinary and/or criminal action against organizations and individuals are warranted, according to Ligeia Polidora, SFSU public relations director.
Sophomore Dikla Tuch-man, an organizer of the pro-Israel rally, said she and others in her group were cleaning up and saying their goodbyes when the event was "sabotaged" by pro-Palestinians, armed with whistles and bullhorns.
She added that the campus public safety officers told her, "There is nothing we can do here," when asked why the pro-Palestinians were allowed to intrude.
"People were just screaming their heads off. It got really hateful. I've never seen as much rage in the faces of people as what I saw that day," said Tuchman.
"It's difficult to be in an atmosphere where we are constantly defending ourselves against blood libel, where Jews are compared to Nazis," said Zoloth.
Representatives from the General Union of Palestinian Students could not be reached for comment.
Paul Cohen, International Hillel's senior consultant for campus strategic services, said he was personally disappointed that the controversy undermines the fact that throughout 90 percent of the day, "this was the most successful rally for peace in Israel at SFSU for years."
The SFSU Academic Senate passed a resolution May 21, endorsing Corrigan's letter responding to the event, calling upon the campus community to "promote a hate-free environment."
In his letter - posted on the SFSU Web site and printed in full as a paid ad on Page 21A of today's Bulletin - Corrigan wrote that a "terribly destructive" group of pro-Palestinians "abandoned themselves to intimidating behavior and statements too hate-filled to repeat" at the rally last week.
Zoloth called Corrigan's letter the "right response" to the growing anti-Jewish sentiment plaguing the institution. She said she hopes his words "mark the beginning of potential change'' for Jewish students and staff.
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