Were The Slogans at UCLA Antisemitic?

Dear Editor:

More than one hundred faculty and staff members at UCLA have signed a letter denouncing efforts by the Department of Justice to combat antisemitism on the UCLA campus.

The signatories claim that the Justice Department is “mischaracterizing pro-Palestinian speech and protest as antisemitic.”

Let’s take a look at some of the slogans that appeared on banners, or were chanted by demonstrators, at anti-Israel rallies on the UCLA campus over the past two years, and then consider whether those slogans were merely “pro-Palestinian” or were antisemitic.

These samples are all taken from photographs or videos of the rallies, or news articles in the UCLA student newspaper, The Bruin, or major news media outlets:

— “Long Live the Resistance!” / “When People are Occupied, Resistance is Justified.’’ / “Each Generation That Rises Up Against Oppression is Initially Scorned, Only to be Celebrated in Retrospect–Free Palestine”

These are expressions of support for the mass murder, torture, and gang-raping of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023.

— “Intifada” / “Long Live The Intifada” / “Generation After Generation, Until Total Liberation”

These are sympathetic references to previous waves of Palestinian Arab violence, such as the Second Intifada, in which more than 1,000 Israeli Jews were murdered in suicide bombings, shootings, firebombing, and stonings.

— “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.”

This means that all of Israel—from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea— should be destroyed and replaced with “Palestine.”

— “76 Years of Settler Colonialism”

This means that Israel, which at the time of that rally was 76 years old, has no right to exist, since its very creation in 1948 was an act of illegal colonialism.

To judge whether or not the above slogans should be considered antisemitic, imagine that whites in Africa murdered, tortured, and gang-raped 1,200 Black Africans. Then imagine that white supremacists on American college campuses chanted and waved banners endorsing the massacres and calling for the destruction of the majority-Black state where the killings took place.

Would celebrating the mass murder of Black Africans be considered racist? Would calling for whites to destroy a Black African state be considered racist?

If the answer to either of those questions is “yes,” then celebrating the mass murder of Israeli Jews and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state must be considered antisemitic.

Would UCLA faculty and staff rally around the right of white supremacist mobs to say such things on their campus? Or would those faculty and staff say that the whites had created a hostile environment for Black students on campus—and would they demand that the Department of Justice intervene?

Sincerely
Prof. Rafael Medoff

There is NO Palestine

Dear Editor:

There is no Palestine. There has never been a Palestine. The Palestinian people are a hoax. Palestinianism has only one function; to destroy the state of Israel and the Infidels living there. Israel is the ‘small Satan’, a stumbling block to getting at the ‘big Satan’, America.

Zionists began migrating to the Ottoman Empire in the 1850’s, when Jerusalem had a Jewish majority.

In 1920, the San Remo Resolution defined the British Mandate for Palestine. It was split into what is now Israel and Jordan in 1921. The League of Nations unanimously accepted these borders in 1922 and America followed in 1924.

Haj Amin al-Husseini, Hitler’s ally, launched pogroms against Middle East Jews from 1920 to 1942. He spent WWII in Germany and created the Bosnian Muslim 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar.

In 1945, the United Nations was formed. Article 80 of its charter states what was promised the Jews, could not be taken away. This means no U.N. decisions affecting Israel have the force of law.

In 1964, to diminish U.S. influence and vanquish Israel, the Soviet KGB and Egypt formed the Palestine Liberation Organization. They gathered fighters from throughout the Middle East and North Africa, calling them ‘Palestinians’. That was the origin of Palestinianism.

Sincerely
Len Bennett, author of ‘Unfinished Work’
Deerfield Beach, Fl.

Show No Mercy Against These Iranian Nazis

Dear Editor:

In light of recent developments, I feel compelled to speak with urgency and clarity. The threats posed by the Iranian regime must not be underestimated or ignored. For years, I have warned that their public statements cannot be taken at face value. Their pattern has been one of concealment, deception, and the steady advancement of dangerous capabilities.

It is evident that they have not been transparent about their missile programs or broader intentions. These are not abstract concerns but real and present dangers that affect not only Israel, but also the United States and its allies. The stakes are extraordinarily high, and complacency would be a grave mistake.

Israel, America, and their allies must remain resolute and unwavering in the face of these threats. Strength, vigilance, and clarity of purpose are essential. There can be no illusions about the nature of the challenge before us.

Sincerely,
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
New Jersey