UCLA Recently, there have been disturbing developments at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Students for Justice in Palestine, or SJP, has been making moves to block pro-Israel, Jewish groups groups from getting a fair voice in campus policy-making. What is even more surprising, and maybe even sickening, is that no other groups are being targeted. That is right, folks. Student activists, for the recent past election, were asking candidates running for student positions in campus government to sign a pledge essentially saying that they have not and will not go to Israel on a trip sponsored by the following three groups: American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, and Hasbara Fellowships. Students who don’t sign the pledge are subject to ridicule, humiliation, and harassment by their peers. We here at the Brandeis Center hold the right to free speech very dear to our hearts. Therefore, we acknowledge that student groups have the right to say what they wish, so long as no harm is dealt to other students or staff members, and so long as no one else’s rights are infringed upon. The problem with this situation is that by imposing this pledge on the political process, those with pro-Israel views, or even someone has simply travelled to the great state of Israel, have their political views silenced and put down. “Freedom of speech is essential on university campuses”, says Brandeis Center President Kenneth L. Marcus, “But what we are seeing at UCLA is antithetical to healthy, civil dialogue.” UCLA School of Law has a chapter of the Brandeis Center, so developments on that campus are of particular interest to us. It was in fact our first student chapter. Chapter members host speakers, address harassment of Jewish college students and examine legal aspects of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement’s anti-Israel campaign. As reported by the L.A. Times yesterday, Sunny Singh, 20, campaigned for UCLA student body President recently under terms that he didn’t sign the pledge, and was defeated by an opponent who signed the pledge. Singh, a History and Economics major, took a trip to Israel sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League to “see the region with my own eyes.” If you are studying in a field, you should be able to get as much hands-on experience as you can. Gene Block Recently, university administrators are calling for action, for greater respect of other’s viewpoints. On Friday, Chancellor Gene Block sent an email to students calling for more tolerance, open discussion, and respect for views that are not your own. Said Block, “I am troubled that the pledge sought to delegitimize educational trips offered by some organizations but not others. I am troubled that the pledge can reasonably be seen as trying to eliminate selected viewpoints from the discussion. I condemn any remarks on social media or elsewhere that are disrespectful of hurtful.” He added, “Today I am calling on our Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs to explore how to better foster political dialogue that is respectful, productive and focused on understanding rather than division.” UCLA’s motto is Fiat lux, Let There Be Light. With the recent events, there is anything but light in this issue. How this pledge be seen as legitimate if no other groups are being put on it? This is clearly Anti-Semitism. Janet Napolitano UC President Janet Napolitano also released a statement calling for civility, respect, and inclusion. In a pointed repudiation of SJP’s action, Napolitano stated that “the actions of these students at UCLA” go so far as to violate “the principles of civility, respect, and inclusion.” She said, “I encourage members of the university community, at both UCLA and at the other nine campuses at this great education institution, to come together, in open dialogue, to discuss the great issues of our day, learn from each other, and work to move our society forward.” She said prominently, “hurtful speech by some hurts us all.” The Brandeis Center lauded Napolitano and Block’s strong statements in a press release, which concerned “the principles of civility, respect, and inclusion,” as President Napolitano described it. In the future, she hopes, more will be done to educate students about hate and bias. Also in the press release were Block’s comments regarding negative political speech. He says, “Political speech that stigmatizes or casts aspersions on individuals or particular groups does not promote healthy debate but debases it by trying to intimidate individuals and groups. ” The AMCHA Initiative had written in a letter to UC leaders, “As leaders of UCLA, you have a duty to stop the SJP’s acts of wanton discrimination, harassment and bullying, and and its deliberate interference with students’ rights and freedoms. We call on you to protect the safety and well-being a Jewish students at UCLA and hold SJP members accountable for their shameful misconduct.” What next? UCLA as an educational institution must fix this problem of intolerance. Students need to work together and foster an environment of open discussion and respect. As LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus has urged, “[W]e hope that further work will be done to educate UCLA students about the insidious nature of such hate and bias incidents. It is also important to understand the environment in which so many student leaders failed to understand the anti-Israel smears for what they are.”